bongs and frat boys

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spikegi...@gmail.com

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Mar 31, 2008, 3:58:23 PM3/31/08
to Coworking
for those of you who missed it, CNN did a piece on coworking today.
the female anchor did a great job describing coworking. her co-anchor
likened coworking to frat boys with a big bong listening to led
zeppelin.

julie blogged about it here-- there's a link to the video:

http://blog.launchpadcoworking.com/2008/03/31/coworking-as-breaking-news/

spike
www.launchpadcoworking.com

Chris Messina

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Mar 31, 2008, 4:03:48 PM3/31/08
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Wow, that's pretty awesome. Except the bonehead male commentator.

Heh. Still, does this mean we've arrived or jumped the shark? ;)

Chris

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David Doolin

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Mar 31, 2008, 4:07:08 PM3/31/08
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This statement from the link is _not_ a good way to encourage
Americans to change their working environments:
"Sorry, frat boys and coworking just don't belong in the same sentence."


On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 12:58 PM, spikegi...@gmail.com
<spikegi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

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Tony Bacigalupo

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Mar 31, 2008, 4:09:06 PM3/31/08
to cowo...@googlegroups.com
I was just going to post something... the direct link to the CNN video is here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2008/03/31/labarre.coworking.cnn?iref=videosearch

Chris: I vote for "we've arrived". When a tabloid writes up how Paris Hilton is "coworking" at a Starbucks, then we're screwed.

Barring celebrity or giant conglomerate hijacking, I'd say it's all good :-)

Has anyone seen any uptick in response? They sort of fudged the linking at the end; sounds like Polly wanted to point out some more links but ran out of time.

Chris Messina

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Mar 31, 2008, 4:10:24 PM3/31/08
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Nice to see a wiki URL on CNN though!

http://flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/2378331548/

;)

David Doolin

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Mar 31, 2008, 4:15:22 PM3/31/08
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On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 1:09 PM, Tony Bacigalupo
<tonybac...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I was just going to post something... the direct link to the CNN video is
> here:
> http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2008/03/31/labarre.coworking.cnn?iref=videosearch
>
> Chris: I vote for "we've arrived". When a tabloid writes up how Paris Hilton
> is "coworking" at a Starbucks, then we're screwed.

Naw, man, Paris rocks!

Seriously, the way coworking spaces are structured, they can't be
operationally hijacked. I don't think the meme can be externally
hijacked either, as long as coworking remains sufficiently inclusive
to stay economically self-sufficient.

--

Raines Cohen

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Mar 31, 2008, 4:38:35 PM3/31/08
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What a hoot!

What are the other words in that "dictionary" graphic in the
beginning: yipnup? Something covered up that has to do with sexual
attraction...

Hmmm, the language they use mixes up "Jelly" as largest "site" vs.
distributed aspect.

I love the guy: "It's all very kind of 1960's isn't it?" We have the
same problem with "cohousing" getting cast as "communes for the 1990s"
especially by headline writers... mainstream media has only one set of
frames that fit anything with "co" in the name, or the idea of
cooperation in general.

"Chances are there's one in your city" seems kind of
optimistic/premature, though. I guess if you factor in population and
where their viewers are, it makes sense.

Raines
possibly visiting IndyHall tomorrow, NYC Wed.; Group88 Wed. PM

Chris wrote:
> Heh. Still, does this mean we've arrived or jumped the shark? ;)

I wonder what's next: CoJumping or CoSharking?

Julie Gomoll

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Mar 31, 2008, 10:29:41 PM3/31/08
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The picture CNN used for the graphic behind the coworking definition is here:
http://www.the-spine.com/archives/208

Interesting choice of dictionary...

Julie Gomoll

Susan Evans

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Apr 1, 2008, 12:56:23 AM4/1/08
to Coworking
I too would vote for "we've arrived." So great! I think the female
commentator did a great job of keeping things focused despite the bong-
distractions...

Pretty darned exciting - I suppose we should all consider ourselves
"darlings" of the press right now - let's just hope we can keep the
momentum going. I am certainly a big believer in the idea that
coworking is just one of the many ways of the future.

