Coworking News : GoneCoworking

Category : Coworking News

Testers Wanted For New Coworking iPhone App!

Filed Under : Coworking News by gonecoworking

Mar.16,2012

If you live in the San Francisco area, you and your iPhone are needed…STAT!

Ok, it’s not all that urgent, but it could be a cool opportunity. Some background:

http://www.coffeeandpower.com is an online marketplace that allows mobile or freelance professionals (but it’s not limited) to buy and sell small jobs from one another. (It’s like Fiverr, but with a slightly higher budget and better quality). Lots of people make a decent income finding work on C&P. So the site’s creators decided they’d help out by making it easier for those mobile professionals to find each other and work together in person.

Coffee & Power has a newly minted iPhone coworking app which enables professionals who routinely cowork to rapidly find one another and work together. (You may have previewed this at GCUC where C&P co-founder Fred was demoing it.) It’s available on the iPhone store now at http://bit.ly/candpapp.

And here’s the part where you come in:

“We are looking for 10 to 20 people from the San Francisco tech community to help us roll out the next version of Coffee & Power. We’re developing an iPhone app which enables C&P tech professionals who routinely work in public locations like coffee shops and coworking facilities to rapidly find one another and work together.

“We need help testing and using the early versions of the app as well as greeting and helping newly arriving members as we scale up, and will potentially pay a small weekly stipend if you match these requirements:

You are in tech (design, development, marketing, management)
You cowork at a public location in SF (coffee shop, open co-working facility, etc) 3+ days/week
You have an iPhone (with iOS version 5 or greater)
You are friendly and approachable

“If you meet these requirements and could spare a little time every day to help us, email us at ambassadors -at- coffeeandpower.com with: your favorite places in SF to cowork, a link to your bio/resume/FB, and a quick description of the kind of things you do while coworking.”

Voila! Now go forth, and collaborate!

Image via Flickr/scobleizer

Tags : app, coffee & power, collaboration, coworking, iPhone, San Francisco

LEXC Reveals Criteria For “Excellence” In A Coworking Space

Filed Under : Coworking News,Coworking Spaces by gonecoworking

Jan.31,2012

Last week, I wrote a quick report about a new coworking space network for Shareable.net. The network, with the slightly cheesy name of “The League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces,” or LEXC for short, was designed to provide a seamless coworking experience for mobile professionals on the go in the United States.

Here’s a little excerpt of the Shareable article:

.”..Traveling, a common requirement for remote and freelance professionals, presents a unique problem for coworking regulars. Not only can it be arduous to locate a coworking space in a new city, but drop-in fees can be an unwelcome expense.

For years coworkers have longed for a streamlined way to access coworking spaces around the world without worrying about membership cards and extra costs. And now it seems that something has arrived.

LEXC is a unique network of coworking spaces with a common standard of excellence. LEXC venues have come together to provide, for the first time, a seamless coworking experience in cities around the US. At long last, members of any LEXC venue now enjoy trusted access and full privileges at any other venue in the network. If you’re a member of one LEXC venue, you’re now a member of all LEXC venues.”

As I shared the piece with my coworking colleagues via social media, I was slightly surprised to see a less than enthusiastic response to this news.

“Oh, I didn’t realize that there were 6 spaces better than the rest,” stated one friend.

“Feels exclusive to me. Concerned about one group determining what spaces are ‘qualified,’” tweeted another.

While I tend to automatically embrace anything that makes it easier for individuals to access the global coworking community, I realized that these cynics had a point: no where on the LEXC.org site did it state what made a coworking space “excellent” or how they had decided which six spaces to include at launch.

Coming from a global community that embraces coworking in many different shapes and sizes, and that in general rejects hierarchy or exclusivity, these were valid concerns. In the interest of clarification, I decided to ask LEXC to provide some insight into the criteria by which they’ll be judging applicants, and what they’re doing to ensure that LEXC is truly about enhanced access for traveling coworkers and not just about a “club” for coworking spaces that have the best funding/amenities.

