Good Gorilla

A Flexive Coworking Space for Creatives.

Thank you from the Good Gorillas

good gorilla coworking

Thank you from the Good Gorillas

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Photo by Sarah Köhler

Last week at our 4th annual Holiday Dinner, Hugh represented the team to share our gratitude to the community:

“This dinner is a token of our gratitude in how much we appreciate our community. I can go on and on about how we value our community, although, for this evening I wanted to take the next couple minutes to do some notable mentions;

Shoutout to the members laughing in the phone booth. As sound-proof as you may think they are, we can still hear you. We are all jealous, we are all wondering…what is so funny in that conference call?

Shoutout to the member that takes the men’s washroom key and secretly returns it a week later. I can only imagine your reaction when you took things out of your pocket that evening.

Shoutout to Dungeon Master George, for organizing monthly video game nights and D&D campaigns.

Thank you to Salad Club for making sure our members eat their greens. Thank you Sarah for making sure we are carb-loaded from Big Trouble Pizza. Specifically during the Raptors championship run. Although, we are all aware that you’re a warriors fan…sorry I had to say it.

Shoutout to all Australians in the space. Of all the places you could travel and work from…we tricked you into believing there are gorillas in Canada.

Thank you Erin for all the design work you’ve done throughout your internship with us. I can only feel the pain, trying to get approval from 3 partners/designers.

Shoutout to the MVPs, the baddest b*tches of the space, Scotch, Penny, Rosie, and also the lone wolf Leon Musk. We love you, there’s more dogs in the space than countries in NATO, we even amended a dog policy for you.

Last but not least, we couldn’t have done it without our day-to-day warriors, George and Abby. The growth of our community wouldn’t happen without their incredible community engagement and commitment to the space. Although, I am sad to announce that Abby will be leaving us early 2020 as she will be joining Native Earth Performing Arts as their new Marketing Coordinator. Our loss is their gain. That being said, we wish you all an amazing 2020. And hope your businesses flourish in the new decade.”

Thank you,
The Good Gorilla Team

 

Members Musings: Mary Cruz

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Get to know our members in their current season of interests and work.


Mary Cruz:
I hail from Melbournetown Australia. Home of the best coffee in the world and less known for its very erratic weather (but true). I’ve been a marketer for over 14 years, having split my time living in Melbourne, London, Amsterdam and now Toronto. I like it here, but I do miss real beaches.

Recent Loves:
I recently finished watching Seasons 1 and 2 of Mindhunter on Netflix. I’m a little obsessed with true crime and I love how it digs into the psychology of criminals rather than the usual forensics drill. I also love that Jonathan Groff plays a preppy FBI agent after being the comedic talent in Frozen and Hamilton.

I’m currently reading Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. Again, this one is about human behaviour (is there a pattern here?) and it’s fascinating. I recommend it if you want to gain some insight into your own biases, and why and how people make incorrect judgements even when they appear to be sufficiently informed. Go MG.

Finally, Jojo Rabbit is worth the cinema ticket. Taika Waititi is brilliant.

Projects:
My marketing strategy work lately has been focused on persona workshops for correct audience targeting. Persona development is a very early step in marketing strategy and it blows my mind when people start building companies without doing it. I’ve been thinking about creating a formal workshop, but TBD.

Creative Inspiration:
One of my favourite IG accounts is @newyorkercartoons. The content is always very truthful and humorous, and there’s genius in its simplicity because it hits the right chord. Other cartoonists I like are @tangosleepless and @metromonster who are equally clever.

Kickstart Motivation:
My great grandmother used to say something like ‘don’t delay what you can do today’, and this piece of advice has avoided a lot of stress for future me!

Members Whiskey Tasting: Highlights

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Our 3rd annual whisky tasting revealed that our communal favourite by far is… Nikka Whisky From The Barrel. Complex with a clean finish, this whiskey left quite an impression on our guests and members.

