I think we should expect that the meaning of "coworking" is going to morph and evolve at an accelerating rate. We've already witnessed the Office Business Center industry adopting the term (the OBCAI trade association has reported that over 50% of its members companies... over 800 sites worldwide... have launched cowork initiatives in the last year), and numerous private companies and large corporations have deployed "coworking" spaces for public and private use. While on one hand this might be viewed as a corruption of the original concept of people-first, community-driven, collaborative spaces, the opportunity is to see this as an incredibly exciting indication that major and enduring changes are underway. The entire landscape of how and where work happens is in flux. New cowork "users" of all flavors are going to be emerging in massive numbers. "Coworking" now represents a myriad of strains and derivatives and we can't put that genie back in the bottle - we can't put that genie back in the bottle nor should we try.
To Angel's and Tony's comments about the future and importance of community management, I wholeheartedly believe that cowork community management expertise in its original/pure form will be emerge as a highly marketable skill. Lets keep our eyes open for more great places to deploy it. *Mark Gilbreath <http://goog_936366688>*[image: cid:[email protected]]<http://www.linkedin.com/in/markgilbreath> * * *LiquidSpace *CEO/Founder/deckhand mobile 208.720.8107 email [email protected] skype mfgilbreath twitter markgilbreath *LiquidSpace(TM) - find a great space to work, now.* **We're a location-based mobile application that lets you use your phone to find a great space to meet and work, book it, check in securely, and share it with your colleagues. Visit www.liquidspace.com<http://www.liquidspaceapp.com/> to learn more! On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 5:45 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski <[email protected]>wrote: > We've talked on this group and maybe offline too about our worries > with companies adding coworking like Lee Press-On Nails to their > existing spaces. Like these fake fingernails, they're pretty for about > 5 days and then fall off. Well, a beloved company in a near-by town is > adding a free coworking space for developers. I can already tell that > the fans of coworking in Boulder, CO are cheering about this news. It > looks like the company is taking it in a great direction and based on > how many people are emailing me about it, I believe it! > > This recent news got me thinking about a future of coworking where the > spaces become privatized in companies but they hire the coworking > community managers (like me) to do the community stuff from the > inside. Maybe any nominal fees that are charged merely cover the > community manager's salary. I'd be open to an arrangement like this if > the company was well-run and respected and gave the coworking > community autonomy! > > Here's the announcement: > Subject: Introducing Codespace – shared (free!) office space in > Boulder for geeking out > Date: July 5, 2011 1:30:57 PM MDT > > One of the many things that makes Boulder a great city for start-ups > is its incredibly collaborative environment (see posts on my love of > Boulder here andhere). From the willingness of mentors to help out > TechStars companies, to collaborative efforts around recruiting great > talent to our city, I’m constantly amazed at how many people are > working to make Boulder an amazing place for businesses to thrive. > > Today there’s another new initiative launching to help young tech > companies in our community – Trada is opening CodeSpace, a free co- > working space dedicated to startup developers and software engineers. > CodeSpace will be located in Trada’s downtown Boulder offices and will > have over 2000 sq ft of space dedicated to the effort. > > While there are many places where non-technical entrepreneurs can meet > up in Boulder to discuss their startups, there are few places where > software developers can camp out for the day, week or month and work > together on a project. We wanted to add this environment to the mix of > coffee shops, traditional co-working spaces, and rented offices in > Boulder. And in CodeSpace you don’t even have to buy coffee to camp > out there (in fact the coffee is on Trada!). > > But you do need to apply. There are spots for three dev teams (1-4 > people each) for semi-permanent space as well as come-as-you-are dev > and co-working space (with whiteboards, internet, access to > caffeinated beverages, etc). > > To start, CodeSpace will be open 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday. The > program will run through the summer with the expectation that it will > extend/expand in the fall as we learn what works best. > > To apply for one of the 3 dedicated co-working spaces please visit > trada.com/codespace > > -- > 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. > > -- 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.
