Independents Hall co-founders Geoff DiMasi (left) and Alex Hillman speak at the coworking space's Town Hall.

Independents Hall co-founders Geoff DiMasi and Alex Hillman just came right out and said it.

“We suck at putting these things on often enough,” said Hillman to a crowd of roughly 30 members of the coworking space that were crammed into the building’s northern wing.

Hillman and DiMasi where speaking at Indy Hall’s third town hall, an informal gathering where the coworking space updates its members and interested public on news pertaining to the space while providing an update of the plans of the Indy Hall leadership.

Yesterday evening, Hillman and DiMasi shared some new policies to help Indy Hall deal with its ballooning membership, new security protocols to address recent thefts and a pledge to return Indy Hall to a hub of social and professional events.

“I feel we haven’t done a great job in returning to the cultural aspects that made Indy Hall awesome,” said Hillman.

Though Indy Hall has been hosting less events than in the past, attendees were able to rattle over nearly a dozen that have taken place in the past few months such as a blood drive and Cocoa Heads, a Mac-focused programming meetup.

Hillman and DiMasi pledged to return more events to the space and encouraged members to develop more programming.

“Our default answer will always be ‘yes’,” said Hillman.

Trouble in the Hall

DiMasi and Hillman spent nearly half of the gathering revealing that one member had been caught stealing $2,000 worth of goods from the space, including the camera used to film popular video podcast Two Guys on Beer. The guilty party has since been caught, but the scare has forced Indy Hall to re-examine who should hold a key to the space.

Instead of spending money on cameras and other security equipment Hillman and DiMasi suggested that a return to more social events as well as becoming stricter with key privileges should help keep Indy Hall safe. DiMasi went as far to say that members be as friendly and conversational as if they were living in a small town.

“It’s an excuse to pretend you are in Minnesota,” said DiMasi after his suggestion that members work hard to know their coworkers. “Everyone says Philly is cool once you get past the shell, so let’s get past it quicker.”

New events and meetups will have to be “co-hosted” by a key-holding full time member. Any new key holders will have to be “signed off” by three existing key-holding members.

“We haven’t been going to the bar for lunch, we haven’t been hanging on the weekends,” said Hillman. “It’s that trust that allowed us to get away with some of the things other places couldn’t.”

As for the stolen goods, Indy Hall plans on selling t-shirts to make up for the smaller items. A local brewery and National Mechanics are partnering to sell a special brew where all proceeds will go to helping Two Guys in Beer purchase a new rig.

Disclosure: Hillman is a sponsor of Technically Philly.

Introducing Technically Philly’s Startup Roundup. Here, we’ll parse out the small pieces that make our greater Startup ecosystem thrive. We want to keep you in touch with the innovations that we can’t quite get to covering, but that deserve highlight. If you’ve got news to share, get in touch.

DEFINITE READS

P’unk Ave will launch the first version of its open-source Apostrophe content management system on Wednesday. The developer says that the CMS has been used for several of its clients, including Duke University, Kiberton Waldorf School and the Environmental Management Assistance Program. We’ve wrote about the CMS in this roundup before, and after talks with co-founder Geoff DiMasi, we think the team is playing its release pretty low-key for the quality of the product. It might be DiMasi’s punk rock roots—ask him about seeing Fugazi back in the day.

Orpheus Media Research, developer of music analysis tool Clio, says in an to Technically Philly that after reaching out to investors with its full business plan, the new company has been “aggressive in reaching out to major industry players,” and is in partnership talks with two large content partners and three “household name” corporations for technology and funding. Additionally, after reducing its funding requirements, it is now seeking private equity partnerships with angel firms as opposed to venture capital. Get on that, investors.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

Proton Media has published a case study about energy giant BP, which says it calculated $3.7 million in savings using Proton’s virtual reality conference setting as opposed to a physical three-day event.

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that investor-backed drug maker Cephalon will buy pharma firm Mepha AG of Switzerland for $599 million, doubling the Frazer, Pennsylvania-based company’s international business.

GIVE A GLANCE

Next Fab Studio has announced its corporate rates after launching its prototyping space at the University City Science Center last month. It’s $300 per month for two employees, $600 per month for five or $1,500 for 10 employees. Companies could make that money back in custom-embroidered aprons alone.

Start Philly features Rittenhouse-based Venmo, a mobile payment service. After only a few months, the company has grown to thousands of users, founder Igram Magdon-Ismail says.

