I'm wondering why there is a need to redefine it. It seems to be doing pretty well as it is.
Plus, it has a great deal to do with the vision of a small group of people (including myself) who had a very specific type of space in mind. There have been shared office spaces and coffee shops for a long time. Coworking is very different. That being said, it is BOTH a verb and a noun. The noun describes something rooted in this movement and in a very strong philosophy and is what has driven a great deal of growth where it wasn't before. It IS a starfish organization. But then again, I may be too attached to it. Tara On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 7:15 PM, Dusty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > 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 > > > -- tara 'miss rogue' hunt coFounder Citizen Agency (www.citizenagency.com) blog: www.horsepigcow.com phone: 415-694-1951 fax: 415-727-5335 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
