Regus & Elance "partnership"

[Will Bennis, Locus Workspace]

Just thought this was interesting. Not sure how a bottom-up coworking
community could coordinate well enough to offer things like this (or
whether they'd want to), but my sense is it would be nice if we could.

https://www.elance.com/p/blog/2011/10/build-a-virtual-office-with-regus-and-elance.html?utm_source=elance&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=elancer-client-201111-002

[Julie Scanlon]

Yes this is interesting, i posted the article on my fb page, the
elance community is our community. We should build a bridge.

Julie
www.collaboc.com
949.682.9141

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[Alex Hillman]

I'm not so sure. I'd say that the elance community isn't "our" community. At least not Indy Hall's community. Maybe we're different.

Elance, along with lots of its competitors, have built massive enterprises on the commoditization of freelance talent. Is there value in brokering quick transactions between freelancers and companies that need them? Absolutely. 

But this removes one of the differentiating factors that coworking was built on repairing & supplementing: the relationships we have with the people we work with. 

Without that, it's the hiring transaction equivalent of desk rental businesses. Complimentary to the desk-rental and "quick fix" model that Regus is built on? Absolutely. But take a good hard look at the kinds of business transactions and collaborations that go on in your coworking spaces and try to find why people enjoy it so much. It's because they're working with people they like, people they care about. 

I'm not anti-Elance, mind you. I'm also not anti-Regus. I just don't think they're a fit for the elements that have made coworking a new and favorable option for droves of workers around the world.

It's like this post, but for hiring instead of office space: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2011/07/i-dont-think-were-solving-a-cubicle-problem/

-Alex

/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia

[Julie Scanlon]

The people who use elance - the freelancers - are the community i am
thinking of, i should have specified. The folks in my space are
sometimes veterans of elance.
Julie
949.682.9141

[Alex Hillman]

Thought exercise: 

What would an Elance look like if it were more like coworking? 

What would be different? How would it work?

-Alex

/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia

[Tm Mahdi]

I agree with Alex on this one. 

Tm Mahdi, Cg6 Inc.

unlocking the creative markets

+1416.238.6881 | www.cg6.com

Sent from my iTouch

[Jerome Chang]

You know, I'm not sure I follow Alex's view. Do the community relationships hinge upon people to hire each other? I thought the primary focus is to build camaraderie and collaborate, but not necessarily hire each other. If an Elance worker is making quick transactions with the 'outside' world, but still making relationships with his desk neighbors, shouldn't that be good enough, if not great?

Elance is just a platform to get work. Not where you do work. 

To me, that's the difference. 

Jerome, from his iPhone =)

[sk...@emergentresearch.com]

Related, Coffee and Power (www.coffeeandpower) is an online
marketplace startup that allows people to buy and sell small jobs from
one another. Part of their business plan is to create a chain of
coworking spaces (they call them "work clubs") that provide space for
the work to be done.

I don't know if Elance/Regus is responding to or inspired by Coffee
and Power (I'm seeing Elance next week and will ask), but it's
interesting to see more firms looking at the entire value chain of
independent work and trying to provide more pieces.

On Dec 3, 11:52 am, Jerome Chang <jer...@blankspaces.com> wrote:
> You know, I'm not sure I follow Alex's view. Do the community relationships hinge upon people to hire each other? I thought the primary focus is to build camaraderie and collaborate, but not necessarily hire each other. If an Elance worker is making quick transactions with the 'outside' world, but still making relationships with his desk neighbors, shouldn't that be good enough, if not great?
>
> Elance is just a platform to get work. Not where you do work.
> To me, that's the difference.
>
> Jerome, from his iPhone =)
>

> On Dec 3, 2011, at 10:42 AM, Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Thought exercise:
> > What would an Elance look like if it were more like coworking?
>
> > What would be different? How would it work?
>
> > -Alex
>
> > /ah
> > indyhall.org
> > coworking in philadelphia
>

> > >http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2011/07/i-dont-think-were-solving-a-cub...

>
> > > -Alex
>
> > > /ah
> > > indyhall.org
> > > coworking in philadelphia
>

> > > On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 8:46 PM, Julie Scanlon <juliescanlo...@gmail.com>

> > > wrote:
>
> > >> Yes this is interesting, i posted the article on my fb page, the
> > >> elance community is our community. We should build a bridge.
>
> > >> Julie
> > >>www.collaboc.com
> > >> 949.682.9141
>
> > >> On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 11:37 PM, Will Bennis, Locus Workspace
> > >> <wmben...@locusworkspace.com> wrote:
> > >> > Just thought this was interesting. Not sure how a bottom-up coworking
> > >> > community could coordinate well enough to offer things like this (or
> > >> > whether they'd want to), but my sense is it would be nice if we could.
>

> > >> >https://www.elance.com/p/blog/2011/10/build-a-virtual-office-with-reg...

> > 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+...@googlegroups.com.

> > For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Julie Scanlon]

They offer an affiliate program for linking elance on our websites,
but it would serve their and our freelance clients to inform everyone
about coworking as well as elance type resources. Is that not
fostering healthy business all around? That is what I thought Will
was pointing to, I don't think having elance look more like coworking
was the goal.

Elance could promote mutual collaboration, just provide a link to
directories of coworking spaces on their site, newsletters.
Loosecubes, Liquidspace, worksnug, deskwanted, shareyouroffice, the
wiki etc. Unless they have made exclusive arrangements with Regus
which would diminish their credibility for me. We are an extremely
valuable resource.

Here in Orange County a structure for finding, doing, keeping, and
growing freelance work would be a large part of what I think coworking
is here to do. Provide environments where freelancers succeed so
their families, associates, clients - their communities - thrive.

Julie
www.collaboc.com
949.682.9141
Julie
949.682.9141

[Cadu de Castro Alves]

There is similar initiative involving the Drupal community and coworking spaces, but it's free for the developers (sponsored by Media Current).

See here: http://www.mediacurrent.com/blog/drupal-coworking-friday-we-dont-have-work-alone

Who is already doing something like that? I loved the initiative!

Abs,

Cadu de Castro Alves

cadu@beesoffice.com
Mobile: +55 21 9574-0115

SkypeID: cadudecastroalves

www.beesoffice.com

BeesOffice - Espaço de Coworking RJ - Unidade: Centro

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[Tom Brandt]

I have to agree with Alex here (FYI, I am one of the new co-owners of Workantile in Ann Arbror).

We have found over the past couple of years that the model that has worked best for us is the membership organization which people join because of the relationships they form with the others who work there. The independents, freelancers and remote workers who join Workantile not because of cheap desks (though there is that), but because of the community that has evolved here.

Transaction-based businesses wind up competing on price and perceived value, which can be disrupted when a better-funded competitor comes to town. Coworking entities like ours, Indy Hall, NWC, and others which emphasize the community, don't have worry about that. There are a lot of things to worry about, but better-funded desk rentals is not one of them.

Certainly communities are formed in office share/desk rental spaces - we are social creatures, after all. But I think business which emphasize work space over community are going to have a rougher time hanging on to their customers.

twb
member, Workantile Exchange