A little late to the discussion, apparently, but adding my 2 cents. Several interesting discussions going on here and IMHO this actually would do well: - As a live conversation - Broken up by topic
What happens with the domain? That's one discussion and an interesting one. I am confident we can work that out with one of us just putting a written proposal together for all of us who put in our money with some kind of options for opting in later for those who missed the initial join. The executive suite issue - While a big proponent of coworking and this change community, executive suites are working hard to compete with coworking as there are more and more spaces. It is smarter of us to work together than to worry about becoming what we do not want to be. I don't think that will happen. Individual spaces can and will still exist, but they also have the potential to get crushed by the Regus type executive suites who have more money and resources to try to build the model. It's a bit like the Starbucks that created a non-Starbucks cafe recently to give that "personal" touch. With the changing nature of the work force going forward, coworking is a great model to meet a need but also it is one that corporate money will also be looking at. I agree with Susan that we don't need a large international organization, but some kind of grouping can provide some power to build coworking. Whether it is an association or something else, some kind of grouping provides a power to work with the changing work force collectively and honestly, there is value in that. Happy to discuss my more specific thoughts in another thread or offline with those interested. I won't be at SXSW this year to join in the discussion but can't wait to see what comes out of it. All the best, Felicity Cubes&Crayons Outside The Cube On Feb 16, 3:26 pm, Susan Evans <[email protected]> wrote: > Great thoughts all around team. These are some incredibly important > conversations, and I want to thank everyone for bringing their > opinions, their honesty, and their understanding to the table. > > Jacob and I were just talking through some of this stuff yesterday. > After our conversation and reading through more of these threads, I > come away with two immediate thoughts: > > 1. There has never been better timing for these conversations (I say > "conversations" specifically because there are multiple - I would also > agree that the purchase of a domain and the creation of a large > international organization are very, very different conversations) > than to happen right now, just weeks before SXSWi when so many of us > will gather and can have some of these conversations face to face. I > am incredibly excited about the time we can share there, and to see > what comes of those conversations. > > 2. The idea of creating THE coworking organization or THE coworking > annual event brings with it more challenges than I think might be > worth it. Instead, I think that we should focus on smaller, more > locally-focused efforts in terms of being more formally organized, and > keep coworking in the broader sense in the state it appears to be most > successful in - as a collection of ideals we all subscribe to and > organize around. As Tony so eloquently reminded us, the beauty of > coworking lies in our inability to create walls around it. And as > Jacob always loves to remind me, there is no quicker way to blow up > the google group than to have someone ask the question "What is > coworking?" We have about 1,000 definitions for what it is, and in > that diversity lies our biggest strength. Coworking is not a concept > to be hijacked and utilized for evil corporate profit - because it's > not a "thing" that can be spun that way. And as such, I believe that > we might just do ourselves more harm by trying to create some huge > international body where there might just not be need for one. I see > the possibilities for coworking organizations and gathering bodies to > be much more possible on the local level - in your city, your county, > or even your country. We have already begun to meet as "Coworking > Seattle" here in Washington, and are seeing plenty of interest from > individuals who want to work on defining what coworking is here in > Seattle. I'd recommend that those who are interested in creating > larger organizing bodies work first locally. Our work will most > likely create the most amount of meaning on a smaller scale first. > > Sorry for being a bit rambly in my explanation there, but I hope it > makes a bit of sense. I'm very excited to see so many people in March > in Austin, and look forward to more productive conversations > developing here on the list. > > In community, > Susan > __ > Office Nomads > officenomads.com > > On Feb 16, 2:59 pm, Tony Bacigalupo <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Mike, > > > Good points all around; there's much to be gleaned from the open source > > movement and what happened to it. > > > I wasn't aware of the Open Source Initiative. Do you know more about how > > they have helped the world of open source? The phrase still gets co-opted > > and misused left and right, but I suppose to some extent that can't be > > helped. > > > Similar to the notion of "open source," I hold that "coworking" is a concept > > that represents a set of needs and values that nobody can control or own. It > > simply is what it is. The best we can do is represent that concept the best > > we can, so that others may more easily and effectively participate. > > > So regardless of what constructs we create, the concept will always exist > > outside of them. If somebody forms some sort of organization, it should be > > formed with that fact in mind. > > > Tony > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > New Work City - Work with, not for. > > Web: http://nwcny.com > > Twitter:http://twitter.com/nwc > > Email: [email protected] > > Phone: (888) 823-3494 > > > On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 2:36 PM, Mike Schinkel > > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > On Feb 16, 2010, at 2:08 PM, Tony Bacigalupo wrote: > > > > Serious stuff here. Let's take a step back for a second. > > > > I agree with you in principle, but not as black & white. > > > > Do you see the Open Source Initiative as harmful? They did it in part to > > > control the branding of "open source" which is essentially what acquiring > > > a > > > domain is about, branding. This doesn't have to be able running a > > > conference, but it should be about branding, IMO. > > > > When you get people with shared interest in an initiative together it > > > works > > > when the number is small (see "Dunbar's number" as reference) but as the > > > number grows and new people come in without the crystal clear ethos of the > > > original members things turn to chaos without some way to manage it. > > > Sadly > > > it's human nature and wanting it to stay the same won't make it so. > > > Worse, > > > someone who does manage it well will be able to co-op the initiative (i.e. > > > the exec suites industry in this case) if it isn't managed by the existing > > > thought leaders and I'd put you, Alex, Tara and a lot of others online > > > here > > > in that group. > > > > I don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure the answer is not "do > > > nothing." I also think we are all smart and capable people able to come > > > up > > > with an answer that works well if we put our heads together on the matter. > > > Lead us. > > > > -Mike Schinkel > > > Ignition Alley Atlanta Coworking > > >http://ignitionalley.com > > > > -- > > > 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.
