Like fencing, new business ventures are fraught with cerebral and corporeal risks when attempted alone inside a home closet. Take advantage of space and companionship with today's Groupon: for $89, you get a one-month Cafe membership (a $135 value), including the administration fee (a $40 value) and keycard deposit (a $10 value), at NextSpace Coworking + Innovation (a $185 total value) on Cooper Street. Choose from four months in which to experience your 2011 membership: March, April, May, or June.

NextSpace furnishes a collaborative workspace and fosters a community for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and other independent professionals. Cafe members are welcome to grab a seat alongside others in a productive coffee-shop-like space, taking advantage of the office's wireless and wired commercial broadband Internet, a networked printer, scanner, fax machine, utilities, and basic janitorial services. Access to conference rooms, a copier ($0.10/page for black-and-white printing, $0.25/page for color printing), and complimentary coffee, tea, and caffeine-dispensing helmets are also granted to all card-carriers. A range of events, such as brown-bag lunches, members-only email-discussion lists, lectures, and happy hours extend the experience beyond the office like a tender birch tree stretching its limbs to high-five a nearby druid.

Aside from an excuse to give fuzzy footie pajamas a vacation, NextSpace gives would-be ladder-climbers the chance to bounce ideas and bushy-tailed computer mice off of other members, whose ranks include software developers, marketing strategists, engineers, architects, and freelancers of various stripes. Every day, a group of these career-minded mortals descends on the sophisticated think-space to tend to labors of love, sharing expertise, referring business opportunities to one another, and combining talents to tackle larger projects beneath expansive skylights.

Reviews

Assembly Member William W. Monning named NextSpace Coworking + Innovation Santa Cruz Small Business of the Year in 2010. NextSpace has been featured in a number of press outlets, including Xconomy and Good Times. Five Yelpers give it an average of 4.5 stars:

• NextSpace is a great work space but more it's a great community of co-working professionals. – Kimberly B., Yelp, 1/3/11
• The level of collaboration is stellar and frankly I look forward to going there every single day. The coffee is hot, the people are cool and the Internet is BLAZING FAST! – Sol L., Yelp, 12/17/08