[Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Jay, there's tons of videos and photos from SXSWi on the LifeSize facebook page. Hope you got a chance to check them all out! http://www.bit.ly/a2Jm0R Sarah On Apr 13, 9:12 pm, Jay jaycata...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks Susan and everyone for the feedback. If anyone else has links to other videos, photos, or blog posts from the SXSWi or other conferences/events, please feel free to share them with the group. I can see that the definition of what 'Coworking' is may eventually evolve from the initial picture that some of its pioneers had in mind. For example, what the term 'like-minded individuals' refer to when the initial definition was coined may not apply to other coworking spaces today. The majority of the early coworking pioneers may have been mostly coders, but I believe the diversity of backgrounds and expertise of people who are interested in coworking is changing, and I think this is for the better. Diversity is something that we have always valued at The Network Hub, and I've seen the benefits of it since our early days. I think innovation is more likely to occur when you have conversations between developers, designers, and the non tech folk in marketing, PR, sales, writers, NGO consultants, etc. Their backgrounds may differ, but they are all smart, independent, passionate individuals who enjoy working alongside other people. I'm not yet convinced that coworking virtually or ad-hoc co-location can create the type of relationships that build from coworking with the same people in the same space on a regular basis. There is great value in the depth of conversations that occur when you go for lunches, breaks, or drinks with people that you see every day working alongside you. At the end of the day, the definition will be defined by the people that are engaged in the conversation. And as Susan mentioned, we all need to participate and help each other spread the word about what coworking means to us, and the value it can provide to others. - Jay - thenetworkhub.ca twitter.com/jaycatalan On Apr 6, 1:34 pm, Susan Evans susan.c.ev...@gmail.com wrote: Hey all, Thanks for getting the started, Jay! And my apologies for my delay to getting to these e-mails. Here are a few of the key takeaways I had post-SXSWi: 1. As most others will tell you, the value in my time at SXSWi definitely came from the smaller conversations I had post-panels, post-summits, and post-forums. The organized sections of the event are great jump-off points, but the real meat of the matter comes from the conversations had and reflections within those conversations. I'd say that my trip became worth it after several conversations I had after both the Coworking Meetup and the Coworking Summit. Instead of getting wrapped up in any controversy, *those conversations inspired me to go home and get shit done.* 2. I did come away from the coworking panel feeling very conflicted. Thanks to Clay for re-clarifying here that the panel was designed to talk about the future of work (that helped me to reframe my thoughts). I walked away realizing that maybe I was *more OK with defining coworking a bit more than I ever have before *(as in, I'd say that coworking *does indeed * mean colocation. Beyond that and the values we've set out, I'm not sure I can go much further than that just yet). ;) 3. When it comes to offices of Economic Development and other government offices, I have come away from several conversations as well as SXSWi with the following:* let them approach you*, not the opposite (hat tip to the crew at Gangplank, Tony B, Geoff, and Alex). That said, I'd add that (in conjunction with point #1 and getting shit done), make sure they know who you are and what you're doing. Make sure that you can clearly state the value that coworking brings to your city. Participate in the conversations that connect deeply to coworking. If you don't see anyone else taking the lead, take it yourself. Hope those things help! All the best from Seattle, Susan __ Office Nomads officenomads.com 206-484-5859 On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 7:51 AM, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.comwrote: Really well put, Devin. I'm in the process of revamping NWC's messaging online and off, and our language will be very similar to what you proposed. On Apr 3, 2010 8:14 PM, Devin devinbalk...@gmail.com wrote: The movement must go beyond the word 'coworking.' Words will always be coopted by people who'll use them to benefit themselves. Below is a quote I received on a metrocard. The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten the words, so that I can talk
[Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Thanks Susan and everyone for the feedback. If anyone else has links to other videos, photos, or blog posts from the SXSWi or other conferences/events, please feel free to share them with the group. I can see that the definition of what 'Coworking' is may eventually evolve from the initial picture that some of its pioneers had in mind. For example, what the term 'like-minded individuals' refer to when the initial definition was coined may not apply to other coworking spaces today. The majority of the early coworking pioneers may have been mostly coders, but I believe the diversity of backgrounds and expertise of people who are interested in coworking is changing, and I think this is for the better. Diversity is something that we have always valued at The Network Hub, and I've seen the benefits of it since our early days. I think innovation is more likely to occur when you have conversations between developers, designers, and the non tech folk in marketing, PR, sales, writers, NGO consultants, etc. Their backgrounds may differ, but they are all smart, independent, passionate individuals who enjoy working alongside other people. I'm not yet convinced that coworking virtually or ad-hoc co-location can create the type of relationships that build from coworking with the same people in the same space on a regular basis. There is great value in the depth of conversations that occur when you go for lunches, breaks, or drinks with people that you see every day working alongside you. At the end of the day, the definition will be defined by the people that are engaged in the conversation. And as Susan mentioned, we all need to participate and help each other spread the word about what coworking means to us, and the value it can provide to others. - Jay - thenetworkhub.ca twitter.com/jaycatalan On Apr 6, 1:34 pm, Susan Evans susan.c.ev...