I'm not the owner of The Network Hub (http://www.thenetworkhub.ca, in Vancouver, Canada) but I have coworking there for more than a year, so I can tell you that we do have private offices and open floorplan and the collaborative process ignites pretty much the same. We do organize events and gatherings with the whole community to build that sense of collaboration.
I think you can break down the isolation of private spaces if the right tenants are there (e.g. if there are people who will knock on others' doors and say "hey, coffee?") - that, in my mind, is a lot of the success of coworking. Not only the physical conditions but also the social environment (and the personal traits of individuals themselves). Just my two cents, Raul -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Raul Pacheco-Vega, PhD. Chief Content Creator, Hummingbird604.com Founder, Pacheco-Vega Consulting and Research Studio My research site can be found here http://www.raulpacheco.org My personal blog is http://hummingbird604.com My office is located at The Network Hub 3rd Floor, 422 Richards Street Vancouver, B.C. V6B 2Z4 Find me online on Twitter & Facebook http://www.twitter.com/hummingbird604 http://www.twitter.com/raulpacheco (http://www.facebook.com/drpachecovega) 2009/12/14 Alex Hillman <[email protected]> > I've also noticed that spaces with both private offices AND open floorplan > coworking space tend to struggle to fill the coworking space...while people > clamor for private offices. > > People are wired to think that they NEED a private office, when in many > cases, they do not. And if they do, that's great...but that's not what > coworking is meant to solve. Offering private offices, in my opinion, can be > a distraction from the coworking interactions you're striving to create. > > I think about it this way: when somebody walks in and sees something that > looks like an office, they're going to behave like it's an office. They're > going to keep to themselves, do their work, and go home at 5pm. > > If you set things up to intentionally disrupt the mindset of "this is an > office", people find themselves more comfortable AND more productive. > > -Alex > > -- > ----- > -- > ----- > Alex Hillman > im always developing something > digital: [email protected] > helpful: www.unstick.me > visual: www.dangerouslyawesome.com > local: www.indyhall.org > > > > On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Mike Pihlman > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Follow-up: >> >> We give each member a cool personalized coffee mug. If a member wants a >> particular desk (or space) the next morning they can leave their mug >> there the night before...seems to work nicely. (FYI...I am coworking >> too...so I need to reserve a spot, my cubby holds pictures of my >> daughter, my chargers, etc. I just move in each day in a new spot. :-) >> >> Also...I have had LOTS of requests to rent an office (we have three with >> doors). Thus far I have resisted, feeling that that takes away from the >> "coworking" experience as I envision it...we are a small space (for now) >> so losing a room will have a major impact. >> >> Mike >> >> >> >> Mike Pihlman wrote: >> > By far...the open space on the "Patio". We have anywhere from 9 to 11 >> seats there. The rest of the space is open (we have three doors that can be >> closed for privacy) but a bit removed. There are about 20 seats in the >> other areas. >> > >> > Mike >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > ----- Original Message ---- >> > From: Sarah Neal (OurSpace) <[email protected]> >> > To: Coworking <[email protected]> >> > Sent: Sat, December 12, 2009 1:14:56 PM >> > Subject: [Coworking] Open spaces or private desks? >> > >> > I've been reading many of the blogs and was wondering which gets >> > utilized more, >> > >> > 1. the open space (tables for everyone to share) >> > 2. Private desks >> > 3. Private offices >> > >> > and which you wish you had more of. Just thought I would throw the >> > question out there. >> > >> > >> > -- >> > >> > 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]<coworking%[email protected]> >> . >> > For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> > >> > -- >> > >> > 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]<coworking%[email protected]> >> . >> > For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> >> -- >> Mike Pihlman >> TracyVirtualOffice >> "A Coworking Community" >> 95 W. 11th Street, Suite 203 >> Tracy, CA 95376 >> Mobile: 209-608-4340 >> Web: TracyVirtualOffice.com >> Twitter: @TracyVirtOffice >> Skype: tracyvirtualoffice1 >> >> >> -- >> >> 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]<coworking%[email protected]> >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> >> >> > -- > 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]<coworking%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > -- 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.