If interactive maps get you hot and bothered anything like they do us at Technically Philly, dig Avencia‘s explanation of the nitty gritty behind putting together the Philadelphia Water Department Stormwater Map Viewer.

Startup Roundup will post weekly on Wednesdays until there’s not a Philly startup story left to link to on the Internet.

We know: it’s gonna be tough making it out to some of those events on our calendar this week unless someone’s carting a television along, or at least a mobile subscription to MLB.TV. After all, our boys play tonight, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

But we still have you covered. And it just so happens that the events are weighted on Tuesday. Coincidence? Major League Baseball-psychic-connection? We may never know. Hit the jump for the highlights. No, not a replay of that eighth-inning three-run Victorino homer. Event highlights.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more.

Tuesday, October 20th: If there’s one thing we don’t quite see enough of, its merging the fields of technology and green energy. On Tuesday, TelecoWorks will host a celebration of green IT at the Academy of Natural Sciences. The sooner these two industries converge, the sooner we can cover it, and the sooner we’ll all feel a little better about the work we do and the world we affect. And I’ll remember to turn off my monitor when I’m not in the room. 6:00 p.m. Art Museum. DETAILS. [view more events]

Tuesday, October 20th: PANMA has P’unk Ave’s Geoff DiMasi discussing open source tools that P’unk helped prestigious Duke University create. DiMasi will take his experience in urban planning and offers how it can be applied to large, multi-branded organizations like Duke. See the guy that has been dominating our events coverage lately. 6:30 p.m. University City. DETAILS. [view more events]

Thursday and Friday, October 22nd and 23rd: Philadelphia Virtuosi Orchestra will perform free at Gallery East, this time showing off next-gen instruments that combine interesting physical design and robotic technology to fit right in with the strings. It’s different and that’s a good thing. Thurs., 12:30 a.m., Fri., 5:30 p.m. Center City. DETAILS. [view more events]

If you have an event that you think we should be listing, email us or fill out our submission form for best results. We promise that no submission falls in to the contact form netherworld.

It’s a future that seems uncertain, yet exciting: the struggle and embrace between amateur and professional work. The transformation of storytelling. Creating sustainability in media.

But most importantly: Do-It-Yourself culture. A culture that the event’s founder and organizer Lance Weiler says is as much about doing-it-yourself as it is about community. And perhaps surprising to some, a culture in which technology is deeply ingrained.

Weiler got his break with The Last Broadcast, a low budget horror film that he and a partner cobbled together for next to nothing. The film ended up being the first desktop feature film made with consumer grade video materials, the first movie distributed via satellite, and grossed $4.5 million dollars through the years.

Some believe that the Blair Witch Project might have borrowed a few ideas from the film; both are horror films presented in documentary-narrative style about low-budget filmmakers searching haunted woods who go missing. Except Weiler’s was filmed a year before the latter (and featured Jersey instead of Maryland).

Out of that experience, Weiler learned how to self-distribute, negotiate with broadcasters, and taught himself all sides of the media business.

DIY Days, Weiler’s baby, is the result of a book deal gone bad. On his own volition, that is. Offered the opportunity to write about his self-made success, Weiler decided to create the same resource for folks free online. From that decision evolved the Workbook Project, a content-rich portal for digital creatives. DIY Days is what he considers physical manifestation of WBP.

We’d be lying if we said we weren’t stoked about it. After all, we’re doing it ourselves, too. So, we reached out to Weiler to hear the why’s, how’s and who’s of DIY Days. As it turns out, we don’t have to sell our computers to gain some DIY cred.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

Isn’t DIY just punk rock and zines?

DIY is so inspired by computers it’s unbelievable. I would not be able to do all of the things I’ve been able to do without technology. Scott Bieben believes that scientists are the new rock stars. He really believes that the next wave is going to be in garage science because of processing speeds, connectivity, people being able to access resources. You’re going to have this whole new DIY culture. It’s ironic because do-it-yourself, for me, comes out of a punk rock aesthetic, zines, tour, but some of best examples of DIY involve community, and technology really centerpieces that.

What is the focus of DIY Days?

The idea is to look at bridging the gap between technology and entertainment. Similar to how open source software has opened the door to amateurs and professionals working together to build code, maintain code and in the process create new business models.

I believe we’re moving into an age of open creativity. Authorship is changing. Because of the democratization of the tools, it’s much easier for people to create than ever before. It challenges the roles of authorship. We’re at a point in the industry where there’s a lot of questions about what is amateur and what is professional. DIY Days look at changes in the industry to say how can folks in music, film, creative and software be able to fund, create, distribute and sustain.

