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If you are a tech organization looking to set up a meeting in a central location and you don’t have much money to spend, you’re in good company.
The recession has made organizations look hard at the costs of putting on such events, and one welcome change in the landscape is the rise in free spaces made available by tech companies in places such as Cambridge, Waltham and Burlington. The companies benefit too — from greater visibility and recruitment opportunities to the exposure of staff to some of the hot tech topics that prompt these networking events.
One of the most successful of the new venues is Microsoft Corp.’s New England Research and Development Center, commonly known as NERD, in Kendall Square, Cambridge. “The motivation was simple. We had a space that was built for internal meetings, but it wasn’t being used in the evening, early mornings or on the weekend,” said business development and community relations manager Gus Weber. Microsoft moved into its renovated space a year ago and quickly opened its NERD center to the public — it has hosted more than 100 community events, with more than 10,000 people coming through its doors.
The center hosts meetup groups, user groups for different kinds of software, and more eclectic events. For instance, the center recently hosted a fashion show for geeks, as part of Boston Fashion Week, and also a group of hackers who turn toys into musical instruments. Weber said there’s a wide berth given to the types of events the company is willing to accommodate, including those set up by the city of Cambridge for its youth development programs. Weber said Microsoft has since taken on two of the teenagers in that program as interns.
The operation of a free meeting center does have costs: Weber hired a full-time marketing coordinator to schedule events and help arrange logistics, such audiovisual equipment. Microsoft even arranges catering services (and in some cases has gone so far as to pay for it). There is also the time investment from workers who stay late or come in early to staff the events. But Weber said the payoff is worth it.
“Many of the people who came to events did apply for jobs,” he said. Less tangible, but arguably more valuable, is the boost in reputation the company gleans from being thought of as a good neighbor.
And the benefits have extended beyond Microsoft: Its events have steered business to several caterers. One caterer, Baker’s Best in Newton, said after receiving orders for several Microsoft events, the company met its monthly sales target in just five days.
Along Route 128, Sun Microsystems Inc. has opened the doors of its facility in Burlington for such events as the Mass Technology Leadership Council’s unConference for the second year. However, Sun officials were vague when asked about how its pending merger with Oracle Corp. might affect its ability to offer more event space to the tech community.
And if you are looking for a place in Waltham, you may want to get in line for a time slot at the law firm Foley Hoag LLP’s Emerging Enterprise Center. The center was built with events in mind. Half of the 6,000-square-foot space is dedicated to outside events. The space can be configured in a number of ways and can accommodate up to 200 for standing-room only, though most events have less than 100 participants.
Most of the lawyers based in Foley Hoag’s Waltham office work with startups. Partner Dave Broadwin said, “Hosting tech events here makes sense, since our attorneys would likely attend many of those events anyway.”
There are several other companies that will provide free space to nonprofit industry organizations, if you have connections. Gwen Acton, president of Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology, said she has a policy of not paying for event space. She has had plenty to choose from and has hosted WEST events at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Shire, Novartis, and the Broad Institute in Cambridge. Officials at both Millennium and the Broad Institute said that while they do open up space for outside groups, they are usually geared toward groups that the institution already has an ongoing relationship with. A spokeswoman from the Broad said that the institute has actually scaled back the number of events it hosts as it focuses on its transition to being an independent research institute, separate from MIT and Harvard University.
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