At Basestation, we are always keen to share with the wider community who's coworking with us.

This month we caught up with the Downtown Tauranga team! 

 Last night the Basestation residents all got together for the annual Basestation Christmas Party in the Babbage Space. Hosting a Christmas Party with our residents has been a long held tradition at Basestation. 

To begin with, working from home seemed like an amazing opportunity with many positives!

Although it seems like a distant memory, the impact Covid had has forever changed the way we work. For those of us who traditionally worked an ‘office’ job, options to work remotely or hybrid have now become commonplace. 

Small Business Day 9th April is about celebrating, supporting and championing the heart and soul of kiwi communities - small businesses. 

At Basestation we have a lot of small businesses based here in our coworking space. 

We sat down with two residents who own a small business, we asked what they do, how coworking helps them to do this, and what it means to own a small business. 

Below is the kōrero we had with Andrew Mahon, Director and Owner of MOCA. MOCA is a web development company based in Tauranga and employs seven staff and two contractors (all New Zealand based).

At the beginning of the year we started asking our residents for feedback - we asked “What’s working and what’s not working.” 

As well as some really lovely feedback (which we will share shortly in our social media), there were some items we were able to action or fix, and some we are still working on. One of the outcomes from doing this was to create a Basestation Mana Enhancing Understanding.

With it being the school holidays at the moment, we thought now would be a good time to shine a spotlight on some of the parents who regularly use Basestation. We caught up with John Baker from Architectus for a kōrero on how he navigates mahi with two young tamariki at home.

With it being the school holidays at the moment, we thought now would be a good time to shine a spotlight on some of the parents who regularly use Basestation. We caught up with Soraya  Hebert from STEM Wana  for a kōrero on how she navigates mahi with a 18 month old tamariki in tow .

Basestation recently signed up to the Safe Space Alliance. 

Who is the Safe Space Alliance?

They are a LGBTQI+ led non-profit organisation that helps people identify, navigate, and create safe spaces for LGBTQI+ communities worldwide. Their two core activities include maintaining an online directory of spaces around the world that welcome and support LGBTQI+ communities, and helping LGBTQI+ people get to safety. 

As it is Techweek this week; Aotearoa’s festival for tech that’s good for the world - we thought it would be a good excuse to catch up with some of our residents in the technology sector at Basestation. One of the longest standing companies here is TechnologyWise, we sat down for a kōrero with June Chong, one of the youngest members of the team. 

As it’s Pride Month, it seemed like a good time to share how we aim to create a safe and welcoming space at Basestation for all our residents. We have recently joined the Safe Space Alliance and they provide a helpful range of resources for companies to use.

We are fortunate that Basestation attracts a number of people who are from overseas. This contributes to the diverse and inclusive culture we seek to foster in our coworking space. With Bastille Day (Fête nationale française if you are French!) coming up on Sunday 14th July, we thought it would be a good excuse to kōrero with one of our French residents. 

Meet Charlotte Grosjean from Bark Limited, she has a permanent desk at Basestation and has been with us since January 2023. She started off in a single office on our first floor but after a few months moved down to our ground floor to join the open plan hot desk space. 

Friday 9th August was International Coworking Day, celebrating the impact of the coworking movement! Being a coworking space - it’s pretty special! To celebrate we gave mini tours of our space AND FREE COFFEE from Folk Coffee Roasters. 

1st August is World Wide Web Day, the day is observed to commemorate the World Wide Web (www) and its impact on the world. As one of our meeting rooms is named after Sir Tim Berners-Lee (the founder of the web), it felt fitting that we should honor the day with a blog about him and the massive impact the creation of the World Wide Web has had!

In a recent white paper published by the World Economic Forum looking at the Rise of Global Digital Jobs, it mentions three main factors that are most likely to transform business and the way we work in the next five years:

Monday 16th September marks the start of National Coding Week. Now in its 11th year, this week sets out to inspire individuals of all ages to learn and embrace coding skills.

The importance of coding skills in today’s digital age can not be overstated. Whether it’s developing apps, designing websites, analysing data or automating tasks, coding is at the heart of many technological innovations. 

It is also the perfect opportunity to talk about Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, one of the namesakes of our meeting rooms. Hopper was a pioneer of computer programming, she saw the opportunity and importance to make programming accessible to all and advocated for coding languages to be created in ‘English’. 

To end Māori language week, we wanted to share a blog which captures a kōrero we had with three people who have connections with Basestation. We wanted a variety of perspectives, lived experiences and their relationship to Aoteraoa and te reo Māori. We spoke to:

• Manaia - a young wāhine in her twenties, born and raised in the Tauranga, Manaia whakapapa on her paternal side to Te Atihaunui a Pāpārangi. We talked to Manaia about her mahi with Stand Tall and the Young Enterprise Scheme in a previous blog which you can read here.  
• Erin - also born and raised in Tauranga, Erin is pakeha with European ancestry. She has three adult daughters and works at Bike Stop which is a partnership with Basestation and Tauranga City Council. You can also read a blog we did with Erin when she was the Community Assistant at Basestation here. 
• Pascale - is one of the four co-founders of Basestation, Pascale migrated to Aotearoa from Europe in her 20’s. She is the founder and Stand Tall, you can read more about Pascale and her mahi in a blog we wrote for International Women’s Day here.

Part of the human condition is to be social and find connection and belonging. 

With remote working on the rise, more people are looking to join a coworking space so they can connect with others on a regular basis rather than just working from home. 

At Basestation we understand the importance of connection and belonging, so we host regular events and opportunities for our residents to connect, network and create belonging together. Here are just some of the events, initiatives and opportunities we've hosted or got behind in the last 6 months!