press in businessweek.com
nonecknoel
http://blog.coworking.info/2007/02/26/coworking-in-businessweekcom/
just take note that the coworking wiki URL is incorrect and the
reporter has been notified.
Chris Messina
Chris
--
Chris Messina
Citizen Provocateur &
Open Source Ambassador-at-Large
Work: http://citizenagency.com
Blog: http://factoryjoe.com/blog
Cell: 412 225-1051
Skype: factoryjoe
This email is: [ ] bloggable [X] ask first [ ] private
Simon L
On Feb 27, 6:49 am, "Chris Messina" <chris.mess...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Awesome! Great coverage!
>
> Chris
>
> On 2/26/07, nonecknoel <noneckn...@gmail.com> wrote:
Riccardo Cambiassi
See you tonight at the Market Porter
Riccardo CAMBIASSI
mailto:r.cam...@gmail.com
http://www.codewitch.org
nonecknoel
BW does plan on covering this subject in more detail.
noel
dow...@gmail.com
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Tara Hunt
We are still quite unprepared, although there seems to be tonnes of spaces set up as businesses around North America who were featured, coworking itself is still trying to find it's legs. I feel that this big mainstream market push is too early. I suppose we can see it as a 'let's get cracking' thing, though.
ABC Global news? Who are you dowdsy? What space are you from? (Sorry...I don't recognize the email...). Make certain you mention a couple of things that aren't found on the wiki...
- Silicon Sentier in Paris (the coworking space there) is due to be launched in the next month or so in the Montmartre area. It will be three stories, a cafe on the main floor, offices on the second floor and an event space/meeting spaces on the third floor. All free or inexpensive...just to cover the costs, really. It is partially funded by the local Paris government to help out the tech economy.
- Toronto is abuzz with coworking spaces as well as throwing a conference, OpenCities, that will address coworking amongst other things - contact Mark Kuznicki on this one
- We are encouraging people who currently have an excess of space to donate parts of it to coworking. This is a strong model. Even British Telecom in London, UK is considering opening their cafe in the downtown office to vagabond workers to come and use during the daytime. It isn't just about starting your own cafe...it's also about making use of space that is already there. The advantages of new energy that enters the space and talent recruitment is obvious.
- Even NASA is getting into the act and has joined our space (Citizen Space) because they recognize the power of being part of these collaborative spaces. They now have a desk here and may take desks in other centers if it goes well.
Some of the issues everyone is facing:
- How to balance these collaborative spaces with actual work spaces? How do we get stuff done as well as encourage interaction? As many startups are coming into these spaces, it becomes an issue.
- Intellectual Property has been an issue. Most of these spaces encourage an open plan, even for meeting spaces...with the idea that discussions should be public to allow for many minds to get involved and help one another out. This has been extremely fruitful for everyone involved, but many companies still have a tough time wrapping their minds around getting rid of NDAs and keeping a shroud of secrecy.
- Is this a collective or should their be space leaders? Ideally, these spaces are run by the community, but thusfar, it has been a problematic model. We are looking at a hybrid model described in the book by Ori Brafman, The Starfish and the Spider, which looks to 'catalysts' and 'guides' to lead these spaces, with the community members being semi-detached, but given the ability to become 'deputized' within the meritocratic system. Very much an Open Source development model.
- Keeping the spaces populated and buzzing daily. When it isn't 'your office', impetus to go to the coworking spaces is lowered, so the attendance at some spaces has been sporatic...much like a coffee shop (go when you feel like home is driving you stir crazy). If there isn't critical mass in a space, it loses the advantage of the collaborative. Do we encourage more 'office-like' spaces so people are encouraged to leave their workstations there and, thus, driven to their office each day? How do we keep from becoming those sterile 'office' setups?
Amongst other issues. Each city and each space within each city has a unique problem, too, as more questions arise within different cultures and contexts.
Tara
Sincerely,
Tara
-----------------------
tara 'miss rogue' hunt
agent provocateur
Citizen Agency ( www.citizenagency.com)
blog: www.horsepigcow.com
phone: 415-694-1951
fax: 415-727-5335
David Doolin
> I'm still trying to figure out if all of this press is a good thing right
> now or not. :|
I think it's what you make of it.
At Hat Factory, we decided to run with it as
best we can. Strike while the iron is hot
and all that.