Congrats, everyone!

Susan

On Mar 31, 1:03 pm, "Chris Messina" <chris.mess...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Wow, that's pretty awesome. Except the bonehead male commentator.
>
> Heh. Still, does this mean we've arrived or jumped the shark? ;)
>
> Chris
>
> On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 12:58 PM, spikegilles...@gmail.com
>
> <spikegilles...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > for those of you who missed it, CNN did a piece on coworking today.
> > the female anchor did a great job describing coworking. her co-anchor
> > likened coworking to frat boys with a big bong listening to led
> > zeppelin.
>
> > julie blogged about it here-- there's a link to the video:
>
> > http://blog.launchpadcoworking.com/2008/03/31/coworking-as-breaking-n...

ATusler

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Apr 1, 2008, 11:32:08 AM4/1/08
to Coworking
Great coverage. I'm impressed the reporter did such a good job.

(Although the video didn't come through running Firefox on a Mac it
did work in Safari.)

I must admit I worry about being co-opted by corporate entities. I've
been a part of, and helped organize a number of different social and
political movements over the past 40 years. I'm continually surprised
at how quickly and effectively money-making entities, helped by
national media, are able to dilute and capitalize on our vision and
work. The silver lining is that the world changes a little bit for the
better when it happens.

Let's see how Time or Newsweek portray coworking. That used to be the
bellwether for co-option. Now it's probably ABC/CBS/NBC nightly news.

It's fun and worthwhile no matter how it goes. I'm impressed that much
of the vision gets understood in these news stories. It's a good sign
for the future.

Anthony

On Mar 31, 12:58 pm, "spikegilles...@gmail.com"
<spikegilles...@gmail.com> wrote:
> for those of you who missed it, CNN did a piece on coworking today.
> the female anchor did a great job describing coworking. her co-anchor
> likened coworking to frat boys with a big bong listening to led
> zeppelin.
>
> julie blogged about it here-- there's a link to the video:
>
> http://blog.launchpadcoworking.com/2008/03/31/coworking-as-breaking-n...
>
> spikewww.launchpadcoworking.com

Tony Bacigalupo

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Apr 1, 2008, 11:35:13 AM4/1/08
to cowo...@googlegroups.com
Anthony,

A sobering thought, for sure.

In your experience, what can be done to insure against this sort of mangling?

Best,
Tony
CoworkingNY

David Doolin

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Apr 1, 2008, 11:43:14 AM4/1/08
to cowo...@googlegroups.com
On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 8:32 AM, ATusler <anthony...@gmail.com> wrote:

[]

> I must admit I worry about being co-opted by corporate entities. I've

It's a high quality problem.

> been a part of, and helped organize a number of different social and
> political movements over the past 40 years. I'm continually surprised
> at how quickly and effectively money-making entities, helped by
> national media, are able to dilute and capitalize on our vision and
> work. The silver lining is that the world changes a little bit for the
> better when it happens.

Yes, it does.

It's too easy to sneer at this process, but it's very
difficult to mobilize people without making sure they
can pay the rent. And that requires lots of really
boring stuff like handling taxes, licenses, insurance
and all the other accoutrements of success.


> Let's see how Time or Newsweek portray coworking. That used to be the
> bellwether for co-option. Now it's probably ABC/CBS/NBC nightly news.

I've been waiting 30 years for this:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101080324,00.html

> It's fun and worthwhile no matter how it goes. I'm impressed that much
> of the vision gets understood in these news stories. It's a good sign
> for the future.


It *is* a good sign for the future.


Once coworking has been "diluted" and "capitalized"
coworking pioneers will undoubtedly be moving on to
something equally relevant, with as much potential
to influence culture to the better. I certainly have
no doubt about this.