Are you worried about those amateurs taking your professional work?

I’m not afraid of that. I’m excited about that proposition. I’m interested in blurring those lines. I don’t call myself a film maker; I feel like a story architect. How do I tell a story across multiple screens, multiple devices. It’s not necessarily the concern that someone will take your lunch. The concern is how can you start to tell stories for the 21st century.

What’s your Philly connection?

I make all my work in and around the Philadelphia area. I know a lot of people in different creative disciplines and saw that their problems were similar. Philadelphia is really ripe for this and if we can do anything like we’ve done in different cities, it will be a lightning rod that helps to stimulate discussion and stimulate creative currency. Thats’ really exciting to me. It’s the biggest event we’ve done yet.

Who can we expect at DIY Days?

Some speakers from the West Coast, some from the New England area. We have a large number of people coming from New York and Philly. The keynote is Douglas Rushkoff. He’s not only a documentary filmmaker but an accomplished author. He has a really great new book called Life Inc., which is a natural fit. The book is kind of interesting because it’s about how corporate culture has taken a hold of many parts of our lives, and in this global downturn it’s an opportunity to take some of that stuff back.

How is the city represented?

We’re hosting a town hall with Geoff DiMasi, Gretchen Clausing [of Philadelphia Community Access Coalition], Allan Edmunds [of Brandywine Workshop], John Henry Thompson [formerly of Macromedia]. The gist is that this is all great, we’ve talked about this stuff, now how do we apply it, how does it relate to Philadelphia and how can we make the city better? How can we enrich our creative communities and stimulate new economic growth in the creative sector?

What makes you Technically Philly?
There’s so many ways I could answer that. My underlying desire to push certain things, connect people in Philadelphia from different creative communities. I could say the usual things – I love Tastykakes. I remember the parade for the 1980 World Series. Also just my love of the city. There are certain things I can’t get enough of.

Every Friday, Technically Philly brings an interview with a leader or innovator in Philadelphia’s technology community. See others here.

A crew of Independents Hall workers constructing the new coworking facility before it opened. Photo courtesy of Alex Hillman.

Don’t mind the mess at IndyHall.

On Friday, May 1, co-founders Alex Hillman and Geoff DiMasi moved the dedicated coworking community into a spacious new office on Third and Church in Old City.

There are still a few more screws to tighten, that’s for sure. But while it might not be ready for white-glove treatment, you gotta give ‘em props for pulling off a complicated move in little more than a month.

Since announcing their decision to move from Strawberry Street, members have increased significantly, the community launched and sold out its first class as part of an education initiative planned for the old location, and everyone involved surely has some stories to tell.

We stopped by IndyHall on Friday to see how the move is going and toured the new spot-on video after the jump.

A special thanks to Drew Lazor of Philadelphia City Paper in assisting with this video. Be sure to check out Drew’s coverage of the IndyHall walk-thru at the Clog.

Included are several people who should be familiar to Technically Philly readers, including Andrew Rosenthal of Happier, Ben Kessler of Unbreaded, and Johnny Bilotta & David Martorana of Two Guys on Beer. All of the speakers have five minutes to present their topic of choice, and each presentation will have 20 slides that rotate every 15 seconds. The idea is to get a sampling of all of the great things happening in our fair city.

TP’s Brian James Kirk talked with organizer Geoff DiMasi, earlier this last month.

Ignite Philly starts at 7 p.m. this Saturday at Johnny Brendas. Admission is free.

Oh not much. Just that huge, silly Mashable mixer that brings the popular blog to Philly for the first time. Rumor has it they even catered the event specially to Philadelphia.

After you recover from talking social media until 2 a.m., you can shake off the grogginess by attending the third Ignite Philly presented by P’unk Ave‘s Geoff DiMasi and company. But, please, get there early. Last year’s was so packed that Johnny Brenda’s stopped letting people in.

If you can’t be around this weekend, then at least make it out to the SEO Grail April Meetup on Tuesday where Pay Per Click strategies and tips will be discussed.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.

Tue, April 28: At 7 p.m. SEO Grail will be meeting up at ScreenMatter in Ardmore to discuss Pay Per Click strategy and tips. Before you count your future riches, hurry up and RSVP — There are only four spots left. 7 p.m. Ardmore. RSVP [view more events].

