Virtual Co-working

[Vadim Zaliva]

Hi!

I know, this is stretching a concept of coworking a bit, but what about
virtual coworking?
There is a coworking place in Second Life already:

http://lev-kamenev.blogspot.com/2006/11/coworking-in-second-life.html

What do you think about "virtual coworking"?

Sincerely,
Vadim

P.S. Should we add Second Life virtual coworking place to Wiki?

[Brad Neuberg]

How cool is that! I hadn't realized someone had done that on Second Life. How's the coffee there? ;)

Brad

[Vadim Zaliva]

We forgot to put coffe machine there. One will be added promptly.

Besides virtual aspect, it could be a good way to plan/model new
coworking place before
building one in real life.

[Chris Messina]

I love it! Can you send out screenshots?

Chris

On 11/17/06, Vadim Zaliva <krok...@gmail.com> wrote:
>

--
Chris Messina
Citizen Provocateur &
Open Source Ambassador-at-Large
Work: http://citizenagency.com
Blog: http://factoryjoe.com/blog
Cell: 412 225-1051
Skype: factoryjoe
This email is: [ ] bloggable [X] ask first [ ] private

[Ted Tagami]

fantastic! what are the hours of operation?

On 11/17/06, Vadim Zaliva <krok...@gmail.com> wrote:

millionsofus.com
SECOND LIFE

Human powered:
expedition360.com/journal

[Brad Neuberg]

Like you mentioned, make sure to add your Second Life coworking space to the coworking.pbwiki.com on our list of coworking spaces!

Brad

[Vadim Zaliva]

Here is a screenshot:

http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snapshot001im0.png

The place is new, I am sure it will evolve. Now it looks little
simplistic. Let us see what
people say and we can modify it according to suggestions.

As to hour of operation, it is open all 24/7 or course.

I understand only somebody with access password to Wiki can add it
there?

Vadim

[Chris Messina]

Awesome space! That's incredible -- one of the ideas we passed around
earlier was the idea of having a virtual space that people could exist
in with webcams while working at a physical space in the coworking
community. This could be that space...! And we could host internal
events linking all the coworking venues within this virtual
community...

Very excellent.

Oh, and Tara wants to know: where's the snack bar and coffee machine? ;)

Finally, the wiki password is 'coworking'.

Chris

[Brad Neuberg]

Nice Chris. Yeah, this could be a meeting point for all the different coworking spaces.

[Chris Messina]

I've set up the page, so feel free to edit it and add details:

https://coworking.pbwiki.com/CoworkingSecondLife

Chris

On 11/18/06, Chris Messina <chris....@gmail.com> wrote:

[Digital Buddha]

This is a fantastic idea, and I am glad you have done this. Some comments:

Moving is relatively easy in SL, I suggest you find a less congested area if at all possible. One drawback right now is your neighbor has decided not to let anyone pass over their land so you have a very narrow alleyway for an entrance.

This is a wonderful first iteration of what could happen. What I was hoping to see was a break away from "standard architecture" since we really do not need tables to sit at or chairs to sit down on. e.g . what is the greatest way to optimize collaboration in a three dimensional space?
Perhaps it doesn't look at all like what we consider architecture in the real world?

I have some ideas on this, and will build a few mock ups. Vadim, thank you so much for taking the initiative to open up the 3D web to coworking!

- Ted

On 11/18/06, Vadim Zaliva <krok...@gmail.com> wrote:

--
Ted Tagami
Universus Networks, LLC
U N I V E R S U S . N E T

[Brad Neuberg]

Ted, good point; having a "picture" of a chair in the room doesn't really help me. What does it really mean to have a virtual coworking space of geographically distant participants? I look forward to hearing some of your ideas on this.

Brad

[Vadim Zaliva]

Thanks everybody for your feedback! It is really great to find people
who "get" the idea how this virtual space could be used for coworking.

I will try to do something about easy access to the location. Perhaps I
will do more doors at the sides of the bulding, plus some kind of
entrance from the roof. But usually you just teleport right there, so
this is not very big problem I think.

I was also thinking about tables might not be optimal layout. I was
thinking not only about collaboration, but also to way to "park" your
avatar while you busy working on something. Standing in the middle of
open space would be unnatural, while sitting on the stool should be OK.

But let's experiment! I left some space at the left of the entrance
where we can try to put something else.

I am running little low on primitives count at this location, but if I
will see this idea taking off and people using it I will upgrade to
bigger land parcel.

Vadim

[Chris Messina]

There are two opportunities here.

The first is to go wild with ideas and exploit the full potential of
Second Life.

The other could be to map existing real spaces to rooms in the virtual
building, and people working could express their physical presence by
"taking a seat".

Remote workers not at a shared coworking space 1RL could still get the
benefit of the community by hanging out in 2L. I mean, we could
totally mix it up -- it just might be interesting to augment RL with
2L connections.

Chris

[Digital Buddha]

...so are you suggesting a meta-coworking space? I think this is a grand idea. I believe we can explore both opportunities in parallel.

