Say goodbye to the Global Coworking Blog?

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

As the moderator and general janitor of this blog I'd like to be the first to day out loud that I think this blog has run its course. I'd like to propose that it redirects somewhere else or goes away completely. Thoughts? If no one has any compelling argument to keep it around, I'll let it slowly sink away with the setting sun :)

http://blog.coworking.com/ 

Angel

[Sabahat Ashraf ("iFaqeer")]

I, for one would like it if the content there stayed available for
inspiration, reference and the record.

S
---
Sabahat I Ashraf ("iFaqeer")
Communicator. Citizen. Fakir.
iFaqeer @ Gmail/Gtalk, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, .com
darwaish @ yahoo
415 881 7834

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[Alex Hillman]

I agree with Sabahat. The blog still attracts a lot of natural traffic every month without any effort. People find articles, which leads them to the word coworking, and in many cases the fact that there is a global coworking community. That's reason to keep it around, even without adding new content.

I think it'd be a lot better to get some fresh blood involved than shut it down. Who has an idea/vision for making the blog better and wants to head it up?!

-Alex

-- 

/ah

indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

[Alex Hillman]

Also, if anyone is interested in traffic stats and analytics that comes to the coworking.com domain (homepage, blog, and wiki), it's available to anyone here:

http://analytics.coworking.com

-Alex

-- 

/ah

indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

[hssmedia]

I personally feel that it is an extreme and productive resource for
newcomers like myself. I am willing to donate my time and skills as a
web design and developer if you need anything from me. I would love to
help you maintain it. Email me tyler (at) krauppinc.com if you need
any help.

Thanks,
Tyler

[JennyAnyDots]

Hi Angel,

I would second (third?) the request that the content remain
accessible.
I'm sure that there's a lot of maintenance that falls onto your
shoulders and I am very grateful that you are so diligent in keeping
the blog relevant.

I am a new space owner and this is my first post. I read all the
digests that land in my inbox, and the knowledge I have gained just
through this passive involvement has been huge. I would posit that I
am not alone in being more of a voyeur than a participant.
I would like to be more involved in future... once I've got my own
space motoring along.

I can't begin to express how impressed I am with the generosity of the
community I see participating in this blog. It's truly inspiring.
Thanks to you all who share your experience with us newbies.

Cheers,
Jennifer Vincent
Cowork Penticton
www.coworkpenticton.com

[Jacob Sayles]

This thread highlights a number of my core motivations behind the wiki project we're working on.  Beyond blogs, wikis, or whatever tool we are talking about, there are the people that maintain the tools and keep things running.  Historically we've been an all volunteer group which is awesome because we have so many dedicated individuals passionate about collaborating on a global scale.  The tricky parts come with coordinating all of the volunteers, and handling departures in a non-disruptive way.  The real system we are working hard to create with the wiki project isn't a wiki, but a non-volunteer, non-commercial team of people who can maintain the systems we all use to collaborate and communicate.  If you are interested in helping us achieve this goal, there are many ways to participate.  I don't mean to hijack this thread to make a pitch, but I saw an opportunity to express why we've taken on this project.  

Jacob

---
Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation
http://www.officenomads.com -  (206) 323-6500

>
> Angel

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[gerard sychay]

Angel,

Thanks for all your work on the blog. Aside from the maintenance commitments, is it working properly? I ask because I submitted a blog post a while ago (more recent than the current top post) and it never appeared. Just curious.

Gerard
http://cincycoworks.com

[bob.mail]

As a total noob here, I have to ask what blog are you referring to ?
The googlegroups one we are on or the http://blog.coworking.com/

?

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

Thanks for all the feedback. Yeah, I don't think the content will go anywhere and the primary issue is that hardly anyone submits blog posts so that's why it gets stagnant. I've had a few issues with the plugin that allows people to submit posts as well as a fair amount of slimy people wanting to post advertisement type posts so I spend most of my time running interference with them. The actual amount of time needed to manage the blog is probably 10 minutes/week so it's not a huge commitment. WE DO NEED CONTENT though so keep that coming my way and I'll do a better job of not missing submitted posts. 