> We are still quite unprepared, although there seems to be tonnes of spaces
> set up as businesses around North America who were featured, coworking
> itself is still trying to find it's legs. I feel that this big mainstream
> market push is too early. I suppose we can see it as a 'let's get cracking'
> thing, though.
"Let's get crackin'" exactly.
[snip snap]
> Some of the issues everyone is facing:
>
> - How to balance these collaborative spaces with actual work spaces? How do
> we get stuff done as well as encourage interaction? As many startups are
> coming into these spaces, it becomes an issue.
I see a range of public and private spaces in each facility.
For example, when I need to do math, I need privacy.
For some coding and business development/operations,
I can multitask this in a collaborative space. I suspect
that most people engaged in analytic work require
some sort of public/private balance as well.
> - Intellectual Property has been an issue. Most of these spaces encourage an
> open plan, even for meeting spaces...with the idea that discussions should
> be public to allow for many minds to get involved and help one another out.
> This has been extremely fruitful for everyone involved, but many companies
> still have a tough time wrapping their minds around getting rid of NDAs and
> keeping a shroud of secrecy.
This battle is unwinnable. It's a process that can be managed though.
Example: I pay subcontractors to code both GPL and proprietary software.
The GPL software I can talk about, the other, not so much, at least
not directly. I am fine with this.
Looking more deeply into your comments, you have an implicit
assumption that coworking spaces will only be of interest
to individuals involved in various enterprises where IP
protection is common. But I don't believe coworking
is viable limited to one subculture of technology, be it
video blogging, web 2.0 or 3.141592 or whatever.
Example: Hat Factory could host a life or relationship
coach using the private room on a part time basis, a painter or
sculptor in the bottom corner, and a hardware hacker
in the workbench corner. All orthogonal to the current
mx of anchors.
> - Is this a collective or should their be space leaders? Ideally, these
> spaces are run by the community, but thusfar, it has been a problematic
> model. We are looking at a hybrid model described in the book by Ori
> Brafman, The Starfish and the Spider, which looks to 'catalysts' and
> 'guides' to lead these spaces, with the community members being
> semi-detached, but given the ability to become 'deputized' within the
> meritocratic system. Very much an Open Source development model.
Governance is a pretty big issue.
"Mobrule" doesn't work, field tested.
Two main issues: some entity (person or structure) will be
liable for the rent (or property taxes), and someone has to
actually physically write checks, go to the bank, etc.
These facts are immutable.
Most likely, benevolent dictatorship (the leaseholder) for
resolution of impasses coupled with a loose "executive team"
should be a workable solution for implementing a vision created
by a community or consensual process. This way the people
writing the checks can develop the relevant business processes
without having to deal with full-blown community involvement
concerning who's turn it is to go to the bank, etc.
From my experience with similar communities...
without having a "court of last resort," contentious issues
of governance devolve into gridlock, and people more
interested in getting work done just leave. Obviously,
such authority must be wielded responsibly, or again,
the community collapses.
Again, there is no solution, only processes that either
work or do not work.
> - Keeping the spaces populated and buzzing daily. When it isn't 'your
> office', impetus to go to the coworking spaces is lowered, so the attendance
> at some spaces has been sporatic...much like a coffee shop (go when you feel
> like home is driving you stir crazy). If there isn't critical mass in a
> space, it loses the advantage of the collaborative. Do we encourage more
> 'office-like' spaces so people are encouraged to leave their workstations
> there and, thus, driven to their office each day? How do we keep from
> becoming those sterile 'office' setups?
Provide semi-structured opportunities for social interaction.
Places with kitchen can do community lunch once a week.
I'm sure there are many other ways to do this.
> Amongst other issues. Each city and each space within each city has a unique
> problem, too, as more questions arise within different cultures and
> contexts.
This is very true.
I suspect the majority of spaces will evolve structures closely
resembling each other, as people tend to solve similar problems
in similar ways (which is in fact why coworking itself is
erupting all over the planet.
This conversation is interesting and critical. I hope other
readers will weigh in with their experience.
-dave d
Mark Dowds
The people who are now participating as members in the space are either folks venturing with a new start-up or are independents in the web/technology sector. It is our hope that we can blend a community centre for technology people in the city as well as offering a collaborative work environment. Some aspects are working well. The majority of the people did not know each other or had just read each others blogs before signing up. Since then it has been interesting to watch some folks drawing others into their thinking and planning as well as simply going to lunch together. We have a lot to learn and are experimenting a lot with the model at this phase.
