Jeannine, I am grateful for your taking charge on this and sharing your thoughts with the group!
Ultimately, I think a lot of this comes down to what you and the other OC leaders want to be spending your time and energy on. Does the development of a more substantial organization sound exciting, or intimidating? The kind of unification Melissa talks about could help set up the movement to remain healthy for a long time to come. I can imagine something that plays a roughly equivalent role to the NAACP; a champion of a movement it does not itself control. I could see OC carrying on in its current lightweight form, achieving some of what you and Melissa have envisioned, but only as far as volunteer resources can take it. I could also see OC raising money to hire people who could work to achieve greater progress towards these goals and more. I'm personally interested in the latter, but fine with the former as well. I will say this: while the members of this movement have done well to find each other and continue to maintain a strong sense of culture and camaraderie, there are also a ton of people working in places that they think are coworking spaces who have no idea any of us even exist. I think there is a tremendous opportunity for the people who stand for the values behind this movement to take a more prominent role in showing others what is possible when you build not just a shared office facility but a truly connected community of peers. Maybe it's the New Yorker in me, but I don't see anything you've mentioned as being too ambitious. I think we could go much further. As to the specific things mentioned, I like seeing OC focusing on platforms like this group, the blog, wiki, map, visa, etc. I have a harder time envisioning how the mentorship efforts fit in. I see OC focusing on maintaining things that empower people to create things and connect with each other. I'm excited to see where it goes from here! Tony > On Jul 2, 2015, at 1:38 PM, Alex Linsker <[email protected]> wrote: > > Thanks for this exploration. As part of Open Coworking, I would value regular > check-ins and phone and in-person talk time on specific topics with people > who own and manage coworking businesses with similarities to mine. I've been > part of small groups (up to 14 people) that meet each week at the same time, > with similarities between our businesses and shared interest in actionable > learning. I'd like to be in a group with other coworking owner-managers where: > - the business is talked about transparently in a safe space > - the business pays at least a living wage to at least one person full-time > - the values defined previously by Steve King and others on this group for > what is coworking are honored > - the coworking places in the group have existed at least 1 year and the > people in the group are passionate about learning and building vision somehow > for their place and community. > - we meet for at least 10 weeks, an hour each week, and participants are on > the calls at least 7 out of the 10 calls. > - there could be a text to read or topics to discuss for each call, where we > share what we're working on and get support for, and relate with, our goals. > > I would be open to facilitating that group and open to others facilitating > instead. It would need at least 6 people. > > Alex Linsker, Collective Agency business owner > (503) 517-6900 office | (503) 369-9174 mobile > 322 NW Sixth Ave, Suite 200 | Portland, Oregon 97209 > > -- > 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.