When/if you ask for permission to write a blog, please let me know what type of blog post you have in mind. That'll save us a round of emailing. Guidelines:

• No sales pitches, no press releases about your specific space.
  
• Content should be widely consumable to space catalysts, owners or coworkers.
  
• The best posts are "lessons I learned" or tips/tricks for doing xyz related to starting a space, owning a space or being part of a space.

Gerard--I found your post and just published it. I think it came in on the day or the day after I gave birth so it got missed--sorry!

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

Bob--yes blog.coworking.com is what we're talking about :)

[Jerome Chang]

btw, couldn't we use Alex's weekly rag as blog content?

Jerome

______________
BLANKSPACES
"work FOR yourself, not BY yourself"

www.blankspaces.com
ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 

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[Alex Hillman]

I'd be happy to repost. Just gotta work it into our process. 

--
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia

[Randall G. Arnold]

What about aggregating content automatically from different blogs, based on keywords?  I plan to write relevant articles at http://post404.com and don't mind them being syndicated in.

 

Randy

 

On May 17, 2012 at 2:04 PM Alex Hillman <dangerous...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'd be happy to repost. Just gotta work it into our process. 
>
> --
> /ah
> indyhall.org
> coworking in philadelphia
>
>
> On Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 1:59 PM, Jerome Chang wrote:
>
> > btw, couldn't we use Alex's weekly rag as blog content?
> >
> >
> > Jerome
> > ______________
> > BLANKSPACES
> > "work FOR yourself, not BY yourself"
> >

> > www.blankspaces.com (http://www.blankspaces.com)

> > ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036
> >
> > On May 12, 2012, at 7:19 AM, Angel Kwiatkowski wrote:
> > > As the moderator and general janitor of this blog I'd like to be the first to day out loud that I think this blog has run its course. I'd like to propose that it redirects somewhere else or goes away completely. Thoughts? If no one has any compelling argument to keep it around, I'll let it slowly sink away with the setting sun :)
> > > http://blog.coworking.com/
> > >
> > > Angel
> > >
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group.
> > > To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/2iD8fgdxCcIJ.

> > > To post to this group, send email to cowo...@googlegroups.com (mailto:cowo...@googlegroups.com).
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+...@googlegroups.com (mailto:coworking+...@googlegroups.com).

[Jacob Sayles]

To really pull off a system like that it would require a good amount of work to make sure the right balances are struck.  Also, never underestimate maintenance.  As a software guy I love thinking that way, but its' a lot trickier then it might look to get something built, used, and maintained.  The system we have is super simple as that is usually the best way to get the best of all worlds.  To syndicate your posts, you can repost them to the blog when you find one you particularly want to highlight.  It's a little more work on your part, but it's all in place and ready to work right now.  

Jacob

---
Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation
http://www.officenomads.com -  (206) 323-6500

[Alex Hillman]

Agreed. Aggregators are low signal to noise by design, and would make the blog far less valuable than it being "stale" very quickly. 

The curation process I've been going through with coworkingweekly involves getting a lot of noise out in order to expose signal. More submissions would be really great, but most of the stuff I get submitted is more in line with "promotion" or announcements than information, so I hits the cutting room floor.  

--
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia

[Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking]

I feel like the coworking blog needs to stick around and we just need
to make it a higher priority to submit articles to it. I know we are
busy and spend a fair amont of time on this Google group, but if each
person dedicates themselves to writing one post every two or three
months then we could have an insightful post each week or more.

Craig
Creative Density

[Alex Hillman]

Part of the motivation for the newsletter has been to help get the good content from the google group shared beyond the google group. Really good stuff happens in here, I'd love to see some of the topics that come up here often turned into brief blog posts. 

