[Coworking] Introduction

[Sarah Kelley]

*Sarah Kelley*
Catalyzing a coworking community in Alameda, California, USA

*Sarah* is currently working remotely as a consultant for 
*AppFusions
*, a software engineering consultancy creating implementations, solutions, 
connectors for Enterprise 2.0, SCRM, KM, and search technologies. Prior to 
joining AppFusions in November 2010, Sarah spent thirteen years with DPR 
Construction, working out of their Redwood City office. A mother of two, she 
is quite thankful to be free of the grueling two hour daily commute. 
However, Sarah misses the daily banter and interactions of the collaborative 
open office environment, so carefully nurtured at DPR. 

*Twitter:* @SarahEKelley 
*Skype:* SarahEKelley
---
*Twitter:* @coworkalameda 
*Facebook: 
*CoWork-Alameda
*Wiki: *coworkalameda.pbworks.com



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Re: [Coworking] Merry Christmas!

[Andy Didorosi]

Merry Christmas indeed from Detroit.

On Thursday, December 23, 2010, Jorge Arthur  wrote:
> ☼☺♫♫♫FELIZ NATAL !!!
> CARTÃO EM ANEXO 
>
> 2010/12/23 Cadu de Castro Alves 
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Cadu de Castro Alves
> c...@beesoffice.com
> Mobile: +55 21 8464-3958(OI)SkypeID: cadudecastroalves
>
> BeesOffice - Espaço de Coworking  RJ - Unidade: Centro
> Rua Teófilo Otoni, 52/1203, Centro - Rio de Janeiro - RJ - CEP: 20090-070 - 
> Brasil
>
> --
> Att
>
> JORGE ARTHUR B. GUIMARÃES 
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Andy Didorosi
MAIL: a...@detroitindie.com
FON: 313.427.9668
TWT: http://twitter.com/thatdetroitandy

Detroit's small business incubator and creative commons:
http://welovepaperstreet.com
Mopeds, scooters and bicycles all pitted against one
another in a heavily banked doom race on a vintage, abandoned track:
http://thunderdrome.com

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Re: [Coworking] Introduction

[Andy Didorosi]

Hello!

I would be interested in speaking with either of you. I own a 22,000
sq/ft Coworking space in Ferndale, which is just outside of Detroit.

On Thursday, December 23, 2010, Chrystal  wrote:
> Hello Lauren!
> If only you were closer, I am in Birch Run!
> Chrystal
>
> On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 9:38 AM, Lauren  wrote:
> Hello!
>
> My name is Lauren. I work for a start-up in Lansing, Michigan that is
> now expanding into a coworking space (Second Gear Coworking), and I'm
> looking to see how others made their spaces successful. For a time I
> was a full-time freelancer, which makes me extra excited to have this
> space available to others.
>
> I look forward to learning lots!
> Best,
> Lauren
>
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MAIL: a...@detroitindie.com
FON: 313.427.9668
TWT: http://twitter.com/thatdetroitandy

Detroit's small business incubator and creative commons:
http://welovepaperstreet.com
Mopeds, scooters and bicycles all pitted against one
another in a heavily banked doom race on a vintage, abandoned track:
http://thunderdrome.com

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Re: [Coworking] Introduction

[Chrystal]

Hello Lauren!
If only you were closer, I am in Birch Run!

Chrystal

On Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 9:38 AM, Lauren  wrote:

> Hello!
>
> My name is Lauren. I work for a start-up in Lansing, Michigan that is
> now expanding into a coworking space (Second Gear Coworking), and I'm
> looking to see how others made their spaces successful. For a time I
> was a full-time freelancer, which makes me extra excited to have this
> space available to others.
>
> I look forward to learning lots!
> Best,
> Lauren
>
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[Coworking] Re: Is there any comprehensive list of co-working facilities in US

[Jonathan Yankovich]

Tara,

The coworking registry project was living at .ORG, not .COM, but to
obviate the confusion in the future (and retroactively give integrity
to your tweet) I've picked up coworkingregistry.com and redirected it
accordingly.  Should be live in a couple of hours.  We may also want
to use these domain names for Jacob's CoworkingDB project reinvention,
which I'm amenable to.

-Jonathan Yankovich
http://coworkingregistry.org
http://madisoncoworking.org

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[Coworking] Feast of Friends

[Flambard]

Hi everyone,

We are a group of people in Paris and four of us decided to open a
coworking space as we realized most of us cannot work alone (and we
suspect some others might be in that case).
The idea is to create the good social and practical conditions of a
sane success for us, our old, new and future friends.