According to Bill Jacobson of WorkBar in Boston, a few of the things that define LEXC locations include:

all are in the prime business of running a coworking space — this isn’t a side project of another main tenant of the space.
all provide a mix of hotdesk and dedicated workspaces.
all are professionally managed by full-time, dedicated personnel.
all thrive on being a diverse community of professionals interested in joining a coworking space to hone and share their skills as much as a place to grow their business.
all are committed to providing a combination of workspace, events and education to support members and the surrounding community.

“Hopefully that explains what we mean when we say ‘excellent,’” said Jacobson. “By it, we express that a venue is a truly excellent example of a coworking space. Any qualitative criteria are ultimately subjective, but it’s quite reasonable to say that not all coworking spaces fit these criteria. It’s also reasonable to say that these criteria can make any coworking space better. These are finally, characteristics that we want LEXC members to uniformly expect no matter where they choose to work.”

So it would seem that LEXC’s position is not so much about exclusivity or hierarchy but rather, about offering the user community a dependable experience from the user’s point of view. It’s user-centric versus provider-centric. That’s an important distinction, with emphasis on trust and dependability for the coworkers themselves.

“LEXC is not as much about hierarchy as it is about aspirations and standards,” added Jerome Chang of BLANKSPACES. “Our aim is simply to provide a great experience. With a fast-growing and increasingly mobile user community and so many different coworking spaces out there, the founding spaces felt we all believed in achieving the same ideals in similar ways. We offer the coworking community a dependable and rewarding experience wherever they find us. This includes everything from ease in locating and booking workspace, to maintaining a clean, friendly, professional environment with commercial grade furnishings and furnishings and infrastructure. We look forward to having others join us who share the same collection of ideals, from service and culture to operations and environment.”

In light of these clarifications, I’d like to re-pose my original question: What do you guys think about LEXC? Does it make coworking spaces more accessible or exclusive? Share your thoughts in a comment or message me on Twitter.

Special thanks to Josh Jones-Dilworth for helping to gather these responses.

Tags : access, community, exclusivity, inclusion, LEXC, Network

Freelancer Must-Read: Shareable’s Crowdfunding Nation eBook

Filed Under : Coworking News,Freelancer Survival Guide by gonecoworking

Dec.7,2011

Crowdfunding Nation, Shareable’s week-long series about the rise, evolution, uses, and future of crowdfunding, is now available as a Kindle eBook. Crowdfunding Nation: The Rise and Evolution of Collaborative Funding provides an in-depth look at this transformative tool and its many implications for creators, makers, entrepreneurs, and social movements.

Crowdfunding Nation: The Rise and Evolution of Collaborative Funding includes articles on crowdfunding’s history, future, and its usefulness for social movements, how-to guides exploring the best practices for launching a campaign, the legal considerations of crowdfunding and, case studies of innovative and inspiring crowdfunding projects, and an interview with Kickstarter’s Daniella Jaeger.

Included in the Crowdfunding Nation: The Rise and Evolution of Collaborative Funding eBook:

Crowdfunding: Its Evolution and Its Future

• Crowdfunding Nation: The Rise and Evolution of Collaborative Funding
• Crowdfunding Social Change
• Of The Crowd: An Interview With Daniella Jaeger of Kickstarter

Crowdfunding How-To Guides

• What You’ll Need to Run a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
• How To Run a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
• Crowdfunding and the Law

Perspectives on Crowdfunding

• Why Crowdfunding Isn’t Really About Money
• The Enabling City: Crowdfunding Urban Livability
• Loudsauce Crowdfunds Advertising That Matters
• The Motorhome Diaries: The Dance of Crowdfunding
• The Top Shareable Crowdfunded Projects

Buy Crowdfunding Nation: The Rise and Evolution of Collaborative Funding for $2.99 in the Kindle store.

Buy the no-DRM ePub: (ePub version can be used on the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android eBook reader apps, Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, and most other non-Kindle eBook readers.)

