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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.

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Member Wall at Office Nomads

Note: Today’s “nomadic” post comes to us from Ashok Amaran of Cohere!

A benefit of being a digital nomad, freelancer, independent/remote worker, virtual CEO, whatever you want to call it, is that you don’t have to be tied down to a specific location if you feel like getting up and going on vacation somewhere. Lately I’ve been feeling less motivated and needing a change in scenery so I decided to hop on a plane and stay with a cousin in a different city for a week.

It also helped that I had some free flights from last year that I needed to use up before they expired.

Not being too busy this month, I decided to head out to Seattle for a week and then from there down to San Diego and stay with cousins who are working in both cities. It seemed like a great chance for me to shake up my surroundings, hang out with cousins, and not even miss a beat with work. Upon hearing about this, Angel, the owner of my home coworking space, mentioned I should drop by another coworking spot and connected me with the wonderful folks at Office Nomads which is in the heart of downtown Seattle on Capitol Hill. She said I could do so because of the….

The Coworking Visa Program

What?! Sounded to me like a new credit card — but it’s way better. Apparently if you’re a member of a coworking space in one city, you can drop in on select coworking spaces around the country (and the world!) while you’re traveling! As a coworker, I had no idea… although now that I think about it, it’s not something you consider: “how am I going to cowork while on vacation?”, because coworking is typically something you only do with others in your own community. But if you’re traveling, definitely check out the Coworking Visa Program to see if there’s a space that you can escape to for getting some work done and possibly connect with other independent professionals like yourself while in another city.

What to Expect

Sometimes, it can be hard to know what to expect when you’re arriving at a new space, so my approach is: expect the worst, but plan for the best. That way you are less likely to be disappointed. Remember that the coworkers you’ll be seeing are there by choice, not force like a corporate office, so they will be very approachable and likely share similar values as yourself of working independently. Just that simple commonality will help you connect with those you meet while coworking.

My Visit to Office Nomads

Immediately when I entered I was greeted by Charles. He introduced himself as a resident member who was helping out with tours, phones, and greeting drop-ins like myself. He gave a quick tour of the space and all the amenities including the kitchen, tea/coffee machine, restroom, all the desks to work at, the meeting rooms, and even showed the mid-day yoga class that was going on. (By the way, a yoga class in a coworking space is an amazing idea!).

Then Charles introduced me to both Susan and Jacob who run Office Nomads and because Wednesdays are the busiest day at the space, I took one of the only available spots on their desk.

The next few hours were filled with a burst of productivity on one of my projects, trying out a few teas in their vast collection, adding to their ingenious “What do you want to do before you die?” wall in the restroom, nerding out on the door that had at least 100 digits of e written out, admiring the collaborative collage wall that was updated live online, and conversing with a few coworkers about their work.

Overall an amazing day, and to top it off — Susan even graciously connected me to another App developer who was a resident member and I later caught up with him to discuss the App industry in which we’re both involved.

As Angel always says — or if she hasn’t said, she’s written — or if she hasn’t written, she’s thought — or if she hasn’t thought, she will at some point — that “Coworking is about spreading awesomeness”. And that’s exactly the vibe I got during my short visit to Office Nomads — a lot of awesomeness was being spread around.

Check out some more pics from Ashok’s visit to Office Nomads below!

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Colorado Coworking Mini-Tour: Part 2

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Boulder Digital Arts

Well, it’s been a few months, but @CohereLLC, @HeidiTown and I finally teamed up for Part 2 of the Colorado Coworking mini-tour that we started last fall.

Coworking spaces are popping up all over our beloved square state, and I was most impressed with the ones we visited this time around!

Boulder Digital Arts – Boulder, Colorado

Boulder Digital Arts (also pictured above) is a community resource for digital artists and creative professionals working in film/video, web/interactive, photography and graphic design. They recently expanded their offerings to include a bright new coworking space across the hall from their original suite.

I often comment on the fact that sunlight is one of the most important amenties at any coworking space. If you try to sit me under fluorescent lights, I’m gonna get stabby.

This was not a problem at BDA. The entire space is filled with natural light from windows at the front and above. The drop in workspace is a large, well outlet-ed table right up front that allows you to smile and wave at the regulars as they file in.

There are also a fair number of dedicated desks in the large room, as well as private offices around the perimeter. Joining the coworking space gets you sweet discounts on BDA workshops and classes, and being a BDA member gets you similar perks if you want to cowork!

If you’re ever in the area and want to spend the day coworking with the creatives at BDA, just drop Kira, their lovely community manager, an email at: info [ at ] boulderdigitalarts.com.

Network, A Coworking Spot – Longmont, Colorado

The best word to describe Network is cozy. And not in the shady landlord way, more in the “itty bitty but really comfortable” way. The space is designed for just 8 workstations in the large open room and has a small meeting room that sits 6 people in the back. There is a kitchenette in the main work room along with a work table where a print/copy/fax machine is available to use.

