
Austin chamber, tech guru team up to create startup center - tswicegood
http://www.statesman.com/business/technology/2383351.html
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edash
I just got a tour of the space...and I think it's going to be a great thing
for Austin startups. The startup scene here has been fragmented over the past
few years, with little pockets across the city in smaller coworking places,
creative spaces like 501 Studios, and smaller offices in downtown buildings
like the Omni. I think this space will really bring people together and gel
the Austin community in a way that hasn't happened before.

It occupies the entire 16th floor of the Omni, which is right in the heart of
downtown. It's also just a few blocks from the Austin Convention Center where
they host SXSW. Right now there are 60 dedicated desks and room for another
100 people for general coworking—and they have plans to expand to about 250
people total when they're fully up to speed.

I'm going to start there on Monday. If anyone has questions or is interested
in seeing the space, feel free to get in touch.

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garann
"The No. 1 challenge for tech startups in Austin and around the country is
hiring critical engineering talent," Baer said. "We are going to bring the
best talent here for all these events we will be having."

That seems like something of a leap of faith, especially if "these events" are
the same ones mentioned earlier in the article, i.e., they're geared toward
"entrepreneurs". Why would an engineer be interested in that sort of content
unless he or she were trying to launch their own company? And if they're
trying to launch their own business, of course, they're not likely to be
looking for a job. Sounds like another echo chamber where business people
congratulate each other on Austin's awesome tech community while avoiding
doing anything, you know, technical.

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edash
What classes or groups would you want to see in this space?

I'm guessing many of the existing tech oriented groups (Austin on Rails,
Austin.rb, et al) will start meeting there. Many of these groups already met
at the OtherInbox offices on the 8th floor. OIB is moving up to this new
space—so it's natural that those groups will move up as well.

There are also several (albeit more business-focused) groups like Refresh
Austin and Lean Startup Circle that have held meetings at Buffalo Billiards.
That space is not really conducive to meetings of any sort (it's loud, dirty,
and has few outlets) so I'm guessing those groups will move two blocks to the
new space as well.

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garann
I don't really have an interest in what kind of events happen in the space. It
appears to be a venue for business people so, as an engineer, what goes on
there doesn't really affect me. Neither of the groups I run is likely to be
able to afford to rent the conference room. I do, however, hope Refresh
doesn't end up there - in spite of its flaws, I like Buffalo Billiards for
meetups.

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ruedaminute
It sounds like something I would be interested in checking out. Regrettably
though it'll be less often than I would rather, simply because it's downtown.
I'm not sure I understand why, and why virtually all the tech meetups meet
downtown either. Almost all the programmers live in the north because that's
where our day jobs are...

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NathanKP
Sounds awesome! I'll have to drop by and take a look at it.

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zxypoo
Nice, Austin is a great city.

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regnum
How much is parking?

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edash
You are on your own for parking...but there are lots near the Omni available
for rent starting around $50 / mo. I believe most of the people working there
now rent spaces in the St David's lot a couple blocks away. I personally live
downtown and so I'll walk or ride my bike there.