-- 

/ah

indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

[Devin]

Randy, I love the aggregation idea. I spun up a Wordpress site with a
feedwordpress aggregation plug-in at coworking.floing.org and threw in
20+ space RSS feeds that are located in this spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArhSktWsQi1VdGgtcEJfZmV5NWtiaGZQUUIzTVdkd2c
Looks good to me.

The plug-in can automatically add content items as drafts or published
articles on a feed by feed basis, so noise can be reduced.
Additionally, participating spaces could use a keyword to
automatically bring their content into the system, have it auto-
published, etc. There are lots of options and I'm definitely
interested in collaborating on such an endeavour.

Let me know if you're interested - and if you knows a good source of
coworking space RSS feeds. :)


On May 17, 2:21 pm, "Randall G. Arnold" <randall.arn...@texrat.net>
wrote:

> What about aggregating content automatically from different blogs, based on
> keywords?  I plan to write relevant articles athttp://post404.com
> <http://post404.com> and don't mind them being syndicated in.
>
> Randy
>

> On May 17, 2012 at 2:04 PM Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com>

> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > I'd be happy to repost. Just gotta work it into our process.
>
> > --
> > /ah
> > indyhall.org
> > coworking in philadelphia
>
> > On Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 1:59 PM, Jerome Chang wrote:
>
> > > btw, couldn't we use Alex's weekly rag as blog content?
>
> > > Jerome
> > > ______________
> > > BLANKSPACES
> > > "work FOR yourself, not BY yourself"
>

> > >www.blankspaces.com(http://www.blankspaces.com)

[Jeannine]

Also, can we not repost the blog posts from the wiki blog as content?

Jeannine

On May 17, 8:04 pm, Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'd be happy to repost. Just gotta work it into our process.
>
> --
> /ah
> indyhall.org
> coworking in philadelphia
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 1:59 PM, Jerome Chang wrote:
> > btw, couldn't we use Alex's weekly rag as blog content?
>
> > Jerome
> > ______________
> > BLANKSPACES
> > "work FOR yourself, not BY yourself"
>

> >www.blankspaces.com(http://www.blankspaces.com)

> > ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036
>
> > On May 12, 2012, at 7:19 AM, Angel Kwiatkowski wrote:
> > > As the moderator and general janitor of this blog I'd like to be the first to day out loud that I think this blog has run its course. I'd like to propose that it redirects somewhere else or goes away completely. Thoughts? If no one has any compelling argument to keep it around, I'll let it slowly sink away with the setting sun :)
> > >http://blog.coworking.com/
>
> > > Angel
>
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group.

> > > To view this discussion on the web visithttps://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/2iD8fgdxCcIJ.
> > > To post to this group, send email to cowo...@googlegroups.com (mailto:cowo...@googlegroups.com).
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+...@googlegroups.com (mailto:coworking+...@googlegroups.com).
> > > For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.

[Jacob Sayles]

Kevin just submitted a post about the wiki today!  

Jacob

---
Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation
http://www.officenomads.com -  (206) 323-6500

[Jacob Sayles]

Aggregation is tricky because the easier you make it to post the more it becomes an unhelpful firehouse of information.  That said, RSS feeds can be useful tools depending on how they are managed.  To answer the "good source of coworking space RSS feeds" issue, that's one of the features at the heart of the work we are doing with the coworking wiki.  You know the part with pretty maps that pulls embedded data from each coworking space's website?  That's all part of the plan.  So, in short I'm working in it!  It's not going to be the full aggregated blog you talked about here, but nothing would stop anyone from taking the feeds and doing this.  In fact, being easy to extend is part of the design.  

Jacob

---
Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation
http://www.officenomads.com -  (206) 323-6500

[Randall G. Arnold]

All caveats about aggregation are well-taken, Jacob, but there's no reason to even consider making it THAT easy IMO.  That wasn't even on my mind when I originally tossed out the suggestion.

