Hub Coworking Hawaii

Hawaii's Best Coworking Space

Nam Vu

Foreign Trade Zone

This morning I took a tour of the Foreign Trade Zone in Honolulu and the warehouse facilities there. I was quite impressed.

Some key points:

  1. It is run by the state, but is run like a business (they don’t get annual funding from the state).
  2. It’s kinda like coworking but for warehouse space. You pay for the warehouse space based on volume.  This means that you don’t need to pay for space you don’t need nor do you need to have staff, or a forklift, etc.
  3. Only goods that are imported or exported are allowed.
  4. You deliver goods there and store it and when you need to get some goods out you call them and they get it ready for pickup.
  5. Merchandise of foreign status  (before goods are cleared US Customs) can be stored in the warehouse for $.35 per cubic foot for the 1st month and $.15 thereafter.
  6. The FTZ is on US soil, but is outside of US Customs territory. If you import something and subsequently export it (internationally) you might be able to avoid paying customs import fees because technically it never reached the US. (This is my understanding of it.)

It sounds like a great program and fees seem really good.  So if anyone is importing goods or materials and needs storage space, look them up.

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

— Nam

COVID-19 Update

Aloha Hub Members,

As things are developing very rapidly, we wanted to update you on what we are doing here at Impact Hub Honolulu.

It has been amazing to see the community that has been built here at the Hub where we all truly care about each other’s well being both professionally and personally.  It is with this caring for the community that we put these measures and recommendations into place.

1. We recognize that some of you may need to come in for meetings, or quiet space or other reasons.  For now, we will continue to operate but we will remain flexible and ask for your understanding and support if additional changes need to be made.
2. Many people are practicing social distancing (keeping a distance of at least 3 feet) which can look like working from home a bit more. If your home situation allows it, we suggest you try it out. It’s about keeping all of us safe.  I know, we will miss you too, but we need to take care of ourselves as well as others.
3. We are asking everyone to not shake hands or exchange kisses.  No need to feel guilty about not shaking hands with someone and no need to feel offended if someone does not shake your hand.  With what we know now about onset of symptoms and people having it without displaying any symptoms, this is the best practise.  I will be either doing the one-handed Buddhist greeting or the full on two-handed Namaste.
4. We will be removing the dish drying rack.  Please rinse dishes and put them in the dishwasher.  We will be running the dishwasher more frequently.  If the dishwasher is running (blue LED’s on) please rinse the dishes and leave them in the sink.  We’ll put them in the dishwasher when it is available again.
5. Please wash your hands thoroughly and often.  20 seconds is how long it takes you to sing Happy Birthday.  It’s ok to waste some water for now.  Soap and water is perfect.  Biologists say regular soap alone makes the virus explode.  This is good practise all the time anyways.
6. Please be mindful of others and be aware that you may be an asymptomatic carrier.  You may be strong and healthy and from what we have heard may be mildly affected.  However, it is the elderly and others who are more at risk that we need to think about and help to prevent them from getting the illness.

Lastly, we ask for your support during this time.  We love our community and feel that everyone looks after one another.  During this period, we ask for your support to minimize the affects to our business to help us weather this storm.

If you can, please continue to support us by not cancelling your membership.  We understand if you need to, or if corporate tells you to.  No explanations needed and no judgements made.

Mahalo,

Nam

Please refer to these websites for additional information:

Hawaii Department of Health website
https://health.hawaii.gov/docd/advisories/novel-coronavirus-2019

Center for Disease Control (CDC)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

One Week Left to Invest in Impact Hub HNL!

By Nam Vu

Over the past two months we’ve been surprised and delighted with the amount of support that our friends, Members, and partners have shown for our Wefunder investment campaign.

Not only did you invest $150,000 into our growth, you supported us via social media, by telling your friends, by coming to our Hawaii Kai location sneak peek event, and so much more. All of your support tells us we’re on the right path towards building a more interconnected Hawaii with our new locations. These new locations will help us expand our network of resources for entrepreneurs, startups, freelancers, and the broader business community, fostering #StartupParadise here in the islands. Thank you for being a part of it.

We have just about a week left on our Wefunder campaign – so this is the crunch time. If you have not yet been able to invest, now is the time to do so. We are grateful for any level of investment you can offer (the minimum is $100). The funds will be used to build out our new Hawaii Kai location and beyond.

If you cannot invest at this time (or if you want to give us some additional help), please help us out by posting on social media to let other people know about the offering. Tap the following message onto your favorite social media platform, be sure to tag us (@ImpactHubHNL), and help us get the word out about our big plans.

