[Coworking] Re: Chairs
I literally walked into my conference room chairs and table at the local version of the Goodwill -- they were offloading them from a truck and had just picked them up. They also had some desks and so forth in the truck. The woman who runs the place was mumbling to herself about it. So I asked her what she wanted for the chairs and she said she would sell me whatever was in the truck for a flat price and deliver it, too if I would take it right then. Nowhere to put it apparently. So I took it and what I did not need I sold off on the local version of ebay. The office chairs I got from an auction site: a large office went bankrupt and flooded the market with upscale secondhand furniture. However they appear, it seems that the adage People with no money need to be prepared to put time in instead appears to apply, at least for me. I went to the local Goodwill equivalent every week for a long time, until they knew me and knew more or less what I wanted. Nowadays they call me if something is coming in and I am talking to them about setting up a page on my website to notify people about things coming in -- because my website gets visited by starters and businesses in transition. The people at the auction site sent me an email about the auction because I had been contacting them regularly. Some of it is just pure dumb luck; but in my experience pure dumb luck happens more often when I am working at something. Opportunities appear as they are seized. :-) Jeannine On Feb 21, 10:53 pm, Ann Kingman annking...@gmail.com wrote: We're in the process of putting together a budget for the initial furnishing of our space. We are hung up on chairs. I think good office chairs are very important, and probably key for member retention. However, the cost of these chairs is freaking me out a bit. It's not so bad when you think about buying one, but we're looking at probably 20 to start, between the conference room and work desks. Any recommendations for sourcing? I hate to cheap out here, but I also don't want this to be the thing that makes the space an unworkable concept. Thanks, Ann CoWork508 (right now just a concept) Attleboro, MA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Chairs
Jeannine, Funny, and well said. Serendipity happens, but it happens more often when it has your phone number. :) Joshua Marpet DataDevastation On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 3:26 AM, Jeannine flexkantoorkame...@gmail.comwrote: I literally walked into my conference room chairs and table at the local version of the Goodwill -- they were offloading them from a truck and had just picked them up. They also had some desks and so forth in the truck. The woman who runs the place was mumbling to herself about it. So I asked her what she wanted for the chairs and she said she would sell me whatever was in the truck for a flat price and deliver it, too if I would take it right then. Nowhere to put it apparently. So I took it and what I did not need I sold off on the local version of ebay. The office chairs I got from an auction site: a large office went bankrupt and flooded the market with upscale secondhand furniture. However they appear, it seems that the adage People with no money need to be prepared to put time in instead appears to apply, at least for me. I went to the local Goodwill equivalent every week for a long time, until they knew me and knew more or less what I wanted. Nowadays they call me if something is coming in and I am talking to them about setting up a page on my website to notify people about things coming in -- because my website gets visited by starters and businesses in transition. The people at the auction site sent me an email about the auction because I had been contacting them regularly. Some of it is just pure dumb luck; but in my experience pure dumb luck happens more often when I am working at something. Opportunities appear as they are seized. :-) Jeannine On Feb 21, 10:53 pm, Ann Kingman annking...@gmail.com wrote: We're in the process of putting together a budget for the initial furnishing of our space. We are hung up on chairs. I think good office chairs are very important, and probably key for member retention. However, the cost of these chairs is freaking me out a bit. It's not so bad when you think about buying one, but we're looking at probably 20 to start, between the conference room and work desks. Any recommendations for sourcing? I hate to cheap out here, but I also don't want this to be the thing that makes the space an unworkable concept. Thanks, Ann CoWork508 (right now just a concept) Attleboro, MA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
[Coworking] About the Unconference: Who's for virtual attendance?
There are some noises coming from this side of the ocean about EU folks wanting to come to the unconference in a virtual way: I know I would like to, I know the folks in Dresden would, I feel sure that Wuppertal would like to as well. Possibly the folks in Asia as well. I already have one trip stateside planned in July and another one is just not in my budget nor would my family appreciate it much. I can dump any input for the unconference on the incomparable Jean-Yves, but it's not all that fair to ask him to represent all of our (sometimes conflicting) notions, and besides it would be so much more fun! Can we use this thread to explore how to make it happen? Pretty please? I'll send you chocolate. From Belguim. Come on, it doesn't get any better than that. Jeannine -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] About the Unconference: Who's for virtual attendance?
We'll throw in some Maple Syrup from Canada if we can V-there. Hey I think I came up with the newest tech term! Chad On 2011-02-22, at 8:43 AM, Jeannine wrote: There are some noises coming from this side of the ocean about EU folks wanting to come to the unconference in a virtual way: I know I would like to, I know the folks in Dresden would, I feel sure that Wuppertal would like to as well. Possibly the folks in Asia as well. I already have one trip stateside planned in July and another one is just not in my budget nor would my family appreciate it much. I can dump any input for the unconference on the incomparable Jean-Yves, but it's not all that fair to ask him to represent all of our (sometimes conflicting) notions, and besides it would be so much more fun! Can we use this thread to explore how to make it happen? Pretty please? I'll send you chocolate. From Belguim. Come on, it doesn't get any better than that. Jeannine -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. Chad Ballantyne The Creative Space Director (705) 252-2423 www.thecreativespace.ca -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. inline: tcs-sign-1.png
[Coworking] Re: Cheap hanging system
Neat! I like the square peg approach! We also rotate art exhibitions regularly, and had similar concerns about the walls. When we were getting ThincSavannah ready for our first art show this past September, we decided to go with AS Hanging Systems (ashanging.com). Their cable system is very discreet, and super easy to use. Jamie -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
[Coworking] Marketing
Southend Coworking, Charlotte, NC We are a new coworking site located close to downtown in a great location in Charlotte, NC along the light rail line. We are trying to reach out to the coworking market and would like to know your thought on finding interesting and committed people for our coworking space. I have visited many coworking sites in N.C. New York City and thank those spaces for their input. I am sure there is a vein of people who are the key users of this type of space and would love to hear any of your input. Our website is up and and the space is ready for members. What do you suggest? Richard Zelickson Southend Coworking z...@southendcoworking.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Marketing
Hi Richard, There's many, many threads on this topic in the group, I'd go ahead and give it (and the blog!) a search and come back with some more specific questions if you have them once you've done some research within the existing conversations that've taken place. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:40 AM, SouthEnd CoWorking Charlotte, NC rzelick...@bellsouth.net wrote: Southend Coworking, Charlotte, NC We are a new coworking site located close to downtown in a great location in Charlotte, NC along the light rail line. We are trying to reach out to the coworking market and would like to know your thought on finding interesting and committed people for our coworking space. I have visited many coworking sites in N.C. New York City and thank those spaces for their input. I am sure there is a vein of people who are the key users of this type of space and would love to hear any of your input. Our website is up and and the space is ready for members. What do you suggest? Richard Zelickson Southend Coworking z...@southendcoworking.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
[Coworking] Re: About the Unconference: Who's for virtual attendance?