@gmail.com wrote: Hey all, Thanks for getting the started, Jay! And my apologies for my delay to getting to these e-mails. Here are a few of the key takeaways I had post-SXSWi: 1. As most others will tell you, the value in my time at SXSWi definitely came from the smaller conversations I had post-panels, post-summits, and post-forums. The organized sections of the event are great jump-off points, but the real meat of the matter comes from the conversations had and reflections within those conversations. I'd say that my trip became worth it after several conversations I had after both the Coworking Meetup and the Coworking Summit. Instead of getting wrapped up in any controversy, *those conversations inspired me to go home and get shit done.* 2. I did come away from the coworking panel feeling very conflicted. Thanks to Clay for re-clarifying here that the panel was designed to talk about the future of work (that helped me to reframe my thoughts). I walked away realizing that maybe I was *more OK with defining coworking a bit more than I ever have before *(as in, I'd say that coworking *does indeed * mean colocation. Beyond that and the values we've set out, I'm not sure I can go much further than that just yet). ;) 3. When it comes to offices of Economic Development and other government offices, I have come away from several conversations as well as SXSWi with the following:* let them approach you*, not the opposite (hat tip to the crew at Gangplank, Tony B, Geoff, and Alex). That said, I'd add that (in conjunction with point #1 and getting shit done), make sure they know who you are and what you're doing. Make sure that you can clearly state the value that coworking brings to your city. Participate in the conversations that connect deeply to coworking. If you don't see anyone else taking the lead, take it yourself. Hope those things help! All the best from Seattle, Susan __ Office Nomads officenomads.com 206-484-5859 On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 7:51 AM, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.comwrote: Really well put, Devin. I'm in the process of revamping NWC's messaging online and off, and our language will be very similar to what you proposed. On Apr 3, 2010 8:14 PM, Devin devinbalk...@gmail.com wrote: The movement must go beyond the word 'coworking.' Words will always be coopted by people who'll use them to benefit themselves. Below is a quote I received on a metrocard. The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten the words, so that I can talk to him? We should defend the term 'coworking' but we also need to strengthen the language we use to describe this movement and develop a shared mission statement and strong set of core principles. I propose something like following for a mission statement: The mission of a coworking space is to
Re: [Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Really interesting and high level dialogues happening here! David and Danielle, I can't agree with you more. Coworking is truly a mentality which is beyond the restriction of location and facilities although it is the fact that co-location and technology has made coworking possible and sustainable. I don't see the conflict between technology such as odesk and the coworking location, in fact, I think it is a great tool which can be embedded in the current coworking virtual platform. For many of the coworkers, this is just another tech choice to achieve self actualization. Liu Yan 2010/4/6 WHERE MMM where...@gmail.com I love this angle David. (and use the word for hat tipping virtue to Alex). Alex, I am glad that you pointed out, ultimately, that anything that is presented on coworking should unfold from the inside. If we are going to speak and come together on coworking than that is the platform that we should speak on in terms that we as coworking facilities FACILITATE the process for those to accomplish their dreams with community minded resonance. Lastly, we are all affecting and effecting the shifting work environment as well as the global community.I hope someone out there is in fact capturing this from the inside out and not from an 'ant farm perspective' because that is when we really are doing a disservice to the movement. Danielle Nicoli WhereMMM On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 6:34 AM, David Troy davet...@gmail.com wrote: I've come to think of coworking as an environment that promotes self-actualization. If you think about Maslow's hierarchy (food/shelter/sex/money at the base, then a lot of higher things on top), coworking is an environment designed to allow people to move as far up that hierarchy as they desire; and to demonstrate that such upward mobility is possible. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- Liu Yan 刘妍 CEO/Co-founder Xindanwei 新单位 4C,Bld 4, Dingxi Rd 727, Shanghai,CHINA 中国上海定西路727号四栋4C (+86) 135 2429 5509 @theliuyan @xindanwei http://xindanwei.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Found this article published 14 years ago, the amazing thing is that they have all come true... http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/04/work.html Three essential changes listed in the article about the work in the past future: 1. Defying Gravity 2. Chaos Theory 3. Accepting the End of Control cheers, Yan 在 2010年4月6日 下午3:41，Liu Yan liuyan.dat...@gmail.com写道： Really interesting and high level dialogues happening here! David and Danielle, I can't agree with you more. Coworking is truly a mentality which is beyond the restriction of location and facilities although it is the fact that co-location and technology has made coworking possible and sustainable. I don't see the conflict between technology such as odesk and the coworking location, in fact, I think it is a great tool which can be embedded in the current coworking virtual platform. For many of the coworkers, this is just another tech choice to achieve self actualization. Liu Yan 2010/4/6 WHERE MMM where...@gmail.com I love this angle David. (and use the word for hat tipping virtue to Alex). Alex, I am glad that you pointed out, ultimately, that anything that is presented on coworking should unfold from the inside. If we are going to speak and come together on coworking than that is the platform that we should speak on in terms that we as coworking facilities FACILITATE the process for those to accomplish their dreams with community minded resonance. Lastly, we are all affecting and effecting the shifting work environment as well as the global community.I hope someone out there is in fact capturing this from the inside out and not from an 'ant farm perspective' because that is when we really are doing a disservice to the movement. Danielle Nicoli WhereMMM On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 6:34 AM, David Troy davet...@gmail.com wrote: I've come to think of coworking as an environment that promotes self-actualization. If you think about Maslow's hierarchy (food/shelter/sex/money at the base, then a lot of higher things on top), coworking is an environment designed to allow people to move as far up that hierarchy as they desire; and to demonstrate that such upward mobility is possible. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- Liu Yan 刘妍 CEO/Co-founder Xindanwei 新单位 4C,Bld 4, Dingxi Rd 727, Shanghai,CHINA 中国上海定西路727号四栋4C (+86) 135 2429 5509 @theliuyan @xindanwei http://xindanwei.com -- Liu Yan 刘妍 CEO/Co-founder Xindanwei 新单位 4C,Bld 4, Dingxi Rd 727, Shanghai,CHINA 中国上海定西路727号四栋4C (+86) 135 2429 5509 @theliuyan @xindanwei http://xindanwei.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
[Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Liu Yan, Thanks for sharing that article! Fascinating. I like this part: To demonstrate the way work really is, Alexander picks up a sheet of paper. 'What would be ideal would be to take this document,' he says, 'and put it here' -- at arm's length, about head high -- 'and have it just stay there. Then there is a cloud of stuff around where I am, at arm's reach. I know where it is, because where my hand left it is where it is.' Stuff that floats! Up in the air! In a cloud! It's funny that the cloud has even become the term that we use! Sarah On Apr 6, 4:17 am, Liu Yan liuyan.dat...@gmail.com wrote: Found this article published 14 years ago, the amazing thing is that they have all come true...http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/04/work.html Three essential changes listed in the article about the work in the past future: 1. Defying Gravity 2. Chaos Theory 3. Accepting the End of Control cheers, Yan 在 2010年4月6日 下午3:41，Liu Yan liuyan.dat...@gmail.com写道： Really interesting and high level dialogues happening here! David and Danielle, I can't agree with you more. Coworking is truly a mentality which is beyond the restriction of location and facilities although it is the fact that co-location and technology has made coworking possible and sustainable. I don't see the conflict between technology such as odesk and the coworking location, in fact, I think it is a great tool which can be embedded in the current coworking virtual platform. For many of the coworkers, this is just another tech choice to achieve self actualization. Liu Yan 2010/4/6 WHERE MMM where...@gmail.com I love this angle David. (and use the word for hat tipping virtue to Alex). Alex, I am glad that you pointed out, ultimately, that anything that is presented on coworking should unfold from the inside. If we are going to speak and come together on coworking than that is the platform that we should speak on in terms that we as coworking facilities FACILITATE the process for those to accomplish their dreams with community minded resonance. Lastly, we are all affecting and effecting the shifting work environment as well as the global community.I hope someone out there is in fact capturing this from the inside out and not from an 'ant farm perspective' because that is when we really are doing a disservice to the movement. Danielle Nicoli WhereMMM On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 6:34 AM, David Troy davet...@gmail.com wrote: I've come to think of coworking as an environment that promotes self-actualization. If you think about Maslow's hierarchy (food/shelter/sex/money at the base, then a lot of higher things on top), coworking is an environment designed to allow people to move as far up that hierarchy as they desire; and to demonstrate that such upward mobility is possible. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups .com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- Liu Yan 刘妍 CEO/Co-founder Xindanwei 新单位 4C,Bld 4, Dingxi Rd 727, Shanghai,CHINA 中国上海定西路727号四栋4C (+86) 135 2429 5509 @theliuyan @xindanwei http://xindanwei.com -- Liu Yan 刘妍 CEO/Co-founder Xindanwei 新单位 4C,Bld 4, Dingxi Rd 727, Shanghai,CHINA 中国上海定西路727号四栋4C (+86) 135 2429 5509 @theliuyan @xindanweihttp://xindanwei.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Hey all, Thanks for getting the started, Jay! And my apologies for my delay to getting to these e-mails. Here are a few of the key takeaways I had post-SXSWi: 1. As most others will tell you, the value in my time at SXSWi definitely came from the smaller conversations I had post-panels, post-summits, and post-forums. The organized sections of the event are great jump-off points, but the real meat of the matter comes from the conversations had and reflections within those conversations. I'd say that my trip became worth it after several conversations I had after both the Coworking Meetup and the Coworking Summit. Instead of getting wrapped up in any controversy, *those conversations inspired me to go home and get shit done.* 2. I did come away from the coworking panel feeling very conflicted. Thanks to Clay for re-clarifying here that the panel was designed to talk about the future of work (that helped me to reframe my thoughts). I walked away realizing that maybe I was *more OK with defining coworking a bit more than I ever have before *(as in, I'd say that coworking *does indeed * mean colocation. Beyond that and the values we've set out, I'm not sure I can go much further than that just yet). ;) 3. When it comes to offices of Economic Development and other government offices, I have come away from several conversations as well as SXSWi with the following:* let them approach you*, not the opposite (hat tip to the crew at Gangplank, Tony B, Geoff, and Alex). That said, I'd add that (in conjunction with point #1 and getting shit done), make sure they know who you are and what you're doing. Make sure that you can clearly state the value that coworking brings to your city. Participate in the conversations that connect deeply to coworking. If you don't see anyone else taking the lead, take it yourself. Hope those things help! All the best from Seattle, Susan __ Office Nomads officenomads.com 206-484-5859 On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 7:51 AM, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.comwrote: Really well put, Devin. I'm in the process of revamping NWC's messaging online and off, and our language will be very similar to what you proposed. On Apr 3, 2010 8:14 PM, Devin devinbalk...@gmail.com wrote: The movement must go beyond the word 'coworking.' Words will always be coopted by people who'll use them to benefit themselves. Below is a quote I received on a metrocard. The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten the words, so that I can talk to him? We should defend the term 'coworking' but we also need to strengthen the language we use to describe this movement and develop a shared mission statement and strong set of core principles. I propose something like following for a mission statement: The mission of a coworking space is to create an environment in which autonomous individuals (prefer: independent workers?) thrive. On Apr 1, 8:11 am, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: Apologies to Jay for swayin... On Mar 31, 2010 8:40 PM, Clay Spinuzzi clay.spinu...@gmail.com wrote: Sorry to hear that y... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