>
> Anthony
>
> On Mar 31, 12:58 pm, "spikegilles...@gmail.com"
>
> <spikegilles...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > for those of you who missed it, CNN did a piece on coworking today.
> > the female anchor did a great job describing coworking. her co-anchor
> > likened coworking to frat boys with a big bong listening to led
> > zeppelin.
> >
> > julie blogged about it here-- there's a link to the video:
> >
> > http://blog.launchpadcoworking.com/2008/03/31/coworking-as-breaking-n...
> >
> > spikewww.launchpadcoworking.com
>
>
> >
>

--

Tara Hunt

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Apr 1, 2008, 11:46:17 AM4/1/08
to cowo...@googlegroups.com
I just finally got to watch it! (in client meetings, etc. all yesterday)

She does SUCH an awesome job of describing it! Good job Tony and crew for explaining coworking so well to her!

Tara
--
tara 'miss rogue' hunt
coFounder
Citizen Agency (www.citizenagency.com)
blog: www.horsepigcow.com
phone: 415-694-1951
fax: 415-727-5335

Alex Hillman

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Apr 1, 2008, 11:58:36 AM4/1/08
to cowo...@googlegroups.com
Agreed. She caught so much perspective and used so many of our terms and explanations. It was excellent!

-Alex
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--
-----
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-----
Alex Hillman
round(3)media new! ask me about it
digital: al...@round3media.com
visual: www.round3media.com | www.dangerouslyawesome.com
local: www.indyhall.org

James McCarthy

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Apr 5, 2008, 6:10:04 PM4/5/08
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James McCarthy
http://thewerks.org.uk

On 31 Mar 2008, at 21:15, David Doolin wrote:

>
> On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 1:09 PM, Tony Bacigalupo
> <tonybac...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I was just going to post something... the direct link to the CNN
>> video is
>> here:
>> http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2008/03/31/
>> labarre.coworking.cnn?iref=videosearch
>>
>> Chris: I vote for "we've arrived". When a tabloid writes up how
>> Paris Hilton
>> is "coworking" at a Starbucks, then we're screwed.
>
> Naw, man, Paris rocks!
>
> Seriously, the way coworking spaces are structured, they can't be
> operationally hijacked. I don't think the meme can be externally
> hijacked either, as long as coworking remains sufficiently inclusive
> to stay economically self-sufficient.

I had started seeing some hi-jacking of wiki pages by traditional
"office space" vendors dumping adds on them. A couple of the UK pages
got this kind of low level spam for a bit.

ATusler

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Apr 6, 2008, 12:27:54 PM4/6/08
to Coworking
Once corporate co-opting occurs there is not much that can be done.
Before it hits the best strategy is to make, in writing, the goals and
values as clear as possible. And then recognize that even diluted our
ideas are making a difference.

After thinking about the topic overnight I realized that I had missed
a much larger potential for diluting the core values--the new members
joining up because coworking is recognized, successful, and
publicized.

I have been immersed in the disability rights movement since the early
seventies when the first cross-disability coalitions began. Then, it
was a relatively small group of people in a handful of cities,
Berkeley, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, who were figuring out disability
discrimination and strategies to combat it. There were very few
conservatives involved. Most of us had cut our teeth working in the
anti-war movement. Those first groups were very clear about the nature
of disability discrimination and the changes that were needed to be
made.

As the 70s and 80s progressed we got publicity and recognition. Laws
were passed, we started appearing in TV commercials. Eventually, the
New York Times did a few stories. As this happened people with
disabilities from all perspectives and political viewpoints flooded
the movement. More and more the core values and dreams became
marginalized at the same time we passed the Americans with
Disabilities Act.

As coworking takes off, we get more publicity, and new spaces start
we'll see the later adopters, who don't have our zeal and passion for
creating community, entering the scene. They will see the value in
what we're doing, but not the underlying concepts and values. That'll
be OK. The world will be a better place because of the pioneers and
early adopters.

Anthony

On Apr 1, 8:35 am, "Tony Bacigalupo" <tonybacigal...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Anthony,
>
> A sobering thought, for sure.
>
> In your experience, what can be done to insure against this sort of
> mangling?
>
> Best,
> Tony
> CoworkingNY
>
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