Friday, May 1st: The folks behind the social media blog Mashable begin their East Coast tour with a stop in Philly. The event, put together along with Independents Hall, will be hosted at Cavanaugh’s River Deck over on Columbus Blvd. Oh, and did we mention that the sponsors are set to cover some of the tab? The event starts at 8 p.m. and will end only when Cavanaugh’s kicks everybody out. 8 p.m. Columbus Blvd. Details [view more events].

Saturday, May 2nd: A slew of presenters have 5 minutes (20 slides for 15 seconds each) to educate the audience on their topic of choice. The format allows presentations that interest you to spark your interest to learn more, and gives you enough time to go grab another beer during the not-so-exciting ones. For more, be sure to read our Ignite Philly post, which includes an interview with the man behind it all. 7 p.m. Fishtown. Details. [view more events]

Photo: City Paper photographer

This article originally appeared in the April 9, 2009 issue of Philadelphia City Paper and is reprinted here with permission. Photo Credit: Neal Santos.

Picture Old City overwhelmed by a procession of independent workers carrying desks, chairs and laptops up Third Street. Add a lively marching band ushering them along and the evening news to document it.

�Can you imagine if Channel 6 had a helicopter in the sky?� Alex Hillman asks Geoff DiMasi, joking with his business partner in a conference room.

�It would be insane. We�d stop traffic,� he says, laughing chirpily.

Hillman and DiMasi run Independents Hall, a shared office space that rents desks to self-employed workers � though they�d cringe to hear it described so antiseptically. To them, the space is an environment for a �coworking� community, and the inevitable collaboration that comes from putting freelancers in close proximity.

In the two years since its inception, the number of freelancers interested in IndyHall (as it is popularly known) has grown dramatically, prompting Hillman and DiMasi to consider relocating from their current digs on Strawberry Street. They hope to make the move in May. If they pull it off, they�ll not only put Philly on the coworking map � they�ll be in the vanguard of the coworking movement.

It was late 2006 when Hillman first heard of �coworking,� a work-culture experiment in San Francisco. He was beginning a career as a freelance Web developer and experiencing the isolation of working from home � he missed hanging out with the �cool, smart people� that were part of most of his office gigs. But he had no intention of going back to a company. He�d made more money moonlighting in his free time than in his last day job.

He spent some time networking, trying to sell the concept. In March 2007, his idea reached 38-year-old Web designer and University of the Arts professor DiMasi.
�I had a lot of experience with shared spaces in the artist world,� DiMasi says, stretching his lanky frame as he leans back in his chair. �When Alex was explaining it to me, I�m like, �I�ve been in this model for many, many years. Let�s talk.��

After persuading two dozen colleagues to share the space, the partners opened for business.

IndyHall offers three membership options: $25 per month for a basic membership, which gives you a desk once a month; $175 a month for a desk three days per week; and $275 a month for full-time members, who have 24-hour access. When the space opened, there were two full-timers and 27 others. A year later, the business had quadrupled its full-time memberships to eight. This March, full-time membership could have doubled again, but fell short because space ran out.

�In January, our reservation system � which had rarely been used � started blowing up,� Hillman says. �I asked other space owners, �Did you get a big influx, too? Is the economy helping you guys?��

It�s too early to know whether self-employment has been trending upward in Philly since the recession hit (between 2002 and 2005 � the last time data on entrepreneurship was collected � it rose from 13.5 percent to 15 percent). Meg Shope-Koppel, director of research at the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, says that �as recessions begin, some industries start using more contractual workers,� though �it�s not going to be a huge spike, because in some areas, businesses are failing.�

In March, Hillman and DiMasi held a meeting to discuss the influx. In front of a crowd of about 40, the partners unveiled their plan to lease a 4,400-square-foot space, more than double the size of the current office.

They admitted that the decision to move would be risky, since the company had just signed a 12-month lease on the Strawberry Street location. They could transform the smaller space into an �education center,� where members could teach or take classes. But even then, IndyHall would need the community�s full support before it could consider relocating.

As Hillman played a video walk-through of the new space at Third and Church streets, members whistled. They nodded at the idea of being able to earn additional income from teaching classes. One member waved a wallet above her head, promising to write a check as soon as she could.

By the following weekend, 17 people had upgraded their commitment or signed on as new members. In the three weeks since, total membership has increased 30 percent � to 68 members from 53. Even some non-members have offered to lend or give money.

According to Tony Bacigalupo, co-author of I�m Outta Here! How Coworking Is Making the Office Obsolete (Not an MBA Press), there are currently 70 coworking spaces in 30 cities globally. But Philadelphia�s venture is making strides beyond its peers.