I'd be all about it as well. Can't make it in person this year, hope to next year but would love to be there virtually if possible. On Feb 22, 8:53 am, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: We'll throw in some Maple Syrup from Canada if we can V-there. Hey I think I came up with the newest tech term! Chad On 2011-02-22, at 8:43 AM, Jeannine wrote: There are some noises coming from this side of the ocean about EU folks wanting to come to the unconference in a virtual way: I know I would like to, I know the folks in Dresden would, I feel sure that Wuppertal would like to as well. Possibly the folks in Asia as well. I already have one trip stateside planned in July and another one is just not in my budget nor would my family appreciate it much. I can dump any input for the unconference on the incomparable Jean-Yves, but it's not all that fair to ask him to represent all of our (sometimes conflicting) notions, and besides it would be so much more fun! Can we use this thread to explore how to make it happen? Pretty please? I'll send you chocolate. From Belguim. Come on, it doesn't get any better than that. Jeannine -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. Chad Ballantyne The Creative Space Director (705) 252-2423www.thecreativespace.ca -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: About the Unconference: Who's for virtual attendance?
Perhaps a skype conference call? mid|coast *Kim Slawson* The Way Work Should Be co|working(207)370-7401 Coworking in Midcoast Maine *mid*|*co* w...@midco.org Come Work with Us! On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 1:04 PM, Anne Kirby creativehouseoflancas...@gmail.com wrote: I'd be all about it as well. Can't make it in person this year, hope to next year but would love to be there virtually if possible. On Feb 22, 8:53 am, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: We'll throw in some Maple Syrup from Canada if we can V-there. Hey I think I came up with the newest tech term! Chad On 2011-02-22, at 8:43 AM, Jeannine wrote: There are some noises coming from this side of the ocean about EU folks wanting to come to the unconference in a virtual way: I know I would like to, I know the folks in Dresden would, I feel sure that Wuppertal would like to as well. Possibly the folks in Asia as well. I already have one trip stateside planned in July and another one is just not in my budget nor would my family appreciate it much. I can dump any input for the unconference on the incomparable Jean-Yves, but it's not all that fair to ask him to represent all of our (sometimes conflicting) notions, and besides it would be so much more fun! Can we use this thread to explore how to make it happen? Pretty please? I'll send you chocolate. From Belguim. Come on, it doesn't get any better than that. Jeannine -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group athttp:// groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. Chad Ballantyne The Creative Space Director (705) 252-2423www.thecreativespace.ca -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
[Coworking] Re: About the Unconference: Who's for virtual attendance?
I'd be game as well. Can't make it in person this year and would love to be there virtually if possible. On Feb 22, 8:53 am, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: We'll throw in some Maple Syrup from Canada if we can V-there. Hey I think I came up with the newest tech term! Chad On 2011-02-22, at 8:43 AM, Jeannine wrote: There are some noises coming from this side of the ocean about EU folks wanting to come to the unconference in a virtual way: I know I would like to, I know the folks in Dresden would, I feel sure that Wuppertal would like to as well. Possibly the folks in Asia as well. I already have one trip stateside planned in July and another one is just not in my budget nor would my family appreciate it much. I can dump any input for the unconference on the incomparable Jean-Yves, but it's not all that fair to ask him to represent all of our (sometimes conflicting) notions, and besides it would be so much more fun! Can we use this thread to explore how to make it happen? Pretty please? I'll send you chocolate. From Belguim. Come on, it doesn't get any better than that. Jeannine -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. Chad Ballantyne The Creative Space Director (705) 252-2423www.thecreativespace.ca -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: About the Unconference: Who's for virtual attendance?
Doing it well might be logistically very difficult: the space is a lounge / bar, so it's not a traditional event venue. That means things like cameras / mics / lighting / bandwidth may be hard to come by. Is there anyone here who's attending the event who would like to try and tackle getting a decent livestream up? On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 1:08 PM, Kim Slawson kimslaw...@gmail.com wrote: Perhaps a skype conference call? mid|coast *Kim Slawson* The Way Work Should Be co|working(207)370-7401 Coworking in Midcoast Maine *mid*|*co* w...@midco.org Come Work with Us! On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 1:04 PM, Anne Kirby creativehouseoflancas...@gmail.com wrote: I'd be all about it as well. Can't make it in person this year, hope to next year but would love to be there virtually if possible. On Feb 22, 8:53 am, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: We'll throw in some Maple Syrup from Canada if we can V-there. Hey I think I came up with the newest tech term! Chad On 2011-02-22, at 8:43 AM, Jeannine wrote: There are some noises coming from this side of the ocean about EU folks wanting to come to the unconference in a virtual way: I know I would like to, I know the folks in Dresden would, I feel sure that Wuppertal would like to as well. Possibly the folks in Asia as well. I already have one trip stateside planned in July and another one is just not in my budget nor would my family appreciate it much. I can dump any input for the unconference on the incomparable Jean-Yves, but it's not all that fair to ask him to represent all of our (sometimes conflicting) notions, and besides it would be so much more fun! Can we use this thread to explore how to make it happen? Pretty please? I'll send you chocolate. From Belguim. Come on, it doesn't get any better than that. Jeannine -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group athttp:// groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. Chad Ballantyne The Creative Space Director (705) 252-2423www.thecreativespace.ca -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
[Coworking] Re: About the Unconference: Who's for virtual attendance?
