Eric Von Blon

Member Since: The beginning

If you have been in Office Nomads, you have met Eric.  It would be near impossible to miss him.  He’s a bit of a favorite around the office.  In the early morning he is the one who comes in and makes Office Nomads presentable for all of you.  He is also known for cooking up some mean waffles which pairs nicely with the hot coffee he gets going for all of you.

Eric came upon us after a long friendship with Jacob and a serious need for a place outside of his home.  Jacob told him about his plan to open Office Nomads and Eric jumped. “I had been working from home for 8 months and was going absolutely mad. It was really serendipitous.”  And so, Eric showed up and has been part of Office Nomads ever since.

In actuality Eric is trained as a Circuit Provisioner.  “I wouldn’t know where to begin to actually explain it,” he confessed.  The quick explanation involved ordering, tracking, and turning-up telecommunication circuits.  Yes, turns out Eric is a complex individual.  He is on the hunt now for a fresh gig in that field and until then he has taken up many activities to fill his time.  He does Quality Assurance work for Ryan Salva and Capitol Media.  That entails reviewing the websites they have designed and making sure nothing is broken.  At the same time he is a rock star in the house cleaning biz.  A number of Nomads have hired him and have welcomed Eric to work shirtless (yup) to make their homes sparkling.

If you haven’t befriended Eric yet, you really should.  He always seems to be involved in interesting stuff.  Many of us have seen the photos of him from the Zombie Walk in Fremont.  The cocollage features him taking a bit of Jacob’s head, it appears.  He acts as Fire Safety for Fire Spinners of Spinnery Arts.  That really means that he makes sure that nobody is lit on fire or hurt in any other way so, in other words, he’s the most important guy to have around when playing with fire.

Next time you’re in Office Nomads, make sure you chat up Eric.  Maybe he’ll make you waffles and tell you about the fancy chickens his mother paints.  Maybe you’ll hear a funny story from Burning Man.  Whatever the topic, it’s sure to be interesting.  That’s just how Eric rolls.

Over the years, we have heard many work-from-home stories from folks who come through our coworking space.  Many start with “I love working from home, but…” followed by a long pause.  It seems everyone has something that makes working from home not work for them.  For some it’s the isolation of being alone all day without enough human interaction. For others it’s being a work-at-home parent with a child who doesn’t understand that “mommy’s working right now.”  And others got tired of waiting for their cat to come up with their next great business idea.

For whatever the reason, many work-from-homers need a break from time to time and that’s where we’re excited to come in and help out. Whether you need to escape the drudgery of the home office once a week or full-time, Office Nomads has some great options you can mix and match to fit into your schedule and budget.  Take a look at our updated membership & pricing page, and then switch back here for an example of what we are talking about.

A real world example

So, you’ve finally got your consulting business up and running, and things are going well.  You’ve got several clients, but are still looking for more.  You started up out of your living room, and occasionally head out to the coffee shop when you want to shake things up.  You are still excited to be your own boss and yet also feel like you’ve plateaued.  While seeking something to break the stalemate you look into coworking.

You don’t need a full-time office, but dropping in a few days a month would really help revive your productivity.  You decide to give things a try and sign up for a Basic membership at Office Nomads ($50/month).  While chatting with Alexandra at the front desk, you learn about Biznik, a Seattle-based networking group for indies just like you.  You whip up your free profile, go to a few events, and soon realize the value of upgrading to a Biznik Pro membership ($10/month).  Now you are gathering clients faster than ever, and more and more people know who you are and what you’re all about.  Realizing that you might want to register your consulting business someplace other than your home, you add a Business Identity Plan to your membership at Office Nomads ($35/month).

One month later, you’ve got an impressive new office to bring your clients to, a vibrant community of coworkers to collaborate with, a wider network of independent entrepreneurs to learn from, and a professional address associated with your business, all for less than $100/month.

Sounds pretty awesome, eh?

Again, check out our updated membership and pricing page, and then mosey on over to our list of friends & partners to see what other opportunities membership at Office Nomads might bring!

Thanks to Flickr user Fayez for use of the beautiful photo above under the Creative Commons license.

The summer open house is going to ROCK! Please join us this Thursday, July 8th from 6-9pm for an evening of photography, info on sharing resources in Capitol Hill, and all the usual shenanigans you find during our quarterly celebrations. RSVP here and let us know you’re coming! Here are all the details on the fun:

• New art! We are incredibly pleased to welcome Youth In Focus to the office walls for the next several months. Youth In Focus is a fantastic Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to empowering urban teens, through photography, to experience their world in new ways and make positive changes in their lives.  As part of the Blitz! Capitol Hill Art Walk, we’re incredibly excited to host this new round of art!  You can read more about the featured show by clicking over to our Featured Artist page.
• Zipcar in the House! We’re not the only ones in town who think that sharing resources (like offices) is a great idea. We’ve teamed up with Zipcar to offer great discounts to our members, and hope to step forward even more to inspire our Capitol Hill neighbors to share with one another. Sharing resources like cars and offices means that we can each make less of an impact on the planet as an individual. Come and chat with the good folks at Zipcar at our event to learn more about what they’re doing in Seattle and in other great cities across the country!
• Coworking Seattle Meetup! If you’re interested in joining in for a great pre-event, please join us for the Coworking Seattle July meetup. Our group will be talking about great opportunities to share marketing costs, and how our little organization can help to promote coworking throughout our great city. You can RSVP via the Facebook Event if you’re up for joining us!

That’s about it!  If you’d like to join us, you can RSVP to let us know you’re coming (and help us determine how big the keg will be!).  All are most welcome, so bring a few friends along and make us a part of your summer Thursday night.

**Important PS: We’ve got A/C, so if you’re out there sweltering in the new-found Seattle heat, come on in for some relief and a cool refreshing drink.