Once simple start: I've created a group called "coworking" send me a message in world, and I will add you to the group! send a message to "ted millionsofus" for an invite.

On 11/18/06, Chris Messina <chris....@gmail.com> wrote:

[Chris Messina]

I've put up a post about this to get a wider discussion going... feel
free to reblog, etc:

http://coworking.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/coworking-in-second-life/

Chris

[Vadim Zaliva]

To get a feel how it works, I will be trying to hang up at the
coworking space (Current name "Hackers Exile", but suggestions for the
better name are welcome) while working at my desk. I suggest other
people try to do this as well, so we can see how it could work and what
kind of interaction could arise from that.

[sull]

interesting, indeed.
i've only recently gotten back into SL.
I am Sull Lurra.

I am still finding it as equally amazing as it is "purposeless" to me.
Mesmerized and entertaining, no doubt.  But I am struggling with seeing SL as a viable second communication layer in by daily routine.  Maybe that will change when I start interacting with more people (that I already know) inside.

With that said... I dont know that coworking and secondlifing mix well during the more mundane periods.  However, special meetups/events could prove to be very useful, especially when feeding in live video from coworking geo-spaces.... so we can see and hear real life as we are seeing and interacting in second life. 

I am on a new macbook pro maxed out on spec.... and running SL all day would prob kill this thing ;)  It gets hot!  but maybe thats just how it seems.  Compared to gmail and IM apps.... its obviously quite bloated communication app. 

thats my initial thoughts. 

Sull (Lurra)

(a project)
http://SpreadTheMedia.org (my blog)
http://interdigitate.com (otherly)

[Outscape]

First of all, I think it's great that people think outside the box and
this has been an interesting discussion. This idea would be very
useful to get a feel for a pysical space without going there.
We'll probably use this when we set up the coworking villa here
in Cebu.

But to me the point of coworking is inherently tied to the physical
world... to replace physical interaction with colleagues that we lost
as we started to work remotely.

Here is a systematic way to look at interactions around
the workplace:

1. Physical / Work related interaction

This is what offices are designed for. Chairs,
desks, meeting rooms.
This is what we got away from, thanks to
the net.

2. Physical / Social interaction

Initially a side effect of (1). Companies have figured out
that it's important, that's why google has beach
volleyball and bean bags and couches.

For me, this is a big part of what coworking is all about.
We are losing this, as we go virtual. I want it back.

3. Virtual / Work Related interaction

This is what we have all figured out. That's why we can
work remotely.
We use IM / skype / email / basecamp / whatever.
Works great.

4. Virtual / Social interaction

We have this figured out too. I spend much of my socializing
time in the virtual world, with friends, while we are working at
the same time. But for the last 5 years I've been using
email, IM, skype, etc. Is VR ready to add value here? not sure...
I could see augmented reality being useful, but we are years
away from that.

----

Coworking addresses situation (2) for people who lost
it because they do went remote/virtual. it allows us to move from (4)
back to (2) because it's just more fun to socialize in person.

Virtual coworking is addressing situation (4),
using metaphors from situation (1).
I just don't think that's the best fit. Chairs and desks and
cubicles just weren't made for socializing.

I gather from the discussion and interest that perhaps there is a
need to address (4) -- to provide a way to socialize online.

Is that right? And if so, what is it that we need? And isn't
that a much broader problem than coworking? How is our
(coworker's) situation different from that of millions of net
uses socializing online?

[darius....@gmail.com]

Let's not over think this. Maybe it fills a need, and maybe it doesn't.
In any case, it's alien enough to the coworking concept that we can't
expect it to work 'right out of the box'. At best, it might work for
about 12% of us right now...

I'll be around Virtual Coworking all day today (Tuesday, 21st).

Transitmonger Malthus

PS. Thanks Vadim!! I'm totally inviting all my long-distance
collaborators!

[Chris Messina]

I agree. I mean, it's simply another potentially social outlook where
you can find folks to "just be" around... Not even socializing.

I see 2L as being an option for solo-workers who are remote from their
coworking "nest" but want to still work around other creatures that,
beneath their virtual skin, are real people who they may know IRL.

I mean, it's kind of like that eventual offline time... Being in 2L
rather than 1L is a way to stay connected no matter what your
situatuion.

So for now, it'll be good for those folks where coworking isn't yet a
reality (physcially) but could be a substitute until the desire for
in-person connections overwhelms the individual to the point where,
whatever it takes, they will make coworking happen in their local
community.

Chris

[Vadim Zaliva]

Digital Buddha wrote:
> Once simple start: I've created a group called "coworking" send me a message
> in world, and I will add you to the group! send a message to "ted
> millionsofus" for an invite.

I tried to find this group in the list until I realized that it is
unpublished and invite-only.
Why not make it open?

I also have an idea, for all of use who use Second Life, why wont we
try to meet at some fixed time this weekend or next week at SL at
Hackers Exlie (Dacham 179, 135, 47) for small "coworkging meetup"?

Vadim

[Digital Buddha]

my bad..let me modify group settings