I agree with Randy's point of the idealogical foundations being our primary competitive advantage, assuming we are actually competing.
The other alternative is to rethink your approach to competition, and put your focus on "filling in the gap" that will always let you do whatever "they" aren't thinking of, or even able to do. I've been thinking a lot about Perestroika, the theme of an upcoming conference <http://supernovahub.com/about/> taking place here in Philadelphia next week. From their about page: “Perestroika,” a term from the last days of the Soviet Union, literally > means “building around.” New institutions and business models do not appear > in isolation; they develop between, and sometimes even within, the mature > structures they supplant. Perestroika is also a warning. Some old models > cannot, or should not, be restructured: they must be replaced, often at > great human and financial cost. I understand that this stings right now, and probably moreso to be ignored by the bank folks than anything else. Once some of the red leaves your eyes, try to see this as an asset. Competition always challenges us to improve our focus, our story, and our businesses. We're the experts in "building around", not them. Let's show those suits what we're made of ;) -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Randy Zauhar <[email protected]> wrote: > I may have made this remark before, but I will say it again - co- > working needs an ideological foundation which explicitly rejects the > kind of "corporatization" you are describing. > > Co-working is the one path I can see to countering the domination of > corporations and their modes of thinking and exploitation. That is one > reason I am so enthusiastic about it. > > Johnny Goldstein points to this book (http://www.lulu.com/product/ > paperback/im-outta-here/4536555) as a "manifesto", and it looks > interesting, Having not read it (and Johnny chime in if I am off-base) > it does not sound like a political manifesto, but a personal manifesto > that rejects the values of the cubicle world. My sense is that > creative and technical types tend to turn their back on the world of > politics and power, because they really just want to be left alone to > do their work. What we don't want to face is that the ONLY way to > survive as individuals is to band together as a group, and to develop > avenues of political power. > > Randy > > > On Jul 23, 11:12 am, John Sechrest <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I also found the comments from Bill about interest from the Chamber of > > > Commerce. I had wondered about reaching out to the Chamber, at least > for > > > promotional purposes, but possibly more. I suspect the Ann Arbor > Chamber is > > > a lot more progressive than my local chapter in Anchorage! > > > > You might be surprised what your Chamber of Commerce is willing and able > to > > do. There are many that are working on new ways to help people move > forward > > with new entrepreneurial businesses. > > > > If you need any help with the conversation, feel free to have your > chamber > > folks give me a call. > > > > -- > > John Sechrest . > > Corvallis Benton . > > Chamber Coalition . > > 420 NW 2nd . > > (541) 757-1507 . [email protected] > > . > > > > . > > -- > 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.