Three of us are brothers by blood, the other one is brother by heart.
So I guess the place would carry a kind of family atmosphere.
Since we are kids, we always had tones of friends at home ; now home
has changed but friends are still there so we figured out people are
usually happy around us (and we love to have them around).

I have been following this group for two or three month and some of
you already sounds familiar to me.
This group is an amazing initiative, I feel warm and cosy in it. First
thing I do in the morning is to read the digest... then it boosts me
for the day.

We don't know yet exactly where we are going but we will gently follow
your advices and be ourselves hoping that the project will be
successful.

We will keep you posted and hopefully contribute to this great
community.

Thanks a lot for your precious help.

Merry Christmas and happy new year for all of you.

Peace

Antoine

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Re: [Coworking] Re: Are there any coworking spaces in Jackson, WY?

[Hillary Hartley]

Any details other than the email address??



On Dec 23, 2010, at 9:59 AM, Angel Kwiatkowski  wrote:

> I just posted the info on FB.
> coworkjackson at gmail.com
> They're just starting out.
> 
> On Dec 22, 7:20 pm, Jason  wrote:
>> Are there any coworking spaces in Jackson, WY?
> 
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Re: [Coworking] Are there any coworking spaces in Jackson, WY?

[Hillary Hartley]

I'm in JAC for 10 days and will check it out. Though my parents live here, and 
I don't think so... Will let you know if I find anything. 

Thx. 
Hillary


On Dec 22, 2010, at 7:20 PM, Jason  wrote:

> Are there any coworking spaces in Jackson, WY?
> 
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[Coworking] Re: Hi Everybody

[mcnerds]

Hey Jasper,

We opened last Saturday...the 18th. The soft-open was an idea from
another friend who suggested it as a way of working out any bugs. All
the customers have been really understanding and I can bring a smile
to their face when I mention we're "beta tasting" [sic] our coffees
and espressos.

Good luck to ya!

Chuck

On Dec 22, 11:35 pm, Jazzman3  wrote:
> Chuck:
>
> Nice start-up with the Works.  When did you open?   We are getting
> ready (January 2011) to open DurangoSpace in Durango, Colorado in
> about 3 weeks.  Nancy & I work together as consultants
> (www.clientfocusedsolutions.com) and this is our most recent
> (ad)venture.   A soft opening like yours.   Glad to see you are open
> and running.
>
> Nice web site.
>
> Jasper
>
> DurangoSpace
> Durango, COwww.jasperwelch.org
>
> web site for DurangoSpace will launch in January
>
> On Dec 22, 11:26 am, mcnerds  wrote:
>
>
>
> > My name is Chuck and I am a long time lurker who finally decided to
> > introduce myself after opening my very own coworking cafe in
> > Crawfordville, FL. Must say that this discussion group has been the
> > best...BEST...asset out. All the wonderful information really helped
> > during my build-out and proved to be inspirational during the tough
> > times when all I wanted to do was throw up my arms and say forget it.
>
> > If you're ever in the North Florida neighborhood, be sure to check out
> > The Works Coworking Cafe. Thanks!
>
> > Chuck Robinson
> > Owner, The Works Coworking Cafehttp://www.theworkscafe.com

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Re: [Coworking] Re: Mark Your Calendar - Coworking Unconference at SXSW!

[Anna Thomas]

That's awesome, Mike!

We're in the process of nailing down the venue (amongst other details) for
the unconference as we speak. It will definitely take place at a venue
within a few blocks of the convention center.

Timing-wise, we're looking at 3/4pm until 11pm, including a fun party in the
evening hours.

We're setting up a website for the event and will be in touch with more
details, RSVP information, etc. at the beginning of the new year.

In the meantime, be sure to pass along the link to the unconference Plancast
to anyone who's interested in attending: http://plancast.com/p/33pl.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!
Anna
a...@loosecubes.com



On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 9:05 AM, Mike Weiss  wrote:

> I'm all booked for SXSW!
>
> What does this event look like right now? Where is it going to be, and how
> will I get there (I am not getting a car).
>
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[Coworking] Re: Hi Everybody

[mcnerds]

Hey Ryan,

No, I haven't met Emily. Hrmm, maybe I should look her up to see if
she's still open.

