TechHub

At long last we're announcing the winner of our 'I Want TechHub' video competition.

If you missed it, we asked people to tell us, on video in 60 seconds why they want TechHub to be in with a chance to win free membership of TechHub London for a year.

Loads responded and the answers were funny, smart, quirky or considered, but above all edifying. You made it clear that you really want TechHub! Thank you to everyone who took part, we have a special offer for you below.

We had a great time watching all the videos but a really difficult time choosing a winner. So we've chosen six. Couldn't help ourselves (and we'd love to choose more!).

So... (drumroll please)...the winners are...

Chris Steiner of Siondo @ChrisSteiner
For getting a tuk-tuk driver in India in on the act

Bastian Lehmann of curated.by @Basti
For doing a rap backwards

Max Niederhofer of qwer.ly @maxniederhofer
For all the accents and 'where's my jetpack?'

Basheera Khan of Playnice.ly @Bash
For intimating that TechHub Members will take over the world

Tim Morgan of Picklive @thetimmorgan
For the hilarious pathos and the look right at the end

Ela Macdej of Applicake @ElaMadej 
For involving their entire team, for the guy wearing a chef's hat and for everyone dancing at the end.

To all those who entered but didn't win, we'd like to offer a free day of co-working to say thanks for the support and creativity. We love you guys! To book in your day, email charlie[at]techhub.com and include a link to the post of your video on the TechHub blog.

Frackulous, the new mobile apps show, is filming @TechHub this week. Got a seriously cool app you want to shout about? Tell Susi today in 150 words what it is, include a link to more info and if it's fab, they'll invite you to get in front of the camera. Drop her a line at: susi[at]fixationvideo.com

Want to see Frackulous in action, check out their Flipboard review (love how simple and clear this explanation is!)...

 

Follow our Flickr page or Mobypicture for the latest images, but here's a taster. Pictures of our permanent desks will be up soon, meanwhile this is our co-working space for members:

 




And here's our big event space in action (seats 150-200 people):

  
 



And here's our boardroom in action:



LAUNCH PARTY:






 
 Our co-working desk prototype:
 
 

TechHub, a new co-working space and networking centre in London for technology entrepreneurs, had an action-packed first week that included Speed Dating for Entrepreneurs, a "Pitch Battle" competition for new business plans and a discussion of Financial Times mobile initiatives with technology bloggers.

"Starting up on your own is not easy. It is lonely at the beginning," said Brent Hoberman, co-founder of lastminute.com and a leading light in London’s Internet community, addressing the teeming launch party for TechHub. “It is fantastic to see places like this opening in London and I hope that we see many successful businesses come out of TechHub."

Pearson was the first founding sponsor of TechHub, followed by Google. London’s TechHub aims to be the first location in a network of TechHub communities spread around the world.

"Co-working is based on a community spirit that helps entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality," says Juan Lopez-Valcarcel, Pearson’s director of digital product and consumer technology. “We are thrilled to support the digital community in London and you will see many of our product teams working here at TechHub engaging with entrepreneurs and developers”.

The opening week kicked off on July 12 with a Tech Founder "Speed Dating" event on Monday, organised by Seedcamp and TechHub, as a forum designed to match entrepreneurs with technology talent. Just as in the “romantic” version of speed dating, potential partners moved quickly from chair to chair along a long table trying to find the right chemistry for relationships — to start a business together.

On July 14, the “TechCrunch Summer Pitch Battle” attracted more than 40 entrepreneurs seeking recognition for their business ideas. Entrants had one minute to pitch their idea in front of a packed crowd of fellow entrepreneurs, venture capital firms and corporate development teams.

Ten finalists were then chosen to present their ideas for three minutes. The first place winner was Calaboard, for an augmented reality video conferencing system in which one party might draw diagrams in three-dimensional space which then appear on a computer screen viewed by the other party. Second place went to Duedil for a platform for professional recommendations, and third place went to Geomium for a mobile location system that advises users of events going on around them.

On July 15, the Financial Times mobile team shared ideas with tech  bloggers about the FT's current offerings and future plans for mobile devices including Apple’s iPhone and iPad. It was the first briefing at TechHub organised by one of Pearson’s businesses.

There have been 370,000 downloads of the FT’s app for the iPhone since the app was launched last year, and “we see very active users, with lengthy uses per visit,” said Steve Pinches, lead product development manager at FT.com. The FT’s app for the iPad, the only news app to win an Apple Design Award, has seen an average use of 23.3 minutes per visitor, and both the FT’s iPhone app and the new iPad app have been very effective in driving subscriptions to FT.com, said Mr. Pinches.

For more information about Pearson’s involvement in TechHub, contact Juan Lopez-Valcarcel at juan.lopezvalcarcel@pearson.com

Looking for a central London meeting room? TechHub has well-priced rooms available with half-price bookings for members.

All prices are exclusive of VAT.

Includes: tea & coffee, water, wifi, projector, screen
 

Thanks to everyone who came to our launch party for Founder Members, Guests and VIPs. Brent Hoberman, Co-Founder of Lastminute.com and now MyDeco.com and PROFounders Capital said a few words of support at the outset, followed by TechHub Co-Founder Mike Butcher and the Co-Founder/CEO of TechHub, Elizabeth Varley. Unfortunately our AirCon failed on the hottest day of the year in London so far, but a good time was had by all. We're doing introduction tours in the mornings this week, so pop on by.

TechHub Launch Speeches from Dave Stone on Vimeo.

Woo hoo! We're incredibly excited to announce that Google has come on board to sponsor TechHub London, alongside the lovely people at Pearson.

Coverage:
Guardian
TheNextWeb
TechCrunch Europe
ArabCrunch

Here's the press release that went out today:

 Google sponsors TechHub, a new London centre for technology companies and start-ups

Very exciting news today, we can reveal the address and launch date of the first  TechHub space, TechHub London! Woo hoo!

We'll be opening the doors on Monday 12th July 2010 at:

TechHub
Ground Floor
76-80 City Rd
London
EC1Y 2BJ

We're almost on top of Old St tube (exit 5) and close to other transport, lots of great bars, restaurants, cafes and hotels - some of which we've already arranged excellent TechHub Member discounts with (announcing soon).

We'll be running some more open days during July, and applications are open for TechHub Annual Membership and TechHub Deskspace Membership for the London space.

Our launch party will be taking place on the evening of Friday 9th July, so pop it in your diary now and keep an eye out for details of the party and to RSVP. It looks like the guest list will be packed, so TechHub Members will of course get the first invitations before we open them up to all those on our email list. Join our mailing list now for news and updates, including details of memberships, desk spaces, how to apply and more.

See you all @TechHub very soon!

It looks like marketing guru Seth Godin is having the same thoughts as we are at TechHub about the future of working.

The traditional office is often not needed. Sure we sometimes need a place to meet, to collaborate, but does this need to be the same place, every day? Seth thinks not, and we agree.

Those of us who need only a laptop and an internet connection don't really need to be around our bosses or people from the same company all the time, in fact, some people never see their co-workers in person and get along just fine.

In fact, having like-minded people around you who are working on other things, in different companies can be thought-provoking and incredibly useful in terms of new perspectives and ideas.

Seth says:

"2. If you do work with a keyboard and a mouse, the items you need to work on are on your laptop, not in the office.
...
5. You can get energy from people other than those in the same company.
...
7. So go someplace. But it doesn't have to be to your office."

So where does TechHub come in? Crucially he says: 

"The gain in speed, productivity and happiness is massive. What's missing is #7... someplace to go. Once someone figures that part out, the office is dead."

I think we've figured it out...