Hi Krista,
I appreciate your pointing out the elephant in this conversation,
which in my mind is the concern about institutionalizing coworking
according to a single agenda and limiting diversity within the
community as a consequence. Perhaps "centralized authority" was too
strong? This is something we should discuss. Is there a need for a
unified voice to represent coworking? A voice unified by values
(Collaboration, Creativity, Independence, etc.), not agenda? I believe
the answer is yes. However, how we approach this is a matter of
further discovery and reflection. The Google group and wiki aren't
going away; they will always have their place, and will remain an
important resource for all of us. It's my personal contention that we
shouldn't stop at the Google group and wiki, though; further
connectivity through partnerships that benefit everyone, space owners
and members alike, is a way that we can move forward toward improving
the way independents and startups work together. Whatever is developed
from this discussion will be totally opt-in. This will be in contrast
to large office space companies who sweep in and market themselves as
coworking spaces without support from the community.
Please post your ideas on how we can work together in a better
fashion; this is the place to begin brainstorming ways to work
together for everyone's benefit while maintaining independent
atmosphere and creative control within each of the spaces represented
here.
Thanks for your insight,
Chris
On Jul 16, 11:09 am, Krista <sloniow...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> In my opinion this sounds very authoritarian and bureaucratic. I'm
> not against coordination, or the spirit of what you are wanting to
> do. But I think the way you are proposing going about it is a missed
> opportunity. Coordination is being approached in a different way
> these days. For example, this google group is a lot more
> communication amongst it's members than most industries have, and it's
> for free.
>
> First, I'd recommend you do not use the word "Authority" to describe
> the idea. Think more along the lines of some kind of service you can
> provide that people would find worth their time and money to pay for.
> Instead of focusing on creating an organization that operates above,
> and benevolently on behalf of, coworking operations. More of an
> independent enterprise/profit center that also serves the dual purpose
> of the kind of coordination you envision. Some sort of
> 'infrastructure' service that saves businesses time and money. Rather
> than having some Authority that they all blindly push money to and may
> or may not know what ever becomes of it. Many industry organizations
> that I've been involved with who operate with the top down 'you must
> pay me so that I can help you as I see fit' model just spend all their
> time trying to figure out how to make more money to pay for
> themselves, so they can "do more".
>
> I don't think anyone needs some new layer of bureaucracy to sit there
> on top of everyone's heads and point fingers about who should be doing
> what. That's what coworkers are trying to get away from in the first
> place. Instead create some kind of organization, like google did or
> twitter does or mozy does, that provides a service that everyone finds
> useful, and thus represents all the users in this industry by the
> nature of what it does. And it's all a voluntary business transaction
> that people choose to make because it provides a directly useful
> service.
>
> On Jul 14, 7:13 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
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