That's what I feared, maybe a schedule, or indeed a livestream. Or I looked at tokbox/opentok (http://www.tokbox.com/opentok/showcase) when we were talking about a wormhole and thought it had real possibilities. I guess first an inventory of what we have, then on to what we need? Jeannine On Feb 22, 7:19 pm, Tony Bacigalupo tonybacigal...@gmail.com wrote: Doing it well might be logistically very difficult: the space is a lounge / bar, so it's not a traditional event venue. That means things like cameras / mics / lighting / bandwidth may be hard to come by. Is there anyone here who's attending the event who would like to try and tackle getting a decent livestream up? On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 1:08 PM, Kim Slawson kimslaw...@gmail.com wrote: Perhaps a skype conference call? mid|coast *Kim Slawson* The Way Work Should Be co|working (207)370-7401 Coworking in Midcoast Maine *mid*|*co* w...@midco.org Come Work with Us! On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 1:04 PM, Anne Kirby creativehouseoflancas...@gmail.com wrote: I'd be all about it as well. Can't make it in person this year, hope to next year but would love to be there virtually if possible. On Feb 22, 8:53 am, Chad Ballantyne c...@thecreativespace.ca wrote: We'll throw in some Maple Syrup from Canada if we can V-there. Hey I think I came up with the newest tech term! Chad On 2011-02-22, at 8:43 AM, Jeannine wrote: There are some noises coming from this side of the ocean about EU folks wanting to come to the unconference in a virtual way: I know I would like to, I know the folks in Dresden would, I feel sure that Wuppertal would like to as well. Possibly the folks in Asia as well. I already have one trip stateside planned in July and another one is just not in my budget nor would my family appreciate it much. I can dump any input for the unconference on the incomparable Jean-Yves, but it's not all that fair to ask him to represent all of our (sometimes conflicting) notions, and besides it would be so much more fun! Can we use this thread to explore how to make it happen? Pretty please? I'll send you chocolate. From Belguim. Come on, it doesn't get any better than that. Jeannine -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group athttp:// groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. Chad Ballantyne The Creative Space Director (705) 252-2423www.thecreativespace.ca -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
[Coworking] Human element of space directories
When Alex said, The biggest thing I continually see missing from directories like this is a sort of sense of humanity - physical attributes are useful in determining what you DON'T want, but make it hard to differentiate between one space and the next once you know what you DO want. I've been reading up on the coworking registry database and whatnot but again as a member just told me, I don't want to know where the desks/spaces are, I want to know where my people are. I think that as a community of community-minded people-centric people we missed the boat. Big time. As a matter of fact, we're in the wrong boat going the wrong direction on the wrong river. Idea: what if we have a place where coworkers can tell their stories? That's it. Tell your story about how you found coworking, why you cowork, where you cowork and how it has changed your life. Tag those posts with city names and space names and let the wider community of prospective coworkers find their tribe there. *Question: as a space owner do you think you could inspire your communities to contribute their stories online?* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Human element of space directories
Angel, Yes yes yes! This has been the direction I've been working towards all along and there are some significant challenges to incorporate. First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more interested in the work they are doing. It's the space owners that are more invested in the larger coworking movement so they are the people who are putting in the work. They want to talk about their space mostly, what they build, etc. I talk up our members and their incredible storieshttp://www.texttheromanceback.com/rachaelrayall the time but I wouldn't be able to keep individual profiles up to date. It's enough work to highlight them on our websitehttp://officenomads.com/category/featured-nomad/. I have lots of thoughts on the Coworking Registry and where it fits in the wider vision. Mostly it starts with how difficult it is to organize the coworking wiki which is currently mostly used to list spaces. If we could get that buttoned up in a simple, central, neutral, way, and make it all free and open data, then there is a lot we can do with that. It's only one piece of the puzzle though. I could go in so many directions from here but I'll leave it at that. The conversation is going to be great in Austin. :) Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 3:49 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: When Alex said, The biggest thing I continually see missing from directories like this is a sort of sense of humanity - physical attributes are useful in determining what you DON'T want, but make it hard to differentiate between one space and the next once you know what you DO want. I've been reading up on the coworking registry database and whatnot but again as a member just told me, I don't want to know where the desks/spaces are, I want to know where my people are. I think that as a community of community-minded people-centric people we missed the boat. Big time. As a matter of fact, we're in the wrong boat going the wrong direction on the wrong river. Idea: what if we have a place where coworkers can tell their stories? That's it. Tell your story about how you found coworking, why you cowork, where you cowork and how it has changed your life. Tag those posts with city names and space names and let the wider community of prospective coworkers find their tribe there. *Question: as a space owner do you think you could inspire your communities to contribute their stories online?* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Chinese Mainstream Media writes about coworking
Another article about HomeShop in Beijing, very interesting: http://www.artslant.com/cn/articles/show/21840 Liu Yan Liu Yan 刘妍 CEO/Co-founder Xindanwei 新单位 (+86) 021 3428 0783 50 Yongjia Rd, Shanghai,CHINA 中国上海徐汇区永嘉路50号 http://xindanwei.com https://gist.com/theliuyan On 2011-2-21, at 下午2:57, Robert Loo wrote: Hi Mike, Wow, good job!! Nice photo...!! Amazing that Homeshop got a space like that in that area!! Can't wait to hear about your visits over this week! Take care, Robert 2011/2/21 Michael P. Daugherty m...@mpdaugherty.com Thanks, Liu Yan! It was actually really great, because it also introduced me to the HomeShop people, whom I hadn't heard of before - I went to visit on Saturday, and it turns out they have a really nice location. -Mike 2011/2/21 Liu Yan liuyan.dat...@gmail.com An article appeared in yesterday's CHINA DAILY, the biggest Chinese official newspaper in English, about coworking and the growth of coworking spaces in Beijing, briefly mentioned us - Xindanwei in Shanghai. http://sinaurl.cn/h5TMBC Really happy for the folks in Beijing to be exposed in the main stream media! Congrats! cheers, -- Liu Yan 刘妍 CEO/Co-founder Xindanwei 新单位 (+86) 021 3428 0783 50 Yongjia Rd, Shanghai,CHINA 中国上海徐汇区永嘉路50号 http://xindanwei.com https://gist.com/theliuyan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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 coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Human element of space directories
