As Tara notes, it's more of an intangible quality of intentional community. In a typical exec suite or office sharing arrangement, you may or may not get to know other people using the site, and you may or may not be encouraged (or even welcome) to bounce ideas off the other tenants. This is the core distinction between a coworking space and an exec suite.
It's a central tenet of our message in our recruiting efforts. Sure, we talk about the conference room, the high-quality network and the high-speed color copier, because these are minimum infrastructure requirements. But out emphasis is on the opportunity to join and grow a network of colleagues, to make strategic and professional relationships with similar creative class workers that can endure for your career. Our pitch to people working at home is to "take back your spare bedroom", and that "you can still wear your pajamas if you want", but that's tongue in cheek. The chief complaint of home-based workers is isolation, not that the garage makes a lousy conference room. We offer a solution to the primary pain; alienation. And while anyone can wear anything they want, we actually reserve "Pajama Fridays" for jammies, and all the staff are in modest sleepwear. We also play old Grateful Dead tapes on Friday afternoons, because most people are ready to make the migration from task mode to social mode. --Ax On Nov 9, 3:53 pm, "Tara Hunt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Good question! And one we have outlined in the past...but rather than a > pro/con, I decided to talk about the unique features of Coworking. I > outlined them here:http://citizenspace.us/about/our-philosophy/ > > Although not all spaces will share all of the philosophical underpinnings > outlined in that post, the focus of most all coworking spaces is on at least > a couple of those philosophies...namely community and collaboration. Whether > you are for profit or not for profit, a coworking space is quite > distinguishable from an executive suite because it puts community at the > center of it. > > But some may disagree. Which is why we tread lightly on defining coworking. > ;) > > Tara > > > > On Sun, Nov 9, 2008 at 3:46 PM, kappaluppa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > The introduction to this group states: > > but there is a distinct difference between a coworking space and > > executive suites or shared desks. > > > What are the distinct differences? What are the pros/cons etc.? Has > > anyone outlined those at all? > > > I have been reading about the different coworking spaces, and > > specifically the one in Denver. It offers the feature of using the > > conference room for those big meetings rather than holding them in > > your parents' garage. But from a lot of the descriptions and benefits > > that I've read the atmosphere is so informal and casual - working in > > pj's at the coworking location, just hanging out, etc., it seems that > > unless your client is totally laid back, rather than a corporate > > executive, then a coworking space may not be appropriate. > > > I like to kick back and work in my pj's just as much as the next guy. > > But I realize that sometimes I need to do business in a world where > > professionalism is governed my corporate norms. > > -- > -- > tara 'missrogue' hunt > > Book: The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your > Business > (http://www.amazon.com/Whuffie-Factor-Capital-Winning-Communities/dp/0... > ) > Company: Citizen Agency (http://www.citizenagency.com) > Blog: HorsePigCow: Marketing Uncommon (http://www.horsepigcow.com) > Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/missrogue > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
