Startup Houston

Continuing on our coverage about the Caroline Collective Opening and its impact on Houston’s technology startup and art scenes, we are posting interviews from various people who were at the opening party.

Part of the reason that we felt that this opening was different and signified that something special was happening in Houston, was the attention it drew not just from within the city, but from others outside.  Two pioneers in the CoWorking space flew in from both the west coast and the east coast to attend the opening party.  We’re talking about Tara Hunt with Citizen Space in San Francisco and Alex Hillman with Independents Hall in Philadelphia. 

Tara Hunt of Citizen Space and Alex Hillman of Independents Hall

Tara - Meeting Tara at this event was just a joy.  She carries so much genuine enthusiasm for CoWorking in general and Caroline Collective specifically that its hard not to be caught up in it.  It was Tara Hunt that infomed us that the Caroline Collective is the largest coworking space in the world based on square footage (yeah, the world) and is the first coworking space to also incorporate art space.  Overall a great interview and we look forward to hearing more great things that Tara is doing at Citizen Space.  You can also read her blog at http://www.horsepigcow.com .

Listen to the Interview with Tara Hunt

Alex - Alex Hillman also brought a lot of energy to the Caroline Collective opening.  (You can hear in my interview with him, how I mistakenly introduce him as one of the originators of the CoWorking concept ((not to be confused with Jelly)), and how he sets me straight on how Tara has pioneered the coworking space, how Independents Hall has contributed, and ultimately what he thinks Caroline Collective will mean for Houston’s Startup community).  A great interview not to be missed.  You can also read his blog at http://www.dangerouslyawesome.com/ .

Listen to the Interview with Alex Hillman

You can also see our whole set of shots of the opening party on Flickr here and all of the photos taken by a host of photographers at the event at the Caroline Collective Flickr group.