Geneva Motor Show: 30 seconds to book a workspace in the local area
© 2016 istock
Need to work, meet a client or hold an interview? The start-up GetYourDesk has developed a collaborative website for reserving working space. Hotels, coworking spaces and even companies can rent their space out by the hour. Booking takes a matter of seconds on the website, which goes live on 1 March.
In a week, when the International Motor Show in Geneva kicks off, car dealers, manufacturers, buyers and journalists will be vying with each other to find a quiet place to work, hold a meeting or interview, or talk business. For the first time, they will have access to GetYourDesk, a website that shows working spaces available in the region for rental by the hour. The website, which was developed by a start-up based at EPFL, is a way for property owners and managers, such as hotels, coworking spaces and companies, to reach out to potential users.
Book it in 30 seconds
Once the user enters the desired date and time, the website shows the available spaces along with a description and the price, all in real time. It only takes 30 seconds to make a booking. The website is initially being launched for the Motor Show, starting on 1 March, and will then be a permanent fixture. A life-size test for the start-up. And for Palexpo, who intends to use its services for other shows. " The simplicity of use of this technology could be useful for the reservation of our rooms for other large-scale shows ", underlines Manuel Garcia, director of technology and finances at Palexpo.
The system is designed to be flexible and collaborative. People with space to rent propose time slots directly to the user. They set the price, which can change in real time in order to draw in users and maximize occupancy. Users can rate the spaces for such things as quality and confidentiality. “This latter point is very important for business meetings,” said Nicolas Fete, who heads the start-up. “For example, the highest level of confidentiality means that the room can be reached without walking through the main hallways.” This service indeed appears to fill a gap, since a variety of organizations, including the Geneva train station, are keen to use it.
Fête is full of ideas and ambition for developing the website further. To ensure his platform has a solid technological base to which these options can be easily added, Fete is working in collaboration with Christine Vanoirbeek, head of group at the MEDIA research lab. Solutions that were initially developed as part of a European project that she piloted will bring important new features to the platform alongside lower development and maintenance costs than those associated with current technologies.
An alternative to working at home
A business trip to Singapore helped convince Fete to start his own company. He was looking for somewhere quiet to work in the Asian metropolis. No luck. “When you’re abroad, it’s even harder to find an office,” he said. “The advantage of GetYourDesk is that users don’t have to be familiar with the region to find an office, because the website guarantees the quality of the workspaces.” He also plans to expand his service beyond Switzerland’s borders in the near future. Isn’t there already something similar on the market? “Nothing as flexible and efficient.” Fête believes that his concept could change the way people work: “This platform could help reduce work-related travel by providing an alternative to working at home. When you work from home it’s difficult to hold meetings, and the weight of daily commuting has a visible cost in terms of wasted time and energy.”