busy busy busy
As you probably know, Detroit’s industry is not doing so well. The upside of this is that there is a grassroots movement of entrepreneurs and freelancers picking up the slack. While working from a home office has many benefits, sometimes people who work alone all day start to go a little nuts. Even though we are more connected than we’ve ever been, it’s easy to feel lonely without other people present. I was introduced to the concept of co-working by my friend Naoko McCracken and I immediately recognized that this was something that was missing from my life. I’ve been working alone from home for almost a year now and my only companion is my whining, socially inept dog. I realized that when I started talking to myself a few months ago, something needed to change.
Last weekend I attended Startup Weekend Detroit and my friend @hubertgam suggested we go get lunch at Foran’s Grand Trunk on Saturday. They offer $00.50 drafts on weekends and have a good menu. His suggestion of a “quiet” gathering ended up being around 20 people.
The next day we decided to change scenery and go there to work since everything was so cool, so the technically-inclined members of our group headed over to the pub to get some work done.
The formula for success: A great atmosphere. Like minded-people. Cheap, excellent beer (drafts are all from Michigan microbreweries, including Bells, Dark Horse, Arcadia, and New Holland to name a few). Wireless internet. A place to spread out. Amazing food. Win. We got so much done last week that Lincoln and I—without a doubt, and with minimal discussion—knew that we would be doing this every Sunday.
Let me talk about Foran’s for a moment: They describe their food as “gourmet” pub grub. I have to agree. Whoever is down there slinging food in that kitchen knows what the hell they are doing. I’ve tried four different menu items now and everything has been fantastic. Their burgers are some of the best I’ve ever had (I don’t say that lightly!) and their brunch menu is amazing. I have been extremely pleased with everything I’ve had so far. The fact that they include all Michigan microbrews on tap is icing on the cake. We get to support our local economy and celebrate our state’s incredible brewers. The service is perfect as well; I felt bad for our server Sam, but she was a real champ. Since we were upstairs, she had to go up and down quite a few times to make sure we were doing alright in our own little private area. Many servers would have just left us to rot up there, but she just kept on trucking, and made sure everybody was happy.
So here we are, our first co-working Sunday at Foran’s. Five people besides Lincoln and I have showed up and the mood is upbeat. We’re getting shit done while also exchanging witty jibes, sharing funny stories, and eating great food.
Lincoln is working on a WordPress plugin, I’m writing, @brendaisbored is working on web analytics for her employer (US-Mattress.com), @thracks is editing a story on battery life by @cliff_forster, and @digitalvision was going down on a Dirty Blonde (ale!). @tjk421 also came to hang out and I taught @stijler about Tweetdeck, Tweetups, co-working, and just generally gushed to her about Detroit’s vibrant social media community.
All in all, I think it was a rousing success. Everyone was productive, laughs were had, and we’ll definitely be back.
See you next Sunday.
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