 

Certainly, there should be some thought put into the process that prevents a firehose result.  The original issue was someone not having time and/or interest in keeping the blog fresh and current, and I proposed pulling in content from other blogs as *one* possibility.  I've seen it done very well in other communities; the use of filter categories and/or keywords, combined with an initial rigorous vetting process, allows the maintainer to reduce their portion of the work considerably.  But, sure, 100% automated has its own issues.

 

Anyway thanks for your efforts and I look forward to the results!

Randy

 

On May 21, 2012 at 2:04 PM Jacob Sayles <ja...@officenomads.com> wrote:

> Aggregation is tricky because the easier you make it to post the more it
> becomes an unhelpful firehouse of information.  That said, RSS feeds can be
> useful tools depending on how they are managed.  To answer the "good source
> of coworking space RSS feeds" issue, that's one of the features at the
> heart of the work we are doing with the coworking wiki.  You know the part
> with pretty maps that pulls embedded data from each coworking space's

> website?  That's all part of the plan.  So, in short *I'm working in it*!

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

Jeannine,

Since all of the blog posts on the global blog are reposts of some nature it doesn't seem fair to limit that. While we on this group may be very familiar with the wiki project, the world at large probably isn't and I've gotten feedback that the world at large tends to land on the global blog etc etc. 

General guidelines for submission to the global blog are:

-no space specific posts (like Chili cookoff at Cohere this week!) 

-no press releases (Fort Collins is opening a coworking space and you should come cowork with us!)

-no sales pitches (use our desk rental site/app/coffee/spam)

-posts should be generally consumable by anyone with an interest in coworking. Space owners, catalysts, members and lurkers.

-the best posts share personal experiences that people can learn from or apply to their spaces (things I learned on my first day of coworking, 3 things I wish I had known when I started a coworking community, ideas for events in coworking spaces, etc etc)

I've heard the blog aggregation idea about 300 times and I have yet to see an aggregation that is easily consumable. Alex's curated version is working much better IMHO.

Love, Angel

On Sunday, May 20, 2012 5:06:56 AM UTC-6, Jeannine wrote:

Also, can we not repost the blog posts from the wiki blog as content?

Jeannine
On May 17, 8:04 pm, Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'd be happy to repost. Just gotta work it into our process.
>
> --
> /ah
> indyhall.org
> coworking in philadelphia
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 1:59 PM, Jerome Chang wrote:
> > btw, couldn't we use Alex's weekly rag as blog content?
>
> > Jerome
> > ______________
> > BLANKSPACES
> > "work FOR yourself, not BY yourself"
>
> >www.blankspaces.com(http://www.blankspaces.com)
> > ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036
>
> > On May 12, 2012, at 7:19 AM, Angel Kwiatkowski wrote:
> > > As the moderator and general janitor of this blog I'd like to be the first to day out loud that I think this blog has run its course. I'd like to propose that it redirects somewhere else or goes away completely. Thoughts? If no one has any compelling argument to keep it around, I'll let it slowly sink away with the setting sun :)
> > >http://blog.coworking.com/
>
> > > Angel
>
> > > --
> > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group.
> > > To view this discussion on the web visithttps://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/2iD8fgdxCcIJ.

> > > To post to this group, send email to cowo...@googlegroups.com (mailto:coworking@googlegroups.com).
> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com (mailto:coworking+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com).

> > > For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
>
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group.
> > To post to this group, send email to cowo...@googlegroups.com.

> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Alex Hillman]

We can start posting coworkingweekly.com newsletter content to the blog. 

If someone's hungry to automate anything, scripting something to grab the RSS from MailChump, scrape the important HTML out and insert it into a blog post - let me know and I'm happy to help in anyway I can :)

-Alex

-- 

/ah

indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/kDhVOvsb11gJ.

To post to this group, send email to cowo...@googlegroups.com.

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