The Introduction
I have lived in this wonderful city on and off for about 6 years now. I love that my current neighborhood is situated near a few major lines of transit, numerous shops and within walking distance of some of Toronto’s most beautiful greenspace.
The Problem
However, there is a dark side to Toronto. And no, I’m not talking about Parkdale late at night, or Queen Street in the early hours of a summer morning (which can be a rather eye-opening experience on its own). What I am talking about is the proverbial shaft that tech organizations in Toronto are getting when it comes to meeting space.
As someone who has desperately looked all over the downtown core for such a thing, I should know how hard it is find. Nay, it is nearly impossible. I’ve been consistently met with the same answers: a few hundred dollars here, a few thousand dollars there, nevermind the additional costs that are associated with such a request. It’s enough to discourage anyone.
I am writing this blog post because I want to bring to attention the lack of infrastructure that is available to entrepreneurs in this day and age. What baffles me the most (and angers me at the same time) is that there are organizations that exist in this city, that while they are funded by government programs or are so prolific in their nature, are perfectly content with charging exorbitant rates (and the negative publicity that comes along with it) just to use their space.
An NPO simply cannot afford those rates, making their entry into the already competitive market they are in even more so difficult. An NGO with very little seed money cannot afford it either. Why, you’d have to be funded with a large amount of money to even consider approaching these establishments!
The Solution
What the tech community needs (and the organizations that make up that community) is a meeting space collective that is:
- Created by the community, for the community, and of the community. The collective would be supported by its members who would be required to pay a small yearly membership fee (to help pay for marketing costs).
- Large enough to fit a crowd of 500 people in a theatre setup, taking into account room for any tech/AV equipment.
- Environmentally friendly. From energy efficient lighting to bike racks, food disposal and only partnering with responsible organizations from our local economy.
- Affordable. That means charging a small hourly/daily rate for the use of this room. NPO’s would pay a smaller hourly/daily rate and be exempt from paying the yearly membership fee.
- The space should be flexible enough to be transformed into smaller rooms if necessary.
Managing the Space
- Space is reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis through a web-based reservation system. Building such a system using a framework like Ruby on Rails would be relatively simple (difficulty and amount of time required would be dependent on scope of application, and what features would be necessary).
- Each member would be assigned a keycard so that they may access the space as per their reserved meeting time.
- Garbage in, garbage out. Each member would be responsible for leaving the space as clean as they found it. Garbage disposal units would be located throughout the facility.
- Members would have access to basic meeting requirements such as whiteboards, markers, etc. Access to equipment such as projectors or screens would also be provided if requested.
These are simply some very rough ideas that I’ve come up with in a first look at the problem.
Call to Action
Tell us your side of the story. Are you looking for affordable meeting space? Are you a business owner in Toronto? Agree? Disagree? Please post up your thoughts in the comments below. ↓
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