�There was a perfect storm of circumstances that made it possible for IndyHall to be this far ahead of the curve,� Bacigalupo says.

Part of that storm includes the partners� willingness to reinvest in the space, he says. Neither Hillman nor DiMasi profit from the venture � �every penny� goes back into the business, for amenities and upgrades requested by the community.

Bacigalupo also credits the synergy of Hillman�s �millennial, change-the-world attitude� and DiMasi�s behind-the-scenes wisdom for much of IndyHall�s success.

The partners would tell you credit is owed to the community.

�The community pushes and it gets to the point where they�re pushing so much that we have to listen,� DiMasi says.

This �community� is comprised of workers from a variety of vocations � from computer programmers to PR consultants, designers to market researchers. Some came to escape isolation. Others came for networking opportunities. But for everyone, collaboration is inevitable: Full-time member Bart Mroz, for instance, runs a creative agency focused on e-commerce with other members. Gloria Bell runs a consulting firm for entrepreneurs, some of whom she finds at IndyHall.

Above the desks and laptops at IndyHall, a half-dozen starfish tear apart Philadelphia landmarks in a painting created by office manager Dana Vachon. The painting is inspired by The Starfish and the Spider (Portfolio) by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom, a manifesto on community-driven organizations and the impetus for Hillman and DiMasi�s vision of coworking.

The book posits that a unique evolutionary quality of the echinoderm represents a new way to organize business. Spider organizations, with top-down, centralized leadership and long, pluckable legs, can�t scurry far with their heads cut off. But sever a starfish�s arm and not only will it regenerate a replacement, but the mutilated limb becomes a new starfish.

�There is no centralized entity for coworking. You can�t kill it. There is no head to chop off,� Hillman says.

Perhaps that�s why Hillman and DiMasi are so confident about signing the lease on the new space. They admit the move is aggressive. But they believe it�s sustainable, too.

�At this point, the project has taken on a life of its own,� Hillman says.

Consider stopping by Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown that evening to catch just one presentation at the next planned IgnitePhilly speaking event. Or take those minutes and give a presentation of your own. The third in a series of Ignites was officially announced yesterday in a blog post written by Geoff DiMasi of P’unk Ave, who says that organizers are currently accepting recommendations from the community for potential speakers, 15 in all, before the May event.

“Are you working on a rad project, have something interesting to say or know someone that is?,” he asks in the post. “We are looking for inspiring speakers that are doing cool things in Philadelphia.”

Ignite gives presenters a chance to fire off the details of their ideas or projects in five minutes or less with 20 backing slides. No sales pitches or shameless self-promotion accepted. Still confused? Just watch the video presentations from the first and the second Ignites. It’ll take much less than five minutes to realize the potential to learn, share knowledge, and grab one of JB’s frosty, craft-brewed beers while you’re at it. Beer may seem like a side note, but its an integral point of contrast to the university lecture setting that the organizers are trying to steer clear of.

We called DiMasi to glean some additional details and found out why he thinks Ignite is 2009′s answer to Fugazi, after the jump:

Given the success of the first two events, which featured presentations about creative arts, media, startups, sustainability, tech, and more, one has to wonder why the organizers opted against upgrading to a larger venue. DiMasi tells us that they turned down offers for space from the Free Library and the idea of an outdoor event at a park in Northern Liberties, for the charged, excited atmosphere available at Johnny Brenda’s.

“It’s like the Fugazi or hardcore punk shows I remember going to. If you don’t make it in, it makes it that much more special for the people who did,” he said.

But don’t think that the organizers are leaving you high and dry. This time around, they’re planning on streaming video from the second floor balcony stage to an additional monitor upstairs, and hopefully, DiMasi says, to a monitor in the bar on the first floor as well.

It’s too early to tell who will be presenting, says DiMasi. The event’s organizers, which include representatives from P’unk Ave, The Hacktory, and Make:Philly, haven’t even officially met about the May event, yet. But DiMasi suggested that there’s a strong possibility of inviting several people already elected in his IgnitePhilly post. Brian McTear, executive director of Weathervane Music Organization, what say ye? Same to you, Habari developer Owen Winkler. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the competition (which DiMasi is quick to point out is no competition at all). Whoever it may be, DiMasi hopes that speakers are local to Philly, although he’s not opposed to innovators from other cities stopping by.

DiMasi hopes to wrap-up the engagement list by early April, so head on over to the comment section of the announcement and add your opinion. And if there’s no shame in your game, why not suggest yourself?

