"Likening another space to a fast food joint is a little less neutral.”
Lots of people love fast food and don’t think of it as derogatory at all. Again - the source matters. -Alex On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 1:38 PM, Jacob Sayles <[email protected]> wrote: > Ah let me clarify. By "neutral" I didn't mean "less specific" I meant > "less hostile" or actually "more open to the difference". Using terms like > "Korean BBQ" is a good example of this as it's not derogatory. Likening > another space to a fast food joint is a little less neutral. > Jacob > --- > Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation > http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 > On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 10:24 AM, Alex Hillman <[email protected] >> wrote: >> "If we can find neutral language to highlight distinctions like this it >> would go a long way to that goal of finding like-minded spaces and filling >> our communities with happy members.” >> >> I don’t think that more *neutral* language is what we need. In fact, I >> think we need the opposite. >> >> The restaurant industry has fine dining and fast food, regional cuisines, >> varying price points, etc. But people need to have terms like “fast food” >> and “korean BBQ” to narrow down what they’re looking for. >> >> I know that this sounds like fragmentation, which freaks a lot of people >> out. I think this is HEALTHY fragmentation, though, like this: >> http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2014/07/theres-never-only-one-community/ >> >> It doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends, or even help each other, but I’m >> firmly convinced that having some more narrow specific terminology to add >> to add to the more neutral term ‘coworking’ is going to help the industry, >> not hurt it. >> >> -Alex >> >> >> On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Jacob Sayles <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Tricky business for sure. One factor I've been looking more and more at >>> is the motivations and intentions of the champions behind each community, >>> or said another way, why the space was started in the first place. There >>> are many conversations that come up again and again that, with hindsight, I >>> can see are just a miss-match of intentions. For example the "Open one >>> space or many spaces" conversation. It's a perfectly reasonable motivation >>> to want to open multiple spaces and have a wide reach and impact. I >>> personally started Office Nomads because I want a home and a community I >>> want to be a member of. Understanding this helps me see why it doesn't >>> make sense for us to make a chain of Office Nomads, and also why it's a >>> waste of everyone's time to argue about this. If we can find neutral >>> language to highlight distinctions like this it would go a long way to that >>> goal of finding like-minded spaces and filling our communities with happy >>> members. >>> >>> Jacob >>> >>> --- >>> Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation >>> http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 >>> >>> On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 9:48 AM, Alex Hillman < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> I’m pretty sure that Emergent Research has a rubric they use for when >>>> they do their research for their annual report, but I can’t remember >>>> exactly what is on it. Having some consistency with that would probably be >>>> helpful! >>>> >>>> I think it had some of the items you described, but it was a lot more >>>> specific with many of the attributes. Hopefully Steve can chime in! >>>> >>>> I used to be more opinionated about self-describing as “coworking” and >>>> the regular mis-use of the term, but I’ve become more and more comfortable >>>> with the idea that the word coworking is as specific as the word >>>> “restaurant”, which doesn’t really describe much on its own. I’d love to >>>> see more maps (including the one you’re putting together) display with more >>>> detail what people can expect. It’s more important that people find a place >>>> that makes them happy and productive than anything else…and reducing that >>>> to “coworking” is like reducing fine dining french restaurants and >>>> mcdonalds to “restaurant”. *Technically* accurate, but not really >>>> helpful. >>>> >>>> Related, this recent post caught my eye (I think Liz posted it from the >>>> GCUC account): >>>> http://www.cloudvirtualoffice.com/blog/a-coworking-safari/ >>>> >>>> I’m especially interested in the things vary widely, really impact the >>>> experience, but are hardest to really quantify: things like “ambiance” and >>>> noise level are such relative descriptions, so the source matters a lot, >>>> too! Who’s doing the describing: the owner? The members? Visitors? In a lot >>>> of cases, their descriptions vary quite a bit. >>>> >>>> To that point, even “non-hostile & friendly” is relative. It’s become a >>>> common theme that I hear from coworkers who visit startup-centric coworking >>>> spaces that the only time people talk to each other is when they’re >>>> pitching their startup. For some people, that’s non-hostile and friends but >>>> for others, it’s their worst nightmare. >>>> >>>> -Alex >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 12:34 PM, Ramon Suarez <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi everyone, >>>>> >>>>> I'm working on a definition of Coworking to make it easier to choose >>>>> who to include in the map of coworking spaces in Belgium >>>>> <http://coworkingbelgium.be/belgium-coworking-spaces-map>. I know it >>>>> can be a controversial subject and I don't want to start a flamewar, but I >>>>> would like to have your feedback on the basic elements to build this >>>>> definition. I think it could also be helpful to make it easier to explain >>>>> to our potential customers and journalists. >>>>> >>>>> In my definition a Coworking space : >>>>> >>>>> - Calls itself a coworking space. >>>>> - Has a fully dedicated espace for cowoking (not just a few hours >>>>> or a cafeteria shared with patrons). >>>>> - Treats coworkers as 1st class clients, not as a lesser kind to >>>>> fill unused space. >>>>> - Has somebody dedicated to connect the members (a facilitator, >>>>> not an administrative asistant.) >>>>> - Provides a non hostile and friendly environment that encourages >>>>> collaboration and interaction. >>>>> >>>>> What do you think? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Ramon Suarez >>>>> Serendipity Accelerator, Betacowork >>>>> Author: http://coworkinghandbook.com >>>>> email & hangouts: [email protected] >>>>> Phone: +3227376769 >>>>> GSM: +32497556284 >>>>> Twitter:http://twitter.com/ramonsuarez >>>>> Skype: ramonsuarez >>>>> Try coworking: http://betacowork.com >>>>> >>>>> <http://betacowork.com/free-coworking-tryout/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=468x60_banner&utm_content=girl-home&utm_campaign=ramon-signature> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>>> --- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>>> --- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "Coworking" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >>> email to [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> >> -- >> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
