FAQ

The Community Space is now located at Hills Plaza, 2 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.

Please note that our door is in the courtyard (suite 140) and not directly on the street.

You can book the space between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

When requesting your time slot, please be sure to account for all the time you'll need for setup, breakdown, and checking in with our team.

You can find the Guidelines, User Guide, and the attendee list template under the Guides tab in the Member Portal. - Not a member yet? you can access the guidelines here.

Each organization is allotted one event space per business quarter (every three months).

Event spaces may be reserved up to ninety days in advance of the desired date.

To protect the Community Space and its visitors. A certificate of insurance (COI) ensures that everyone is covered throughout the duration of your event.

Yes! Tours can be scheduled on a case by case basis depending on the availability of the space. You can also request a virtual tour. Please reach out to communityspace@google.com with your request.

We are located just a few blocks from the Embarcadero station and near Muni stops. While there is no parking available on-site, you will find both street parking and private garage options nearby. We kindly ask that all bicycles be stored outside the Community Space building.

The space is not equipped with a kitchenette. If you would like to provide food options for your guests, please read through our catering related questions below.

The guest list is required for everyone's safety. It helps us make sure every visitor is registered and and accompanied by the Event Host. Please remember that everyone needs to be pre-registered— no walk-in registrations are allowed.

Organizations must be registered 501(c)(3)s in good standing that is furthering the mission of Google.org, or be a local city and county government department, and located in the Bay Area. The Bay Area includes the following counties: Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, Napa County, San Francisco county, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Solano County and Sonoma County. Keep in mind, we receive a large number of applications and may be unable to accept every organization.

Once you apply for membership, we will check your nonprofit organization status through our partner site, Benevity. If your organization has already completed all onboarding steps with Benevity, we will process your membership application as quickly as possible. If not, you will be instructed on how to proceed. Benevity will then send you important action items and request information about your organization. If you have any questions related to Benevity, you can reach out to support@benevity.com. For local city and county applicants, please apply directly on our site and we will verify your government affiliation. If you are unsure whether your organization is already a member of the space, you can enter your EIN on the membership application form. The form will indicate if your EIN is already associated with an active member organization. Once the Benevity process is concluded we will review your application. Keep in mind, we receive a large number of applications and may be unable to accept every organization.

Members can request event spaces, as well as participate in Google-hosted programming (when available). There is no cost associated with membership.

You can find the updated COI sample here.

Please insure Commercial General Liability on an occurrence basis of $1,000,000 minimum per occurrence and a “general aggregate” of $1,000,000 minimum. Please insure Workers’ Compensation and Employers’ Liability of $1,000,000 minimum per occurrence. If any sale of alcoholic beverages will take place during your event, the Organization will carry "dram shop" or liquor insurance coverage (if consumption but not sales will occur, a "host liquor liability insurance" is required instead) in the amount of at least $2,000,000 per occurrence.

Please name the certificate holder as PPF OFF 345 SPEAR STREET, LP c/o: Jones Lang LaSalle – Hills Plaza 2 Harrison Street, Suite # 180 San Francisco, CA 94105 and PPF OFF 345 Spear Street, LP Morgan Stanley Real Estate Advisor, Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. and "Hills Plaza Master Association including their officers, directors and employees" as additional insureds on each item.The company providing insurance should have an A.M. Best rating of not less than A-VIII. Further details are outlined in the Google Community Space Terms of Use.

Go to the login page. Your username is connected to the email address that you used to sign up for membership or request to use the space previously. To login, select one of the providers from the menu and enter your email address. Make sure to use the email address that is linked to your membership account - likely your business email and not your personal email. If your team does not use Google, Outlook, or Slack, you can easily create a Google Account here. Note, this does not require you to set up Gmail - you can enter in your existing email address (eg, @hotmail, @yahoo, @aol) and it will create a Google Account with your existing email address. Once you've gone through the setup steps, log in again using the "login with Google" option. Having issues? Reach out to communityspace@google.com. If you aren’t sure who at your organization is an active contact or is eligible to login to the portal, please reach out and we can assist you!

Login to the Member Portal. In the Member Portal, click “Account” from the top navigation bar. You will land on the "Organization" tab (it will show up as underlined, in blue font), find the next tab to the right titled “Insurance”. Select the “Upload certificate of insurance” button. Once a file has been selected and required fields filled in, click submit. The Community Space Team will need to review and approve the new COI before you are able to submit an event request.