I've come to think of coworking as an environment that promotes self-actualization. If you think about Maslow's hierarchy (food/shelter/sex/money at the base, then a lot of higher things on top), coworking is an environment designed to allow people to move as far up that hierarchy as they desire; and to demonstrate that such upward mobility is possible. Coworking also has some startling parallels to un-schooling. Words tend to get co-opted by people with political agendas. I do not subscribe to many/most of the political agendas associated with un-schooling (my politics are generally post-partisan), but the concept has some validity and taken just as a technical term is very similar to what coworking tries to promote. Whereas traditional school forces people into an outmoded model of industrial production and rigid hierarchy, traditional work mostly tries to do the same thing. Coworking and un-schooling both invert that paradigm and put the emphasis onto the individual, allow room for self-actualization and discovery, and promote serendipitous formation of bonds and exploration of ideas. Devin, I think your term thrive is good, but maybe could be expanded upon. You're talking about self-actualization. How might we describe that more completely, without necessarily resorting to that term? Dave On Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 8:14 PM, Devin devinbalk...@gmail.com wrote: The movement must go beyond the word 'coworking.' Words will always be coopted by people who'll use them to benefit themselves. Below is a quote I received on a metrocard. The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten the words, so that I can talk to him? We should defend the term 'coworking' but we also need to strengthen the language we use to describe this movement and develop a shared mission statement and strong set of core principles. I propose something like following for a mission statement: The mission of a coworking space is to create an environment in which autonomous individuals (prefer: independent workers?) thrive. On Apr 1, 8:11 am, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: Apologies to Jay for swaying off topic. Thanks for weighing in, Clay. I respect what you were trying to accomplish and find it regrettable that I feel compelled to use such harsh language in this forum. I rather enjoyed your and Drew's presentations, and if the panel were simply about the future of work, I might have very much enjoyed the panel as a whole. Gary's abuse of the word coworking, however, was offensive to me and should be to anyone who understands and espouses the values the word is supposed to represent. He openly admitted to having hijacked the word for his purposes, only after I pressed him on the subject myself. The notion that coworking is not colocation is completely absurd; it's like saying a bicycle doesn't need wheels to be a bicycle. It was apparent to me that he had no problem abusing the word to help promote his brand, and I found it most unfortunate that he was given such a public forum to do so. In terms of the future of work, I took away one very important and valuable lesson: we as coworking space owners may not be able to rely upon the word coworking to communicate what we do and what we represent in the future, because more people like Gary may likely come along and attempt to pump the word dry of all of its meaning for their own personal benefit. An outside observer may be able to simply find this phenomenon interesting, but I find it rather unfortunate and certainly something I would not be complicit in perpetuating. My hope is that such folk will come and go, and their words will be largely ignored in the face of the larger movement. On Mar 31, 2010 8:40 PM, Clay Spinuzzi clay.spinu...@gmail.com wrote: Sorry to hear that you felt that way about the panel, Tony. I do want to emphasize, though, that the panel was *not* on the future of coworking. It was on What coworking tells us about the future of work. So I wanted to get a wide set of perspectives on that topic. After all, we've seen a wide set of perspectives on coworking here on the Google Group, with not-for-profits, loss leaders, and for-profit coworking spaces talking to each other. And in talking to Austin-area proprietors and coworkers, I've seen similar differences in perspective. Some people are in it for the community, some are in it for the networking and subcontracting opportunities, and some are just relieved that they don't have to manage an office and buy the toilet paper. Maybe some of these aren't kosher motivations for coworking from the movement's perspective, but that's what people are telling me. And from what I've seen on the
Re: [Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
I love this angle David. (and use the word for hat tipping virtue to Alex). Alex, I am glad that you pointed out, ultimately, that anything that is presented on coworking should unfold from the inside. If we are going to speak and come together on coworking than that is the platform that we should speak on in terms that we as coworking facilities FACILITATE the process for those to accomplish their dreams with community minded resonance. Lastly, we are all affecting and effecting the shifting work environment as well as the global community.I hope someone out there is in fact capturing this from the inside out and not from an 'ant farm perspective' because that is when we really are doing a disservice to the movement. Danielle Nicoli WhereMMM On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 6:34 AM, David Troy davet...@gmail.com wrote: I've come to think of coworking as an environment that promotes self-actualization. If you think about Maslow's hierarchy (food/shelter/sex/money at the base, then a lot of higher things on top), coworking is an environment designed to allow people to move as far up that hierarchy as they desire; and to demonstrate that such upward mobility is possible. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Really well put, Devin. I'm in the process of revamping NWC's messaging online and off, and our language will be very similar to what you proposed. On Apr 3, 2010 8:14 PM, Devin devinbalk...