Network is owned and operated by Jessica, a stay-at-home-mom, so unlike other spaces you might visit, it’s not always staffed during business hours. Instead, members are given passcodes to the front door, and the community participates in running the space together.

If you’d like to get chummy with some Longmont creatives, just email jessica.hulse [at] gmail.com, or check out their Meetup Group and Facebook page!

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Coworking is changing the way people think about work and it’s time we all got together to talk about it.

The Coworking Unconference is a collaboration of people who are leading the charge in the growing coworking movement and are passionate about the future of work. It’s the first event of its kind in the U.S., but the premise certainly isn’t new.

Register for the 2011 Coworking Unconference HERE!

The goal of the unconference is to engage coworking space owners, creative professionals, entrepreneurs, developers, researchers, marketers, educators, and other thought leaders to collaborate and realize smarter and more sustainable work environments. Therefore, the organizers are leaving it up to you, the coworking community, to determine the program content! Contribute ideas for a panel, keynote, or breakout session here.

If you’re trying to decide whether or not to open a space in your area, you’ll be happy to know that the Unconference will coincide with the launch of the first-ever eBook written specifically for coworking space catalysts (co-authored by yours truly and Angel of Cohere Coworking Community in Colorado!)

On the unconference’s registration page, you’ll see an option to pre-order a copy of Coworking: Building Community as a Space Catalyst, the only ebook designed to answer a catalyst’s most common questions when starting a space. It’s available to unconference attendees for just 14.99 (normally 19.99)!

And yes, you can pre-order the book by itself if you can’t make it to the unconference.

See you in Austin!

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Want to keep coworking while you’re away from home, but don’t have the time to research available spaces? Now, there’s an app for that.

The “Coworking” app- made for coworkers, by coworkers, in a coworking space- is now available in the iTunes store…and it’s FREE!

The app is designed to:
1. Be a mobile database of over 400 coworking spaces worldwide
2. Allow people to find coworking spaces in their city or in cities they visit
3. Help coworking spaces find new members

This app was designed by coworkers at pariSoma Innovation Loft in the San Francisco Bay area. If you download this app, the folks at pariSoma would love to hear your feedback! Send suggestions about how to improve the app or ideas about other potentials for it to coworkingapp [at] gmail.com.

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Colorado Coworking Mini-Tour: Part 1

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Finding a coworking community where you can feel safe, comfortable and supported is a wonderful thing. But every once in a while, we get curious about how people are coworking in other parts of the world, and what their spaces have to offer!

It’s been surprising how many coworking spaces have sprung up in Colorado over the past year, and more are in the works. Angel, the curator of Cohere Coworking Community (my home base) in Fort Collins decided it would be fun to spend a day coworking in some of these spaces as a way to branch out and celebrate the growing movement.

If you’re going to be living or traveling in Colorado in the near future, these spaces are worth a look:

The Vault at the DaVinci Institute – Louisville, Colorado

Built inside a former bank, the Vault is a unique coworking space. Designed to provide a productive workspace for members of the DaVinci Institute, the Vault is home to all sorts of bright and technically-oriented people. Upon entering the Vault, we were immediately shocked by its sheer size. The main area provides different types of workspaces for at least 25 people, and it’s surrounded by private suites, offices, and meeting rooms all the way around. (You can even have a brainstorming session in the old bank vault if you want!)

@HeidiTown, @CaliGater and @GoneCoworking at the Vault!

Because coworking is only one of many programs at the DaVinci Institute, there isn’t always a community host on duty. Make sure they know you’re coming or the building might be locked when you arrive. Also, you’ll have to be comfortable working under the buzzing brightness of fluorescent lighting (it was an old bank, remember?!).

Green Spaces – Denver, Colorado

One of the five core values of coworking is Sustainability, and while this often refers to the community and its economic health, it’s cool to see that many spaces are choosing to interpret it environmentally as well. Green Spaces is a large, renovated warehouse that provides convenient workspace to entrepreneurs specializing in the green industry.

GreenSpace’s vision is “to forward the sustainability movement globally through widespread local hubs that incubate environmental entrepreneurs.” There are other GreenSpaces locations around the country, and all of them strive toward this same ideal. The space in Denver offers composting, recycling, reused furniture and local, environmental artwork in addition to high-speed WiFi and a plethora of workspaces.

The warehouse-y, industrial chic feeling of Denver’s GreenSpace might not be for everyone (especially if you’re looking for professional conference space in which to entertain a client) but it certainly appeals to fledgling businesses that prioritize their environmental impact.

Stay tuned for Colorado Coworking Mini-Tour: Part 2!

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Sunny, light-hearted, open, bright.

These are the adjectives that come to mind when coworking in Omaha’s newest collaborative workspace, CAMP Omaha. Read More…

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