The Impactory

Our in-house journalist Katie Nail is following some of the exciting happenings at The Impactory. Read more, below.

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Many things make The Impactory a great place for entrepreneurship, business, and enterprise. Our members, the decor, coffee, and the spirit of the place all contribute to its innovative community. One of the many ways our members “plug in” to the Impactory community is through coworking.

Coworking is sharing a workspace with other people involved in independent work activities. The people sharing the space are not working for the same company but are sharing a space for collaboration, socialization, and their independent work. While every person is working on his or her own business, the effects of working with like-minded individuals is often significant.

To better demonstrate the power of coworking, we’ve interviewed several of our current coworkers and asked them why they like working at The Impactory.

Will Mernagh has been living and working in Luxembourg for almost two years. He writes code for Iora Health based in Boston. When he moved to Luxembourg, he began working remotely. “I would definitely recommend it,” Mernagh says of The Impactory.  “They have a clear distinction between quiet space and social space…it has everything you need.” Because he works east coast hours, he only comes a few times a month but said he makes a point to come for the social interactions.

Roberto Vitón is one of the most frequent coworkers at The Impactory. He coworks about three weeks a month. Vitón set up his own consultancy business last year. He uses his significant background in agriculture to advise fund managers in food and agriculture investment. He has been a member of The Impactory since January after a friend recommended visiting. Vitón says he likes how affordable the coworking space is and said of the Impactory, “Sometimes the good value is in the simple stuff. . . .The whole combination is effective.”  Lean more about his business at www.valoral.com.

Patricio Rubinstein found out about The Impactory from fellow member Roberto Vitón. He has been using The Impactory since September 2013 and has his own business as a consultant. “I really use this as my working space. As I was growing, I didn’t want to get into office commitments, furniture, IT assistance. . . . I want to start small here and also I enjoy the people that come every day.” He prefers to sit upstairs where there is a greater flow of people. He really likes the social side of being at The Impactory and the opportunity it provides to share ideas.

Cristina Picco was looking for a coworking space in Luxembuorg after visiting The Hub in Berlin. Through word of mouth she heard about the Impactory. She has been a member for almost a year, coming three times a week. She likes coworking because it is an easy way to meet people and network. “Being in a network helps a lot . . . it’s a good way to hear about new opportunities and coming out [of the] house to meet people.” Picco is a co-founder of Mamie et Moi, a non-profit that sells baby clothes made by elderly knitters. Learn more about Mamie et Moi at www.mamieetmoi.com.

The Impactory is pleased to offer 1 day of free coworking trial. Do not hesitate to come and enjoy the place!

Please scan this QR Code (or click on it if you cannot scan it), print it and send an email to hello@theimpactory.com to book your day at least 48h in advance. Do not forget to leave us your contact details.

(Offer available 1 time per person until September 30, 2014)

1^st Rails Girls Luxembourg was successful!

A fun and friendly event above all!

 

The 1^st Rails Girls edition took place last week on Friday evening and Saturday in Luxembourg at the Impactory, a co-working place and business incubator at the heart of the city. Rails Girls was born in Finland in 2012, and already took place in more than 100 cities worldwide. The aim is to allow women to learn how to create websites and web applications.

The event gathered about 40 women (from 15 to 59), and 14 volunteer coaches (5 women & 9 men), passionate programmers, who were there to share their knowledge in programming.

The workshop was organised by Marina THIRIET from The Impactory and Claudine Kariger from Service des médias & communications, sponsor of the workshop.

During the weekend, the coaches made an analogy between cooking and programming, which allowed the attendees to better understand the ‘recipe’ to create an app.

 

Creating an app only in few hours!

Far from being a formal training, a variety of activities were offered to the participants with presentations and practical activities. The participants were able to try programming with simple exercises and then later create a web app at their own pace.

The workshop was available in Luxembourgish, English and French. The attendees, beginners and advanced programmers, were introduced to Ruby, an open source computer language created in 2004 which has become very popular supported by a  large community.

 

The attendees were also there to meet new people and see the event as a networking opportunity: ‘I’ve got a great app idea, but I don’t know how to create it’ or ‘I’m working within an IT team, I’m the only girl and I would like to communicate better with my colleagues”

 

‘I am very impressed with the active role that the Luxembourgish Government is taking towards encouraging the female population to broaden their technical horizons. So much lasting goodwill and cohesion came to life during such a short frame of time.

Learning programming has always been on my list of things I would like to learn and it couldn’t have happened at a better time or better place.

If you care to read a brief blog post about the Rails Girls Workshop, I invite you to consult the latest posting on my blog : yvonnekoechig.com
’ – said Yvonne.

 

Happy attendees and new events are likely to happen

Some women already planned to meet each other again, in order to continue working on projects and learn further. Several coaches, who met each other during the event,  got along very well and are now planning to offer new activities to raise awareness of IT for the public: they will of course be welcomed at The Impactory!

We received 80 applications, had to choose the 40 women and selected the most highly motivated.