Tired of trying to work from home with your cat climbing up your leg and your neighbor’s dogs doing everything they can to destroy your eardrums? Then you might want to check out Work Nest, Concord’s first and only community co-working space.
It opened Sept. 1 at 85 S. State St. and already has about 15 members, owner Karina Kelley said.
But what is it, anyway?
Work Nest is simply a place for people to get work done. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a lawyer, a film student or an author, if you need an environment to do your thing, this is where you want to be.
It’s a monthly membership kind of spot, similar to a gym – only without the stench of stale sweat and bleach. For $125 a month, you get a floating or flex membership, which gets you 24/7 access to the building, use of any of the communal work spaces, use of conference and break rooms, free Wi-Fi and access to the printer and copier.
For $325 a month, you can get an assigned space in one of the several partitioned-off desk areas, a locker, a P.O. box, signage/logo representation in the office and all of the other things available under the flex membership.
Most of the members who have already signed up have chosen the flex option, Kelley said, and most people use the space a few times a week. “It’s one flat fee whether you come 40 hours a week or 80 hours a week or one hour a week,” Kelley said.
Jeff Kelley, Karina’s brother-in-law and CEO/co-founder of BevNow, an app that connects golfers to vendors on the course, said he logs about 32 hours a week at Work Nest. He was plugging away at one of the stations last week, handling phone calls and working on his computer.
“It’s great,” he said. He used to work from home and sometimes Starbucks, but he said this place is perfect for him to get stuff done.
And although it’s primarily a peaceful place for people to concentrate on work, there’s also cool programming that’s available to members, such as Yoga in the Nest, which is set to debut Nov. 2.
Yoga in the Nest is going to be a less-than-traditional “hipster yoga” session that Kelley hopes to have every Monday evening, in which kind of hip music – MGMT, Passion Pit, Vampire Weekend – will be the backing track. It will be led by instructor April Purinton, and prices will be discounted for Work Nest members.
The space also features many works by New Hampshire artists, in partnership with Flock Gallery N.H., an independent pop-up art gallery. People can buy any of the works they like, and the artist gets 100 percent of the money – Work Nest doesn’t take a commission or charge a fee of any kind.
The plan is to regularly host art openings, in which new art will be put up and presented to the general public as well as members. The next one will be Oct. 29 at 5:30 p.m., and New Hampshire Institute of Art alum Ali Keller will be the featured artist.
Work Nest is hosting a Pop-In Co-Working day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 29, where anyone who’s interested can pop in and see what’s going on. You can even bring your own computer and see how it feels to get some work done in the place. It’s a free event open to the public, but registration is recommended.
So far, Kelley said there’s been a wide swath of people using the space – entrepreneurs, lawyers, nonprofits, researchers – and most people tend to be Concord residents.
Some people, like Jeff Kelley, the BevNow guy, live elsewhere (Deerfield, in his case) and use Work Nest as sort of a base in Concord. Maybe you live in an area of the state that’s more out of the way or less conducive to getting work done and you need to meet with big wigs somewhere other than your attic guest room-turned office. Work Nest can be that place.
And even though it’s meant for work, it’s okay to relax a little bit, too – after all, you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder telling you to close Minesweep or log out of Facebook.
If you feel like taking a break from the seriousness of work, head to the kitchen area and try some pinball – just be courteous to whomever is working close by.
Thirsty? Crack a beer if you want – really, it’s okay. Or, if you prefer a caffeinated beverage at 8 a.m. instead, try the Nobl cold-brewed iced coffee, of which there is a mini keg in the fridge with a tap on the outside. Just leave a couple of bucks in the jar on top – it’s an honor system, so don’t be that guy (or girl) who ruins it for everyone.
Need to let off some steam? Grab one of the Nerf guns from the bucket in the conference room and shoot stuff. But again, just be mindful of the people around you – wouldn’t want to put someone’s eye out or anything like that.
Maybe you want to grab the guitar that sits by the entrance and strum some chords to help with writer’s block.
The main thing is to just use your judgment. This is a communal space, and everyone in there is there for a reason: to work.
Kelley said the place is generally unstaffed, although she’ll drop by every day or every other day just to see what’s going on. It’s up to the members using the space to sort of police themselves, she said, and be respectful of one another.
It’s a model that seems to be working out so far.
“It’s a really good culture of, you know, people being respectful,” said Jeff Kelley. “If someone’s on the phone, I’ll ask, ‘Is my call bothering you?’ ”
Dan Frost, who also works on BevNow, was getting stuff done last week too, and he echoed Jeff’s sentiments about the environment.
“Overall, great space, great people.”
There’s plenty more to learn about Work Nest, but of course we have run out of space, so you should check out worknestnh.com. There you can sign up, learn more about the programming and check the schedule of upcoming events.
Now get to work!