@gmail.com wrote: The movement must go beyond the word 'coworking.' Words will always be coopted by people who'll use them to benefit themselves. Below is a quote I received on a metrocard. The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten the words, so that I can talk to him? We should defend the term 'coworking' but we also need to strengthen the language we use to describe this movement and develop a shared mission statement and strong set of core principles. I propose something like following for a mission statement: The mission of a coworking space is to create an environment in which autonomous individuals (prefer: independent workers?) thrive. On Apr 1, 8:11 am, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: Apologies to Jay for swayin... On Mar 31, 2010 8:40 PM, Clay Spinuzzi clay.spinu...@gmail.com wrote: Sorry to hear that y... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Our mission has been to Help make Philadelphia a better place to make a living doing what you love. Autonomy and independence might be a part of it, though our reach widened dramatically last year when we grew and the diversity of discipline and approach with the shared vision of I want to do something I love, with people who love what they do brings us all together for reasons bigger than sharing an office. Great stuff, guys. /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 5:14 PM, Devin devinbalk...@gmail.com wrote: The movement must go beyond the word 'coworking.' Words will always be coopted by people who'll use them to benefit themselves. Below is a quote I received on a metrocard. The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten the words, so that I can talk to him? We should defend the term 'coworking' but we also need to strengthen the language we use to describe this movement and develop a shared mission statement and strong set of core principles. I propose something like following for a mission statement: The mission of a coworking space is to create an environment in which autonomous individuals (prefer: independent workers?) thrive. On Apr 1, 8:11 am, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: Apologies to Jay for swaying off topic. Thanks for weighing in, Clay. I respect what you were trying to accomplish and find it regrettable that I feel compelled to use such harsh language in this forum. I rather enjoyed your and Drew's presentations, and if the panel were simply about the future of work, I might have very much enjoyed the panel as a whole. Gary's abuse of the word coworking, however, was offensive to me and should be to anyone who understands and espouses the values the word is supposed to represent. He openly admitted to having hijacked the word for his purposes, only after I pressed him on the subject myself. The notion that coworking is not colocation is completely absurd; it's like saying a bicycle doesn't need wheels to be a bicycle. It was apparent to me that he had no problem abusing the word to help promote his brand, and I found it most unfortunate that he was given such a public forum to do so. In terms of the future of work, I took away one very important and valuable lesson: we as coworking space owners may not be able to rely upon the word coworking to communicate what we do and what we represent in the future, because more people like Gary may likely come along and attempt to pump the word dry of all of its meaning for their own personal benefit. An outside observer may be able to simply find this phenomenon interesting, but I find it rather unfortunate and certainly something I would not be complicit in perpetuating. My hope is that such folk will come and go, and their words will be largely ignored in the face of the larger movement. On Mar 31, 2010 8:40 PM, Clay Spinuzzi clay.spinu...@gmail.com wrote: Sorry to hear that you felt that way about the panel, Tony. I do want to emphasize, though, that the panel was *not* on the future of coworking. It was on What coworking tells us about the future of work. So I wanted to get a wide set of perspectives on that topic. After all, we've seen a wide set of perspectives on coworking here on the Google Group, with not-for-profits, loss leaders, and for-profit coworking spaces talking to each other. And in talking to Austin-area proprietors and coworkers, I've seen similar differences in perspective. Some people are in it for the community, some are in it for the networking and subcontracting opportunities, and some are just relieved that they don't have to manage an office and buy the toilet paper. Maybe some of these aren't kosher motivations for coworking from the movement's perspective, but that's what people are telling me. And from what I've seen on the Google Group, the coworking community is big enough to handle these differences in perspectives. The most controversial panelist was Gary Swart of oDesk, partially because, as he said, he disagreed with how the rest of us defined coworking. He was really talking about virtual teams, and so he talked about business value rather than community values, efficiency rather than support, and business relationships rather than real relationships. And he said in the QA that we don't care where our people work. That's a shocker if you think he's talking about coworking. But once you realize that he's talking about virtual teams, things snap into place: the more virtual teaming happens, the more people will search for places where they prefer to work, places where they can recover the sorts of relationships that
[Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
The movement must go beyond the word 'coworking.' Words will always be coopted by people who'll use them to benefit themselves. Below is a quote I received on a metrocard. The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten the words, so that I can talk to him? We should defend the term 'coworking' but we also need to strengthen the language we use to describe this movement and develop a shared mission statement and strong set of core principles. I propose something like following for a mission statement: The mission of a coworking space is to create an environment in which autonomous individuals (prefer: independent workers?) thrive. On Apr 1, 8:11 am, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: Apologies to Jay for swaying off topic. Thanks for weighing in, Clay. I respect what you were trying to accomplish and find it regrettable that I feel compelled to use such harsh language in this forum. I rather enjoyed your and Drew's presentations, and if the panel were simply about the future of work, I might have very much enjoyed the