Tags : crowdfunding, ebook, finance, freelance tools, Shareable, shareable economy

Why Coworking And The Mobile Workforce Can Save The World

Filed Under : Community,Coworking News by gonecoworking

Sep.15,2011

Most people think freelancing is radical (not radical cool, but radical weird).

Many people can’t even imagine what it would be like to work someplace other than a corporate office with 3 – 5 “managers” watching you like a hawk.

Even some freelancers find it hard to believe they can earn a living wage without working 60 hours a week.

In the Ignite Fort Collins video below, my friend and fellow independent professional Nick Armstrong talks about why it’s bullshit to think this way.

To Nick’s fabulous points I would add that it is the responsibility of the very special mobile workers who make up the global coworking community to share this wisdom with the world.

Deskmag recently published an article about results of the 2011 Freelance Industry Report which found that while around one-third of the U.S. workforce is unemployed (those are 2005 stats btw), only about three percent use coworking spaces or shared offices.

Not surprisingly, the report also found that most freelancers list managing time, staying productive, and maintaining motivation throughout the work week as their biggest challenges.

Remember, you don’t have to become a 24/7 coworking evangelist to help share its solutions with your peers. Don’t inundate your fellow freelancers with articles and tweets. Instead, just let them see how happy you are. Talk about how coworking makes your more productive/connected/profitable. Talk about life before coworking, and the different path down which your business would have traveled if you didn’t find it.

Talk about benefits of coworking that have nothing to do with business or money: like how it gave you back your soul and got you showering again.

The coworking movement is growing rapidly, but there are still millions of professionals trapped in the belief that the 8-hour work day is the only way to work.

Let’s be a good community by setting the record straight. Together, we can save the world from 40 hours in a cube.

Tags : 40-hour work week, 8-hour work day, coworking, coworking movement, freelance, mobile workforce

International Coworking Day 2011 – Celebrate Location-Independent Work

Filed Under : Community,Coworking News by gonecoworking

Aug.8,2011

Tomorrow, August 9th, is International Coworking Day 2011!

Because it’s an unofficial holiday and because coworkers like to party, the way that you celebrate is open to interpretation. We’d love to hear about how you and your space will be spreading the word about collaboration, community and coworking on this day!

Send pictures, links, podcasts and other delightful info about your celebration to gonecoworking @ gmail.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming Shareable article!

(Note: the article will only happen if I get enough submissions. And so far I’ve only got three. So get clicking!)

Tags : celebration, collaboration, community, coworking day, party

New Book Helps Freelancers Escape The Coffee Shop Office

Filed Under : Community,Coworking News,You gotta see this! by gonecoworking

Apr.6,2011

If you’ve ever tried to explain coworking to a skeptical audience, and wished for a resource that would convey all the benefits along with reasons to give it a try, this book is for you!

Fast on the heels of the first-ever ebook for coworking space catalysts comes another riveting read…made for coworkers by coworkers!

Coworking: How Freelancers Escape the Coffee Shop Office (and Tales of Community from Independents Around the World) is designed to help the mobile workforce and small business owners escape the coffee shop or home office, and embrace the coworking movement.

“Anyone can locate a desk and a free internet connection, but coworking provides more,” said Angel Kwiatkowski, the book’s co-author and Madame of Cohere. “It allows independent professionals to participate in a global community that is part support system, part educational network, and part creative think tank.”

This is the book I wish someone would have handed me when I first started freelancing! It walks you through an explanation of coworking, and why it’s different from everything you’ve tried before. It acknowledges that freelancers crave community but often shy away from typical networking events and meetups.

Coworking: How Freelancers Escape the Coffee Shop Office includes vital tips for finding and participating in a coworking community as well as over 30 stories from independent professionals all over the world that are embracing this new style of work.

Today’s mobile workforce is savvy, but their options for workspace and community are limited. Coworking recognizes that freelancers can accomplish more through collaboration, and gives them the solid platform they need to grow and succeed.

Check out a preview of the book here, or download your own copy today!

