Alex- Dead on. To steal a variation on a Bill Clinton <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_the_economy,_stupid> one liner... "It's the community, stupid."
Thanks & God Bless, Joel Bennett Chief Dreamchaser Veel Hoeden 641-780-7858 veelhoeden.posterous.com Join Us on <https://www.facebook.com/veelhoeden> Facebook! <http://ink1003.com/p/tp/3ee1a6d9cb9fb511/url> Follow us on Twitter From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alex Hillman Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2012 3:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Coworking] When coworking isn't really coworking I missed you guys, so I'm back for a 3rd post. ;) Angel's point about people looking for coworking and being disappointed when they find desks but no community is a real one. This doesn't hurt those of us doing a good job, but it will hurt anyone who, as Joel once aptly put, "are selling an empty room full of tables and chairs as a creative, collaborative place to work". It also reinforces points I've made in the past, and spoken to the crew at LooseCubes, DeskWanted, and others - if you're building a "coworking finder" that doesn't put the emphasis on the people instead of the desks, you're not helping coworking and you might be hurting it. http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2011/09/finding-coworking/ Seriously, back to work now. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 4:20 PM, Alex Hillman <[email protected]> wrote: I just noticed something that I didn't notice before I replied: he specifically asks for a better option. "If you know of a good shared space that encourages community, please let me know." /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 4:13 PM, Alex Hillman <[email protected]> wrote: I find this more encouraging than not, actually: 1) he knows what he's looking for. 2) he recognized they didn't have it, and moved on. 3) he shared his experience I don't think this is an isolated incident, and it won't be the last. The fact that people recognize the difference is the best thing we could ask for. I'd say that most people I speak to who don't see the difference have never experienced either, or both. Once they experience one, or the other - they see the difference. So our job is to make sure they get to have at least one experience, right? If we're lucky, their first experience is us, and it's good. But if not - I don't think all is lost, at least not most of the time. I think your intuition to reach out as someone who works at another coworking space and say "hey, it's good that you knew what you were looking for - don't give up on that!" is perfect. Do it. To your worst nightmare: I know that there are people who absolutely hate Indy Hall, and not just because I tend to speak my mind. It's just not a place for them - and that's okay, because there are close to 200 people who love the shit out of this place, and a waiting list out the door of more who want to love the shit out of this place. If you're pleasing everyone, you're pleasing no-one. The CoworkingSeattle stance of "coworking represents a choice" means that some people will choose "not". It's still a choice, and we gave them a chance to make that choice. That's worth it to me. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 4:04 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski <[email protected]> wrote: This came across my google alerts yesterday and I found it fascinating http://www.builtinchicago.org/profiles/blogs/when-coworking-fails-and-the-si de-effects-on-the-community?xg_source=activity. It's basically one person's story of wanting to be a part of a community, finding a "coworking" space and then realizing that there was no community at all. :( We've had a lot of discussion around executive centers branding themselves as coworking spots and there are plenty of emotions around the topic. What sticks out for me in this article is the feeling of helplessness I had after reading it. How can we encourage the author to continue to try to find the perfect fit community/coworking space for his needs? It breaks my heart that he had a bad experience with the word "coworking." Additionally, my worst nightmare situation is having a member who felt this way about Cohere's version of coworking. Angel -- 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] <mailto: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. -- 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.
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