The community effect at the Atlanta Tech Village

For those that haven’t visited the Atlanta Tech Village – David Cummings‘ tech/startup building in Buckhead – you’re really missing out. It’s incredible (here’s a look at the new first floor via David’s blog) and it just keeps getting better as more floors are completed.

I set up shop in the Village back in September and quickly fell in love with it, blogging about the 10 things I loved the most. But over time I’ve found that the best thing about the Village is the community within.

I’ve worked in everything from dorm rooms and basements, to lofts and high-rises. The Village is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. You walk around the halls and you feel like it’s all one big company and that you’re connected to everyone in the building in some way. You’re all working toward the same goal – to do the impossible and make a startup succeed.

I’ve given literally dozens of tours of the Village and my guests are always wide-eyed as I say hi to so many people on the various floors. That just doesn’t happen in most buildings. When I was running Engauge and we were in the Promenade high-rise in Midtown, I knew almost no one else in the entire building outside of my company.

The point I’m trying to make is that of all the things I thought I’d like the most about working in the Village – the chowdowns, the events, the freakishly fast wifi, the proximity to so many startups – the thing that I like the most by far is the sense of community. The sense that we’re all in this together, fighting the good fight, trying to defy the odds and do the impossible.

Here’s a shot of our current office in the Village. We’re on the 3rd floor which is yet to be renovated, yet its still terrific. Eventually we’ll move up to the fifth floor and into our permanent suite.