Our "gym membership for businesses" concept means that business professionals can use our facility for a fraction of the cost of a tradition office space rental.

The Biz Venue includes a flexible, common meeting area and semi-private work cubicles. These areas are open to all members for UNLIMITED USE, and include free Wifi and high speed internet access, plus access to printing, faxing, and concessions at affordable prices. The facility will also include a conference room, presentation room and private interview rooms that can be rented hourly or by the day. In addition, the The Biz Venue will have longer term, "anchor" positions available for lease that will include access to all member benefits. By being on site full time, these anchor businesses will have the opportunity to interact with hundreds of small business owners and other professionals on a daily basis.

Until we launch our 6,000 sq. ft. Biz Venue this fall, take advantage of our Mini Biz Venue for ONLY $25 A MONTH! This prototype includes 8 semi-private work cubicles, plus an open seating area for up to 8 people.

The Mini Biz Venue is located in the Safeway Plaza in West Olympia at the corner of Harrison Ave. and Cooper Point Road.

Find out more information on our website on The Biz Venue website or on our Facebook Fan Page.

This will be a work community that networks together on a daily basis to assist each other and their small business in many facets. The goal of Visionary in Chief, Russ Alman, is to help small businesses realize the benefits they deserve to make their businesses thrive and prosper. 

The Biz Venue offers marketing through social media, printing, "anchor" businesses that can help your small business, and a network of professionals who are plugged into the online business venue. 

There are other shared office concepts in the Pacific Northwest. In Redmond, WA, there is a shared office space called thinkspace,which is a community of entrepreneurs, high-tech star tups, non-profits, and small businesses. They offer the usual private office, desk and chairs, internet access, coffee, fully furnished lobby and conference rooms. However, they charge $200 per month for two days a week in your own private office.

Another local business venue that is in Tacoma, Suite133, shares an office with telecommuters and "anyone that craves the creative energy from working alongside other people". They offer natural light, wood floors, and a loft-style interior in a historic building. Derek Young is one of the co-founders of Suite133, who originally built the website Exit133.com which is a Tacoma forum and blog about Real Estate, Politics, the Arts and Urban Development.

In old town and downtown Portland, OR, are NedSpace locations. NedSpace holds true to the Portland culture by offering bike parking for its members who are technology savvy and environmentally friendly. One company that uses NedSpace is a water delivery company that delivers 5 gallons of water to local offices via bike. Their tagline is, "Drink the change you want to see in the world". An online marketing consultant, web and iPhone application developer, a web designer and graphic designer also occupy the brick building, making NedSpace a great place for a small business to find help to achieve an online presence. 

Sharing the similar interest is The Biz Venue that provides a number of unique products and services to create a small business ecosystem designed to catalyze the growth of small businesses. With a bookkeeping firm, a computer support company and a marketing agency, any small business that works in The Biz Venue will undoubtedly enhance their business. At an affordable rate, The Biz Venue not only offers meeting space, work space, a coffee shop and presentation room among other things, but also a hand up in business services that large corporations take advantage of having.

Very exciting news.... we have our brand new site online!

Next time you visit www.biz-venue.net, you'll see an entirely new interface.  This is much more than a cosmetic upgrade.  We have moved our site to a new, more modern social media platform on the Spruz network.  This move will provide us with a wide range of new functions, including the ability to schedule paid events, better message writing tools, complete control over advertising on our site, and special members-only areas of the site for the upcoming Biz Venue location.  We will even have an online store so people can sign up for their Biz Venue membership online.  Thanks to the hard-working people at Spruz, we have been able to migrate your existing user accounts to the new website, including your pictures and posts.  The only thing you will need to do on your first visit is to create a new password.

We are hard at work preparing to open the first physical Biz Venue in West Olympia!  Next time you drive up Cooper Point Road, look at the building at the corner of Limited Lane, just south of the Capital High School sign.  We have a tentative agreement to lease the entire bottom floor of the building.  This location is virtually move-in ready and features a card swipe system, so we will be able to offer 24 hour member access from the get-go.  It's a 6,000 sq. ft. space with a conference room, presentation room that will hold 50 people, and a large common area that all members will have unlimited access to.  Heck, it even has a shower for those of you that ride your bicycles!  We still intend to make our membership only $50 a month if you sign up for a year contract.  Month-to-month memberships and day passes will alsobe available.

We are actively looking for interested businesses to hold our anchor positions.  The plan is to have 5 anchors, in addition to my business (Alternative Marketing Connections).  The anchors will have full-time offices on site, and also have access to all of the Biz Venue facilities.  As our membership grows, these anchor businesses will see a stream of new potential customers every day.  At the same time, as the anchors meet with their clients in the Biz Venue, they will help introduce more businesses to the Biz Venue facility.  We believe this facility is large enough to support a membership of 400-500 total members -- not at the same time, of course, but remember that our "gym membership" model means that lots of small business people, independent salespeople, and commuters will be able to use our facility flexibly for a very affordable price.

We're still seeking to secure funding to get this location (just a small detail!!), but we're planning to put our business plan and financial projections in front of banks by next week.  If everything continues on schedule, we will be able to open sometime in September or October.

In the meantime, please check out our Mini Biz Venue located inside the AIM Mail Center in the Safeway Plaza at the corner of Cooper Point and Harrison.  If you sign up for a membership now, we will give you a special, reduced rate of only $25 per month until we move to the full-sized Biz Venue.  We have 6 semi-private work cubicles where you can set up your laptop, connect to Wifi, and use our printers.  We also have a small commons area with seating for up to 8 people. 

Come by and check us out, and your first visit is FREE!