First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more interested in the work they are doing. Jacob, you know I love you, but this sounds shortsighted. Just because they don't have an expanded worldview doesn't mean that they shouldn't be given the chance to see what it could do. I can contrast that sentiment that most of our members, while not necessarily aware of the big picture at first or its sheer scale, are extremely excited to be a part of it (and in many cases, contribute to it), *given the opportunity*. They love the fact that in places all around the world, people are experiencing something similar to them. We keep the local focus, but think it's important to have a global perspective. That's not just an attribute of a better coworker, or business owner/leader, that's an attribute of a better *citizen*. Without being presented with the possibility of being a part of the bigger world just outside their doors, I don't blame them for not wanting to. They don't even know that they could want to let alone that they should want to. The trick is to give them the opportunity without also giving them a * completely* blank page to work from. Like any interview, the key to this is knowing how to ask good questions, and look for prompts for asking yet more questions. This is hard to automate, but some more in-depth interviews being conducted by the members who want to know more about and be known more in the global community is something that I firmly believe that many members will do if they're given the opportunity. Personally, I'd love to see Angel's idea turn into a brainstorm of the kinds of questions and answers that members have with each other and coworking space catalyst, founders, leaders, etc have with them as well. From there, I think we can put together some queues for conversation to get over blank page syndrome and simply provide enough context for the stories - and the broader worldview that our members deserve to be able to have for themselves - to emerge. What we do with those stories could go in a million directions, let's worry about that once we have figured out a good way to capture them. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 7:32 PM, Jacob Sayles ja...@officenomads.comwrote: Angel, Yes yes yes! This has been the direction I've been working towards all along and there are some significant challenges to incorporate. First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more interested in the work they are doing. It's the space owners that are more invested in the larger coworking movement so they are the people who are putting in the work. They want to talk about their space mostly, what they build, etc. I talk up our members and their incredible storieshttp://www.texttheromanceback.com/rachaelrayall the time but I wouldn't be able to keep individual profiles up to date. It's enough work to highlight them on our websitehttp://officenomads.com/category/featured-nomad/. I have lots of thoughts on the Coworking Registry and where it fits in the wider vision. Mostly it starts with how difficult it is to organize the coworking wiki which is currently mostly used to list spaces. If we could get that buttoned up in a simple, central, neutral, way, and make it all free and open data, then there is a lot we can do with that. It's only one piece of the puzzle though. I could go in so many directions from here but I'll leave it at that. The conversation is going to be great in Austin. :) Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 3:49 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: When Alex said, The biggest thing I continually see missing from directories like this is a sort of sense of humanity - physical attributes are useful in determining what you DON'T want, but make it hard to differentiate between one space and the next once you know what you DO want. I've been reading up on the coworking registry database and whatnot but again as a member just told me, I don't want to know where the desks/spaces are, I want to know where my people are. I think that as a community of community-minded people-centric people we missed the boat. Big time. As a matter of fact, we're in the wrong boat going the wrong direction on the wrong river. Idea: what if we have a place where coworkers can tell their stories? That's it. Tell your story about how you found coworking, why you cowork, where you cowork and how it has changed your life. Tag those posts with city names and space names and let the wider community of prospective coworkers find their tribe there. *Question: as a space owner do you think
[Coworking] Re: Human element of space directories
I'm not a big fan of getting everything figured out first and acting later. Let's be honest, coworking is a baby. We don't know what size shoes she's going to need in 3 years let alone in the next 2 months. I don't want to get hung up in planning it to death or putting a hundred parameters around it. What we do need is a solution NOW where coworkers can tell their stories where other coworkers can search by space or city name (it doesn't even need to bolt on to a database--I'd just google a space I was interested in anyway)---be it a facilitated qa format or multimedia (upload a video or paint a picture) I don't care, I just want them to be able to share! We're going to do this with the next in the ebook series and unveil the Cohere members' stories in a book at our 1 year anniversary party in April. Beth and I had the planning meeting for this TODAY and we'll produce the thing in less than 10 weeks. My goal is to have 2012 coworkers' stories by 2012. Let's make it happen. Angel On Feb 22, 7:22 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more interested in the work they are doing. Jacob, you know I love you, but this sounds shortsighted. Just because they don't have an expanded worldview doesn't mean that they shouldn't be given the chance to see what it could do. I can contrast that sentiment that most of our members, while not necessarily aware of the big picture at first or its sheer scale, are extremely excited to be a part of it (and in many cases, contribute to it), *given the opportunity*. They love the fact that in places all around the world, people are experiencing something similar to them. We keep the local focus, but think it's important to have a global perspective. That's not just an attribute of a better coworker, or business owner/leader, that's an attribute of a better *citizen*. Without being presented with the possibility of being a part of the bigger world just outside their doors, I don't blame them for not wanting to. They don't even know that they could want to let alone that they should want to. The trick is to give them the opportunity without also giving them a * completely* blank page to work from. Like any interview, the key to this is knowing how to ask good questions, and look for prompts for asking yet more questions. This is hard to automate, but some more in-depth interviews being conducted by the members who want to know more about and be known more in the global community is something that I firmly believe that many members will do if they're given the opportunity. Personally, I'd love to see Angel's idea turn into a brainstorm of the kinds of questions and answers that members have with each other and coworking space catalyst, founders, leaders, etc have with them as well. From there, I think we can put together some queues for conversation to get over blank page syndrome and simply provide enough context for the stories - and the broader worldview that our members deserve to be able to have for themselves - to emerge. What we do with those stories could go in a million directions, let's worry about that once we have figured out a good way to capture them. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 7:32 PM, Jacob Sayles ja...@officenomads.comwrote: Angel, Yes yes yes! This has been the direction I've been working towards all along and there are some significant challenges to incorporate. First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more interested in the work they are doing. It's the space owners that are more invested in the larger coworking movement so they are the people who are putting in the work. They want to talk about their space mostly, what they build, etc. I talk up our members and their incredible storieshttp://www.texttheromanceback.com/rachaelrayall the time but I wouldn't be able to keep individual profiles up to date. It's enough work to highlight them on our websitehttp://officenomads.com/category/featured-nomad/. I have lots of thoughts on the Coworking Registry and where it fits in the wider vision. Mostly it starts with how difficult it is to organize the coworking wiki which is currently mostly used to list spaces. If we could get that buttoned up in a simple, central, neutral, way, and make it all free and open data, then there is a lot we can do with that. It's only one piece of the puzzle though. I could go in so many directions from here but I'll leave it at that. The conversation is going to be great in Austin. :) Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com- (206) 323-6500