I hope this explains some more about who I am and what we are up to with www.indoorplayground.com
> mailto: r.cam...@gmail.com <mailto:r.cam...@gmail.com>
> http://www.codewitch.org
>
> >
>
Mark Dowds
I just blogged the links
http://markdowds.typepad.com/weblog/2007/03/abc_world_news_.html
On 3/1/07 1:20 PM, "Tara Hunt" <horse...@gmail.com> wrote:
> mailto: r.cam...@gmail.com <mailto:r.cam...@gmail.com>
> http://www.codewitch.org
>
> >
>
Brad Neuberg
mention coworking :(
Best,
Brad
dow...@gmail.com
Tara Hunt
Coworking, itself, is the name you, Brad, assigned to your space in the Spiral Muse, but has, obviously, become a global umbrella that unites the various spaces springing up all over the world. It is also the name, ironically, of an institute, founded for the sake of collaboration in work and play: www.coworking.com (and it looks like it's been around for at least 7 years). It may be pertinent to contact them regarding the similar use of the name (and to make sure that, as the coworking movement grows, there aren't any conflicts). Unless Brad has anything to do with them? Have you contacted them before?
T.
Tara Hunt
T.
Brad Neuberg
> they wanted to focus on current spaces rather than the emerging network (the
> latter of which I think is more interesting). It would have been awesome for
> them to help us by putting out a call for the more general 'roll your own'
> idea. One of the reasons it has spread so far around the world is that
> documenting it BarCamp style, openly, has allowed for many people to start
> exploring their own relationship to it instead of just gazing inwards. Very
> empowering and we are seeing more and more creative ways of launching
> coworking spaces, some that are businesses, some that aren't.
>
> Coworking, itself, is the name you, Brad, assigned to your space in the
> Spiral Muse, but has, obviously, become a global umbrella that unites the
> various spaces springing up all over the world. It is also the name,
> ironically, of an institute, founded for the sake of collaboration in work
> and play: www.coworking.com (and it looks like it's been around for at least
> 7 years). It may be pertinent to contact them regarding the similar use of
> the name (and to make sure that, as the coworking movement grows, there
> aren't any conflicts). Unless Brad has anything to do with them? Have you
> contacted them before?
Hi Tara; when I came up with the word coworking I was actually
imagining a coworking movement -- after watching how the word Ajax
gave the DHTML community a new life, I thought that a good word that
encapsulated the concepts of it would bind things together -- there is
a saying in linguistics that if you don't have a word to hang on a
concept the concept will have difficulty spreading. I decided to focus
on a local space first, though, since that met my immediate needs, and
thought that a more general movement would flow naturally by talking
to folks and proving the local case. I didn't know about previous work
spaces before -- I saw the coworking.com site, however, but it is
pretty different and is more about collaborative technologies.
Best,
Brad
Neil Ford
http://coworking.com/?pg=toolspopup&id=367
Neil.
dow...@gmail.com
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: "Tara Hunt" <horse...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 19:35:37
To:cowo...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Coworking] Re: press in businessweek.com
That's awesome! We actually had the chance to meet John McGann and work at 116 Houston (thanks to Noel) when we went to NYC in December. It's a nice space. Too bad you didn't get on the program, Mark! I can't wait until we get to Tdot and can come check out Indoor Playground (sorry for not recognizing your email earlier...of course I know who you are! I didn't connect ABC with Toronto for some reason).
T.
On 3/1/07, Mark Dowds <dow...@gmail.com: <mailto:dow...@gmail.com> > wrote:
The ABC News just covered the article
I just blogged the links
http://markdowds.typepad.com/weblog/2007/03/abc_world_news_.html: <http://markdowds.typepad.com/weblog/2007/03/abc_world_news_.html>
On 3/1/07 1:20 PM, "Tara Hunt" <horse...@gmail.com: <mailto:horse...@gmail.com> > wrote:
I'm still trying to figure out if all of this press is a good thing right now or not. :|
We are still quite unprepared, although there seems to be tonnes of spaces set up as businesses around North America who were featured, coworking itself is still trying to find it's legs. I feel that this big mainstream market push is too early. I suppose we can see it as a 'let's get cracking' thing, though.
ABC Global news? Who are you dowdsy? What space are you from? (Sorry...I don't recognize the email...). Make certain you mention a couple of things that aren't found on the wiki...
