We combined our 2nd Birthday with Member Appreciation Week! Without our loyal members there would be no anniversary to celebrate. Food, drink, champagne and massages were all involved in the celebration. We planned something special for each day of the week to show our members how much we care for them!
Free ten minute massages from Massage Therapist Adrian Ward for our members! Adrian visits Forge monthly and schedules massages for the Forge community. She is an amazing massage therapist and our members certainly love having her around!
Thursday: Cake + Champagne + Birthday Surprise
We surprised our members with Forge t-shirts for everyone!
Huge thanks to Pie & Pints for sponsoring a huge lunch for our members! Pizza and salad all around! It was a great time for members to relax and get connect with one another.
We take pride in the Forge community and want to share some of our favorite aspects of Forge with you:
OVER 130 FORGE MEMBERS IN OUR WORKSPACE
WE ARE A LOCAL COMPANY IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN
EDUCATIONAL AND NETWORKING EVENTS EACH MONTH (most of which are open to the public!)
CONFERENCE ROOMS THAT ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Do you work from a home office or coffee shops? Do you want to increase your productivity? If you’d like to schedule a tour of our space, email us at info@workatforge.com. We’d love to answer any of your questions about memberships or meeting spaces. Join the Forge community today!
Looking for a board meeting or offsite meeting for your group can be tricky. Most people will call a hotel to book a meeting room but there are several reasons why scheduling your meeting in a coworking space is much easier. Coworking spaces can usually accommodate a wide range of group sizes- from very small to large. For conference rooms, meeting space and event space, a shared workspace offers a superior experience compared to hotels for a few reasons.
4 Reasons Why Booking a Conference Room at a Coworking Space is Better:
1. Extraordinary Service
Hotels are primarily focused on renting rooms and larger event space. But coworking spaces concentrate on creating a great experience in their meeting space for both the host and visitors. Coworking spaces have dedicated staff to plan and execute your meeting well. At Forge, our staff is available to help connect your device to our TV, make coffee, provide drinks and snacks and much more.
2. Easy Reservations
When booking a meeting space at a hotel, usually there will be multiple people you will be contacting. Coworking spaces make the booking process as easy as possible. Through the Forge website you can directly book a conference room and see the availability for each room on the synced calendar. Nonmembers and visitors can seamlessly book a conference room by the hour through the website.
3. Better Accomodations
Coworking spaces have innovative space and their staff thinks through each detail of what is required for a smooth meeting. At Forge, all of our meeting spaces are equipped with a TV (connectivity with Apple TV, HDMI cords and bluetooth) , whiteboards, and includes wi-fi. And the best part about it, you are not charged extra for the use of these items. If you want, you can easily add snacks, drinks and coffee to your reservation.
4. Natural Light
Don’t underestimate the importance of natural light in a workspace or meeting room! Natural light significantly improves productivity and overall mood. The Forge workspace is filled with natural light and we believe its vital. Using a conference room in a hotel room is usually dark with only overhead light and there is a significant difference with a bright, airy space.
Because we often have visitors returning to our conference rooms for offsite meetings or board meetings at Forge, we now offer a package for meeting rooms. By purchasing a package, you’ll get a discount!
10 Hour Pass for the Cahaba or Vulcan Room : $280
10 Hour Pass for the Penthouse Room : $400
5 Hour Pass for Cahaba or Vulcan : $150
If you need meeting space, you can book a room at Forge for group sizes from 4 to 30. We also have event space available for groups of up to 100 people. Book directly here! Or give us a call at 205-870-7558 and we can answer any questions.
One of the best things about Forge is the diversity in our community- so many different companies and career paths. Krystal Pino joined the Forge family a few months ago and she has such a unique story! Read more about her company and how it allows her to travel the world!
1. Tell us a little bit about what you do!
I run Nomad Tax, a tax consulting firm for individuals and small businesses with a focus on digital nomads.
2. Tell us about your professional journey and what personal experiences led you to start Nomad Tax.
The first 10 years of my career were pretty vanilla. I went to school, got the internships, took the exams, worked in the firm, etc. A little over two years ago, I was having drinks with a friend and he was telling me about a friend of his that was going on this work/travel program – 12 cities in 12 months, all over the world. I was intrigued, so I applied and got in.
I left my cushy job, sold everything I owned and hit the road. I worked remotely while traveling to 33 countries in 2 years, and I noticed along the way that there were a lot of location independant workers like me that were looking for tax advice. Eventually it became to much to ignore, and I started Nomad Tax to serve the community.
3. You told me that you have worked in coworking spaces all over the world- tell us about one of your favorite cities you’ve lived in and why.
This is such a hard question to answer! There are so many beautiful places in the world, and they all offer something different! I guess I find myself drifting back to Mexico City, Cape Town and Medellin the most. All three are full of friendly people, great food, green spaces, and are cities with easy access to a lot of outdoor activities.
