Are there other approaches that could be used to standardize and legitimize the spelling? My first thought was registering "cowork" or "coworking" as a trademark/servicemark, but ownership issues seem to rule that out as an option. Is there a GPL equivalent that we could explore?
--- Glen Ferguson Cowork Frederick 122 E Patrick St Frederick, MD 21701-5630 +1 (301) 732-5165 www.coworkfrederick.com @CoworkFrederick <http://twitter.com/CoworkFrederick> On Tue, Sep 23, 2014 at 11:50 AM, Will Bennis, Locus Workspace < wmben...@locusworkspace.com> wrote: > Hi Oren, > > I really appreciate your thoughtful reply about this. And it's definitely > pushed me in the direction of greater support for the "cause." Two > particular points that I can agree with: (1) the name is being spelled in > two different ways for no very good reason. We might be able to solve that, > and get it spelled in the way most people using the word want it to be > spelled, so why not do it? (2) The way it's spelled matters to a lot of > people in ways that are not specifically about language clarity and are > more about identity and community support. And for those people, the > preferred spelling tends to be "coworking," so why not respect that? > > I'm in. I can respect that. > > Best, > Will > > On Saturday, September 20, 2014 9:41:49 PM UTC+2, oren.s...@gmail.com > wrote: >> >> Hi Will, >> >> I know what your name is, I was just trying to make a point. :) >> >> I respect and value your points about no horse in the race and that the >> indifference of the "co-working" fans would never lead them to debate this >> to such an extent and that clearly this is something the "coworking" fans >> are pushing here. I also see your point about the flexibility of language >> and I agree no entity can stop language from changing and adapting and >> being interpreted differently in different contexts. >> >> All that being said, I find co-working to be disrespectful. There is a >> distinct difference between your example of "personal computing and >> computing" and "co-working and coworking". One refers to a rapidly adapting >> industry where the nature of what was being described changed over time. >> While coworking is rapidly expanding and comes across new variants all the >> time, I don't think anyone is claiming a full transformation is happening >> like in your computing example. >> >> Nobody in journalism misspells kibbutz in writing and nobody just started >> calling them collective agricultural communities either. Kibbutz means >> something because it staked out the term and owned it. I see the exact same >> thing happening with coworking except that spelling it co-working means a >> distinct unfamiliarity with the subject matter. >> >> Maybe I'm making some assumptions here, but this was one of the first >> things I learned about coworking. I don't know a single major organization, >> association, product, content hub, group or otherwise large group of >> coworking people identifying under the "co-working" banner. We're all >> squarely organized under the "coworking" banner. So what if some space >> operators choose to spell it co-working? Obviously that's their choice as >> an operator and they're welcome to do so, but to me it's always been a red >> flag that they're disconnected from the global community. Maybe I'm wrong >> in assuming so, but in my experience it's been validated pretty >> consistently. >> >> Even if there is little ambiguity in co-working vs. coworking (because >> there's nothing currently called co-working), it's still very undignified >> not be regarded as important enough to have a consistent spelling. That's >> the core issue at hand from my perspective and maybe you disagree, but >> that's why I think we're talking about entering the dictionary and the >> style guides. It's for the same reason that a apple is in appropriate but >> an apple is ok. If I said I'm going to eat a apple, you'd understand me but >> look at me funny. We're just trying to get the journalists to realize that >> from our perspective, co-working = a apple. >> >> >> On Friday, September 19, 2014 5:19:38 AM UTC-5, Will Bennis, Locus >> Workspace wrote: >>> >>> Hi Oren, >>> >>> I appreciate your reply about this! >>> >>> Actually, my name is Will, not William, damnit!!! :)))) >>> >>> But I don't think this is really the same. >>> >>> First, "coworking" isn't a company name or a given name / proper noun. >>> It's not your name or my name. It's not even "the movement's" name. If >>> "personal computing" became just "computing," what would you think if Apple >>> or Microsoft or a handful of influential early players in the personal >>> computing industry campaigned against the change and said that we can't >>> change "their" name, and that it was as though their given names were being >>> mis-spelled? I'd personally think they should leave the English language >>> alone and that it wasn't the role of people in an industry to try to manage >>> what have