Chuck

On Dec 22, 1:37 pm, Ryan Price  wrote:
> Hi Chuck!
>
> Have you ever met Emily? She is up in Tallahassee, though she hasn't blogged 
> on this site since March. I'm pretty sure she's still up 
> there:http://www.homebasecoworkingspace.com/
>
> Peace,
> Ryan Price
> rpr...@ryanpricemedia.com
> @liberatr407-484-8528
>
> FloridaCreatives.com
> Orlando Happy Hour: December 20th @ Crooked Bayou
> Likemind.us#orl: January 21st @ Urban ReThink
>
> On Dec 22, 2010, at 1:26 PM, mcnerds wrote:
>
>
>
> > Crawfordville, FL

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[Coworking] Re: What do you sit on?

[thilo]

Hi Jessica,

well done setup. My Name is Thilo and I run the co.up space in
Berlin.

Seating is an important aspect as all the others mentioned already. We
also provide a wide mix from adjustable office chairs, sofas plus lap
trays for the laptops, a exercise ball plus stands and a table where
people can work standing instead of seated. The rest of the furniture
comes mostly from Ikea plus some hacks. We recently started a project
with our coworkers to improve our interior though that will replace
some of these furniture with better ones.

Regarding coworker belongings, we allow coworkers to bring their own
stuff even screens but we let them sign a waiver that we can't held
responsible for damage or loss. We also provide lockers but so far
they aren't used much although our coworkers leave all kind of
valuable stuff at the space, so far we didn't had any trouble (knock
on wood).

Cheers and merry X-mas holidays
Thilo

--
development: http://upstre.am
coworking: http://co-up.de
coworking managment: http://cobot.me

On Dec 21, 10:01 pm, Jes  wrote:
> Hey all! I introduced myself a while ago and have enjoyed keeping up
> with with the posts. Network, a coworking spot is coming along nicely
> and we are looking at a mid-Jan. opening day here in Longmont, CO!
> These are the steps I've taken so far (please feel free to point out
> any oversights!)
>
> Demo'd the space
> Built the space
> Set up phone/Internet
> Set up access control
> Set up insurance
> Set up a meetup group and organized my first one (went well for only
> having one person show up...they were really enthusiastic)
> Reached out to a couple other groups, one is scheduled to use the
> space already!
> Established ever-changing website/facebook/twitter
>
> and now we are actually going to fill the space with furniture! I'm
> pretty confident about most of what I'm doing, but I'm looking for
> suggestions on chairs. I feel like this is one piece of furniture most
> people will actually care about. My questions to you are, what chairs
> do you use? Do most of your coworkers use the space for 8hrs/day, or
> are they part timers? Go for comfort or style, or is there a nice
> combination of the two that won't run me $300/chair?
>
> My other question is regarding insurance. I went for liability and
> some property, though the insurance will not cover coworker's
> belongings. Do you let coworkers leave equipment onsite, and if so, do
> you provide insurance? If not, do you have them sign a waiver?
>
> Thanks for any pointers!
> Jessica

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[Coworking] Coworking Tools

[Martin Harvey]

I am not a coworker but am very interested in this topic.  I have worked out 
of my SOHO for most of the past 7 years or so now and while it's worked for 
me, is very convenient, can be equally time liberating and demanding - I do 
admit to getting ":cabin fever" every now and then - so this concept appeals 
to me.  I also have an interest in collaborative tools which are applicable 
to coworking.  I live in the Niagara region of Ontario Canada which relies 
on agriculture, tourism, vino-culture, and the auto sector for its economic 
life.  Until she recently retired my wife owned and ran 
an adult worker retraining school so I know that this sort of feature may be 
really useful.  I will therefore be casually seeing if there is any interest 
in the region.

Now for the self interest bit.  I work for a small company called CoroWare 
www.coroware.com and one of my hats is being involved in our CoroCall 
www.corocall.com service.  It provides a hosted, desktop based, HD quality, 
very low cost video conferencing service.  It support collaboration by 
desktop sharing and for those who are video challenged it also includes 
audio conferencing.  Companion products include video recording and editing, 
personal and logo stamping, and a secure instant messaging service (not yet 
integrated).  We also are looking at hosting, or arranging hosting, for 
collaboration tools such as WiKi, subversion, Trac, and SharePoint.

You can try CoroCall for free or I can host a demo - the latter is always 
preferred as snafus can spoil the experience.  Ping me here or at 
mhar...@coroware.com

Thanks for your indulgence.

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[Coworking] Memphis, anyone?

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

I'll be in Memphis, TN the first week of January. If you're a space
catalyst/owner in the area, email me. Let's get together!