4. Whats your day-to-day like?
Every day is a little different, as I’m sure most of you reading this can attest to. I do like to have a slow start to my day… sleep in a bit, make some breakfast (scrambled eggs with Tabasco), do prelimiary email checks and prepare for my day. After that I’ll hop on my scooter and make my way to the coworking space, where I spend the majority of my day on the phone consulting with clients. Around 1430 I realize I’ve forgotten to eat, but I hit the gym (Wheelhouse Academy) around 1530 most days, so I’ll snack on something instead (or get a burger and tots from The Standard, although I never finish my tots).
After the gym, I circle up on items left from the day and make a list of what needs to be tackled the next day. Once I close my laptop, I like to hop on my scooter for a ride through Railroad Park, a beer at one of the breweries, or take in a Barons game. If I’m feeling particularly introverty, you’ll find me buried in a book, most likey Stephen King or Gillian Flynn.
5. Why did you recently decide to move back to Birmingham?
Moving countries every 3-6 weeks on average can wear on your soul. You’re constantly in the growth zone as you put yourself in new and uncomfortable situations as a way of life. I knew I needed to take a break for my own emotional and mental health, plus slowing down would give me a chance to really focus on building Nomad Tax. I considered Mexico City, Chiang Mai, Lisbon, or maybe Sofia as good spots for this, but when I visited Birmingham for a few weeks while deciding, I realized how much I missed this city and the people in it.
My standards for quality of life are pretty simple: good food, good people, good wifi. Birmingham fits that mold, so here I am! At least for the next few months… then I’ll be off to go around the world and back again.
We can all agree that having a commercial business address will make you look more professional. And a Virtual Mailbox membership is an easy way to get your business address. But what does a Virtual Mailbox really entail?
A virtual mailbox service like Anytime Mailbox offers a permanent business street address for receiving mail. Once mail is received, the mail is scanned and an image of the mail envelope is uploaded into your digital mailbox account. You can then view and request to have selected mail pieces opened and the contents scanned or shredded.
You can also have your mail forwarded to another address, which is useful if you receive your new credit cards, driver license, or passport. With a virtual mailbox, you can essentially read and manage your mail online from anywhere in the world.
The Top 4 Advantages of a Virtual Mailbox:
1.Maintain a mailing address that never changes even if your physical location changes or if you move
2. Store digital mail documents for future reference or for tax purposes
3. Automate tedious administrative tasks when it comes to snail mail and package delivery
4. Simplify mail processing by centralizing all your mail in one single location without having to deal with mail being sent to multiple offices or people
A virtual mailbox is an affordable option for small businesses and startups! You can have the appearance of having a physical office without the need to have a commercial office space.
Virtual offices are also ideal for people who run a business out of their home office and want to keep their personal information private.
Click here to see more information about a Virtual Mailbox membership at Forge through Anytime Mailbox.
After opening in September of 2017, Forge has grown and changed more than we could have imagined! We’ve learned so much over 2018 and thought it would be fun to recap the highlights of the Forge family over this last year.
We’ve saved a lot of entrepreneurs and remote workers from overcrowded, stuffy coffee shops. Our members love coming to Forge’s atmosphere with an unlimited supply of coffee and tea- plus a fun community of hustlers!
here’s what Forge can save you from
The size of the Forge family has continued to grow over 2018!
In January, we had 67 members.
In December, we have 121 members!
We have nearly doubled in size.
Celebrating Forge’s 1st birthday with some members and friends.
This year we hosted 22 educational Lunch & Learn events!
Josh Andrews of Gatehouse Law teaches at Forge each month.
In 2018 we hosted 12 Free Fridays for the public to come work at Forge! Free Fridays are the perfect time for people to try out coworking and experience the environment at Forge.
Forge also hosted 4 pitch night events to learn about new Birmingham businesses- Your Big Idea.
At Your Big Idea, three businesses present their big idea for feedback from the audience and panelists. It’s not a competition but an opportunity to support the growing businesses in Birmingham!
Your Big Idea: a pitch night for Birmingham businesses.
We organized 5 Founders Fridays to hear the journey of different Birmingham founders.
Erin Holtz- Founder of Pure Fitness
Not only do we focus on educational events to serve our members but we host lots of the fun, networking events. Along with several happy hours, we’ve also held yoga and pilates classes. The wine and chocolate pairing event with Match Chocolate was one of our favorites!
Kala Northrup- Founder of Match Chocolate
Free pilates class taught by Club Pilates
We love celebrating holidays around Forge- it’s a great excuse for a happy hour or friendly competition between Forge members!
Decorating pumpkins at Halloween
Pie competition to celebrate Thanksgiving
Holiday party with Forge friends and homemade eggnog
We’ve also doubled our monthly conference room bookings! Forge opens up its conference rooms and meeting spaces for both members and visitors.
The Vulcan Room with seating for 8 people
We truly love building the coworking community in Birmingham and connecting with entrepreneurs across the city. We can’t wait to see how the Forge family grows and what’s in store for 2019!
If you’re interested in trying out a Coworking Membership, join us in January! Buy one month and get the second month FREE! Email us for details: info@workatforge.com
