The week…month-in-review: The first weeks at juggleHUB
Yes, it still exists, our written week-in-review. For the past few weeks we switched to the spoken version, since that just seemed more appropriate. We stood in constant exchange with supporters and new people that were interested in the juggleHUB and were happy to explain and inform: „How long have you been open now?”, „How did the idea come about?” or just „What’s new at juggleHUB?“ In the future we’ll just say: Read the blog, man! No, of course not, but for those of you that have not (yet) come by we want to share a brief retrospect.
The soft opening
So, back to the question “How long have you been open now?” Exactly one month! On Monday, June 13, we opened our doors to the public for the first time and waited to see what would happen. And something happened – how exciting! People came by to see the juggleHUB and most of them even stayed to take advantage of their free trial day or to start their trial month. In the meantime we have undertaken some, more or less unnoticeable, finetuning in the space. Whereat it was and is important to us not to present you with finished, neatly styled rooms and then to say “There you go, this is the juggleHUB. Go ahead and feel at home already!” Our approach is more along the lines of “less is more”. Meaning: Less distraction, more space for creative freedom and your ideas.
The first coworkers
We admit, our website texts basically sound like an excerpt from the Coworking 101 Handbook: people with a multitude of experiences, backgrounds and professional know-how come together, inspiring each other and finding room to work together.
Sounds great in theory – and actually works in reality!
Our coworkers are a wonderful, colorful mixture: from conductor to start-up founder, from expert for user experience to wedding planner and coach, from journalist to IT consultant. And we’ve even had start-up teams come by who were interested in our team offices.
The first kids
Elo was his name – “our” kid number 1. And he would not be our last. Especially Tuesday and Thursday mornings are becoming increasingly popular. Which is not surprising, since on these days our „Plug & Play Dates“ take place, meaning, 3 hours of childcare for half the price, 15 €, when 3 kids are signed up. If the demand keeps growing we may even offer this format on other days as well. So it’s in your hands!
The opening party
Our actual opening – really official with red ribbon and champagne of course – was on June 24th. Yes, the hottest day of the year. Which didn’t keep you from attending in large numbers! On this day we literally floated through the juggleHUB like helium balloons. Fanny, who usually advises women entrepreneurs in all aspects of finances, single-handedly rocked our café, Lucas from the start-up Buah whipped up delicious smoothies, the artist collective CargoCult gave a tour of the artwork that was created in the juggleHUB, Lolita from Coaching Creatio initiated our conference room, the childcare area was overcrowded with happy kids and everywhere you looked were smiling, slightly sweaty faces. For this day alone all the hard work was worth it.
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The first interview
And suddenly you are asked to tell the world about yourself, your idea and your labor of love. With Elina and Theresia from the blog “Hauptstadtmutti” we talked about coworking with childcare, our path as founders and our personal experiences regarding work-life balance. The interview was recently publisced, followed shortly afterwards by an article about the three new coworking spaces with childcare in Berlin. Great stuff!
The first time as speaker at Tech Open Air
And suddenly you are asked to tell the world about yourself, your idea and your labor of love – part two. Last Friday Silvia was standing on stage at a satellite event of Tech Open Air and gave some insight into the founders soul. Title: Rising Female Founder Stars. Yes!
The first community breakfast
Who doesn’t love pancakes with syrup?? Last week we hosted our first juggleHUB “Eat & Greet”, a regular event where you can meet other coworkers, visit the space and ask us lots of questions. Everybody had a great time – so it won’t be long until the next “Eat & Greet”. We haven’t decided yet whether it will be the second breakfast edition or the first beer edition. We’ll let you know well in advance.
The first changes
We decided to add day and half day passes to our repertoire. Especially for those of you that want or need to bridge daycare gaps during the holidays, this is probably the best solution. Let’s see if we are right about that.
What else did we learn this week…err month?
Government agency logic part I: A stand-up display may only stand 1 meter from the wall of a bulding. Have you seen ours?
Government agency logic part I: Value-added tax on coffee: 19%. Value-added tax on milk: 7%. Ergo: Value-added tax on coffee with more than 75% milk: 7%. Okay.
Don’t water balcony plants in direct sunlight. You usually only make this mistake once. And then you go for a drive to the garden depot.
picture: Celia Topping