Please take the time to visit the new website today.  I'd love your feedback on the new design.  Keep in mind that the dust is still settling and I still have some reorganization to do, but I think you'll love the new interface.

If you know of any small businesses or salespeople looking for a place to work during the day or hold a quiet meeting with a client, please tell them about the Mini Biz Venue and the upcoming Biz Venue project.  It's critical that we start signing up members and anchors right away.  This will prove to the building owners and the bank that we have a viable concept worth investing in.  Even if you are not yet ready to join, if you plan to join once we open the full Biz Venue, we would greatly appreciate you signing a Letter of Intent showing your intentions.  We will have a letter of intent for both members and anchors online shortly and will let you know by email, on the Biz Venue website and on our Facebook Fan Page when it's available.  Our goal  is to have 100 members already signed up by the time we open, so we need to get cracking!

Help us make the Biz Venue a reality as a community meeting and workplace for the small business community of greater Olympia!

Thank you,

Russ Alman

Founder of The Biz Venue

CEO, Alternative Marketing Connections

By adopting tactics similar to the mimics of biological mimicry systems, targets of workplace bullies can, in some cases, more effectively defeat their bullies. It takes nerve and smarts, but with Nature's guidance, success is a real possibility. See my previous blog: What Is Workplace Bullying? for a definition of "workplace bullying.")

A biological "mimicry system" involves three roles. The "mimic" is the organism that indicates, through various means, that it is something it's not. Indications can include coloration, shape, movement, odor, and more. The second role, the "dupe," is the organism that's deceived. The third role is the "model," which is the organism or context element that the mimic copies.

In workplace bullying, a target who exploits a mimicry strategy would be a mimic; the model is someone the target copies to deceive the bully; and the bully is the dupe. To see how this works, let's examine a biological mimicry system.

The turkey vulture ranges over much of the Americas. It's a large bird and a scavenger, feeding almost exclusively on carrion. In our example, it plays the role of "model." Our "mimic" is the zone-tailed hawk, whose range overlaps the turkey vulture's. Its plumage resembles the turkey vulture's, but it feeds on terrestrial vertebrates. The "dupe" is the hawk's prey.

To fool its prey, let's say, a ground squirrel, the hawk soars among turkey vultures, making rocking motions with its wings in the manner of a vulture. The squirrel is fooled, because it feels safe, knowing that vultures seek only carrion. When the squirrel least expects it, the hawk strikes.

Targets of bullies can exploit an analogous strategy. Suppose a bully has been targeting someone. In desperation, the target decides, "I've had enough." Many targets then adopt a common and tragically self-destructive strategy of striking back immediately in small ways. Sadly, this only alerts the bully to the target's change of attitude, and enables the bully to adjust before the target gathers enough strength and courage to be truly effective.

Mimicry comes to the rescue. Although the decision to counter the bully's tactics is an essential beginning, the decision alone doesn't make the target capable of stopping the bully. Preparation is required. The target might have to consult an attorney, or gather evidence, or prepare a formal grievance, or assemble witnesses willing to corroborate the bullying charges. These things take time.

Meanwhile, targets can "auto-mimic" -- behave just as if nothing had changed. The bullies are therefore not alerted, and thus have no motivation to escalate, or to cover their tracks.

Since bullying might actually continue during this interval, targets often have difficulty concealing the change in their willingness to engage. Self-control is essential. But if the target can dupe the bully until preparations are complete, a surprise counter-attack can be very successful.

Another way to make feedback useful is to talk to the critic if you believe that they don’t know the whole story. If the critic doesn't know the whole story, talk to them about it. You could say something like, "You know, I hear what you're saying, and I'd really like to be able to do it that way. But the last time I tried something like that, it didn't work because _________. How can I get around that?" Finally, don't get defensive. If someone tells you something you can improve, they've done you a favor. So thank them.

While all criticism hurts, the first rule – especially when you're on the receiving end of negative feedback in the professional world – is to sit back and take it in. Use the active listening tactic of rephrasing the criticism. Mirroring under the fire of critical assault requires calm focus, but it works like magic to stop any potential browbeating. This also lets you move on to what you think and how you can use the negative information to improve the situation.

Remember to give yourself a maximum of 72 hours to sulk and ask yourself three key questions: What part of this is true? Have I ever heard this before? What would I have to give up if I changed? The answers won't necessarily come easily, but your thinking will be directed toward personal development.

All suggestions do not have to be followed; however, when the critic is a thoughtful, representative member of your audience, it is wise to give added weight to implicit messages that your premise, intention, or strategy may be flawed. If one asks for criticism, that request needs to be honestly sought and graciously received

It's not only difficult to get negative feedback, nobody likes to give it either (well, a few insecure sadists aside). This is the case across the spectrum of power. We are universally reluctant to trigger the hurt feelings, angry defenses or counter attacks that criticism so frequently arouses.

Of course, you know you need to avoid the hallway rants and sweeping generalizations that make negative feedback more humiliating and less useful. Beyond these basics, here are some guidelines for this tricky communication:

1. Pair every negative with a positive: "You are an amazing problem solver, but you aren't following up with the paperwork.”

2. Give feedback on intentions only, don't speculate on behaviors or internal attitudes. Behaviors often are simply the physical manifestation of misdirected intentions: “I don’t know if you intended to X, but when you did I felt Y. Was that your intention?”

3. Be excruciatingly specific about both the problem and the expected solution: "When you do X, it creates problem Y. Next time, try this instead... "

4. Extend yourself to maintain the relationship. After criticism, people withdraw. Counter that by making friendly conversation.

5. Remember, reward is the most powerful change agent. Go lightly over what's wrong and be heavy-handed with what's working or will work in the future.