

Gone Nomad? Try Coworking. - billymeltdown
http://www.zetetic.net/blog/2009/12/30/gone-nomading-try-coworking

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timdorr
Note: I founded and operate Ignition Alley here in Atlanta:
<http://www.ignitionalley.com/>

Despite the bias, I do have to agree whole-heartedly with the article.
Coworking is about two things: productivity and community.

It's insanely productive to work among others, particularly like-minded, self-
motivated individuals. We've got a library of books here, but I get way more
value out of the people. Right in front of me, I've got a group discussing and
learning about Chef. In just an hour or two of discussing, I've gotten all the
knowledge of a full 500 page book. It's that much faster! Every single day
I've been here, I've either given or gotten help from others that has saved us
significant amounts of time. It's highly motivating.

The other equally big aspect is community. I didn't know who to go to for PR
or marketing before we opened up. Now I know 3-4 people. The same goes for
designers, programmers, business folks, etc. And I now know about a dozen or
so really interesting projects going on in the area. I've struck up a major
business deal with another member of the space. Business is booming!

Coworking is the real-world extension of the communities we've built in the
virtual world. It's an incredibly motivating and highly rewarding concept.

My only regret is that I wish I had started this project 2 years ago!

~~~
billymeltdown
Well said, sir! I ought to have emphasized the community aspect more in the
blog post, it's really the critical part.

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thaumaturgy
I was one of two founders of a co-working effort in my area. Although I later
left the project, it was successful in that it's still active, still
profitable, and has brought people together from diverse backgrounds and
helped them to form long-lasting business relationships.

Best of all, productivity definitely does go up in a good co-working
environment.

I highly recommend doing this.

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bd_at_rivenhill
I work from home, and coworking sounds nice, but I have the problem that I
never seem comfortable at the same temperature as others. Basically, when I'm
comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt, everybody else is sweating and ready to
strip down to their underwear. It wouldn't bother me quite as much if I was
only cold in the winter, but everybody turns the air conditioning up in the
summer and I end up wearing a pullover all year around.

Does anybody else have this (or the opposite) problem? I'd love to have an
office with a "hot" zone and a "cold" zone. In fact, vent the machine room
waste heat directly into my office and I'll be perfectly happy.

~~~
rw140
Same problem. I blame the male bias in computing for producing lower average
room temperatures.

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loganfrederick
Coworking spaces continue to grow in popularity where I live (Columbus, OH).

I've found that the actual amount of quality work done in these spaces isn't
that high, and the spaces tend to be used more as a casual gathering space for
different startups in the city to meet each other.

The two leaders in the area are Sandbox Columbus
(<http://sandboxcolumbus.com/>) and Qwirk (<http://qwirkcolumbus.com/>).

~~~
timdorr
Sounds like something's gone wrong if you're not being productive when using
the space. How often do you go there? It might have to do with the frequency
of seeing others. There's going to be a certain amount of showing off when you
see someone you haven't seen in a while and hasn't seen this cool new thing
you've been working on. But that wears off after meeting up for a few days in
a row.

Today I coded a new feature for my latest startup, gave a tour of the space to
some people, learned about Chef and how I can use it for my fleet of servers,
fixed some major bugs for clients, did some estimates for potential customers,
installed a few Drupal modules. And I've only been here since noon.

It's all in how you use the space.

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flogic
Cute idea. I had a different idea of "nomad" before I RTFA. I was thinking
nomad as in travelling around the country/world as you work. That would be
really cool.

~~~
ced
A number of people are doing this already (technomads). I am, and yeah,
loneliness is an issue. I always live with flatmates to alleviate it, but I
still don't have anyone to speak with about science or technology. Thank god
for the web...

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andrewcooke
this motivated me to search for info on coworking here in santiago, chile.
i've posted to the obvious hit on search results and also sent an email to
someone else i found via blog comment, but thought i might post here too on
the off chance someone is local...? if so, please email me (see profile)

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bioweek
Any advice on starting a coworking space in the DC suburbs? Where can I locate
cofounders, what skills should they have? How much capital should I expect to
need?

I think this is going to be a huge industry in 10 years and I'd love to get in
on the ground floor somehow.

~~~
llimllib
Talk to Dave Troy, he founded the Beehive in Baltimore and could fill you in
on the details and his experiences so far:

<http://beehivebaltimore.org/>

<http://davetroy.com/?p=599>

There's an email address on the beehive page or drop me an email and I'll hook
you up.

(I work next to, not in, the beehive)

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jtnak
cow orking? sounds fun

