Free Computer Space Gets Wide Use
When Jamie Bowen’s employer, the Diplomatic Courier, closed its office but kept its staff, he had a choice of working at home or in the Club’s 14th floor work space for members.
It was an easy decision.
“It’s almost like a newsroom,” says Bowen. He finds the environment more conducive to working than his home. “There’s something about getting dressed up and coming to an office that makes you want to work.”
Users of the 14th floor computer space at the Club include all-day-every-day journalists with no office, self-employed writers, associate members who want to log a few client hours between meetings and interns.
The computers were first moved temporarily from the library to the alcove outside the health club and the balcony in 2008, when the library was being remodeled. It soon became clear that the computers were being used much more upstairs, and later hours than the library could accommodate. So then-Club President Sylvia Smith suggested that the alcove could be rearranged to keep the desktop computers there permanently and provide space for members to work on their laptops. The aim was to help members who had lost their jobs or their office, or were freelancing, and needed a space to work.
The space is found with a U-turn to the right at the top of the stairs. The first section is the laptop area, with a long table providing room for about 12 computer users. Internet cables are available, or users can set up their wireless laptops and use the Club's free WiFi (available anywhere in the Club, in case the table is filled; check with the library for log-in information).
The next alcove contains a separate desktop space, with nine computers on three sides. A member number is needed to log on. Users can print documents and pick them up at the front desk for 25 cents a page. Users are asked to keep their voices to a minimum, but the regulars do talk to each other.
Lou Dubose, who is working on a book, is based in Austin but is in D.C. one or two weeks a month. Though he sometimes works out of his apartment on Capitol Hill, he likes to use the Club’s laptop space because it’s in the middle of the city.
Desktop user Terry Hill, who runs a public relations and marketing business out of his home in Virginia, comes for the same reason: “This is sort of my downtown office.”
There are other amenities for Club members on the 14th floor. A favorite is the continental breakfast available in the Reliable Source from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Offerngs may include danish, bagels, banana bread and fruit and are free if eaten in the restaurant, and $2 per item if taken out. Guests pay $6.75 plus tax and tip. Free coffee is available in the Truman Lounge (next to the Reliable Source) from 10 to 11 a.m. and 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Jerry Zremski, former Club president and longtime Washington bureau chief for the Buffalo News, had an office space in the National Press Building for 20 years until March, when he began working out of his home office. He periodically uses the 14th floor laptop space and is a big fan of the breakfast.
“If I had the time, I would be at the Club every morning for breakfast, which is better than anything I usually have at home,” he says.
Members who want to schedule meetings in the Club can reserve either of two rooms: For the McClendon Room,within Reliable Source, call restaurant manager Mesfin Mekonen at 202-662-7443. For a conference room in the library that fits six, call 202-662-7523.
The 14th floor computer space is open whenever the Club is open: 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays when the Fourth Estate Restaurant is serving dinner (if not, the Club closes after brunch).
Plans for the space are evolving. “We will continue to seek new ways to make the space a better work area both for freelancers and for members who need a temporary place to do their jobs,” says Club president Alan Bjerga.
-- Joan Mooney, [email protected]