by: Brian Bassett At 804RVA, we're always working to get our coworkers to meet and know each other and find work and social connections. In this new series, we'll ask five questions of 804RVA coworkers to help you get a better sense of who's who around the office. Next up, hacker extraordinaire Jeremy Weiland of 6th Density! What keeps you busy while at 804RVA (what's your job)? I write custom software for clients and work on my own web application products. How would you define coworking?Co-working is how self-employed people have co-workers. It's a way to get some of perks of working for a firm like peer feedback, conviviality, and outside-the-home office space without having to be an employee and make somebody else rich. How did you begin coworking at 804RVA? I had been interested in coworking ever since my friend Jim showed me Lightbulb Coworking in Charlotte, NC. I dipped my toes into the jelly concept a bit in 2010 and put my contact info on the Jelly wiki. Later, some fellow developers and I were looking at opening a communal office, and Larkin reached out to me just before we got serious about it. Now we have the benefits of working with a larger community while having a space for us to go heads-down on code. Who is someone you would have likely never met, but have really enjoyed getting to know at 804RVA? So many of my developer friends have been joining that I haven't really gotten to know anybody new at 804RVA, but I certainly look forward to it. What's your favorite thing about coworking at 804RVA? A permanent location for the Central Virginia Ruby Enthusiasts Group, our Ruby user group that had to beg around for meeting space before many of us became members here. I am an entrepreneur and a hacker (more software than hardware-unless duct tape counts). I am currently involved with BitFog in technology development, CiiService inenergy management & mechanical services), EZMService (legal data provider), Scoutly (speeding ticket website), WillowOaks (office building), and woob (CRE management website). Multilingual (english, GWT, C, php...), still reads /., and still amazed RSS never caught on. My Likes include FOSS, startups and domain names. My dislikes include observation bias, combat drones, and software patents. I was born in Florida, raised south of RVA, and went to engineering school at UVA. I worked at NASA (though I wasn't an astronaut). Next, I took a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (where I was not a football player) and later went on to start my current company, BitFog. I have a loving life with my wife Lisa, son Luke (9), daughter Megan (6), and goldendoodle Wally (10). by: Brian Bassett At 804 RVA, we're always working to get our coworkers to meet and know each other and find work and social connections. In this series, we'll ask five questions of 804RVA coworkers to help you get a better sense of who's who around the office. Since Matt mentioned him the last time we did it, next up is Jonathan Kuhn of RDA Consulting! What keeps you busy while at 804 RVA (what's your job)? I am a freelance statistician. There are mainly two things that take my time: Creating algorithms to identify unusual or interesting ordering behavior in the pharmaceutical industry and the design and application of business enhancing statistics in the medical, pharmaceutical and finance worlds. How would you define coworking? Working around, learning from and being entertained by other motivated and effective people without the burden of competing against them. How did you begin coworking at 804RVA? I decided I needed to get away from my dining room table and be around other people. Initially, I thought it would just be for a few weeks until I could find an office to rent. After a few days I stopped looking. I realized I would waste all my time trying to make an office half as comfortable as 804RVA. Who is someone you would have likely never met, but have really enjoyed getting to know at 804RVA? I wouldn't know to start to answer this. I would not have met any of the consultants, developers or entrepreneurs I have met here. I have learned to see business from many new perspectives working here. I find it very fascinating and very rewarding. What's your favorite thing about coworking at 804RVA? It is great having an opportunity to meet new people and network on a daily basis. It is also really nice to be around others who have work to do. Seeing others work makes it much easier for me to work. I would never have believed that working hard could be contagious. Learn more about how Jonathan's statistical strength can help you via his website. "I am an art director, currently pursuing my masters degree at the VCU Brandcenter. I enjoy using my imagination and storytelling abilities to solve problems. The things I make are generally an extension of my weird and absurd tendencies. I like to involve myself in as many projects as I can, analog or digital. The chance to learn something new is what keeps me going day-to-day. Additionally, I am a freelance designer, where my specialties include graphic and web design, branding, and ideation. " If all goes well this is my first contribution to the 804RVA blog! By way of introduction I was born and raised Richmond. A graduate of VCU and four time software entrepreneur (in various ways) over the last decade plus. My current passion is trying to drive the startup community of RVA forward with a new accelerator for high growth businesses. While that may or may not happen I can say that my work of the last 9 months to that very end has revealed one inescapable fact. The key to having a vibrant startup ecosystem is community. And as far as I am concerned that is what 804RVA is all about. So, a big thank you to Larkin for letting me join in on the conversation and I will try to do my part to build the vibrant community we all want and need. Ben manages technical sales at Cloud One which is an IBM business partner who offers software development and project management solutions in an on demand model. He previously worked for IBM in the US and India as a software developer, agile/Scrum Master consultant, and technical sales representative. Outside of work, he loves digital photography, playing the violin, mixing cocktails, cooking, camping, SCUBA diving, and traveling the world with his girlfriend. His insatiable love of freshly squeezed orange juice knows no bounds. Crystal Street’s professional hats include Documentary Photographer, Commercial Multimedia Producer and Writer. Crystal studied visual communications and photojournalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has worked throughout the developing world documenting communities and the cultural preservation of displaced populations. Her documentary and journalism photography work has taken her across the US and around the world to locations including India, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia and Italy. Her commercial clients include Nissan North America, Whole Foods, Special Olympics, ATMC, Junior Achievement, World Bank, TerraSoft Organics and Oregon Public Broadcasting to name a few. Crystal is also an avid espresso drinker, people watcher, coffee shop hound and loves to get lost for hours in the darkroom. Twitter: @crystaldstreet Website: Visual Storyteller by: Brian Bassett At 804 RVA, we're always working to get our coworkers to meet and know each other and find work and social connections. In this new series, we'll ask five questions of 804RVA coworkers to help you get a better sense of who's who around the office. First up, Matt Sadler! What keeps you busy while at 804 RVA? My primary occupation is as an IT consultant specializing in a product called Microsoft SharePoint. My consulting is based in the Washington working with Federal clients, but my job provides me the freedom to work a few days a work in Richmond. I also work as a public relations consultant with a small company that I co-own called Monkey Dish Media. How would you define co-working? Co-working is about people from different companies and different industries working together in the same space. Working together is more than sitting next to people, it’s about sharing ideas. It’s about bouncing ideas off of the graphic designer, talking communication with life coach, and learning about profit margins from a general contractor. How did you begin co-working at 804 RVA? For me, it was simply about the math. I live in Midlothian and my kids go to school in the city. For me to drive them in to the city, it would roughly be an hour round-trip, 30 minutes each way. Finding a place in the city would save an hour of driving each day. I quickly realized the social aspect that I was missing at home, was now available to me a 804 RVA. Working near people made my day go faster and left me feeling energized. Who is someone you would have likely never met, but have really enjoyed getting to know at 804 RVA? Jonathan Kuhn of RDA Consulting. Jonathan is a developer and statistician extraordinaire. I guess I could have met him because our circles overlap, but I would have never had the opportunity to learn so much from such an intriguing fellow. I hate math and yet I can talk about statistics with Jonathan for hours. What's your favorite thing about co-working at 804 RVA? It’s fun to go to work there. I put on some music, greet my friends as they come into the office. It’s somewhere I enjoy doing work. If I’m not in the mood, I don’t go in. It’s up to me and I like it that way. Learn more about Matt on his website, or hit him up at @TheMarinara on Twitter. |
Larkin Garbee
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