Re: [Coworking] Re: Human element of space directories
I don't think I was looking to introduce parameters or anything complicated, I was genuinely curious what questions people ask in order to get the stories worth telling. That's valuable to share here (and document together) so that the goal of 2012 stories by 2012 isn't just a numbers game, but is tracking quality stories from more places that have stories worth sharing. There's nothing wrong with running ahead with something and it sounds like you've got your mind made up on your this project, which is great. My point was to make this something that could inspire others so you're not the only one collecting stories, and let it live on beyond your e-book series. Of course it'll change as we go, that's how this whole thing works, but creating some constraints so that people know HOW to contribute is what's going to allow this to take off. Remember, not everyone's as comfortable at writing, interviewing, storytelling, etc. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 10:10 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I'm not a big fan of getting everything figured out first and acting later. Let's be honest, coworking is a baby. We don't know what size shoes she's going to need in 3 years let alone in the next 2 months. I don't want to get hung up in planning it to death or putting a hundred parameters around it. What we do need is a solution NOW where coworkers can tell their stories where other coworkers can search by space or city name (it doesn't even need to bolt on to a database--I'd just google a space I was interested in anyway)---be it a facilitated qa format or multimedia (upload a video or paint a picture) I don't care, I just want them to be able to share! We're going to do this with the next in the ebook series and unveil the Cohere members' stories in a book at our 1 year anniversary party in April. Beth and I had the planning meeting for this TODAY and we'll produce the thing in less than 10 weeks. My goal is to have 2012 coworkers' stories by 2012. Let's make it happen. Angel On Feb 22, 7:22 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more interested in the work they are doing. Jacob, you know I love you, but this sounds shortsighted. Just because they don't have an expanded worldview doesn't mean that they shouldn't be given the chance to see what it could do. I can contrast that sentiment that most of our members, while not necessarily aware of the big picture at first or its sheer scale, are extremely excited to be a part of it (and in many cases, contribute to it), *given the opportunity*. They love the fact that in places all around the world, people are experiencing something similar to them. We keep the local focus, but think it's important to have a global perspective. That's not just an attribute of a better coworker, or business owner/leader, that's an attribute of a better *citizen*. Without being presented with the possibility of being a part of the bigger world just outside their doors, I don't blame them for not wanting to. They don't even know that they could want to let alone that they should want to. The trick is to give them the opportunity without also giving them a * completely* blank page to work from. Like any interview, the key to this is knowing how to ask good questions, and look for prompts for asking yet more questions. This is hard to automate, but some more in-depth interviews being conducted by the members who want to know more about and be known more in the global community is something that I firmly believe that many members will do if they're given the opportunity. Personally, I'd love to see Angel's idea turn into a brainstorm of the kinds of questions and answers that members have with each other and coworking space catalyst, founders, leaders, etc have with them as well. From there, I think we can put together some queues for conversation to get over blank page syndrome and simply provide enough context for the stories - and the broader worldview that our members deserve to be able to have for themselves - to emerge. What we do with those stories could go in a million directions, let's worry about that once we have figured out a good way to capture them. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 7:32 PM, Jacob Sayles ja...@officenomads.com wrote: Angel, Yes yes yes! This has been the direction I've been working towards all along and there are some significant challenges to incorporate. First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more
[Coworking] Re: Human element of space directories
I agree--we'd need some serious buy-in to get enough storiesI imagine that stories beget stories. No one wants to be the only person with their story out there! To some extent, yes- I have my mind made up about this project but my mind is made up insofar as I think it needs to happen. In order for me to summon the energy to catalyze something like this, I need to know if other space owners can get behind it to spread the word. Community first, stories second :) I also don't think we need a custom solution that's built from the ground up. Can it really be as simple as a blog-like site that accepts contributions and is easily searchable? On Feb 22, 9:07 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I don't think I was looking to introduce parameters or anything complicated, I was genuinely curious what questions people ask in order to get the stories worth telling. That's valuable to share here (and document together) so that the goal of 2012 stories by 2012 isn't just a numbers game, but is tracking quality stories from more places that have stories worth sharing. There's nothing wrong with running ahead with something and it sounds like you've got your mind made up on your this project, which is great. My point was to make this something that could inspire others so you're not the only one collecting stories, and let it live on beyond your e-book series. Of course it'll change as we go, that's how this whole thing works, but creating some constraints so that people know HOW to contribute is what's going to allow this to take off. Remember, not everyone's as comfortable at writing, interviewing, storytelling, etc. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 10:10 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I'm not a big fan of getting everything figured out first and acting later. Let's be honest, coworking is a baby. We don't know what size shoes she's going to need in 3 years let alone in the next 2 months. I don't want to get hung up in planning it to death or putting a hundred parameters around it. What we do need is a solution NOW where coworkers can tell their stories where other coworkers can search by space or city name (it doesn't even need to bolt on to a database--I'd just google a space I was interested in anyway)---be it a facilitated qa format or multimedia (upload a video or paint a picture) I don't care, I just want them to be able to share! We're going to do this with the next in the ebook series and unveil the Cohere members' stories in a book at our 1 year anniversary party in April. Beth and I had the planning meeting for this TODAY and we'll produce the thing in less than 10 weeks. My goal is to have 2012 coworkers' stories by 2012. Let's make it happen. Angel On Feb 22, 7:22 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more interested in the work they are doing. Jacob, you know I love you, but this sounds shortsighted. Just because they don't have an expanded worldview doesn't mean that they shouldn't be given the chance to see what it could do. I can contrast that sentiment that most of our members, while not necessarily aware of the big picture at first or its sheer scale, are extremely excited to be a part of it (and in many cases, contribute to it), *given the opportunity*. They love the fact that in places all around the world, people are experiencing something similar to them. We keep the local focus, but think it's important to have a global perspective. That's not just an attribute of a better coworker, or business owner/leader, that's an attribute of a better *citizen*. Without being presented with the possibility of being a part of the bigger world just outside their doors, I don't blame them for not wanting to. They don't even know that they could want to let alone that they should want to. The trick is to give them the opportunity without also giving them a * completely* blank page to work from. Like any interview, the key to this is knowing how to ask good questions, and look for prompts for asking yet more questions. This is hard to automate, but some more in-depth interviews being conducted by the members who want to know more about and be known more in the global community is something that I firmly believe that many members will do if they're given the opportunity. Personally, I'd love to see Angel's idea turn into a brainstorm of the kinds of questions and answers that members have with each other and coworking space catalyst, founders, leaders, etc have with them as well. From there, I think we can put together some queues for conversation to get over blank page
