How Not to Suck at Presenting
First Friday, Feb 6, 2015

Come on out for the first Spark Plaza First Friday event of 2015! There is free co-working here at Spark from 9AM-5PM. Donuts will be served at 9AM!

At noon we will be having lunch. Jose and motivational storyteller Thomas Dismukes will be sharing tips and tricks on how not to suck at presenting. Enjoy the Spark Plaza atmosphere and gain some of these rare and much needed skills.

For more information on other Downtown JC First Friday goings-on, check out Downton Johnson City’s Facebook Page

Thanks to all of you who came out to our first Startup Stories event! With over 70 people present, the evening was even more successful than we expected. About two thirds of those present were entrepreneurs, and one third were potential future entrepreneurs. Due to the great response, we plan to continue meeting together at least once a quarter. If you missed it, or want to relive the evening, check out the videos on the Spark Startup Stories webpage.

February Meetups @ Spark:
TriJS: Feb 10 @ 6PM

We still have a couple of office spaces available, so if you’re looking for a great space to work in 2015, come sign up while they’re still vacant. Don’t forget about our 5-day work passes if you want to give Spark Plaza a trial run! Email SaraBeth if you’re interested in either of these options.

We have a special request for you all this month. As we continue to grow we would love to spread the word about the good things Spark Plaza has to offer. If you have good things to say about us, do us a favor: say them (review us) here:
Google+
Yelp

Thank you! See you on the 6th!

The Spark Plaza Team

1st Friday October 3, 2014

Fall has arrived and so has festival time! We are going to bring in the season with a Spark Plaza Fall Festival party and an afternoon of gaming.

We will have coffee & pastries at 9AM and lunch from Red Pig BBQ at 12 Noon!  Please come join us anytime during the day and bring your computer and a friend. Starting at noon we will have an afternoon of gaming around the conference table! We will talk about the latest and greatest games and enjoy playing your current favorites.  Bring your old gaming console, your latest water cooled gaming rig, or your favorite card or board game.  We are going to celebrate gaming together!
If you haven’t heard about the downtown First Friday event make sure you check out their Facebook page here!  It is going to be a great evening with lots of things to do for the whole family.  We would love to see you all down there bringing in the fall season!

Spark Plaza is filling up fast for the season.  We still have a couple full time spaces available but you better grab them fast!
As you can see from the pictures in the side bar, we have a brand new look here at Spark Plaza, thanks to Inspire Business Interiors!  We would love to have you come check it out this Friday.  Come game with us, eat some great food and share in great conversation and fun times!  Have a good week and see you this weekend.
Jose, Shannon, Sophia, Olivia

Only 13% of You Will Attend This Talk
Friday July 18, 2014

Please come and join us this coming Friday at Spark Plaza for a free coworking day!  We will have breakfast provided for you at 9:00 AM and lunch for you at 12:00. Bring a friend, your computer, and come enjoy working and good conversation with others!

After lunch, Jose and Eric Olle, the founder of Immunonetics Inc., will be sharing about what probabilistic programming is.  They will be sharing what it is, how it can help your business, how it can help you make personal decisions, and ultimately how it can change the world.  They will be explaining why math is so important in every facet of our lives and we will be looking at several examples.  They will also be sharing how probabilistic programming can effect your websites SEO, what you order for dinner, and even how gene therapy could eradicate cancer!  Don’t miss this exciting talk by Jose and Eric as they have a lot of good things to say and share with us.

Hack-Sig is also having their monthly meeting this Thursday, July 17th at 6:00 pm here at Spark Plaza. As a reminder, they always hack after the meeting so be sure to bring your gear and join!

We are always looking for new geeky meet up groups to host here at Spark Plaza.  If you have a group and need a place to meet, please talk to us about it and we would love to help you out and host your group.

We also have several office spaces still available for rent.  If you are looking for a fun place to work we would love to have you join our team.  Please contact us soon if you are interested as spaces can go fast, especially in the summertime.

We look forward to seeing you all this Friday and hope you have a great week!

Jose, Shannon, Sophia, Olivia

Good News!  Isn’t it wonderful to hear those words??

In a time of uncertainty with the economy it’s fantastic to know there’s Good News.  This past Sunday, was one of those days.  The Johnson City Press released their annual Progress Edition and it was chock FULL of Good News!  You name the topic and Good News was flowing like water.  If you were discouraged about our city, it stopped after you read all those articles! 

I’m happy to say that Spark Plaza was among the Good News articles! (see attached) Our Good News spread to Peoria, Illinois.  Long story short, one facebook connection and an old College acquaintance of mine sparked another co-working space 600 miles away from Johnson City.  That’s pretty darn cool if you ask me!

And the Good News continues!  This Friday is Spark Plaza’s 2nd anniversary.  I can’t believe it’s been that long.  I still remember painting this place until 2 o’clock in the morning to get it ready for our grand opening April 1, 2009.  Since then we’ve been mostly empty, mostly full, added desks, seen people move on and new people come and NOW we’ve opened up another space right around the corner – LEVEL ONE (207 E Main Street Suite 1B).  This space is for folks that need a little bit more room.  Washington County Anti Drug Coalition is it’s first tenant – with more space available. 

We’d love for you to help us celebrate by dropping by this Friday April 1st from 9 – 5.  Free coworking and free lunch!  We have several desks open if you want to sign up full time.  Please join us, check out Spark Plaza or Level One. 

Let us know if you can come!

Now go spread some Good News of your own.

Last week, something special happened at Spark Plaza. 

On September 9th, about 13 junior and senior digital communication majors from Milligan College invaded Spark Plaza in search of life’s most important question.

"How in the world am I going to use my Communications degree to get a job!?!??!!"

So with coffee in hand, lots of questions and a hopeful heart, they visited with several of our co-workers.  They sought answers from a videographer, a web developer, a blogger, an interactive branding manager and a technology consultant.  "What exactly do you do?"  "How did you get into that?"  "How do you make your money?"  "What does a digital media job look like?"  "How about internships?"

Fun was had by all – students and professionals alike.  And we all left that day feeling a little more confident of the future.

Check out all the photos here: 

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=752803349#!/album.php?aid=19283&id=105491379497912&ref=mf

I really like the culture of co-working. 

It kind of reminds me of the X Games (hang with me on this one)…. when I watch them on TV, I get a sense that the athletes, though competing for number 1, really cheer one another on to victory.  When Jose and I started Spark Plaza, we never guessed that it would be so well received OR that someone would want to start their own co-working space over 600 miles away.  That’s exactly what happened….

Take a look at this article that was published in my Alma Mater’s alumni publication, The Milligan Magazine. Click here for article.

Congrats to Workflow Peoria and all the other co-working folks out there.