The "Competition"
jfg17
mobile basis regularly and find the concept of co-working intriguing.
I have seen a few posts here and perhaps in similar groups, commenting
on why certain co-working facilities are not full.
I work: in multiple spots around my home, including a traditional home
office, two local libraries (which are great except when my phone
rings, and I have to hustle outside to take a call), my car, three
mobility centers operated by my employer, one Dunkin' Donuts (next to
a Staples, whose wireless network I use), one Starbucks, a park bench
in my town square (when it's warm; 1 hour of free wireless
connectivity per day), the airport, well, you get the idea. I print at
home, the libary, at work or to FedexKinkos/Staples.
Just today I worked in my living room, my home office, a diner,
Starbucks (twice) and a client site. Oh, yeah, and the mall, on my
Blackberry.
My take is that "co-working" facilities, broadly defined, are already
ubiquitous and that they offer people flexibility and variety and --
believe it or not -- a feeling of community. When I work in my town
library, I feel connected to my neighbors. When I work at Dunkin'
Donuts, I feel connected to a different community, people who share a
positive association for that brand.
I think the ubiquity of WIFI and the openness of towns, retailers and
others to supporting the new workforce may be a "good enough" solution
for most people, obviating the need for them for the potentially
superior experience offered by a co-working facility.
What do others think? Is co-working a major new movement, or an option
that will only appeal to a minority of individuals whose needs exceed
the (sometimes free) work options already available?
John
Chris Messina
> My take is that "co-working" facilities, broadly defined, are already
> ubiquitous and that they offer people flexibility and variety and --
> believe it or not -- a feeling of community. When I work in my town
> library, I feel connected to my neighbors. When I work at Dunkin'
> Donuts, I feel connected to a different community, people who share a
> positive association for that brand.
>
> I think the ubiquity of WIFI and the openness of towns, retailers and
> others to supporting the new workforce may be a "good enough" solution
> for most people, obviating the need for them for the potentially
> superior experience offered by a co-working facility.
>
> What do others think? Is co-working a major new movement, or an option
> that will only appeal to a minority of individuals whose needs exceed
> the (sometimes free) work options already available?
Welcome John, and thanks for your post. Your point is well taken and
hits on both the opportunity and challenge of coworking.
First, I like to make the point that coworking spaces are "competing
with laziness and free". That is, people are typically lazy and are
content to work from home, even if it means inventing imaginary pets
to keep them company (as one of our Indie Hall friends did). It also
means that we're competing with the "freeness" of working out of
cafes, Starbucks, on park benches and similar venues who make money
not by renting you space temporarily, but by feeding you or selling
you other stuff.
To put it bluntly, it's unlikely that you're going to make a mint
running a coworking space given "the competition".
That said, coworking addresses needs that many people end up
experiencing, to a greater or lesser degree, when they go independent,
or move, or work from home, or regularly work out of cafes (as cafe
and dining room-worker refugees ourselves, we're familiar with how
things were before we had a coworking space).
For us, the benefits of coworking are:
1. community: Having consistent folks that work around you is key. You
might get this at a cafe, but it can be really variable. Seeing the
same folks day in and day out helps you build up connections like you
would with regular coworkers; but because you're often in different
companies or industries, a lot of interesting cross-pollination
happens. Beyond that, being able to leave work and head to a cafe or
bar with your fellow "coworkers" is something that often doesn't occur
when you're already working out of a cafe. Of course it's an
existential choice as to what kind of community experience you're
looking for, but we've found that the community of coworkers coming
and going from Citizen Space is the greatest reward that we could ask
for.
2. serendipity: Citizen Space is an international hub for wayward
travelers and independent workers. We like to offer it as a refuge to
folks visiting town for a conference or as a place to catch up on
email for 30 minutes before heading to another meeting in town. It's
the kind of place that we wished someone else offered when we were
independents working from home or cafes much of the time. And since it
is pretty conveniently located and an available resource, we get a lot
of really interesting people coming and going, interacting and leaving
traces of themselves behind. This randomness leads to a number of
fortuitous meetings that might not otherwise takes place, and provides
us, the proprietors, the chance to meet people we might otherwise not
be able to.