panel as a whole. Gary's abuse of the word coworking, however, was offensive to me and should be to anyone who understands and espouses the values the word is supposed to represent. He openly admitted to having hijacked the word for his purposes, only after I pressed him on the subject myself. The notion that coworking is not colocation is completely absurd; it's like saying a bicycle doesn't need wheels to be a bicycle. It was apparent to me that he had no problem abusing the word to help promote his brand, and I found it most unfortunate that he was given such a public forum to do so. In terms of the future of work, I took away one very important and valuable lesson: we as coworking space owners may not be able to rely upon the word coworking to communicate what we do and what we represent in the future, because more people like Gary may likely come along and attempt to pump the word dry of all of its meaning for their own personal benefit. An outside observer may be able to simply find this phenomenon interesting, but I find it rather unfortunate and certainly something I would not be complicit in perpetuating. My hope is that such folk will come and go, and their words will be largely ignored in the face of the larger movement. On Mar 31, 2010 8:40 PM, Clay Spinuzzi clay.spinu...@gmail.com wrote: Sorry to hear that you felt that way about the panel, Tony. I do want to emphasize, though, that the panel was *not* on the future of coworking. It was on What coworking tells us about the future of work. So I wanted to get a wide set of perspectives on that topic. After all, we've seen a wide set of perspectives on coworking here on the Google Group, with not-for-profits, loss leaders, and for-profit coworking spaces talking to each other. And in talking to Austin-area proprietors and coworkers, I've seen similar differences in perspective. Some people are in it for the community, some are in it for the networking and subcontracting opportunities, and some are just relieved that they don't have to manage an office and buy the toilet paper. Maybe some of these aren't kosher motivations for coworking from the movement's perspective, but that's what people are telling me. And from what I've seen on the Google Group, the coworking community is big enough to handle these differences in perspectives. The most controversial panelist was Gary Swart of oDesk, partially because, as he said, he disagreed with how the rest of us defined coworking. He was really talking about virtual teams, and so he talked about business value rather than community values, efficiency rather than support, and business relationships rather than real relationships. And he said in the QA that we don't care where our people work. That's a shocker if you think he's talking about coworking. But once you realize that he's talking about virtual teams, things snap into place: the more virtual teaming happens, the more people will search for places where they prefer to work, places where they can recover the sorts of relationships that virtual teams can't provide. Places like coworking spaces. It's no coincidence that the coworking spaces I've visited are filled with members of virtual teams, telecommuters, and entrepeneurs. And that's why I decided to include Gary. In any case, I regret that the panel came off as an atrocity and an insult to you. My intention was to connect coworking to a heritage, to demonstrate how it fit larger trends of work, and to see what it tells us about how those trends will evolve. I still think the panel accomplished that. For those who didn't see my portion of the panel, the slides are here:
[Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Did you get a chance to watch the videos from SXSW on the LifeSize Communications facebook page? Here's a link to the Facebook page: http://bit.ly/a2Jm0R The controversial one with Gary Swart that Tony brought up can be found here: http://bit.ly/c6taQG Another one of the panels that I recorded was on remote employees or remote workers, which seems a better term for what Swart was attempting to describe. With HD video communications, we aim to imitate the face-to-face experience. I could see THAT maybe allowing a remote worker to feel more like they are co-working, but the functionality of oDesk definitely does not seem to replace in-the-same- room communication AT ALL enough to be truly called co-working. I haven't ever checked out a co-working space, but all the discussions I've been witnessing lately makes me really want to go! Sarah On Mar 31, 4:58 pm, Jay jaycata...@gmail.com wrote: I was unable to go to this year's SXSW, and was hoping there'd be more of a discussion online from the people that were able to attend the Coworking Meetup or the Summit. Other than the summit video that was posted, I was unable to find too much discussion in the group or elsewhere. Would love to know from those who were able to attend: - What did you think about the meetup or the summit? - What was good and what can be improved for future coworking get togethers? - Which topics (either planned or unplanned) did you find most interesting or useful? - More importantly, any insights/lessons gained from meeting others that run or work in other coworking spaces? - Did any new ideas or future projects sprout from meeting with others? Looking forward to reading some of your answers. Hopefully, it can be useful to the other coworking events that some of you may already be planning. Cheers, Jaywww.thenetworkhub.ca twitter.com/jaycatalan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Apologies to Jay for swaying off topic. Thanks for weighing in, Clay. I respect what you were trying to accomplish and find it regrettable that I feel compelled to use such harsh language in this forum. I rather enjoyed your and Drew's presentations, and if the panel were simply about the future of work, I might have very much enjoyed the panel as a whole. Gary's abuse of the word coworking, however, was offensive to me and should be to anyone who understands and espouses the values the word is supposed to represent. He openly admitted to having hijacked the word for his purposes, only after I pressed him on the subject myself. The notion that coworking is not colocation is completely absurd; it's like saying a bicycle doesn't need wheels to be a bicycle. It was apparent to me that he had no problem abusing the word to help promote his brand, and I found it most unfortunate that he was given such a public forum to do so. In terms of the future of work, I took away one very important and valuable lesson: we as coworking space owners may not be able to rely upon the word coworking to communicate what we do and what we represent in the future, because more people like Gary may likely come along and attempt to pump the word dry of all of its meaning for their own personal benefit. An outside observer may be able to simply find this phenomenon interesting, but I find it rather unfortunate and certainly something I would not be complicit in perpetuating. My hope is that such folk will come and go, and their words will be largely ignored in the face of the larger movement. On Mar 31, 2010 8:40 PM, Clay Spinuzzi clay.spinu...