Log into the Member Portal. Under the "Account" tab, you will find all of the contacts related to your organization. Hover over the cell that you would like to edit and click the grey pencil icon that appears. Please do not edit an old contact and replace it with a different contact (this will not work). If you need to add a new contact, click the "New" button above the contact list and share the contact intake form with your colleagues. Once the form is submitted, the system can create a portal user record and they will receive a welcome email with login instructions. To edit any of your information, you can navigate to the “My Profile” page in the top right of the portal.

If you wish to remove a former staff of the organization from the contact list, please contact us at communityspace@google.com.

To request an event, log into our Member Portal and submit your request. You will select a date, time and room to fit your group size. We will check for availability and do our best to respond to your inquiry within five business days. You will receive an email from us with a confirmation of your request.

There is no cost to become a member or book an event in the space, but your membership and event request must be approved, and insurance must be provided. Your organization will be responsible for any catering costs and specialty equipment rentals.

Microphones (3 handheld per Main Event Space and 2 lapels, in the Workshop Space mics are built in)

Chromebooks (up to 15 - upon request)

Registration Table (1)

Director’s Chairs (1 on the Main space, 1 in the Workshop space)

Catering tables (4)

Easels and flip charts (up to 4 - upon request)

A team member will meet you at your scheduled check-in time to walk you through the setup details. While they will not offer complex meeting support, they can and provide tips on how to set the screens. They will also be present for check-in, then will remain nearby for the duration of your event. Please note that they may need to pass through the main area occasionally to exit or re-enter the building.

We provide local presentation cables (HDMI, USB, and USB-C) and power cords. These are available attached to the equipment in each space. If you’re concerned about connecting your device to the projectors/screens, we recommend reserving a Chromebook and transferring your presentation/video to the device by USB drive or email. Chromebooks must be requested prior to the event.

Yes, please factor in all the time you need for setting up and cleaning up within your reserved booking hours. Once your event is finished, we ask that you return any moved furniture to its original spot and ensure you haven't left behind any guest belongings or event leftovers.

Please note that Google's main front desk cannot check you in.

Upon arrival at the "Google.org" door, the Event Host will meet with the Community Space staff to gain access to the space and complete the pre-event check-in. The Host must be available during the check-in time, and all guests must present a valid ID. The identification sticker must be worn for the duration of the event.

Organizations are welcome to bring in food and non-alcoholic drinks. If an external caterer will be coming onsite, the caterer's certificate of insurance must be submitted for review and approved. Catering can also be purchased from Google’s internal catering provider.

No, for safety reasons heating equipment is not allowed.

We do not allow any outside alcohol in the Community Space, but you’re welcome to work with Google's internal catering if you’d like to provide alcohol for your guests.

We do not have storage space or personnel to secure your items. We kindly ask that you do not drop anything off before your event’s scheduled start time. We also ask that you take all items with you at the end of your reservation time.

Yes, provided you comply with all applicable laws.

Yes. We want your event to be successful. Event hosts can share the space name and address, but should not use Google logos or other trademarks for external promotion of any community events. Have in mind that you must have a way to RSVP your guests as we require a guest list.

Yes. Keep in mind, press can only access the event spaces. We recommend providing badges or identification during your registration that clearly highlight members of the press.

Yes. Please notify us with a confirmed government official guest list (at least 5 business days before your event).

Yes, as long as there is no representation of your event being Google-endorsed, or as being sponsored by Google. You are responsible for securing all other legal rights and permissions related to the shoot. Also, please keep in mind that your shots cannot include other groups in the space unless you've explicitly received their permission. Avoid displaying the Google sign or logo in your shots unless you have written permission to use Google's brand.

The Main Event Space can be configured as: (48) theater, (30) pods, (20) classroom, (16) u-shape.

The Workshop Space is set in u-shape for 12.

If you need to cancel your event, we ask that you do so at least 5 business days before your event date so that someone else may be able to use the space. To cancel your event, please login to the Member Portal. Click the event card under "Upcoming events", and navigate to the 3 dots in the upper right side of the card. From there, select “cancel event”.

Details of these events will be shared on our page when available.