Re: [Coworking] Re: Human element of space directories
I totally agree that we don't need a custom solution. We can build a Wufoo form in minutes that asks a few good open ended questions and provide that to coworking space owners and community leaders - and see what comes back. The data will be structured and we can do just about anything we want with it later when Jacob's magic system is ready :) That's why I was suggesting some brainstorm around the types of questions we ask to elicit good stories. We've been working on interviews with a number of our members as well and they're structured in such a way to help them tell an important coworking story on their own. Things I like to ask: - where did you first hear about coworking? - what made you decide to come in for the first time? - what were some of your preconceived notions or expectations? - what's one thing you experienced that was unexpected? - who's the first coworker you remember meeting, and what happened? - how do you talk about coworking/indyhall to others? - what's one thing that you'd like to do but haven't yet? why? - what would you tell someone considering coworking/indyhall membership? -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:19 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I agree--we'd need some serious buy-in to get enough storiesI imagine that stories beget stories. No one wants to be the only person with their story out there! To some extent, yes- I have my mind made up about this project but my mind is made up insofar as I think it needs to happen. In order for me to summon the energy to catalyze something like this, I need to know if other space owners can get behind it to spread the word. Community first, stories second :) I also don't think we need a custom solution that's built from the ground up. Can it really be as simple as a blog-like site that accepts contributions and is easily searchable? On Feb 22, 9:07 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I don't think I was looking to introduce parameters or anything complicated, I was genuinely curious what questions people ask in order to get the stories worth telling. That's valuable to share here (and document together) so that the goal of 2012 stories by 2012 isn't just a numbers game, but is tracking quality stories from more places that have stories worth sharing. There's nothing wrong with running ahead with something and it sounds like you've got your mind made up on your this project, which is great. My point was to make this something that could inspire others so you're not the only one collecting stories, and let it live on beyond your e-book series. Of course it'll change as we go, that's how this whole thing works, but creating some constraints so that people know HOW to contribute is what's going to allow this to take off. Remember, not everyone's as comfortable at writing, interviewing, storytelling, etc. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 10:10 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I'm not a big fan of getting everything figured out first and acting later. Let's be honest, coworking is a baby. We don't know what size shoes she's going to need in 3 years let alone in the next 2 months. I don't want to get hung up in planning it to death or putting a hundred parameters around it. What we do need is a solution NOW where coworkers can tell their stories where other coworkers can search by space or city name (it doesn't even need to bolt on to a database--I'd just google a space I was interested in anyway)---be it a facilitated qa format or multimedia (upload a video or paint a picture) I don't care, I just want them to be able to share! We're going to do this with the next in the ebook series and unveil the Cohere members' stories in a book at our 1 year anniversary party in April. Beth and I had the planning meeting for this TODAY and we'll produce the thing in less than 10 weeks. My goal is to have 2012 coworkers' stories by 2012. Let's make it happen. Angel On Feb 22, 7:22 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that there are a number of other spaces around the world, but they are more interested in the work they are doing. Jacob, you know I love you, but this sounds shortsighted. Just because they don't have an expanded worldview doesn't mean that they shouldn't be given the chance to see what it could do. I can contrast that sentiment that most of our members, while not necessarily aware of the big picture at first or its sheer scale, are extremely excited to be a part of it (and in many cases, contribute to it), *given the opportunity*. They love the fact that in places all
[Coworking] Re: Human element of space directories
My intern found some pretty fun questions on a would you rather site. Now, mind you, these aren't soul bearing questions about coworking but I do think that people's responses really let personality shine through. For example, would you rather have a pencil sharpening nostril or a ketchup dispensing navel? Why? (feel free to answer this question in this discussion thread) I chose the nostril sharpener--mainly because I don't eat a lot of ketchup and I think it might ruin my shirts. -Angel On Feb 22, 9:49 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I totally agree that we don't need a custom solution. We can build a Wufoo form in minutes that asks a few good open ended questions and provide that to coworking space owners and community leaders - and see what comes back. The data will be structured and we can do just about anything we want with it later when Jacob's magic system is ready :) That's why I was suggesting some brainstorm around the types of questions we ask to elicit good stories. We've been working on interviews with a number of our members as well and they're structured in such a way to help them tell an important coworking story on their own. Things I like to ask: - where did you first hear about coworking? - what made you decide to come in for the first time? - what were some of your preconceived notions or expectations? - what's one thing you experienced that was unexpected? - who's the first coworker you remember meeting, and what happened? - how do you talk about coworking/indyhall to others? - what's one thing that you'd like to do but haven't yet? why? - what would you tell someone considering coworking/indyhall membership? -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:19 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I agree--we'd need some serious buy-in to get enough storiesI imagine that stories beget stories. No one wants to be the only person with their story out there! To some extent, yes- I have my mind made up about this project but my mind is made up insofar as I think it needs to happen. In order for me to summon the energy to catalyze something like this, I need to know if other space owners can get behind it to spread the word. Community first, stories second :) I also don't think we need a custom solution that's built from the ground up. Can it really be as simple as a blog-like site that accepts contributions and is easily searchable? On Feb 22, 9:07 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I don't think I was looking to introduce parameters or anything complicated, I was genuinely curious what questions people ask in order to get the stories worth telling. That's valuable to share here (and document together) so that the goal of 2012 stories by 2012 isn't just a numbers game, but is tracking quality stories from more places that have stories worth sharing. There's nothing wrong with running ahead with something and it sounds like you've got your mind made up on your this project, which is great. My point was to make this something that could inspire others so you're not the only one collecting stories, and let it live on beyond your e-book series. Of course it'll change as we go, that's how this whole thing works, but creating some constraints so that people know HOW to contribute is what's going to allow this to take off. Remember, not everyone's as comfortable at writing, interviewing, storytelling, etc. