If you’re NOT a non-profit, nothing is quite as difficult and nuanced as finding free meeting space in Fort Collins. A simple project I titled, “find all the meeting spaces in Fort Collins” escalated so quickly I had to hire a research assistant to help with the heavy lifting. It took her SIX hours to track all the spaces down and I’m sure we are still missing some meeting rooms in town. I’m now looking at a spreadsheet that is 76 meeting rooms long with FOURTEEN columns of criteria.
I’m starting to understand why no one has tackled this project.
We began our research with the “Mostly Only Helpful To Non-Profits” document from our local United Way. I’ll be honest, that used to be my go-to for people but it’s so infuriatingly focused on non-profits that it’s almost worthless to meetup groups, hobby groups and casual gatherings. The UNITED WAY put that together. It SHOULD be focused on non-profits.
By and large, meeting rooms in Fort Collins cost money. I get it. A small sliver of Cohere’s revenue comes from renting out space but as our rooms sat empty most of the time I had even more irritated emotions. WHY HAVE A ROOM SIT EMPTY WHEN I CAN BE OF USE TO SOME GROUPS THAT NEED IT?!
So I set out to find the Unicorns of meeting rooms. I wanted rooms that have an almost impossible set of criteria. Is it possible that Fort Collins could have meeting rooms that are free, responsive to inquiries, have good availability and few restrictions on use? I found a few and I want everyone to know about them.
And so I reveal to you the Difficult to Find 7 Unexpected Free Meeting Spaces in Fort Collins. Go forth and MEET. Link to ALL meeting spaces in Fort Collins.
If you’re looking for a more curated list of places to host an all-day team retreat and you have a budget. Check out our highly selective list of delightful meeting spaces in Fort Collins.
Gryphon Games and Comics/Purple Cup Cafe
Capacity: 8, 20, 25, 40 in FOUR different rooms
Location in Fort Collins: Midtown at Drake and Shields
Cost: Free
Bonus Points: ample parking
Unicorn Score: 5/5 rainbow sprinkles because I couldn’t find any faults and they seem to have built their business around being useful.
Pour Brothers
Capacity: 2-30
Location in Fort Collins: Old Town on Linden Street
Cost: free
Bonus Points: Mondays from 4-6pm meetup groups can get 1 free appetizer/4 people
Unicorn Score: 4/5 rainbow sprinkles because it’s not private.
Community of Christ Church
Capacity: 75
Location in Fort Collins: Old Town on Oak Street
Cost: free, possible donations needed
Call to reserve a time: 970-692-9922
Bonus Points: this space is well-equipped with mic, podium, projector and screen
Unicorn Score: 3/5 rainbow sprinkles because of their website. I can’t even. Their room calendar is up to date if you can decipher it.
Community Banks of Colorado
Capacity: 12? ish
Location in Fort Collins: South at Harmony/Boardwalk and Midtown at Drake and Shields
Cost: free
Call to reserve a time: 970-229-1140
Bonus Points: a south location!
Unicorn Score: 3/5 rainbow sprinkles for having limited hours of availability.
Cohere Coworking Space
Capacity: 10
Location in Fort Collins: Old Town at Mulberry and Howes
Cost: free after 6pm M-F and anytime on weekends for working meetup groups (after hours access is available to members and people who go through our meet-n-greet process)
Bonus Points: since this is a coworking space, it is fully equipped with hi-speed wifi, desks with power built-in and comfy rolling chairs.
Unicorn Score: 4/5 rainbow sprinkles because I refuse to the use the phone to field inquiries.
Cohere ConferEssence Room
Capacity: 12 for long meetings, 20 for short presentations
Location in Fort Collins: Old Town at Mulberry and Howes
Cost: free for meetup groups 24/7 (all hours access is available to our members and groups who go through the meet-n-greet process). We have a limited number of free slots for meetup groups. Groups may meet for one year for free.
Bonus Points: space is private and separate from the rest of the coworking space. Has whiteboard, flat panel display, configurable seating and a window.
Unicorn Score: 5/5 rainbow sprinkles because it’s my business 🙂
Here is a link to every meeting space in Fort Collins we found. Rooms at the top of the list are either totally free, somewhat free or free for particular groups. Other meeting rooms are fee-based.