Yesterday I took part in my first Jelly session — and I’ve got to say it was a fun and productive experience that I will be repeating in the future. Jellies are informal, free coworking events that are open to anyone. There were 10 participants at the Jelly I attended, from a range of different backgrounds although they were mainly freelancers, as you might expect. At times, particularly in the morning, the atmosphere was studious and productive, but there was also some interesting chat and opportunities to make new connections.
I always find that a change of scenery does me good, but considering that I was working in a room with 10 other people, sitting around a conference table, and occasionally getting stuck into conversation, I was surprised at the amount of work I got through (and that’s despite the speed of the Wi-Fi connection getting a little slow with 10 people working away).
If you’re feeling a bit isolated at home (or perhaps you just want to brainstorm some ideas) and would like to try out the coworking experience, but perhaps aren’t quite ready to commit to membership of a coworking space, attending a Jelly would be a good first step. Read the rest of this entry »
Coworking is a great trend, one that is taking root in even the most unlikely of soil, including areas where it has a chance of making a big difference, like Detroit. For freelancers and small startups, a coworking space provides a great opportunity to work with others, and to have office space to show off when a client comes calling, without incurring the cost of a more permanent lease. Read the rest of this entry »
Intriguing “hackerspace/makerspace” i3 Detroit is holding its grand opening tomorrow, with an open house between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m at its new facility at 322 East Fourth St. in Royal Oak, Mich., followed by a party that kicks off at 7 p.m. Unlike some run-of-the-mill coworking spaces, which tend to be more like a cross between an office and a coffee shop, i3 Detroit’s 1,500-square-foot facility contains an assortment of fabrication tools, a classroom and a stock of many common components to use during project builds, which according to founder Russ Wolfe should create “a collaborative environment for people to explore the balance between technology, art and culture.”
i3 Detroit is a non-profit organization, and paid membership ($100 per month) includes 24-hour entry to the facility, access to all tools and preferred admittance to classes.
If you’re involved with an unusual coworking project, tell us about it in the comments.
As a web worker, you have the freedom to work from anywhere that has an Internet connection. A coffee shop or a library can make for just as good a workspace as a home office. But workplaces are not created equal. The differences between individual coffee shops can turn one into the perfect place to plant your laptop, while making another an impossible place to get any work done. The trick is learning to recognize what makes the best workspace for you before you buy a cup of coffee and find a chair. Read the rest of this entry »
Hacker Dojo, a new coworking venture located in Mountain View, Calif., opened for business yesterday. Its location is good news for web workers from the Bay Area looking for a co-working space who aren’t based in San Francisco. Inspired by the monthly DevHouse “hackathon” events, the space is intended to be a venue for hackers, tinkerers and creative people — despite the name, you don’t need to be a programmer to become a member. Hacker Dojo is primarily intended to be a creative community space (a place to hold events, workshops, BarCamps, etc.), with coworking as an additional feature.
While some co-working ventures have found times quite tough recently (CubeSpace in Portland, Ore., being forced to close, for example), Hacker Dojo already has a long membership list. Membership fees are just $100 per month, so that list should grow rapidly.
If you’ve found a great co-working spot recently, let us know in the comments.
Recently, I’ve been talking to many local journalists about the unfolding implosion of the newspaper industry and its implications for their profession.
As the industry struggles to adapt to a world which is moving onto the web, journalists are not only learning to blend social media with traditional reporting, but as UK-based multimedia journalist Adam Westbrook explains, some are also exploring how distributed work teams could replace the newsroom.
Westbrook’s piece introduces the philosophy of Noded working: principles for forming distributed teams for particular projects. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week I woke up to find that my partner had rearranged my home office. She spent the better part of the morning turning it into our home office.
I shouldn’t have been surprised — I’d told her earlier in the week that we might become more productive if we work near each other. At that time it was merely a suggestion. I didn’t think that one day I would just wake up and find it a reality. Read the rest of this entry »
Portland, Ore., has had more than its fair share of trouble from the current recession — it’s seen the biggest drop in employment of any metro area in the country, with jobless rates clocking in at a dismal 12.2 percent in June. But despite the gloomy picture, there are some sunny spots — notably the city’s coworking spaces.
While it remains to be seen whether coworking spaces can be profitable, the founders I spoke with in Portland say they’re up to the challenge. Many learned a valuable lesson from Portland’s first coworking space, Cubespace, which closed its doors last month. The company reportedly made several business missteps, including its monthly lease, said to have been an eye-popping 15-year, personally guaranteed agreement. Its successors, meanwhile, say that by balancing real estate costs, unearthing additional revenue streams, and feeding specific communities’ needs, their coworking spaces will be around for many years to come. Here’s a look at three of them: Read the rest of this entry »
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