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 10:10 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I'm not a big fan of getting everything figured out first and acting later. Let's be honest, coworking is a baby. We don't know what size shoes she's going to need in 3 years let alone in the next 2 months. I don't want to get hung up in planning it to death or putting a hundred parameters around it. What we do need is a solution NOW where coworkers can tell their stories where other coworkers can search by space or city name (it doesn't even need to bolt on to a database--I'd just google a space I was interested in anyway)---be it a facilitated qa format or multimedia (upload a video or paint a picture) I don't care, I just want them to be able to share! We're going to do this with the next in the ebook series and unveil the Cohere members' stories in a book at our 1 year anniversary party in April. Beth and I had the planning meeting for this TODAY and we'll produce the thing in less than 10 weeks. My goal is to have 2012 coworkers' stories by 2012. Let's make it happen. Angel On Feb 22, 7:22 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: First, our members mostly just want a great place to work and they think it's neat that
Re: [Coworking] Re: Human element of space directories
I'm working with some guys from Baltimore on an internal member directory app (imagine a wall of polaroids so you can easily track down faces to names). Rather than encourage members categorize themselves by arbitrary industries, I'm heading in the direction of asking these sorts of questions for a one-two line profile or bio. If your intern found good questions on a particular site, I'd love a source! -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:59 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: My intern found some pretty fun questions on a would you rather site. Now, mind you, these aren't soul bearing questions about coworking but I do think that people's responses really let personality shine through. For example, would you rather have a pencil sharpening nostril or a ketchup dispensing navel? Why? (feel free to answer this question in this discussion thread) I chose the nostril sharpener--mainly because I don't eat a lot of ketchup and I think it might ruin my shirts. -Angel On Feb 22, 9:49 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I totally agree that we don't need a custom solution. We can build a Wufoo form in minutes that asks a few good open ended questions and provide that to coworking space owners and community leaders - and see what comes back. The data will be structured and we can do just about anything we want with it later when Jacob's magic system is ready :) That's why I was suggesting some brainstorm around the types of questions we ask to elicit good stories. We've been working on interviews with a number of our members as well and they're structured in such a way to help them tell an important coworking story on their own. Things I like to ask: - where did you first hear about coworking? - what made you decide to come in for the first time? - what were some of your preconceived notions or expectations? - what's one thing you experienced that was unexpected? - who's the first coworker you remember meeting, and what happened? - how do you talk about coworking/indyhall to others? - what's one thing that you'd like to do but haven't yet? why? - what would you tell someone considering coworking/indyhall membership? -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:19 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I agree--we'd need some serious buy-in to get enough storiesI imagine that stories beget stories. No one wants to be the only person with their story out there! To some extent, yes- I have my mind made up about this project but my mind is made up insofar as I think it needs to happen. In order for me to summon the energy to catalyze something like this, I need to know if other space owners can get behind it to spread the word. Community first, stories second :) I also don't think we need a custom solution that's built from the ground up. Can it really be as simple as a blog-like site that accepts contributions and is easily searchable? On Feb 22, 9:07 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I don't think I was looking to introduce parameters or anything complicated, I was genuinely curious what questions people ask in order to get the stories worth telling. That's valuable to share here (and document together) so that the goal of 2012 stories by 2012 isn't just a numbers game, but is tracking quality stories from more places that have stories worth sharing. There's nothing wrong with running ahead with something and it sounds like you've got your mind made up on your this project, which is great. My point was to make this something that could inspire others so you're not the only one collecting stories, and let it live on beyond your e-book series. Of course it'll change as we go, that's how this whole thing works, but creating some constraints so that people know HOW to contribute is what's going to allow this to take off. Remember, not everyone's as comfortable at writing, interviewing, storytelling, etc. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 10:10 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I'm not a big fan of getting everything figured out first and acting later. Let's be honest, coworking is a baby. We don't know what size shoes she's going to need in 3 years let alone in the next 2 months. I don't want to get hung up in planning it to death or putting a hundred parameters around it. What we do need is a solution NOW where coworkers can tell their stories where other coworkers can search by space or city name (it doesn't even need to bolt on to a database--I'd just google a space I was interested in anyway)---be it a
[Coworking] Opening kleverdog coworking in Highland Park, CA
Getting so much valuable info in this group and I'm excited that I'm getting closer to opening up a coworking space in Highland Park, CA. There was and still is a ton of things to work out and it's so helpful to read other people's posts and see similar issues being discussed. I wanted to jump into the conversation rather than just being a lurker. We're supposed to move into the space on March 1st and we hope to be open before the end of the month. I know I will have more questions as this journey continues Thanks! David Oshima kleverdog coworking Highland Park, CA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
Re: [Coworking] Re: Human element of space directories
