Coworking: It’s a Learning Space
This blog post originally appeared in  techvibes.com as part of a
series about Coworking around North America.
This week, we bring you a fairly new coworking facility
founded by Chad Ballantyne: The Creative Space – a casual
and laid-back place with a level of professionalism that is
perfectly suited to bring out creativity, productivity and
discipline while still including camaraderie. “The idea was to
have a place where people can relate, collaborate and
create,” he says. Nestled on Dunlop Street East by the water
in Barrie, Ontario, the space is in a prime location for
business start ups and entrepreneurs.
And like any coworking space, TCS includes the basic
fundamentals: a meeting room, kitchen, bathroom and high
speed internet. But the atypical placement of a foosball table
in the middle of the room ensures a relaxed atmosphere.
Fitting, as coworking spaces are meant to relieve some stress
from the home office.
Since the launch early last year, Chad has gathered almost
twenty full time tenants: graphic designers, a photographer,
children’s worker, public relations, social media marketer,
web developers, writers… and the list goes on. The wide
range of tenants gave us a bit of insight on how TCS is
helping their business run smoothly.
A business developer finds TCS very stimulating and
healthy, adding that it provides a level of
professionalism when talking to potential clients.
“I’m able to work but love that I can ask for help,
suggestions and opinions,” states another tenant. “I
have people around to ask a question or get help fo
problem I have searched tirelessly for the answer to
also am able to give back with my advice, experienc
and business savvy.”
In a space that is social and open, productivity
increased and networking was made easier as refer
were made out of the office. “I had no one to boun
ideas off of working in an office. Now I parade my
clients happily though our bull pen of creatives work
away quietly or loudly depending on the moment.”
that reason, coworking exists. It relies on a team of
people who make work social. Simply put, this is wh
coworking is all about.
“I’ve made a lot of new contacts, and I am constan
meeting new people. The interesting part is the way
that many of the independent businesses collaborat
refer, and piggy-back off of each other in a way tha
consistently generates new clients and projects for
almost everyone who enters the space.”
One tenant stated that working independently does
provide an opportunity to ask questions or learn fro
others. And perfectly rounded out that TCS is not ju
workplace but it’s a learning space.
Though a year of business has passed by, TCS’s on
year anniversary was April 9th to be exact – the
potential for the space is still a goal. The team hope
see a working pod for 3-4 coworkers to interact and
work. The expansion of TCS is always on mind. “It
would be great if it could keep expanding as I really
enjoy the creative environment and learning from
others.”
The possibilities of the Creative Space are vast and
endless. They believe that the coworking model will
guide most of the businesses in the future. “When y
think of all the positives to it, our clients are happie
we are happier; we have bigger bottom line results.
How could it get any better?”