Mark Dowds
Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:17:24 -0800
Tara, my name is Mark Dowds. I connected to the group through David Crow and Chris Messina. I have set up a coworking environment in Toronto called Indoor Playground which is very much of the open source model you mention. We officially opened the doors on February 1st and one month later have about 18 people sharing the space. We are wrestling to discover how we effectively let the community own and run the environment effectively. I am keen to learn more and participate in this aspect of the dialogue.
The people who are now participating as members in the space are either folks venturing with a new start-up or are independents in the web/technology sector. It is our hope that we can blend a community centre for technology people in the city as well as offering a collaborative work environment. Some aspects are working well. The majority of the people did not know each other or had just read each others blogs before signing up. Since then it has been interesting to watch some folks drawing others into their thinking and planning as well as simply going to lunch together. We have a lot to learn and are experimenting a lot with the model at this phase. I hope this explains some more about who I am and what we are up to with www.indoorplayground.com On 3/1/07 1:20 PM, "Tara Hunt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm still trying to figure out if all of this press is a good thing right now > or not. :| > > We are still quite unprepared, although there seems to be tonnes of spaces set > up as businesses around North America who were featured, coworking itself is > still trying to find it's legs. I feel that this big mainstream market push is > too early. I suppose we can see it as a 'let's get cracking' thing, though. > > ABC Global news? Who are you dowdsy? What space are you from? (Sorry...I don't > recognize the email...). Make certain you mention a couple of things that > aren't found on the wiki... > > - Silicon Sentier in Paris (the coworking space there) is due to be launched > in the next month or so in the Montmartre area. It will be three stories, a > cafe on the main floor, offices on the second floor and an event space/meeting > spaces on the third floor. All free or inexpensive...just to cover the costs, > really. It is partially funded by the local Paris government to help out the > tech economy. > > - Toronto is abuzz with coworking spaces as well as throwing a conference, > OpenCities, that will address coworking amongst other things - contact Mark > Kuznicki on this one > > - We are encouraging people who currently have an excess of space to donate > parts of it to coworking. This is a strong model. Even British Telecom in > London, UK is considering opening their cafe in the downtown office to > vagabond workers to come and use during the daytime. It isn't just about > starting your own cafe...it's also about making use of space that is already > there. The advantages of new energy that enters the space and talent > recruitment is obvious. > > - Even NASA is getting into the act and has joined our space (Citizen Space) > because they recognize the power of being part of these collaborative spaces. > They now have a desk here and may take desks in other centers if it goes well. > > Some of the issues everyone is facing: > > - How to balance these collaborative spaces with actual work spaces? How do we > get stuff done as well as encourage interaction? As many startups are coming > into these spaces, it becomes an issue. > > - Intellectual Property has been an issue. Most of these spaces encourage an > open plan, even for meeting spaces...with the idea that discussions should be > public to allow for many minds to get involved and help one another out. This > has been extremely fruitful for everyone involved, but many companies still > have a tough time wrapping their minds around getting rid of NDAs and keeping > a shroud of secrecy. > > - Is this a collective or should their be space leaders? Ideally, these spaces > are run by the community, but thusfar, it has been a problematic model. We are > looking at a hybrid model described in the book by Ori Brafman, The Starfish > and the Spider, which looks to 'catalysts' and 'guides' to lead these spaces, > with the community members being semi-detached, but given the ability to > become 'deputized' within the meritocratic system. Very much an Open Source > development model. > > - Keeping the spaces populated and buzzing daily. When it isn't 'your office', > impetus to go to the coworking spaces is lowered, so the attendance at some > spaces has been sporatic...much like a coffee shop (go when you feel like home > is driving you stir crazy). If there isn't critical mass in a space, it loses > the advantage of the collaborative. Do we encourage more 'office-like' spaces > so people are encouraged to leave their workstations there and, thus, driven > to their office each day? How do we keep from becoming those sterile 'office' > setups? > > Amongst other issues. Each city and each space within each city has a unique > problem, too, as more questions arise within different cultures and contexts. > > Tara > > > On 3/1/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Folks, I got a call today from ABC Global news who are going to cover this on >> the back of the business week article. It is to air online tomorrow. >> >> >> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: nonecknoel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:24:21 >> To:coworking@googlegroups.com >> Subject: [Coworking] Re: press in businessweek.com <http://businessweek.com> >> >> >> i believe that the article is only on the web, but we as time moves on >> BW does plan on covering this subject in more detail. >> >> noel >> >> On 2/28/07, Riccardo Cambiassi < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> > No idea, but I'll try and have a go at Borders to get it tomorrow. >>> > See you tonight at the Market Porter >>> > >>> > On 2/27/07, Simon L < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>> > > >>>> > > Is the article in the print edition, or is it just on the web-site? >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > On Feb 27, 6:49 am, "Chris Messina" < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>>> > > > Awesome! Great coverage! >>>>> > > > >>>>> > > > Chris >>>>> > > > >>>>> > > > On 2/26/07, nonecknoel < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > -- >>> > Riccardo CAMBIASSI >>> > mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>> > http://www.codewitch.org >>> > >>>> > > >>> > >> >> >> >> >> > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---