Ah, the power of social media to help us find new stuff…

It was only a few minutes after I checked in at Somerville’s Alpha Landmark (check-in via Swarm, Foursquare’s much maligned check-in app), that the message came in.  “How did I have no idea this was here?” said one of my friends, who happens to live nearby.  Maybe it’s because things are changing quickly in trendsetter Somerville, especially near Assembly Row. It seems like only yesterday that we first heard about Assembly Row at TEDx Somerville — OK, it was March 2012 — but things have been moving quickly, with new buildings popping up like mushrooms.

Assembly Row, with its AMC movie theater, Legoland Discovery Center, restaurants, shopping, and luxury apartments (which one of the Avalon at Assembly Row tenants wants to invite us all over to splash down in the heated pool?), is in the midst of its “opening season” (May 2014 – September 2014.) The online calendar shows they are hosting a variety of events every week — movies, music and arts festivals. (Some of the MINions went to the food truck festival there.) In the fall, a new Orange Line T station will connect the “mini-city” to downtown Boston.

And, like Boston and Cambridge, the area also has a co-working space, Alpha Landmark, which houses a mix of tech, life sciences and services startups and small companies.  Not right in Assembly Row, but a short walk away, the space is a mix of private offices and open shared space with conference and training rooms too. Once again supporting our theory that coworking spaces mirror their creators’ expertise, Alpha Landmark offers its members IT support because the team has experience in that area. From the website – “In-house experts to provide assistance with program and project management, networks and systems, IT security, software application development and hosting servers.”

We predict that once the T station opens up, this space will fill up fast, and there will be a line at the door.  Right now, it seems like most of the tenants use the free and plentiful parking.  You can even look out the window at nearby Rt. 93 to check traffic before you leave the office.  I’m officially suggesting Alpha Landmark install a web cam for those who refuse to become Wazers.

A big thank you to our hosts, Paul, Yuri and Christina.  And, to the dedicated early risers who joined us for coffee and more.  We had some great conversations about Internet security, digital dentistry, Epipens and more.

Next we’ll be visiting the Metrowest TechSandBox in Hopkinton.  Tired of having to drive into Cambridge or Boston from the 495 region for events?  Join us!