-Angel

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[Coworking] Re: Are there any coworking spaces in Jackson, WY?

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

I just posted the info on FB.
coworkjackson at gmail.com
They're just starting out.

On Dec 22, 7:20 pm, Jason  wrote:
> Are there any coworking spaces in Jackson, WY?

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[Coworking] Are there any coworking spaces in Jackson, WY?

[Jason]

Are there any coworking spaces in Jackson, WY?

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Re: [Coworking] Does anyone know of any Comaking groups?

[Raines Cohen]

James -

It sounds like you're talking about Hacker Spaces ,
a parallel movement to coworking, sharing many principles.

Perhaps the best way to introduce the concept is with a variant on the old
saw: How many coworking space members does it take to change a lightbulb?
None, because it becomes a hacker space when you start messing with
hardware.

While some of the first coworking spaces to use the term came together out
of programmers, writers, and other creative professionals sharing space and
resources and cooperatively managing the project while pursuing our own
ventures, we recognize that, at its core, both movements are, in essence,
reconnecting to and building on centuries-old
practicespursued by craftspeople,
attorneys, architects, artists, and others needing
access to specialized tools, peers, and types of spaces that would be
expensive or harder to create individually.

Generally speaking (and of course there are exceptions and
counter-examples), Hacker Spaces tend to have:

   - More of a focus on hardware, soldering, creating, D-I-Y, and the like.
   - More smoke, less mirrors.
   - Replaces garages rather than home offices.
   - More welding, less WarCraft.
   - If it's broke, we fix it rather than call a service tech.
   - Less desks by default, more drawers and dangerous devices in dedicated
   spaces.
   - More machines and custom tools, less bandwidth and business managers.
   - More co-creation and art, hacking and soldering, less coding and
   graphics and design.
   - Less Wired, more Make magazine.
   - When you say "give me a file," they hand you an edge-roughening tool,
   rather than attach and email or reach into a filing cabinet.
   - More PERL, FORTH, and Arduino, less C++/Java/Ruby on
   Rails/JavaScript/Python.
   - More microcontrollers, less Microsoft.
   - Rather than a Wii, we've got an old-school "insert coin" arcade
   console.
   - More Wiki than WordPress. Flash is something Hacker Space denizens use
   to take pictures, not enliven websites.
   - Stitching rather than Pitching to VCs.
   - More 3-D printers, less fax machines.
   - More freeganism, less catered cappucino coffees?

Of course, some of these distinctions are reflections more of the stage of
different fields of development and their relation to different economic
institutions, and the priorities of the space founders, so don't take them
as part of a definition of either coworking or hacker spaces - what do you
see as key differences in the personalities, projects, and ventures each
type attracts? A few coworking communities like Carrboro Coworking
Collaborative (NC) are listed as Hacker Spaces, and vice-versa.

While many hacker spaces, like some coworking spaces, are
collective/cooperative ventures, some "second-generation"
professional-service-model, dare I say "chain" Hacker Spaces have emerged,
like TechShop  (*now with several SF Bay Area
locations, including one in the SF Chronicle building next to The
Hubcoworking space network that I'm a
member of
*). I participated in a coworking/hacker spaces presence at Maker
Fairea couple years ago with some of the
founders of
HackerDojo  (Mountain View, CA) and am a member
of Ace Monster Toys , just down the street here
on the Berkeley/Oakland/Emeryville (CA) border.
NoiseBridge(San Francisco) was an area
pioneer that I connected with at the BIL
unconference near TED.

As someone involved in the Intentional Communities
movement, helping people co-create residential
neighborhoods for greener
living, I see a strong parallel between the evolution of Hacker Spaces and
Coworking with the development of Cohousing  and
EcoVillages : two frameworks, with independent
origins, following similar paths, with much to learn from one another, and
many opportunities for growth, collaboration and better serving their
members by staying in their own silos and talking only to "pure" examples of
their own types. We're all struggling to find ways to embrace and support
professionals venturing in and growing our realms, while honoring our
grassroots cooperative roots.

Raines Cohen, Coworking Coach  @
CoworkingCoach 
Planning for Sustainable Communities (Berkeley, CA)
Still drawing inspiration from the Coworking Europe conference in Brussels
last month

P.S. Do check out the wikipedia article on
GuildsI reference above for the
pre-history of collaborative shared spaces. Did
you know that these proto-coworking ventures, starting over 1.5 millennia
ago, were part of the development of corporations, patents, apprenticeship,
insurance, retirement funds, money (rather than trading/bartering goods),
soc

[Coworking] Re: Coworking & the kids

[Jeannine]

Well, essentially the Cisco model is on site child care, which they
also have in the US.  Until October of this year, the Cisco centers
were essentially satellite offices for Cisco.

