Two Economist Articles

[Tony Bacigalupo]

VERY interesting articles on the changing workplace, and Nomadism, via my friend Michelle... I'm blown away that "coworking" wasn't once mentioned. Amazing articles nonetheless.

8:42 AM Michelle: http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10950394

8:43 AM or better yet: http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10950378 the whole issue deals with it.

[Todd Sundsted]

You shouldn't read the Economist. It's doesn't preach the pro-
American party line...

These are great articles. Thanks for pointing them out. I think Drew
told me about them but I wasn't paying attention.

I've been reading some of the early threads on the Coworking group and
some of the posts that summarize coworking's past. There is
definitely more than one way to look at what is going on right now.
There's "coworking", which emphasizes community, but _not necessarily
mobility_. And there "nomadism", which emphasizes mobility and
flexibility but not necessarily community...

As it turns out, I'm really a nomad. I have an office that I share
with a local company. It's pretty close to a coworking arrangement,
in practice. But as often as not, I'm not there--I'm in a coffeeshop
someplace, working away. It turns out that as much as I like the
company of others, sometimes I have to go somewhere else to get my
work done... ;-)

Don't expel me from the scene, please...

Thanks!
Todd


On Apr 16, 8:36 am, "Tony Bacigalupo" <tonybacigal...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> VERY interesting articles on the changing workplace, and Nomadism, via my
> friend Michelle... I'm blown away that "coworking" wasn't once mentioned.
> Amazing articles nonetheless.

> 8:42 AM Michelle:http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=109...
> 8:43 AM or better yet:http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=109...

[Tony Bacigalupo]

It turns out that as much as I like the
company of others, sometimes I have to go somewhere else to get my
work done... ;-)

Don't expel me from the scene, please...

One of the things I realized and started saying a couple months back (actually, might have realized this when you guys came to town) was that coworking is a part of a larger movement.

So, while we're all very spirited about the coworking movement, there's an understanding that there's a larger force at work.


 

[Todd Sundsted]

BTW... These are *great* articles. Drew didn't know about them, which
means you scooped us both. No small thing, because Drew *reads* the
Economist.

I ended up writing up my thoughts and posting them to the blog (http://
notanmba.com/blog/2008/04/untethered). There were a handful of quote
and ideas that these articles nailed down for me.

Jonathan Schwartz
"Time provides the structure, location takes care of itself."

James Katz
"...the shift amounts to a “historical re-integration” of our
productive and social spheres."

And the distinction between astronauts (which is what road-warriors
were--pick up a magazine about sales and just look at all of the crap
that you can outfit a car with) and nomads.

Honestly, after reading these, I think _space_ is more important to
coworking than most realize. _community_ gets all the attention, but
you can only get so much community without being face-to-face with
someone, at least regularly and occasionally, in a space that supports
(and maybe even defines) that relationship.

Todd



On Apr 17, 8:49 am, "Tony Bacigalupo" <tonybacigal...@gmail.com>