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April 6, 2008

Coworkin' for a living

Several years ago Bill Scannell and I were discussing how there should be a place for creative people to go and self-incubate... a kind of idea factory. We talked to several people in Austin about setting something like that up, but it didn't happen right away. With the proliferation of wifi, though, and more people doing their work from coffee shops, it was just a matter of setting a time and place and having everybody meet there. Hence coworking, which for some is just matter of working around others when you're a freelancer... but when I look at coworking, I see creative people meeting in the same place, rubbing shoulders, eventually rubbing brain cells, and beginning to work on collaborative innovation. A couple of inspiring projects in Austin... Launchpad, a coworking business with an actual physical coworking space as the goal, and Conjunctured, tagged "a coworking company," setting up to organize the efforts of coworkers, kind of a clearinghouse put together by Austin Jelly organizer and coder Dusty Reagan, brand designer Cesar Torres, and entrepreneurs David Walker and John Erik Metcalf. These guys are friends of mine, and I'll be looking for opportunities to work with Conjunctured.

Launchpad recently posted Spike Gillespie's interview with Alex Hillman, cofounder of IndyHall in Philadelphia.

Everyone's learning that telecommuting is kind of a disaster from a social perspective, and coworking seems to be a natural evolution. At the same time, the fact that coworking is a starfish movement with so many smart leaders all over the world means that every time someone gets visibility, it encourages journalists to research their own backyards and see if coworking is happening there. And, as time goes on, the likelihood of them finding what they are looking for increases.

jon posted this at 7:46 PM
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