Take a look at this year’s top picks and average community rankings:

North of 7 Canadian Whisky

Tasting Notes: “Good for an old fashioned mix drink”
– Joyeeta

Ranking: 3.3/5

 

 

 

Basil Hayden’s Bourbon

Tasting Notes: “A banana bread. Toasted. With butter”
– Kassem

Ranking: 3.8/5

 

 

 

Roe & Co

Tasting Notes: “Sharp, thin, piercing knives”
– Gracia

Ranking: 3/5

 

 

 

Virginia Black

Tasting Notes: “A flat Coca-Cola”
– Simi

Ranking: 2/5

 

 

 

Suntory Whisky Toki

Tasting Notes: “The way they slice into sashimi. With a samurai sword” – Sarah

Ranking: 4.3/5

 

 

 

Nikka Whisky From The Barrel

Tasting Notes: “It’s a party in my mouth”
– Beth

Ranking: 4.5/5

Members Musing: Krister Bagnkop

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Get to know our members in their current season of interests and work.

Krister Bagnkop:
Native of Denmark, who have spent the past 6 years living abroad. Moved to Toronto in 2018 with my wife Sinduja, and we are dreaming of adding a little pupper to the family soon. Tech Product & Delivery professional, with experience in corporate innovation and digital consulting. Currently focused on trying to help beauty industry freelancers succeed through our platform Blushlist.com.

Recent Loves:
On sentiments:
My wife and I just came back from Europe, where we went to have our civil wedding ceremony in my hometown in Denmark. It was a fantastic party in a beautiful old barn that is going to be torn down in a couple of weeks. We got to have the last party ever to be held there!

To go:
Since we spent three years living in France, one of our favourite places to shop in Toronto is the Cheese Boutique by South Kingsway.

To read:
I am usually reading a couple of books at a time because I quickly get bored. Right now, I am reading a very odd pairing—The 5am Club and Why We Sleep. One tells me to get up at 5am and the other tells me to get at least eight hours of sleep every night…

In Progress:

For the past four months, I have been working on creating the MVP of a marketplace webapp connecting clients to makeup artists called Blushlist. We are currently doing beta testing with the makeup artists, and focusing on trying to understand how we can bring them value outside of connecting them with clients. Our first immediate goal is to have them see us as a better alternative to creating their own website, which some of them do to help streamline their clients’ booking requests. Then, we want to add on features to help them easier manage their overall business, and in that way, build the supply side of the marketplace.

Aside from that, I am, by the way, also looking for work in the digital product space. Should anyone know of any opportunities in Product, Scrum, or Innovation Roles, I would be happy to hear more!

Favourites:

As I am not that big in design, I will go for one of my current favourite musicians: Ben Howard. My wife and I danced to his song “She Treats Me Well” at our wedding.

Kickstart Motivation:
A few quotes I keep above my kanban board at home.
“Perfection is the enemy of Progress.” & “Done is better than perfect.”

Spooked at Good Gorilla

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401 Richmond Building

When we get into something, we go all-in —including Halloween! Not only did we step-up our decorations and candy selection for the month of October, but we screened the 1984 classic, Nightmare on Elm Street. We also hosted a Whiskey Tasting on Halloween night to warm our bodies up for the upcoming snowfalls (blog post coming soon!).

Tell us about your horror stories when you stop by our space for other upcoming events such as Boardgames Night, Workshops, or our next $10 Drop-in + Community Lunch!

Member Musings: Vanda Marasan

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Get to know our members in their current season of interests and work.

Member Musings: Vanda Marasan

Vanda is a graphic designer and art director. Her work focuses on helping small businesses and other creatives better communicate visually. She has many other talents, including amateur street photography, dog whispering, and an insatiable curiosity about the world.

PS: It’s like Wanda with a V.

Recent Loves:
To read:
Living in Surplus, Seth Godin
Creativity vs Efficiency, Jocelyn K. Glei
Our Forgotten Craving for Community from The Book of Life

To listen:
Women at Work – unpacking prejudices, gender roles, and placemaking in the workforce.
Reply All – half comedy, half technology. Partially explaining memes.
Design Matters with Debbie Milman: Elizabeth Gilbert – get to know the author of Eat, Pray, Love.

To view:
‘Passport Photos’ by Max Siedentopf —  testing the limits of what can be done while taking official document photos.

In Progress:
I’ve been building a digital home to store and showcase my work this past month and it goes live on October 1st! View it here. 

Favourites:
Ryan Pflüger is someone that always inspires me. He always manages to capture his subjects in an intimate and honest way.

Peggy Gou is an artist I’ve only recently discovered. She’s a kick-ass DJ, musician, and model. Very charismatic. Total girl crush.

Kickstart Motivation: 
Seth Godin’s blog post on, What does it feel like when you say “later”?