Invest in Hawaii’s largest coworking space! @ImpactHubHNL is raising funds on Wefunder, and the goals are💥BIG💥 (11 locations across the islands 🌴 with 1 membership! ✅) Anyone can invest in a more interconnected network of Impact Hubs– learn more:http://bit.ly/impacthubhnl 💰

Thanks so much for your ongoing support of our team and our community!

Why Should I Pay for Coworking?

By Nam Vu

Believe me, I know the value of a dollar. My wife and I have been working independently for 20 years. We know what building a business in your garage is like and we know what it is like to operate on a shoestring budget.

So why would we help start a coworking space, and why do we think it is a good idea for people to pay to cowork? Why would anyone pay to cowork? The bottom line? It is in your best interest.

If you think I’m full of it and just trying to sell you something, then feel free to stop reading. BUT, if you follow me on this short journey, I think you will be surprised in the end.

I don’t need coworking – I can work from home and coffee shops

Sure, I’ve been there, done that.  Working at home is great… for the most part. And for the occasional meetings, a coffee shop does just fine.  Or does it?  Maybe five years ago, it was still OK.  But lately, trying to get a table at a coffee shop is just plain frustrating.  And then there’s the Wi-Fi which often does not work, or hobbles along when it does work.  And the fighting for power outlets….UGH!  More often, I have to reschedule meetings because of issues at the coffee shop  – think of the loss in productivity and the opportunity costs.

Working from home is great and we’ve done well for a long time.  The biggest challenge with working from home, especially if you are an independent worker, is stagnation.  There’s no one to share ideas with, no surprise conversations to spark new ideas, and no one to challenge those really bad ideas that you thought would be your lottery ticket.  The lack of collaboration and idea flow can eventually put you into a rut that could cost you a lot in the long run from missed opportunities.

The best way to grow a business is not cutting costs, but increasing revenues.  Keep your eye on the opportunities!

The Real Reasons to Cowork: It’s all about the community and the opportunities

Sure, there are a host of amenities and benefits to coworking at Impact Hub Honolulu:

  • Free organic coffee and tea
  • Fastest publicly available Internet in the state of Hawaii
  • Different seating for different workers (bean bags, couch, cafe table, etc.)
  • Showers (yes, we have showers)
  • More events than you have time to attend
  • Member pau hanas with free beer
  • and so much more! See our full list of amenities here.

When you come and check it out, you will find that we’ve spent hours and hours working on creating a space that is cool, inspiring, and uplifting.

But here’s a secret:  that’s not what we are building.  What we are building is not what you can see when you walk around the space.  Not the cooling blue concrete floor, not the beautiful murals on the walls and ceilings, and not the things that we provide. Although a lot of time and effort and resources have been used on these things, in the end, these are just part of the facilities.

What we are building is a community… an ecosystem and a place where serendipitous collaboration creates opportunities.  And it is not only about business and money.  It’s about ideas, wellness, and balance.  It’s about collaboration to make this world a better place, and sometimes starting first with ourselves.

As someone recently said to me, “I want to do well, by doing good.”  That stuck in my mind and now I use it all the time, and it’s become a focus for our company: Doing well, by doing good.

But, anyways, why would anyone pay for coworking?

It depends on what you are looking for.

For people who are new to coworking its about the facilities: Wi-Fi, desks, chairs, printer, meeting rooms, tea, coffee, toilets, etc.

Once you have coworked for a while, its about the community and the atmosphere and what it can do for you: an inspiring environment, events, introductions, collaboration, sense of belonging, friends, partnerships

Once you become a part of the coworking community, its about the community itself and what you can contribute: platform for events, sharing your expertise, mentoring, collaboration, sense of fulfillment

There is so much that still needs to be done, but I am so excited to be a part of this community.

Drop by and say hi and check out the space: you can schedule a tour here. 

A Message from our Cofounder, Nam Vu, about our Wefunder Campaign

Those who know me closely know that I have a deep seated desire to help people that came out of my search for the meaning in life during my contemplative days in high school. I’ve always looked for ways to leave this world better than I found it and have been involved in various service activities. After a while, adulthood set in and service took a back seat to creating a comfortable life with the goal of one day having enough comfort to be able to dedicate service as a full time endeavor.

Then came Impact Hub Honolulu. Being a part of Impact Hub Honolulu has provided me with the opportunity to be of service and at the same time build a sustainable and thriving business. It is that dream that I think many of us have but didn’t think could be possible. At Impact Hub we can do well while doing good. It is possible.

We want to spread this message far and wide and help everyone do well while doing good. We recognize that it is much more difficult to think about and act on your intentions to do good in the world when you are struggling with rent and bills. Our approach is to help everyone to do well so that we can all do good and change the world.

By providing a place where our members can focus on their work and leaving the facilities needs to us, by providing mentorship and learning opportunities to grow their practice, by providing opportunities to join us in doing good, we hope to enable our members to make their own social impact; to democratize the work of social impact and put in in the hands of everyone to do their small share.