It’s been just over two-and-a-half years, and things seem to be working out for Independents Hall: the community is thriving, the success of the business model has made Philadelphia a cornerstone for the coworking movement, and the Strawberry Street office is frequently packed with workers.

However, it is that runaway success that has forced Indy Hall to make some tough choices about its future. The coworking company has filled membership to capacity and there are eight more people on the waiting list. In an effort to take the next step, owners Alex Hillman and Geoff DiMasi called a “Town Meeting” last night to propose their plans to 40+ members of the community packed tight into the Old City office space.

In short, Indy Hall will likely expand into a space that is two-and-a-half times larger than the current offices, and there will be an effort to create an alternative education system powered by the community. See all of the details of the new plan, including the exact location of the new offices, after the jump.

After brief introductions, Hillman displayed a presentation slide detailing membership statistics (see right). Hillman and DiMasi quickly moved to the next slide and asked the community for two things they enjoyed about Indy Hall and two things that they disliked. While most complaints, like dirty coffee mugs in the kitchen, were commonplace for any office, most members echoed the membership numbers presented by Hillman: The space is becoming too crowded and members are having trouble even having a private phone conversation. One audience member detailed the troubles he goes through to find a quiet spot to chat as listeners nodded silently in agreement.

Hillman confessed that he “sucks at saying no” to new members and after announcing new branding for Indy Hall, he began playing a video walk though of a proposed new location. The potential new office space will be located on the second floor of the Daniel Building at 3rd and Church street (Google street view). The space is two parallel 130 ft. hallways with a thin dividing wall in between them.

When the camera panned through the room, several audience members let out impressed whistles; the new space is two-and-a-half times the size of the current offices. Hillman said the plan is to knock down part of the wall to create an “H” shaped office. There were four bathrooms, three conference rooms, and plans for two kitchen areas. At end of the video, a simple slide with the word “discuss” was displayed, and Hillman and DiMasi took questions from the audience.

Indy Hall needs to come up with $18,000 that would cover the first and last month’s rent and a security deposit. While the current business can comfortably sustain the current space’s rent of $2,000 a month, DiMasi stressed that in order to move into a larger space, the duo needs to see support from the community. If no current members drop out and every member of the waiting list signed up for membership, Indy Hall would come close to covering rent for the new office, but additional cash would be needed for things like utilities and cleaning services. Hillman and DiMasi discounted any source of outside funding, expressing a desire to keep funding “inside the family” and to continue to contribute to the tax revenue of the city, not take away from it.

In an added set of complications, Indy Hall just renewed its current lease for the Strawberry Street offices in January for one more year. If their proposed timeline is accurate and every component works out, the business would move into the new offices in early May. Unwilling to fracture the Indy Hall community across two offices, DiMasi and Hillman proposed making the old offices a space for events and education while moving all members to the new location on Church St.

Details were scarce, but the duo imagined a new educational structure where members could teach classes on their areas of expertise and charge small fees that would pay for the space and the instructor’s time. DiMasi, a former professor at the University of the Arts expressed a desire to fix what he saw as a broken system of higher education, and envisioned that a class at Indy Hall would be a fraction of the cost of a traditional university. While an example of a recent Cocoa class was given, no other specific examples were detailed. They emphasized a standard of quality for events and classes promising only to use the Indy Hall space for events and classed that they would attend themselves.

The community did not need to be sold on the educational component. Instead, there were requests for specific plans of action as nearly everyone that voiced an opinion seemed ready to do whatever they could to move the expansion forward with. One member of the crowd shouted “I don’t have my checkbook, otherwise I’d write one.”

Hillman then asked members to help promote the coworking community to their personal and professional contacts and re-emphasized their reliance on an expansion of membership to make the new plans economically feasible. Moving forward, Indy Hall will meet with the owners of the office while continuing to gauge the level of community support, although no deadlines or timetables were set. Hillman mentioned that City Councilman Bill Green had been in attendance and has previously offered support to the organization.

In closing, Hillman confessed that “We are at a growth point that not many other spaces have had a chance to experience.” He wants to become one of the first coworking spaces to undergo this kind of expansion and offer Indy Hall as a model to future coworking efforts. The community seemed supportive, but wanted a plan of action moving forward, which Hillman and DiMasi said they would provide in the days to come.

After the buzz of the crowd died down, Hillman adjourned the meeting to National Mechanics for a beer. The community had reasons to celebrate.