@gmail.com wrote: Sorry to hear that you felt that way about the panel, Tony. I do want to emphasize, though, that the panel was *not* on the future of coworking. It was on What coworking tells us about the future of work. So I wanted to get a wide set of perspectives on that topic. After all, we've seen a wide set of perspectives on coworking here on the Google Group, with not-for-profits, loss leaders, and for-profit coworking spaces talking to each other. And in talking to Austin-area proprietors and coworkers, I've seen similar differences in perspective. Some people are in it for the community, some are in it for the networking and subcontracting opportunities, and some are just relieved that they don't have to manage an office and buy the toilet paper. Maybe some of these aren't kosher motivations for coworking from the movement's perspective, but that's what people are telling me. And from what I've seen on the Google Group, the coworking community is big enough to handle these differences in perspectives. The most controversial panelist was Gary Swart of oDesk, partially because, as he said, he disagreed with how the rest of us defined coworking. He was really talking about virtual teams, and so he talked about business value rather than community values, efficiency rather than support, and business relationships rather than real relationships. And he said in the QA that we don't care where our people work. That's a shocker if you think he's talking about coworking. But once you realize that he's talking about virtual teams, things snap into place: the more virtual teaming happens, the more people will search for places where they prefer to work, places where they can recover the sorts of relationships that virtual teams can't provide. Places like coworking spaces. It's no coincidence that the coworking spaces I've visited are filled with members of virtual teams, telecommuters, and entrepeneurs. And that's why I decided to include Gary. In any case, I regret that the panel came off as an atrocity and an insult to you. My intention was to connect coworking to a heritage, to demonstrate how it fit larger trends of work, and to see what it tells us about how those trends will evolve. I still think the panel accomplished that. For those who didn't see my portion of the panel, the slides are here: http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/2010/03/sxswi-what-coworking-tells-us- about.html. See what you think, and don't hesitate to comment. CS On Mar 31, 6:24 pm, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: The coworking summit was v... Email: t...@nwcny.com Phone: (888) 823-3494 On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 5:58 PM, Jay jaycata...@gmail.com wrote: I was unable to go to... coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.comcoworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com coworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups .com . For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to cowork...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at
[Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Not a problem, Tony. This is exactly the sort of after-event discussion that I was hoping for, and frankly think we need to have. For the record, I completely agree with you on the panel and was quite surprised there wasn't as much discussion about it afterwards from those that were in attendance. Going into SXSW, others have mentioned they intended to further discuss how they could work closer with their city's Economic Development folks. Would love to hear any insights you may have had if this was touched upon. Also, interested in how people now feel about the idea of formalizing ourselves as a group, after having met each other in Austin. There was a lot of talk about this heading into SXSW, but it seems to have all fizzled; I was expecting there'd be more of a discussion after such an event. - J - On Apr 1, 5:11 am, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: Apologies to Jay for swaying off topic. Thanks for weighing in, Clay. I respect what you were trying to accomplish and find it regrettable that I feel compelled to use such harsh language in this forum. I rather enjoyed your and Drew's presentations, and if the panel were simply about the future of work, I might have very much enjoyed the panel as a whole. Gary's abuse of the word coworking, however, was offensive to me and should be to anyone who understands and espouses the values the word is supposed to represent. He openly admitted to having hijacked the word for his purposes, only after I pressed him on the subject myself. The notion that coworking is not colocation is completely absurd; it's like saying a bicycle doesn't need wheels to be a bicycle. It was apparent to me that he had no problem abusing the word to help promote his brand, and I found it most unfortunate that he was given such a public forum to do so. In terms of the future of work, I took away one very important and valuable lesson: we as coworking space owners may not be able to rely upon the word coworking to communicate what we do and what we represent in the future, because more people like Gary may likely come along and attempt to pump the word dry of all of its meaning for their own personal benefit. An outside observer may be able to simply find this phenomenon interesting, but I find it rather unfortunate and certainly something I would not be complicit in perpetuating. My hope is that such folk will come and go, and their words will be largely ignored in the face of the larger movement. On Mar 31, 2010 8:40 PM, Clay Spinuzzi clay.spinu...