2011 Coworking UnConference = 12 Hours Of Awesome

Filed Under : Community,Coworking News,Grab Bag,Photo Ops by gonecoworking

Mar.11,2011

Color me exhausted…but in the best possible way! Yesterday was the first annual Coworking UnConference in Austin, Texas, and it was one of the most inspiring/fun/educational events I’ve ever attended.

The UnConference brought together coworking space owners, wanna-be catalysts, coworking space members, and people who are simply passionate about collaboration from all over the WORLD!

Angel (@CohereLLC) from Colorado, Carsten (@deskmag) from Germany, and a delicious cupcake.

Aside from two opening talks by Tony Bacigalupo of New Work City, Don Ball of CoCO, and Iris Kavanaugh of NextSpace and a closing panel on the “Future of Coworking” featuring representatives from inside and outside the coworking industry, the entire UnConference was powered entirely by the attendees.

Twelve different breakout sessions were crowd-sourced by the group, and then we all split up to discuss the topics that interested us the most! I chose to attend “Coworking: Not Just For Nerds Anymore,” “Coworking and Regional Food Trading Systems,” and “Coworking and Collaborative Consumption.”

These group discussions were illuminating and demonstrated the myriad of ways that coworking can overlap and complement other independent solutions to problems in our personal and professional lives, as well as the larger society.

Rooftop Festivities @ The Hangar Lounge

After the closing panel, it was time to party! The conference organizers arranged a DEE-LICIOUS dinner of authentic Texas BBQ on the rooftop of the Hangar Lounge, where we had a bird’s eye view of the city.

By the end of the day, my face hurt from so much smiling and laughing, and my brain hurt from being surrounded by so much brilliance. Can’t wait for next year…you coming?

Tags : catalysts, coworking unconference, events, global coworking community, SXSWi

Are You Ready To Represent Coworking At 2011 SXSW Interactive?

Filed Under : Community,Coworking News,You gotta see this! by gonecoworking

Mar.8,2011

Every year around this time, tens of thousands of people descend upon Austin, Texas for the legendary SXSW festival. While many know that SXSW is where some of the best musicians and bands in the world get discovered, fewer know about the Interactive portion–five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders.

There’s also an incredible new SXSW Trade Show and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer.

And this year, the coworking movement is taking its rightful place among the brightest innovators and community builders on the scene!

The first Coworking Unconference in the United States, on the eve of South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, TX. Taking place on Thursday, March 10th from 3pm to 11pm at the Hangar Lounge. The Unconference is an opportunity for coworking space owners, creative professionals, entrepreneurs, developers, researchers, marketers, educators, and more to meet and discuss the role and future of work. There are still some spots left for this first-ever event, and we’d love to see you!

After the Unconference, stick around to meet-and-greet the coworkers and space owners of Austin’s many coworking spaces, or make plans to attend one of the many panel discussions that are relevant to the global coworking community, like:

Collaboration Over Competition
Collaboration Nation: How Side Projects Keep You Relevant
Community Engagement Strategies: Rational Debate or Herding Cats?
Why Access to Goods and Services Trumps Ownership, by Lisa Gansky of The Mesh

See You In Austin!!

GoneCoworking

Exploring the global coworking movement!

Category : Coworking News

Testers Wanted For New Coworking iPhone App!

LEXC Reveals Criteria For “Excellence” In A Coworking Space

Freelancer Must-Read: Shareable’s Crowdfunding Nation eBook

Why Coworking And The Mobile Workforce Can Save The World

Most people think freelancing is radical (not radical cool, but radical weird).

International Coworking Day 2011 – Celebrate Location-Independent Work

Tomorrow, August 9th, is International Coworking Day 2011!

New Book Helps Freelancers Escape The Coffee Shop Office

If you’ve ever tried to explain coworking to a skeptical audience, and wished for a resource that would convey all the benefits along with reasons to give it a try, this book is for you!

2011 Coworking UnConference = 12 Hours Of Awesome

Are You Ready To Represent Coworking At 2011 SXSW Interactive?

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