Part of the issue here in the Netherlands is that in many ways, the
whole society is built on the one-earner model, folks are rapidly
switching to the two-earner model but the institutions are mostly not
keeping up.  Schools do not for instance typically have lunchrooms --
kids go home for lunch.   And day care..well, when I came here six
years ago there was exactly one professional day care in this town of
50,000 souls.  "Preschool" starts at 18 months to 2 years and is two
half days per week.

For another example, children with learning and other disabilities are
not integrated into the school system here, they go to different
schools which are regionally based,  These kids are therefore bussed
via contract with taxi services -- picked up at the door and dropped
off at the door.  Until this year this city (which provides the
service) refused to drop the kids off or pick them up anywhere other
than at one home address -- so not at day care, not at the sitter, and
god help you if you are, for example, divorced or otherwise not living
together.

So mothers with kids with learning disabilities are pretty much washed
up for working unless it's part time or self employment.  Large
companies therefore find that solving the day care dilemma goes a long
way to attracting and keeping employees.

In many ways the Dutch do value work life balance more than Americans
do.  But not in that way.  I don't think we are likely to follow this
model in this area, as there are too many associated cultural
differences we would be unlikely to accept.

Jeannine

On Dec 22, 4:22 pm, "TechVenue.com"  wrote:
> Mark,
>
> Thank you!  This looks like a great system and again shows that we in
> the USA have a lot to learn and adopt when it comes to sustainability
> and work/life balance + valuing the whole family as a part of it all.
>
> Looking forward to hearing more from others in the group -
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
> Re:
>
> On Dec 22, 8:17 am, Mark Gilbreath  wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Onsight child care was a core element of the prototype "Smart Connected 
> > Workcenter" (SWC) that cisco developed and launched in Almere Netherlands 
> > (just outside Amsterdam) in 2008.  This project was a part of a broad 
> > "Connected Urban Development" initiative that cisco developed, inspired by 
> > their involvement in the Clinton Global Inititive on sustainability.  Much 
> > of what cisco demonstrated in this project (which has grown to a 
> > substantial network of locations in the Netherlands and inspired other 
> > projects around the globe) is relevant to coworking, including business 
> > models, public/private partnership models, space planning concepts, 
> > technology platforms (obviously, they want to promote their network, voice 
> > and video solutions), and service offerings...including child care.    
> > Their focus with the the SWC demonstration was enterprise customers, eg the 
> > IBM or HP employee who is looking for a more convenient, sustainable, 
> > productive place to work in lieu of the corporate office that may be 
> > further away (or as increasingly is the case at places like IBM, where 42% 
> > of their employees work remotely, the SWC becomes their only office.  
>
> > Stuff to search on to find more info on this:  almere, SWC, smart work 
> > center, CUD, connected urban development, bas boorsma, smart connected work
>
> > Mark Gilbreath
> > CEO/Founder
> > 208.720.8107
> > m...@liquidspaceapp.com
>
> > LiquidSpace(TM) - find a better space to work.
> > We're a location-based mobile application that lets you use your phone to 
> > find a better space to meet and work, book it, check in securely, and share 
> > it with your colleagues.   Visitwww.liquidspaceapp.comtolearn more!
>
> > On Dec 22, 2010, at 5:25 AM, autena  wrote:
>
> > > I agree, this is a critical issue for me.  I am a lot of the home-
> > > based businesses and workers in my area are also parents that have to
> > > be with their kids after school, or when the don't have child care
> > > coverage.
>
> > > I am actively trying to recruit a partner that could have this as a
> > > "service-next-door". I belong to a Gym that has child care but the
> > > drop off is limited to 2 hours.
> > > I think this is a great discussion, would love to know what other
> > > members think/do about this.
> > > -A
>
> > > On Dec 21, 5:33 pm, "TechVenue.com"  wrote:
> > >> Hi All,
>
> > >> Does anyone have any data on generally what percentage of coworking
> > >> places offer any childcare inside or adjacent to the space?
>
> > >> Felicity athttp://www.cubesandcrayons.comhassharedin a few threads
> > >> already, and has a great thing going - I hope it spreads.
>
> > >> If this need is not considered to some degree in coworking business
> > >> plans, I'm concerned this could be an obstac