Hello all. Some notes: 1. Advanta was one of the country's 20 largest credit card issuers who focused on small business. They just closed shop due to all the usual problems: escalating risk, higher defaults, etc. We freelancers are a [actuarially] risky group. Still, it'd be interesting to see if someone with banking/CU experience could vet out the feasibility and at least document it for all of us.
2. The reason that residents of not necessarily all states are eligible for health insurance is that every state has different laws about these group plans. In California, for example, group "guaranteed" plans are only allowed if you work for an employer. Any other group plans are just slight discounts, if any, for which you have to apply and get approved. I heard we were just 4 votes short in the last state [senate/assembly/?] vote to adopt group "guaranteed" plans without being "employed by that group. 3. [Mind you, I'm not a web tech...] We could develop a web app that any coworking website could add to their membership page that quickly lists other participating coworking visa sites. Who maintains it? What info does it show? How does a visa traveller prove his/her membership to that other coworking site? I don't know. ... 5. Reservation/Booking: I see a lot of efforts toward setting this up, including its sister-features: POS (point-of-sale) transactions, invoicing, billing, etc. If other coworking sites share the same/ similar system, the coworking visa program would inherently get structured. The precedent would be the airlines: American Airlines' Sabre reservation system enables ticketing for many airlines. (For full disclosure, I'll confess I'm a bit motivated to share my system [for a price...], since I think I have probably the most complex/ customized memberships out there.) 6. Marketing: a lot of coworking sites, esp the new ones, may want some help to promote themselves. This could happen with coworking on a macro/national level (like when national orgs advertise for milk in general, or cheese, or whatever), or on a regional level (like when local car dealers use commercials made by headquarters). From SEO, social media, to traditional ads (print, tv/vids), a lot could be done collectively for everyone's benefit to raise general awareness for coworking as a whole. (For full disclosure, I'll confess I'm thinking of "licensing" out my commercials and I'll change/add text for that individual coworking site.) Jerome ______________ BLANKSPACES "work wide open" www.blankspaces.com 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 323.330.9505 (office) On Jul 15, 2009, at 4:23 AM, Andy Louis-Charles wrote: > > Chris, > > Thanks for sharing your post. > > I think you hit on some good points. Coworking communities do need to > become somehow "networked" in order for them to reach their full > potential. At the same time, I like how you recognized that the > independent spirit of each center (and its members) is at core of the > movement. > > That is why I believe any federated efforts need to be in response to > specific community needs vs. creation of a traditional, top-down > "chamber of commerce" type of bureaucratic entity. For example: > > 1. A Coworking Credit Union - the creation of a cooperatively owned > bank that focuses specifically on lending to freelancers, > independents, startups, coworking members and coworking center owners > would be a valuable instititution for the community ... > http://coworking.pbworks.com/Coworking-Credit-Union > > 2. Coworking Healthcare - a group rate health insurance plan for > coworking members. Freelancers Union has a program up and running, but > I believe only New York residents are eligible - > http://www.freelancersunion.org/insurance/index.html > > 3. Coworking Visa - a more structure way to allow traveling coworkers > to use cooperating locations. http://coworking.pbworks.com/CoworkingVisa > > 4. Coworking Passport - an idea I floated a couple of weeks back where > a network of coworkers could offer urban accomodations to fellow, > traveling coworking members. http://www.airbnb.com/groups/coworking > > So, my general thought is that a coworking "federation" could simply > draw attention and bring resources to the growing number of > collaborative efforts among coworking members that are already > starting to blossom. > > But those are just my initial thoughts and would love to further > brainstorm on them. > > Cheers, > > Andy > twitter: @OnCoworking > web: http://www.OnCoworking.com > > > > On Jul 14, 10:13 pm, Chris Stewart <socialtop...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Good Evening All, >> >> My name is Chris Stewart, and I'm currently a software developer >> for an insurance company based near Dallas, Texas. I've been >> passionate about coworking for over a year now, and decided to >> write a >> 2010 SXSW Interactive panel proposal on Federated Coworking. I was a >> panel liaison this year and loved the experience so much that I >> decided to put together a panel of my own. The term "federated >> coworking" doesn't seem to be used at the moment, but my thought >> behind it is the need for greater collaboration and resource pooling >> between existing spaces to raise awareness of coworking to the >> general >> population. It appears from reading posts on this forum and elsewhere >> about the Starfish/Spider argument that coworking spaces are against >> strong top-down organizational hierarchy, and are happy to work >> independently from each other apart from knowledge sharing and >> occasional meetups. My contention is that we need to respect the >> desire for coworking spaces to maintain independent, unique >> atmospheres, while at the same time embracing new levels of >> connectivity. >> >> From my perspective, federated coworking is an umbrella term used >> to represent a centralized authority elected by the spaces to 1) >> represent their interests amongst government, business leadership, >> and >> the general public; 2) serve as a collection point for knowledge, >> money (to fund awareness and development), and best practices; 3) >> provide training to people who want to start a coworking space but >> have no idea how to begin; and 4) actively develop new coworking >> spaces in partnership with area business and government to house >> creative collectives of individuals who will have the benefit of a >> comfortable, warm office environment in community with other >> creatives >> without the office politics of a traditional office. >> >> Whether or not the SXSW panel is approved, I believe it's >> important >> that we begin asking tough questions about the future of coworking, >> as >> this movement will not grow to its fullest potential housed in >> loosely- >> connected silos. I'd like to present several plans during the panel >> on >> what federated coworking could look like, and allow the panelists to >> debate the pros and cons of each strategy. Instead of making a lot of >> noise during the event and then returning to the status quo, we can >> make this panel a jumping off point to real-world change in the way >> we >> approach coworking. >> >> I'll add more thoughts on this subject as I listen to your >> feedback. Respond to this post directly or contact me via twitter >> @socialtopher. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Chris Stewart >> Endaris (my iPhone stealth company) >> http://www.twitter.com/socialtopher > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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