@gmail.com wrote: Sorry to hear that you felt that way about the panel, Tony. I do want to emphasize, though, that the panel was *not* on the future of coworking. It was on What coworking tells us about the future of work. So I wanted to get a wide set of perspectives on that topic. After all, we've seen a wide set of perspectives on coworking here on the Google Group, with not-for-profits, loss leaders, and for-profit coworking spaces talking to each other. And in talking to Austin-area proprietors and coworkers, I've seen similar differences in perspective. Some people are in it for the community, some are in it for the networking and subcontracting opportunities, and some are just relieved that they don't have to manage an office and buy the toilet paper. Maybe some of these aren't kosher motivations for coworking from the movement's perspective, but that's what people are telling me. And from what I've seen on the Google Group, the coworking community is big enough to handle these differences in perspectives. The most controversial panelist was Gary Swart of oDesk, partially because, as he said, he disagreed with how the rest of us defined coworking. He was really talking about virtual teams, and so he talked about business value rather than community values, efficiency rather than support, and business relationships rather than real relationships. And he said in the QA that we don't care where our people work. That's a shocker if you think he's talking about coworking. But once you realize that he's talking about virtual teams, things snap into place: the more virtual teaming happens, the more people will search for places where they prefer to work, places where they can recover the sorts of relationships that virtual teams can't provide. Places like coworking spaces. It's no coincidence that the coworking spaces I've visited are filled with members of virtual teams, telecommuters, and entrepeneurs. And that's why I decided to include Gary. In any case, I regret that the panel came off as an atrocity and an insult to you. My intention was to connect coworking to a heritage, to demonstrate how it fit larger trends of work, and to see what it tells us about how those trends will evolve. I still think the panel accomplished that. For those who didn't see my portion of the panel, the slides are here:
[Coworking] Re: SXSW Coworking Takeaways
Sorry to hear that you felt that way about the panel, Tony. I do want to emphasize, though, that the panel was *not* on the future of coworking. It was on What coworking tells us about the future of work. So I wanted to get a wide set of perspectives on that topic. After all, we've seen a wide set of perspectives on coworking here on the Google Group, with not-for-profits, loss leaders, and for-profit coworking spaces talking to each other. And in talking to Austin-area proprietors and coworkers, I've seen similar differences in perspective. Some people are in it for the community, some are in it for the networking and subcontracting opportunities, and some are just relieved that they don't have to manage an office and buy the toilet paper. Maybe some of these aren't kosher motivations for coworking from the movement's perspective, but that's what people are telling me. And from what I've seen on the Google Group, the coworking community is big enough to handle these differences in perspectives. The most controversial panelist was Gary Swart of oDesk, partially because, as he said, he disagreed with how the rest of us defined coworking. He was really talking about virtual teams, and so he talked about business value rather than community values, efficiency rather than support, and business relationships rather than real relationships. And he said in the QA that we don't care where our people work. That's a shocker if you think he's talking about coworking. But once you realize that he's talking about virtual teams, things snap into place: the more virtual teaming happens, the more people will search for places where they prefer to work, places where they can recover the sorts of relationships that virtual teams can't provide. Places like coworking spaces. It's no coincidence that the coworking spaces I've visited are filled with members of virtual teams, telecommuters, and entrepeneurs. And that's why I decided to include Gary. In any case, I regret that the panel came off as an atrocity and an insult to you. My intention was to connect coworking to a heritage, to demonstrate how it fit larger trends of work, and to see what it tells us about how those trends will evolve. I still think the panel accomplished that. For those who didn't see my portion of the panel, the slides are here: http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/2010/03/sxswi-what-coworking-tells-us- about.html. See what you think, and don't hesitate to comment. CS On Mar 31, 6:24 pm, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: The coworking summit was very productive for me, if only because it permitted me to meet a few bright minds whom I had never encountered before, and managed to have one or two very high-level conversations that would have otherwise been impossible. This was the result of Chris having instructed us to pair off after the video portion-- someone sought me out, we sat down, and had a conversation that made the whole trip worthwhile. I had a similar experience at the Coworking Meetup. In the case of both events, I had to leave early due to hard obligations, and was dying to stay in both cases because of the raw potential of the knowledge that was being shared among like-minded coworking leaders. For future events, there's no reason not to continue to aim for the same sorts of things that we do in our coworking spaces - facilitate conversations, collaboration, and serendipity. The pre-planned panel discussion at the Coworking Summit, for example, was what I'd consider to be the least productive part of the event-- and it was the most structured and planned part. I don't see that as a coincidence. There should be a healthy balance of structure and un-structure-- perhaps some frameworks, general guidlines, to help shape conversation-- and then lots of opportunity for people to have the kind of deep conversations we just can't have when we're all in our respective cities. So that's my insight on those events. Also, the Future of Coworking Panel was an atrocity and an insult, because the hand-picked set of people included people whose connection to and knowledge of the concept and movement were tangential at best and convoluted at worst. So my takeaway from that is that any future event should be careful not to impose the viewpoints of people who have no business speaking on the subject. Cheers, Tony --- -- New Work City - Work with, not for. Web: http://nwcny.com Twitter:http://twitter.com/nwc Email: t...@nwcny.com Phone: (888) 823-3494 On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 5:58 PM, Jay jaycata...@gmail.com wrote: I was unable to go to this year's SXSW, and was hoping there'd be more of a discussion online from the people that were able to attend the Coworking Meetup or the Summit. Other than the summit video that was posted, I was unable to find too much discussion in the group or elsewhere. Would love to