That app sounds awesome. Would it be shareable for other spaces to use internally? I can't speak for the guys who are primarily responsible for it (we're their first non-internal test case) but I think that's the plan! /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 12:32 AM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: Cohere has member profiles (a little more formal though some are pretty hilarious and utterly fictional) on our website under the Community tab and then we're also kicking it old school and the intern has created a physical wall o' members with actual Polaroids, contact info and a 1 line niche statement. I'll send a pic of the wall. It's pretty cool and only possible because the intern takes care of it! That app sounds awesome. Would it be shareable for other spaces to use internally? On Feb 22, 10:20 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I'm working with some guys from Baltimore on an internal member directory app (imagine a wall of polaroids so you can easily track down faces to names). Rather than encourage members categorize themselves by arbitrary industries, I'm heading in the direction of asking these sorts of questions for a one-two line profile or bio. If your intern found good questions on a particular site, I'd love a source! -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:59 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: My intern found some pretty fun questions on a would you rather site. Now, mind you, these aren't soul bearing questions about coworking but I do think that people's responses really let personality shine through. For example, would you rather have a pencil sharpening nostril or a ketchup dispensing navel? Why? (feel free to answer this question in this discussion thread) I chose the nostril sharpener--mainly because I don't eat a lot of ketchup and I think it might ruin my shirts. -Angel On Feb 22, 9:49 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I totally agree that we don't need a custom solution. We can build a Wufoo form in minutes that asks a few good open ended questions and provide that to coworking space owners and community leaders - and see what comes back. The data will be structured and we can do just about anything we want with it later when Jacob's magic system is ready :) That's why I was suggesting some brainstorm around the types of questions we ask to elicit good stories. We've been working on interviews with a number of our members as well and they're structured in such a way to help them tell an important coworking story on their own. Things I like to ask: - where did you first hear about coworking? - what made you decide to come in for the first time? - what were some of your preconceived notions or expectations? - what's one thing you experienced that was unexpected? - who's the first coworker you remember meeting, and what happened? - how do you talk about coworking/indyhall to others? - what's one thing that you'd like to do but haven't yet? why? - what would you tell someone considering coworking/indyhall membership? -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:19 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I agree--we'd need some serious buy-in to get enough storiesI imagine that stories beget stories. No one wants to be the only person with their story out there! To some extent, yes- I have my mind made up about this project but my mind is made up insofar as I think it needs to happen. In order for me to summon the energy to catalyze something like this, I need to know if other space owners can get behind it to spread the word. Community first, stories second :) I also don't think we need a custom solution that's built from the ground up. Can it really be as simple as a blog-like site that accepts contributions and is easily searchable? On Feb 22, 9:07 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I don't think I was looking to introduce parameters or anything complicated, I was genuinely curious what questions people ask in order to get the stories worth telling. That's valuable to share here (and document together) so that the goal of 2012 stories by 2012 isn't just a numbers game, but is tracking quality stories from more places that have stories worth sharing. There's nothing wrong with running ahead with something and it sounds like you've got your mind made up on your this project, which is great. My point was to make this something that could inspire others so you're not the only one
[Coworking] Re: Human element of space directories
Cohere has member profiles (a little more formal though some are pretty hilarious and utterly fictional) on our website under the Community tab and then we're also kicking it old school and the intern has created a physical wall o' members with actual Polaroids, contact info and a 1 line niche statement. I'll send a pic of the wall. It's pretty cool and only possible because the intern takes care of it! That app sounds awesome. Would it be shareable for other spaces to use internally? On Feb 22, 10:20 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I'm working with some guys from Baltimore on an internal member directory app (imagine a wall of polaroids so you can easily track down faces to names). Rather than encourage members categorize themselves by arbitrary industries, I'm heading in the direction of asking these sorts of questions for a one-two line profile or bio. If your intern found good questions on a particular site, I'd love a source! -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:59 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: My intern found some pretty fun questions on a would you rather site. Now, mind you, these aren't soul bearing questions about coworking but I do think that people's responses really let personality shine through. For example, would you rather have a pencil sharpening nostril or a ketchup dispensing navel? Why? (feel free to answer this question in this discussion thread) I chose the nostril sharpener--mainly because I don't eat a lot of ketchup and I think it might ruin my shirts. -Angel On Feb 22, 9:49 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I totally agree that we don't need a custom solution. We can build a Wufoo form in minutes that asks a few good open ended questions and provide that to coworking space owners and community leaders - and see what comes back. The data will be structured and we can do just about anything we want with it later when Jacob's magic system is ready :) That's why I was suggesting some brainstorm around the types of questions we ask to elicit good stories. We've been working on interviews with a number of our members as well and they're structured in such a way to help them tell an important coworking story on their own. Things I like to ask: - where did you first hear about coworking? - what made you decide to come in for the first time? - what were some of your preconceived notions or expectations? - what's one thing you experienced that was unexpected? - who's the first coworker you remember meeting, and what happened? - how do you talk about coworking/indyhall to others? - what's one thing that you'd like to do but haven't yet? why? - what would you tell someone considering coworking/indyhall membership? -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 11:19 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski fccowork...@gmail.comwrote: I agree--we'd need some serious buy-in to get enough storiesI imagine that stories beget stories. No one wants to be the only person with their story out there! To some extent, yes- I have my mind made up about this project but my mind is made up insofar as I think it needs to happen. In order for me to summon the energy to catalyze something like this, I need to know if other space owners can get behind it to spread the word. Community first, stories second :) I also don't think we need a custom solution that's built from the ground up. Can it really be as simple as a blog-like site that accepts contributions and is easily searchable? On Feb 22, 9:07 pm, Alex Hillman dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com wrote: I don't think I was looking to introduce parameters or anything complicated, I was genuinely curious what questions people ask in order to get the stories worth telling. That's valuable to share here (and document together) so that the goal of 2012 stories by 2012 isn't just a numbers game, but is tracking quality stories from more places that have stories worth sharing. There's nothing wrong with running ahead with something and it sounds like you've got your mind made up on your this project, which is great. My point was to make this something that could inspire others so you're not the only one collecting stories, and let it live on beyond your e-book series. Of course it'll change as we go, that's how this whole thing works, but creating some constraints so that people know HOW to contribute is what's going to allow this to take off. Remember, not everyone's as comfortable at writing, interviewing, storytelling, etc. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 10:10 PM, Angel
