Alex Hillman
better coworking, better business, and better communities
better coworking, better business, and better communities
Beyond the buzzword, my take is that community is all about creating experiences where people feel trusted, safe, & supported.
This collection includes my full back catalog of articles about exactly how to start, grow, and nurture a thriving community.
“the long term relationships that lasted was with a network of people – much larger than those in your current company”This quote comes from a history lesson by Steve Blank about how Silicon Valley came to be what it is.
Continue ReadingI wasn’t in the room for the conversation and breakout groups, but PSL held it’s reboot “fishbowl” last night.
Continue ReadingJoe Petrucci has taken a snapshot of the state of tech startups in Philly as this week’s feature on Flying Kite. He titles it an “underdog” story, an apt reference to a part of the Philly attitude that we know so well from our history.
Continue ReadingJust one more moment of brilliance from Indy hall members:
Continue ReadingI haven’t really had a chance to talk much about Code for America since the team was in Philly. I won’t go into what the program is or how it works, because frankly I don’t think I can do a better job than their about page. But I really enjoyed having the CFA fellows in town e...
Continue ReadingYesterday I shared my opinion that professional & personal relationships – not jobs – are the key to student retention in Philadelphia.
Continue ReadingAsk someone what they’ll remember about their job when they leave. What do you think the most common answer is?
Continue ReadingIndy Hall is growing, every day and in more interesting ways. We think a lot about how to grow something like Indy Hall. “More members” seems like the obvious answer, but we think it’s not quite that straightforward. We’re focused on growing deep, not growing tall.
Continue ReadingNerd Fort isn’t your typical coworking facility. We don’t rent out desks daily or hourly to whoever wanders in. We lease space on amonthly basis to good people, and focus on building a vibrant, active, helpful community. Of nerds.The fact that this group in self-identifies ...
Continue ReadingMy friend Thomas Fuchs, who also happens to be the author of Scriptaculous, also just authored a list of his “power tools” that he uses while creating badass webapps with his wife & co-conspirator Amy Hoy. He surprised me at the end – not because he’s wrong, but because I ...
Continue ReadingSpotted this on the new IgnitePhilly website in the about section. It was from a 2008, Philly’s first Ignite. It resonated deeply then and still does now.
Continue ReadingIn the summer of 2007, before Indy Hall was a place but was undeniably on the path of becoming a thing, we had a group of people who met on a semi-regular basis for a Junto, an event modeled on Ben Franklin’s “gatherings of mutual self-improvement”. P’unk Ave still holds them ...
Continue ReadingMy buddy Jonathan Finnegan (a.k.a. Finn, or that guy who Karaoke’d “The Humpty Dance” and “Just a Friend” with a broken arm at Cogaoke in years past) asked me,
Continue ReadingThere’s a handful of great creative industry job boards that aren’t specific to Philadelphia, and the ones that are here tend to be relatively underused or mis-populated. At the same time, Indy Hall has been decidedly pinned as a “source for talent”, while we actively avoid pu...
Continue ReadingPhiladelphia’s tech community is special.
Continue ReadingThis is a repost from the Coworking Google Group, because I thought it was useful enough to share here as well.
Continue Reading“So, what do you do?”
Continue ReadingLiving in a society where we encounter different backgrounds and professions in our daily routines makes for a more tolerant society; it also makes us smarter, more original in the ideas we have – and in the companies we create. – Steven Johnson
Continue ReadingEarlier in September, the Knight Foundation announced a program to bring $9 million to Philadelphia to fund projects and ideas that fueled the arts in Philadelphia over the next 3 years. After successfully executing a similar challenge in Miami 2 years ago, Philadelphia became...
Continue ReadingSome really good thoughts on Social Capital(ism) and related investment by Roger Ehrenberg came from a panel in NYC sponsored by Philly’s Goodcompany Ventures. Goodcompany CEO Garret Melby, who I enjoyed meeting after my presentation about organic team building at Entrepreneur...
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