Ah let me clarify. By "neutral" I didn't mean "less specific" I meant "less hostile" or actually "more open to the difference". Using terms like "Korean BBQ" is a good example of this as it's not derogatory. Likening another space to a fast food joint is a little less neutral.
Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 10:24 AM, Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com > wrote: > "If we can find neutral language to highlight distinctions like this it > would go a long way to that goal of finding like-minded spaces and filling > our communities with happy members.” > > I don’t think that more *neutral* language is what we need. In fact, I > think we need the opposite. > > The restaurant industry has fine dining and fast food, regional cuisines, > varying price points, etc. But people need to have terms like “fast food” > and “korean BBQ” to narrow down what they’re looking for. > > I know that this sounds like fragmentation, which freaks a lot of people > out. I think this is HEALTHY fragmentation, though, like this: > http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2014/07/theres-never-only-one-community/ > > It doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends, or even help each other, but I’m > firmly convinced that having some more narrow specific terminology to add > to add to the more neutral term ‘coworking’ is going to help the industry, > not hurt it. > > -Alex > > > On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Jacob Sayles <ja...@officenomads.com> > wrote: > >> Tricky business for sure. One factor I've been looking more and more at >> is the motivations and intentions of the champions behind each community, >> or said another way, why the space was started in the first place. There >> are many conversations that come up again and again that, with hindsight, I >> can see are just a miss-match of intentions. For example the "Open one >> space or many spaces" conversation. It's a perfectly reasonable motivation >> to want to open multiple spaces and have a wide reach and impact. I >> personally started Office Nomads because I want a home and a community I >> want to be a member of. Understanding this helps me see why it doesn't >> make sense for us to make a chain of Office Nomads, and also why it's a >> waste of everyone's time to argue about this. If we can find neutral >> language to highlight distinctions like this it would go a long way to that >> goal of finding like-minded spaces and filling our communities with happy >> members. >> >> Jacob >> >> --- >> Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation >> http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 >> >> On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 9:48 AM, Alex Hillman < >> dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> I’m pretty sure that Emergent Research has a rubric they use for when >>> they do their research for their annual report, but I can’t remember >>> exactly what is on it. Having some consistency with that would probably be >>> helpful! >>> >>> I think it had some of the items you described, but it was a lot more >>> specific with many of the attributes. Hopefully Steve can chime in! >>> >>> I used to be more opinionated about self-describing as “coworking” and >>> the regular mis-use of the term, but I’ve become more and more comfortable >>> with the idea that the word coworking is as specific as the word >>> “restaurant”, which doesn’t really describe much on its own. I’d love to >>> see more maps (including the one you’re putting together) display with more >>> detail what people can expect. It’s more important that people find a place >>> that makes them happy and productive than anything else…and reducing that >>> to “coworking” is like reducing fine dining french restaurants and >>> mcdonalds to “restaurant”. *Technically* accurate, but not really >>> helpful. >>> >>> Related, this recent post caught my eye (I think Liz posted it from the >>> GCUC account): >>> http://www.cloudvirtualoffice.com/blog/a-coworking-safari/ >>> >>> I’m especially interested in the things vary widely, really impact the >>> experience, but are hardest to really quantify: things like “ambiance” and >>> noise level are such relative descriptions, so the source matters a lot, >>> too! Who’s doing the describing: the owner? The members? Visitors? In a lot >>> of cases, their descriptions vary quite a bit. >>> >>> To that point, even “non-hostile & friendly” is relative. It’s become a >>> common theme that I hear from coworkers who visit startup-centric coworking >>> spaces that the only time people talk to each other is when they’re >>> pitching their startup. For some people, that’s non-hostile and friends but >>> for others, it’s their worst nightmare. >>> >>> -Alex >>> >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 12:34 PM, Ramon Suarez <ra...@betacowork.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi everyone, >>>> >>>> I'm working on a definition of Coworking to make it easier to choose >>>> who to include in the map of coworking spaces in Belgium >>>> <http://coworkingbelgium.be/belgium-coworking-spaces-map>. I know it >>>> can be a controversial subject and I don't want to start a flamewar, but I >>>> would like to have your feedback on the basic elements to build this >>>> definition. I think it could also be helpful to make it easier to explain >>>> to our potential customers and journalists. >>>> >>>> In my definition a Coworking space : >>>> >>>> - Calls itself a coworking space. >>>> - Has a fully dedicated espace for cowoking (not just a few hours >>>> or a cafeteria shared with patrons). >>>> - Treats coworkers as 1st class clients, not as a lesser kind to >>>> fill unused space. >>>> - Has somebody dedicated to connect the members (a facilitator, >>>> not an administrative asistant.) >>>> - Provides a non hostile and friendly environment that encourages >>>> collaboration and interaction. >>>> >>>> What do you think? >>>> >>>> >>>> Ramon Suarez >>>> Serendipity Accelerator, Betacowork >>>> Author: http://coworkinghandbook.com >>>> email & hangouts: ra...@betacowork.com >>>> Phone: +3227376769 >>>> GSM: +32497556284 >>>> Twitter:http://twitter.com/ramonsuarez >>>> Skype: ramonsuarez >>>> Try coworking: http://betacowork.com >>>> >>>> <http://betacowork.com/free-coworking-tryout/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=468x60_banner&utm_content=girl-home&utm_campaign=ramon-signature> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> >> -- >> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
