If you’ve been following the goings on in Civic recently (or keep up with what we write on this site) you’re probably well aware that Smiths Alternative Bookstore has undergone a few changes recently.
For those of you still in the dark here is a quick summary:
Less books.
More gigs.
Raised stage.
April’s Caravan Vintage Clothes Store in residence.
Different owners.
Lost ‘Bookstore’ from its name.
Gained an apostrophe.
Alright, now that we’re all up to speed, let’s get to our Mobile Office Review for Smith’s Alternative!
Technology:
One of our biggest reasons for trying out Smith’s as a workplace was Jorian’s promise that we would have nice speedy WiFi as well as power points available at the tables. We certainly had both of those things. There were places to plug in your laptop all over the shop and it made me feel incredibly happy.
The net was speedy and flawless. Other than Johnboy and myself there was only one other person using it for most of the morning, so it remains to be seen how well it’ll hold up under a heavier load, but for the moment it’s definitely the most reliable public WiFi we’ve used in our office wanderings.
Food:
Not really what they do. We were offered some brownies at one point, but I don’t like chocolate (I know I know…) so Johnboy had mine as well. He seemed quite pleased when he was done.
So good I guess?
Productivity:
The most important category.
Pretty good. The speedy net certainly helped, but Johnboy and I powered through the mornings work. There was great music (the owner Jorian kept running over and fussing with it so I think he was trying to impress us), suitable caffeinated beverages were available, and other than the odd chat with the managers and some customers there was little to distract Johnboy from the task at hand.
Me? I kept getting distracted by the books. Although I like pleasant distractions while working, I find it keeps me awake and happy which leads to better work so I’m still gonna list this as a positive.
Coffee:
Over to Johnboy:
The coffee was unremarkable, competent espresso machine work, but the tea came with a pre-warmed cup AND free refills.
Comfort:
According to RiotACT Comfort VS Fashion Theory, the trendier the place, the less comfortable the seating must be.
The seats in Smith’s were rather comfortable which speaks poorly of the places future as a ‘hip joint’ (no it really doesn’t), but did make for a nice workplace.
The only real concern was the size of the tables. These potential desks are easily big enough for one person to work on, but with John and I together on one we found we were quite snug. We managed to fit both our laptops, drinks, and John’s pot of tea on the desk well enough, but it was rather cramped.
For those that work solo this won’t be an issue (unless like me you really like having enough room to make a decent sized mess in), but if you’re looking to work in groups you’ll have to spread out around the venue or get very comfortable with each other’s personal space.
Service:
Fine, and friendly. The staff were happy and chatty but also respected our privacy and space. All good. Johnboy’s tea pot was refilled when he wanted it to be, which was nice.
There was a noticeable excited, happy, vibe about the staff, but seeing as how they just opened that’s to be expected.
It’ll be interesting to see how the place is running, and what kind of a personality it has developed 6 months from now.
It should be mentioned that there wasn’t a lot of customers in the venue while we were there, and it’s much easier to make a customer feel welcome when you have the time to do so, but I doubt we would have been less looked after if the place were full.
Other People:
Not many. Most of the people who entered were well wishers or curious members of the public sticking their heads in for a minute.
Once again the fact the venue had only really been opened for a small amount of time meant this was hard to judge.
I imagine it’ll get a lot busier for tonight’s gig.
However from a productivity point of view the small amount of visitors was ideal.
Conclusion:
It’s tricky to say, seeing as it’s only day one for Smith’s and there’s no real way to tell what the place will be like in a month’s time after it’s built up some steam, but as it stands now this is easily the best mobile office we’ve come across.
I will withhold my final judgement of Smith’s Alternative for the future, but at the moment it’s is probably the best place to sit down and get some work done in the city… assuming you have enough willpower to not blow your daily wages on vintage suits (I really don’t).
I’ll definitely be working here again, but that won’t stop our ongoing hunt for the finest place in Canberra to rest our mobile bunker.
So where to next?
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