3. stability and serenity in your work environment: Depending on how
you work, this is a big one. Cafes can often be overbearing on one's
productivity... for us, our favorite cafe often ran out of tables just
as we arrived, forcing us to waste time looking for another space
somewhere else to work. Additionally, the noise of a cafe, though
stimulating, can be really bad for taking phone calls or having
meetings.
Theft is also a concern in open public spaces. And then there's the
awkward tension that arises from sitting in a cafe for any number of
hours and only buying a single coffee or pastry... not exactly a
sustainable relationship. On top of that, our favorite cafe had to
close up a number of power outlets after receiving $400 monthly power
bills... and what did people do? They simply bought extra batteries,
clearly not addressing the root issue.
4. a space of one's own: Then, if you consider that working from
random places like libraries, cafes and elsewhere requires that you're
truly portable, you begin to forget how much more productive you can
be with a 30" display, an external mouse, external harddrives,
solid-state printers and RELIABLE wifi. These things can be hit or
miss in the wild, so having a dedicated space predicated on providing
room for these accouterments becomes key.
On top of that, if you want to hold events, it can be hard to find
public space that can accommodate you. If you have friends in offices,
that's an option, but being able to arrange a space to your own liking
— installing projector screens or whiteboards for example — becomes an
additional benefit of working out of a coworking space. As well, if
you're a late night worker and cafes close before your productivity
streak runs out, you quickly begin to appreciate having a "third
space" that is open as long as you want it to be.
5. a place to work that's not your bedroom: Working from home can be
great — you can get the laundry done while you're on the phone with
clients or cook dinner as you finish up email. But, there are limits
to this perceived "freedom". Probably one of the greatest benefits of
coworking to workers with home offices is the fact that the coworking
space is NOT their home! Especially when you're in a relationship
where one partner works in an office with other people, the social
isolation can lead to "gushing" experiences when the socialized
partner comes home to the solitary one and is inundated with updates
from the day. It's not that this is bad per se, but that coworking
spaces can provide good antidotes for this kind of social imbalance or
alienation.
6. a chance to build something unique: Besides all those practical
benefits, there's something bigger going on here that should be
acknowledged: in spite of all the technology and the ability to work
"wherever" we want, there's still value in coming together in shared
spaces with people that we like and care about. No one says that you
can't work alone, but many people do think that working among peers is
often better for them — and leads to a more positive attitude and
outlook. Being able to join with a strong community like the coworking
community and to be able to create the work-life experience of the
future — and to define for ourselves what we want from where we work,
for me, is critical.
For a point of historical context, I used to work on a project called
CivicSpace, which was used to organize the online grassroots of the
Howard Dean Presidential campaign. It struck me as odd that we were
building software to help people connect when our *physical* civic
spaces were going away, being underfunded or replaced with malls. When
I discovered Brad Neuberg's Coworking, it struck me that there was
something to his simple, basic premise of getting people together in a
common space on a regular basis, and facilitating interaction. True,
it's not significantly different from cafe working, but for folks who
have experienced both, there is definitely something qualitatively
different about coworking, and that's perhaps because it's entirely up
to the individual to get whatever they need out of it, while operating
firmly in the context of local community.
Let's face it: social networking might help us meet and connect with
lots and lots of people that we might not otherwise, but it's
certainly not the be all, end all, nor is it a replacement for our IRL
human connections. Coworking facilitates these real-life connections,
and hopefully brings people together in the context of the individual
pursuit of one's passions. No one owns coworking, and everyone can
participate, should they choose.
Coworking may not be superior in every way to what's available today,
but it doesn't have to be. What's important is to have the choice, and
to work, somewhat collectively, to figure out ways to make this choice
be possible, and be sustainable over time.
