Hi everyone! After many discussions about what coworking entails (including things like non-profit vs for-profit), I've been feeling a bit like there's some confusion about what exactly coworking is.
I'd like to propose that coworking is not a noun but a verb. So, coworking is not a space, a community, a set of values, a business model, or any combination of those things. It's an activity like swimming is an activity. If we look at the definition of coworking on the Coworking Wiki, we read that “coworking is a cafe-like community/collaboration space for developers, writers and independents.” This defines coworking as a noun and as a type of community space. Wikipedia does a bit better at defining coworking in my mind, but still places a lot of emphases on “the space.” From my experience with Jelly, coworking is something you are doing. For example, I’d use it in a sentence like this: “Today I am coworking at Jelly.” Or, “I might go to Citizen Space to cowork.” From this usage I’d like to propose the following definition. - Coworking is two or more individuals working independently or collaboratively who are socially interacting while they work. As a verb you can cowork with people, you can be coworking, or you may have coworked. You may even go to a designated coworking space. Also note, that this definition does not mention anything about a space or even proximity. This leaves the possibility to cowork remotely. Second Life and Yahoo! Live come to mind. When we talk about creating a “coworking space,” “coworking community,” or having a specific set of values, we’re really talking about how to create an environment or community that will encourage the activity of coworking. Arguments over values, profits, business models, and furniture can neither undermine nor enhance the definition of coworking. Build a pool and I may go swimming. Is it a free pool? Do I have to pay to swim? Is the water clean? Are kids allowed in the pool? Is there a swim team that meets at this pool? Is the pool’s owner honest? All of these thing may affect my decision to swim in the pool, but are ultimately a matter of taste. In this vein, the coworking movement is a movement of coworking enthusiasts. We participate in, promote, and discuss the activity of coworking. In summary, I'm proposing that coworking is NOT a cafe-like community/ collaboration space. That’s like saying swimming is a pool. And arguments such as for-profit versus non-profit need not become heated. Coworking is coworking regardless of where it’s at, what values people share, or how big the community is. If you’re working and socializing, you’re coworking. What do you think? PS. I originally wrote this on my blog: http://dustyreagan.com/redefining-coworking/ but I wanted to bring the discussion here. Dusty --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
