BLANKSPACES: Beats The Tough Times
Guest Post by Jacob Nahin of Media Kook
On April 16, workspace-provider and “business incubator” BLANKSPACES celebrated their one-year anniversary at its office off Wilshire Blvd. and Cloverdale Ave. in Los Angeles.
In tough times, BLANKSPACES is a rarity both the office-space market and the start-up sector. Many office-spaces on Wilshire Blvd sit empty but BLANKSPACES regularly rents out its private offices and workstations.
BLANKSPACES founder Jerome Chang said that the company has rented out half of its office-space.Chang said affordable, easy packages, a good location, and the company’s open-structure are some of the reasons for its success.
“We manage the space, we manage the infrastructure so that you don’t have to worry about that,” said Chang. “We are right around a FedEx, Kinkos … everything you need for a business.”
The packages offered by BLANKSPACES are all-inclusive. Some features provided by the company include 15 Mb down DSL, coffee, and a full-scale office printer.
Chang also said the company is getting ready to open another location in Santa Monica that could open as early as September.
The office-rental company has gained traction in their market by using social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Chang said many customers who have held events at BLANKSPACES came to the company through social media.
“Now we’re starting to see global collaboration that I think…the web 2.0 sect would be envious of,” said Chang.
The BLANKSPACES founder also said that he sees the company as a real-world version of LinkedIn.
“We actually put people face to face,” said Chang. “We do it on an everyday basis in the office.”
Chang said this goes in hand with the company’s mantra, “Work for yourself, not by yourself.”
BLANKSPACES currently rents to several tech-based companies including Waking Media and Media Bistro. Among other products, Waking Media develops scalable websites and uses the content management service Joomla. Media Bistro, an online community that aims to bring journalists from various media together for networking and collaboration, rents space from BLANKSPACES for creative courses.
Several charity events have also been held at BLANKSPACES including one for pancreatic cancer.
The company offers a variety of packages for customers including an option to rent by the hour or month.
BLANKSPACES opened their offices April 16, 2008.
For more information, visit www.blankspaces.com