Chris
--
Chris Messina
Citizen-Participant &
Open Source Advocate-at-Large
Work: http://citizenagency.com
Blog: http://factoryjoe.com/blog
Cell: 412.225.1051
IM: factoryjoe
This email is: [X] bloggable [ ] ask first [ ] private
David Doolin
new class of people (programmers, web application developers,
content developers, producers, etc) can now operate in
a fashion similar to artists, fine craftspeople, etc. and
find collectivization provides necessary normal social
interaction as well as cross-fertilization with people
working in the same field for different clients, on
different projects, etc. Example: Hunter's Point is like
a giant coworking space for fine artists.
That, and killer branding: "coworking." Brilliant!
I use the same variety of spaces and still have
a seat at Hat Factory. I find it worthwhile.
You might also. You found this list for a
reason after all.
Coworking is what we make of it. No more no less.
You sound like an energetic fellow, come help out.
It's fun!
-d
On Dec 6, 2007 6:41 PM, jfg17 <jfg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
jfg17
about the "new-ness" of the phenomenon is apt. I also get that there
is a special element of community that can't be replicated at a place
where there are *always* new people, although some change among faces
is a positive. My job involves a lot of face-to-face interaction and
deep (online and offline) relationships, so I get the human
connections I need. That said, were there a space that I could drop
into, for a reasonable cost, where I could meet like-minded,
interesting folks, I would. For me, when I think of coworking, I
envision some combination of a start up and my college library system
and variety of study spaces around my college campus. There was a
place open all night, for instance, for night owls (i.e., cramming).
You could pick from a couple locations, meet a friend, bump into
people you know. Talk, in some. That's part of my ideal for this
concept. I also love the idea, which I have read about here and
elsewhere, of making better use of dead building space. With the
sudden (it seems to me) popular embrace of an environmental ethic, the
time seems to be right for that concept. By the way, I live in the
Boston area and work for IBM, but I'm actually cooler than that makes
me sound. Really. John
Alex Hillman
The library system/startup hybrid you described sounds very much like the community portion of coworking that sets it apart from "traditional desk shares". Simply being around likeminded people in a combination work/social setting is one of the greatest draws for myself, and a lot of the people who work at our office.
Sounds like you have a really great grasp on some of the most exciting values of this movement.
The fact that you work for IBM and remark about the "coolness factor" of that is something interesting to me, ultimately because I think that a part of what this movement isn't just defining *where* people work, but *how* (from a number of perspectives, including social, functional, spacial, management techniques...etc).
I'm out of town right now but wanted to respond while the thought was fresh in my mind. I'm going to try to elaborate on this concept, since it's been on my mind a fair amount, in the near future.
I'll be stopping by Office Nomads this afternoon, if Jacob and Susan are interested perhaps we can engage this conversation on video and get some of our thoughts out for the group in something a little easier to share than a really lengthy email.
Cheers!
-Alex, IndyHall, Philadelphia.
-----
--
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Alex Hillman
web.developer.innovation.consultant
vocal: 484.597.6256
digital: al...@weknowhtml.com | skype: dangerouslyawesome
visual: www.weknowhtml.com | www.dangerouslyawesome.com
local: www.indyhall.org
officed...@comcast.net
-------------- Original message --------------
From: jfg17 <jfg...@gmail.com>
>
> Thanks for the considered replies and reflections. I think the point
> about the "new-ness" of the phenomenon is apt. I also get that there
> is a special element of community that can't be replicated at a place
> where there are *always* new people, although some change among faces
> is a positive. My job involves a lot of face-to-face interaction and
> deep (online and offline) relationships, so I get the human
> connections I need. That said, were there a space that I could drop
> into, for a reasonable cost, where I could meet like-minded,
> interesting folks, I would. For me, when I think of coworking, I
> envision some combination of a start up and my college library system
> and variety of study spaces around m y college campus. There was a