To help us spread this message, our plan is to build a network of 11 Impact Hubs across Hawaii to create a network of social entrepreneurs in Hawaii who join the over 15,000 social entrepreneurs that are already in the Impact Hub network, the largest network of social entrepreneurs in the world.

Today we publicly launch our Wefunder campaign to raise funds for our expansion plans. This is an investment NOT a donation. You will receive your money back through a revenue share plus a return. There is an early bird special for the first $125,000 invested.

We chose Wefunder because it aligns with our community building focus and enables our community to invest in our success was well as benefit from our success.

Please take a look and share widely. Together we can make change.

 

Technology Update from our Co-Founder & Chief Geeky Officer

Nam VuAloha Everyone! Chúc mừng năm mới! (Happy New Year!)

It’s been a while since I have sent a message out and a lot has happened… Wait, that’s what I said last time! We have some great news about our technology and our facilities and we wanted to be sure to share some details with you.

New Copiers are Coming

We’ve ordered three new copiers that will be delivered by the end of February. The current printers have (mostly) served us well, but as anyone with a Chromebook knows, it’s not perfect. The new printers will support printing from all current platforms and provide more reliable performance for all of us. These new printers will also add security and privacy of documents – you will need to enter a personal code to release the documents in the print queue. Additionally, the printers will be on a service contract which will ensure uptime in case our resident copier repair tech (ahem, that’s me) is out. And YES, these new printers will have scanning capabilities. Copies, printing, and scanning will remain free for members.

New Door Locks

We will be installing a new door lock system. August (the current app-based lock system) has been really good to us and was a great starting option. However, the time has come for a more robust system. The new system will feature an access pad – to gain entry, you just need to hold your smartphone up to the access pad and do a little twist of your wrist. The new locks will not have a delay, so when the door closes after hours, it will immediately be locked. This will increase the security of our members and our shared space. As usual, this is only applicable to Unlimited Members who have access 24/7.

New Member Dashboard

In the coming months, we will be rolling out a new member management system to replace our current system. The new system will have a web-based and mobile platform so you can choose whichever option is more convenient. Like any new program, there will be an adjustment period to learn the new system, but we are optimistic that it will be significantly better overall. The primary driver of this change was for improved backend management: as we have grown, the current system became increasingly difficult to manage. Finally, apologies in advance – everyone will need to re-enter your credit card information when the new system goes live due to credit card privacy rules.

New Thermostats

You may have noticed that we’ve been changing out all of the thermostats for improved energy savings and comfort. The old thermostats could not be programmed efficiently or easily, which meant that the inside blower units were running every Sunday even though the building chiller was not providing us with cold air. The new thermostats give us complete flexibility in scheduling and gives us control of all of the thermostats from afar – all 14 of them. We will be changing the thermostats in Suite 200 very soon. Thank you for your patience – we know, it is COLD!

VoIP Phones

You may have noticed the addition of phones in the Small Meeting Room and the Boardroom. These are voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones and are for you to use like a regular phone – there is no need to dial any codes to get an outside line. Do you want us to install phones in the red London phone booths? Let us know.

Internet Connection and Wi-Fi

We’ve upgraded our connection to a full 1Gbps/1Gbps (that’s gigabytes per second, and yes, that’s REALLY fast)! Previously we had a 100Mbps burstable to 1Gbps – this means that it normally operated at 100Mbps, but if there is a need to go higher because of usage or demand, then it would burst up higher. This was super confusing because when you ran a speedtest, it would not show 1Gbps causing some of you to ask me, “What’s Uuuuppp?” I’ve recently transitioned to cloud storage for my personal files and photos and have been uploading 3TB of data to the cloud, which would have taken me 733 hours to do at home, which is about one month! Instead, it took me a total of about 24 hours to upload everything at Impact Hub HNL! For the fastest speeds, you can use the wired connection downstairs and in offices.

We also have a 300Mbps backup connection that automatically kicks in if our main connection goes down for any reason. We were careful to make sure that the two connections do not share facilities upstream to provide redundancy. Which means if there is a power outage at one of the facilities it should not affect both connections. Super geeky, I know.

We recently needed to move the main connection to a new server rack which required us to take the main connection offline. The backup kicked in as designed and no one even knew anything was being done.

The Wi-Fi access points we use are stadium grade/carrier grade. Translation: it’s the same equipment many stadiums use for Wi-Fi to provide service to a lot of devices in a confined area. It will easily provide access to 500 devices concurrently in our space.

All of this for you, our valued members! As always, if you have any questions, or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly.

Nam, Co-Founder and Chief Geeky Officer