RookieOven is actually approaching 5 years old and has came a long way since the first meet up held in the Bier Halle on Gordon Street. Back then I was frustrated at the lack of community in Glasgow and threw out a few tweets and a blog post to try get local tech talent to meet in the pub for a catch up. To my surprise people responded and I met some amazingly talented people. Meeting amazing people is something RookieOven has continually given me the opportunity to do over the years and I hope it's given those that are part of the community the same benefit. That certainly happened in a spectacular fashion recently when Sir Alex Ferguson paid RookieOven a visit.
Sir Alex is a proud Govan boy born and raised and he hasn't forgotten his roots. In fact he donated money to the newly restored Fairfield Shipyard Offices that we call home. He was in Fairfield for the day to see first hand the amazing job Govan Workspace have done renovating the building. While in he took the opportunity to visit RookieOven and meet the innovative tech talent of his home city.
Sir Alex was telling the RookieOven tenants how he was just over in Silicon Valley meeting the team behind WhatsApp and he has recently launched a book in collaboration with venture capitalist Michael Moritz. RookieOven tenant Stuart Ashworth met Sir Alex and says says "It’s not every day a footballing legend comes into your office, so having Sir Alex Ferguson pop by was a bit of a surprise. He was genuinely interested in the work we were doing and everything that RookieOven and Govan Workspace are trying to achieve in Glasgow."
Later on that week myself and John Hamelink attended the launch party of Govan startup, (http://thisismilk.co.uk)[This Is Milk]. This is Milk is a consultancy business based just along the road from RookieOven in the Orkney Street Enterprise Centre. Founder Angela had reached out to RookieOven to invite us down being neighbors and all. The launch party had two speakers, Leah Hutcheon founder of Appointedd and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Orkney Street Enterprise Centre falls within the First Ministers constituency and it was great to have Nicola in Govan recognising the area for being a hive of entrepreneurial activity. I can't think of any other countries where the leader of the country would help launch a young business in this way.
Myself and John took the opportunity to grab a quick 'Sturgeon Selfie' with Nicola just before she left. Hopefully next time she is in Govan she can pay us a visit in RookieOven like Sir Alex did and meet the many talented businesses in the coworking space and alongside us in Fairfield.
