The biggest take away I've gathered from this discussion is that I'm opposed to any kind of limiting or confining definition at a global level. I've encountered spaces that claim to be coworking that I don't share their values, and I've seen spaces that embody everything I believe in, but either don't consider themselves coworking, or in the case of Think Space in Redmond, they use the term Executive Suite to blend in better with the east side mentality. Rather then focus on false positives and false negatives, I instead choose to relax my need to have a "unifying" definition. This is reenforced by looking at everything that has happened and how we've been able to attract like minded people into our space simply by living our values every day. I don't need words to tell me what that "magic" is and I'd prefer to not muddy the definition by throwing words at it.
So this badge/license idea... Part of me doesn't like it. That's the part that wrote the above paragraph. But then I ask if there is a way to structure something on a global level that doesn't impose a definition on those opting in and doesn't exclude people who want to participate. It's a slippery slope and one I'm reluctant to head down, especially with the recent exchanges that have slashed my confidence that a global consensus can be reached. But I'll entertain the idea further... Perhaps it could be as simple as if you make a public statement like Citizen Space and Station C have made, you get a badge or something. - http://citizenspace.us/about/our-philosophy/ - http://station-c.com/en/community-manifesto I'd also like to decouple the money raising conversation from this badge/license conversation as while I'm OK with the idea of a way to declare our shared values, I don't want coworking.com to be a money making or money collecting entity. Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 7:28 AM, Tara Hunt <[email protected]> wrote: > Badges! We don't need no stinking... > > Actually I love this idea! > > typed choppily on my Nexus One.... > > On Mar 1, 2010 8:19 AM, "Tony Bacigalupo" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I'm intrigued by the idea that someone can opt-in to the core values of > coworking, in a way that if they didn't embody those core values it wouldn't > make sense for them to use the license. > > So, for instance, say we had a Coworking Badge that anyone could download > and use, and right on that image it says something like "We subscribe to the > core values of Community, Openness, Collaboration, Accessibility, > Sustainability," and it links back to coworking.com. > > That way, it would be difficult for someone to co-opt the term without > misrepresenting themselves. If an exec suite wants to do coworking and would > like to offer something that legitimately embodies those above values, then > wonderful. > > Self-enforcement. > > > > > > On Mar 1, 2010 2:46 AM, "Mike Schinkel" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > Hi Alex, > > > >> I like essence of the idea, but I can't see directly how to apply it. > >> > >> When I l... > > > -Mike > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mar 1, 2010, at 1:40 AM, Alex Hillman wrote: > > > >> As you are envisioning it, what exactly would... > > > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" gro... > To ... > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > T... > > -- > 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.