become common nouns in the English language. I have run a >>> coworking space for more than 4 years now. I care what you call my space or >>> what you call me and I care about coworking, but the idea that spelling >>> coworking differently from how people who run coworking spaces think it >>> should be spelled, or that misspelling is like misspelling a proper noun >>> seems to me like a stretch. >>> >>> Second, to the extent the name is owned by the community of coworking >>> space owners, or at least we have a meaningful stake in it (which I think >>> we do), then who are *we*? You write that after 10 years, the coworking >>> movement has earned it and that the "rest of us have all settled on >>> coworking." But I don't think that's true. I see new coworking spaces all >>> the time that put a hyphen in the term. As I wrote in the previous email, >>> my (unsubstantiated) hypothesis is that there's really a pretty small group >>> of coworking space owners who care about coworking being spelled without a >>> hyphen. I've never seen poll results and I doubt the question has even been >>> put to a wide audience of coworking space owners (and presumably members). >>> Even within the industry I'd guess the vast majority don't care (if there >>> were an option included in the poll), and I wouldn't be at all surprised if >>> an international poll of coworking space owners and members showed that the >>> majority even thought the better spelling would be WITH a hyphen. Why >>> wouldn't you have heard that? The same reason I almost didn't make the last >>> post in the first place: "the other side" (the side that would prefer a >>> hyphen or just doesn't care), doesn't have a horse in the race, because for >>> that side language is organic and functional and they don't see themselves >>> as owning the name or as there being a meaningful difference in whether >>> it's spelled with or without a hyphen. (To be clear, I have no idea about >>> "the other side" or what justifications might be; I've never seen any data >>> on this; but it also wouldn't surprise me). And the name coworking belongs >>> to a much wider audience than just us coworking space owners by now, just >>> as "personal computing belongs" to a much wider audience than Microsoft or >>> Apple. And the Internet (or now internet) belongs to a much wider audience >>> than the people who originally coined the name. That's a sign of the >>> maturity of the word, and something to be proud of as a movement. Not >>> something to fight against. >>> >>> Third, even if we were a coherent community who almost universally >>> agreed that spelling it without a hyphen was superior, wouldn't it be good >>> to examine the counter-arguments? If, after we all gave it some thought, we >>> agreed that it really didn't matter and that we should let its spelling be >>> determined organically, then wouldn't we have saved each other a lot of >>> time working to change something that was better left to grow on its own >>> according to systems that my be wiser than we are about naming? >>> >>> My few cents, anyway. >>> >>> Will >>> >>> On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 9:30 AM, oren.s...@gmail.com < >>> oren.s...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> I'm with Marius on this one. >>>> >>>> I think the important thing here is to get us in the dictionary with >>>> the spelling we use. >>>> >>>> To me, the spelling issue has always been indicative of a bigger thing, >>>> which is official recognition as part of the English language. >>>> >>>> After 10 years, I think the movement has earned it. >>>> >>>> William, how would you feel if everyone started calling you Bill or >>>> Will-iam? What if the difference between Will-iam and William was just in >>>> written language and not in speech? You even stated that the reason you >>>> spell it coworking is out of respect for the rest of us that have all >>>> settled on coworking (you even prefer co-working!). That's all we're asking >>>> of journalists in this case. And if they're denying our requests on the >>>> basis of being or not being in the dictionary, then let's get in the >>>> dictionary. >>>> >>>> Also Derek, the cowering autocorrect annoys me too! It never learns! >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Wednesday, September 17, 2014 12:47:01 PM UTC-5, Marius Amado-Alves >>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> FWIW, I agree with Will's arguments except the "cow" one. >>>>> >>>>> To summarize, the spelling is irrelevant, because there is only one >>>>> coworking, irrespectively of how it is spelt. As Will points out, working >>>>> with others in a company is never referred to as coworking. >>>>> >>>>> Nevertheless, I think there is interest in diccionarizing the terms. >>>>> (And then, while we're at it, with the preferred spelling? It would be >>>>> interesting to watch what happens to the guides.) >>>>> >>>> -- > 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.
