[Hidden-tech] Seeking office space

[David Mertz, Ph.D.]

I took a look at the office space Jill, Darren, and Paul are trying to 
find folks for (below).  Unfortunately, after an initial "definite 
yes", they reneged (or at least vacillated) after they got some more 
calls about the notice, and probably saw the opportunity to try to bid 
up the price a bit (Admonition: Don't do that!).

So despite the slight bad taste in my mouth, I realized after looking 
at the space, that this is really exactly the sort of thing I could 
benefit from.  I am an independent consultant who now works out of my 
home office in Turners Falls.  For the most part, I am a writer, mostly 
about technical sorts of things (not exactly "technical writing", it's 
more in the computer science-ish direction than documentation per se); 
but I've also increasingly been drawn into a number of quite 
fascinating programming/consulting/software design type projects.  I'm 
lucky enough to be a fairly big fish in the fairly small pond of my 
particular areas of expertise, so it keeps me busy.

Nonetheless, I'm finding that the home office thing is becoming an 
impediment for me.  I've been pretty successful with it for about seven 
years, but it's becoming easier for me to procrastinate, and fidget, 
and generally for my attention to drift from whatever project I really 
want to be working on (not always paid projects--I do some feel-good 
volunteer/political things too--but either way getting stuff done is 
the goal).  I believe that a nice office space somewhere other than in 
my home would be a great aid to concentration, and to putting in 
billable hours and/or completing fixed-price projects.  As well, just 
the physical ergonomics of an office better wired and with less clutter 
from home-related objects would be mentally cleansing.

Ideal for me would be somewhere in Greenfield, or even in Turners 
Falls.  Possibly somewhere a little bit farther out, but Amherst or 
Northampton are more like a daily commute than a quick convenience.  
Some sort of shared space would be really nice.  I'm unobtrusive, 
well-behaved, and generally even tend to work at hours when most people 
are asleep.  But a certain friendly collegiality would be nice.  Even 
better would be someone with existing internet connections that I could 
just chip in on rather than needing to arrange new service.  However, a 
more separated space would still be useful for me to find.

Does anyone on the list know of any opportunities along these lines.  I 
know Greenfield has quite a bit of unoccupied office space; and I'm 
sure I can locate something through newspaper classifieds and real 
estate agents.  But finding something through more personal connections 
like this list (though my acquaintance with most members is not great) 
feels more homey to me.

All the best, David...
(email and 413-863-4552)


> Three local media professionals have teamed up and moved into an 
> office on
> Main St. in Greenfield.
> Our offices include two common shared spaces, 5 window offices, 2 
> inside
> offices and tons of potential! The current team at 277 Main St includes
> Jill Connolly (voice-over talent and musician)
> Darren Blondin (sound engineer and visual effects artist) and
> Paul Hake (interactive multimedia production and video game 
> development).