Startups from the Kansas City Startup Village do a day’s work at the Sprint Accelerator space.
Matthew Marcus—one of the Kansas City Startup Village‘s leaders—points out how high the ceiling is at the Sprint Accelerator‘s upstairs space in the Crossroads, relaying a study he heard about that correlates ceiling heights with styles of work. He says higher ceilings increase creativity while low ceilings allow for greater focus.
Last Friday, the Village was welcomed into the space for a day of co-working with Sprint employees, local government officials, Silicon Prairie News and, just as importantly, each other. To get into a new environment and new thinking, but also to run into people they otherwise would never, or rarely, see.
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“Everyone’s working in an isolated space [in KCSV],” Marcus told Silicon Prairie News. “You’re not always collectively together. This gets you out of your normal element, which allows for more creativity.”
The idea for the event came up when Erik Wullschleger, general manager of the Sprint Accelerator powered by Techstars, grabbed coffee with Marcus and fellow Village co-leader Adam Arredondo.
“We have this really cool space and want to put it to work, so why not move KCSV for a day?” Wullschleger said. “Whether it’s our network or a physical space, as a corporation we have an opportunity to take big resources and repurpose them for the community.”
He wants these kinds of interactions to keep happening, and said the space can be a place for other co-working days when the 90-day Accelerator—starting March 11—isn’t in session. But beyond that, the day-to-day co-working space on the first floor of the building—go in through the W. 19th Terrace entrance—can be a starting point for those around the metro to run into others. Wullschleger said it should open in the coming weeks.
Marcus mentioned a number of Overland Park startups that don’t have a connection with the entrepreneurs downtown, but that having a spot to collaborate and create some temporary density would be a big win for everyone.
“Everyone thinks, ‘I have my own space, I don’t need to co-work with others,’” he said. “We need to get folks out of their own little bubbles.”
To stay up to date on when the daily co-working space, follow @SprintAccel on Twitter.
Credits: Photo from KCSV on Twitter.