- Silicon Sentier in Paris (the coworking space there) is due to be launched in the next month or so in the Montmartre area. It will be three stories, a cafe on the main floor, offices on the second floor and an event space/meeting spaces on the third floor. All free or inexpensive...just to cover the costs, really. It is partially funded by the local Paris government to help out the tech economy.
- Toronto is abuzz with coworking spaces as well as throwing a conference, OpenCities, that will address coworking amongst other things - contact Mark Kuznicki on this one
- We are encouraging people who currently have an excess of space to donate parts of it to coworking. This is a strong model. Even British Telecom in London, UK is considering opening their cafe in the downtown office to vagabond workers to come and use during the daytime. It isn't just about starting your own cafe...it's also about making use of space that is already there. The advantages of new energy that enters the space and talent recruitment is obvious.
- Even NASA is getting into the act and has joined our space (Citizen Space) because they recognize the power of being part of these collaborative spaces. They now have a desk here and may take desks in other centers if it goes well.
Some of the issues everyone is facing:
- How to balance these collaborative spaces with actual work spaces? How do we get stuff done as well as encourage interaction? As many startups are coming into these spaces, it becomes an issue.
- Intellectual Property has been an issue. Most of these spaces encourage an open plan, even for meeting spaces...with the idea that discussions should be public to allow for many minds to get involved and help one another out. This has been extremely fruitful for everyone involved, but many companies still have a tough time wrapping their minds around getting rid of NDAs and keeping a shroud of secrecy.
- Is this a collective or should their be space leaders? Ideally, these spaces are run by the community, but thusfar, it has been a problematic model. We are looking at a hybrid model described in the book by Ori Brafman, The Starfish and the Spider, which looks to 'catalysts' and 'guides' to lead these spaces, with the community members being semi-detached, but given the ability to become 'deputized' within the meritocratic system. Very much an Open Source development model.
- Keeping the spaces populated and buzzing daily. When it isn't 'your office', impetus to go to the coworking spaces is lowered, so the attendance at some spaces has been sporatic...much like a coffee shop (go when you feel like home is driving you stir crazy). If there isn't critical mass in a space, it loses the advantage of the collaborative. Do we encourage more 'office-like' spaces so people are encouraged to leave their workstations there and, thus, driven to their office each day? How do we keep from becoming those sterile 'office' setups?
Amongst other issues. Each city and each space within each city has a unique problem, too, as more questions arise within different cultures and contexts.
Tara
On 3/1/07, dow...@gmail.com: <mailto:dow...@gmail.com> <
dow...@gmail.com: <mailto:dow...@gmail.com> > wrote:
Folks, I got a call today from ABC Global news who are going to cover this on the back of the business week article. It is to air online tomorrow.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: nonecknoel <nonec...@gmail.com: <mailto:nonec...@gmail.com> >
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:24:21
To:cowo...@googlegroups.com: <mailto:To:cowo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Coworking] Re: press in businessweek.com: <http://businessweek.com>
<http://businessweek.com>: <http://businessweek.com>
i believe that the article is only on the web, but we as time moves on
BW does plan on covering this subject in more detail.
noel
On 2/28/07, Riccardo Cambiassi < r.cam...@gmail.com: <mailto:r.cam...@gmail.com> > wrote:
> No idea, but I'll try and have a go at Borders to get it tomorrow.
> See you tonight at the Market Porter
>
> On 2/27/07, Simon L < si...@bitcartel.com: <mailto:si...@bitcartel.com> > wrote:
> >
> > Is the article in the print edition, or is it just on the web-site?
> >
> >
> > On Feb 27, 6:49 am, "Chris Messina" < chris.mess...@gmail.com: <mailto:chris.mess...@gmail.com> > wrote:
> > > Awesome! Great coverage!
> > >
> > > Chris
> > >
> > > On 2/26/07, nonecknoel < noneckn...@gmail.com: <mailto:noneckn...@gmail.com> > wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Riccardo CAMBIASSI
> mailto: r.cam...@gmail.com: <mailto:r.cam...@gmail.com> <mailto:
r.cam...@gmail.com: <mailto:r.cam...@gmail.com> >
> http://www.codewitch.org: <http://www.codewitch.org>
>
> >
>
--
Sincerely,
Tara
-----------------------
tara 'miss rogue' hunt
agent provocateur
Citizen Agency (www.citizenagency.com
: <http://www.citizenagency.com> )
blog: www.horsepigcow.com: <http://www.horsepigcow.com>
phone: 415-694-1951
fax: 415-727-5335