CoWorking – Page 4

What does your (ideal) co-working office look like?

The look and feel of a co-working space is going to make or break it. Does it have a clean, sterile aesthetic? Or does it feel like you’re in a house, natty carpet, curtains, sofas with patterned throws? Or does it look like a busy office with multiple low level cubicles? What I may see … Continue reading “What does your (ideal) co-working office look like?”

The look and feel of a co-working space is going to make or break it. Does it have a clean, sterile aesthetic? Or does it feel like you’re in a house, natty carpet, curtains, sofas with patterned throws? Or does it look like a busy office with multiple low level cubicles? What I may see as my perfect co-working space may not be ideal for others. Some people need space, others enjoy being crowded, some prefer the noise of a coffee shop, others want something more private.

This is a nice co-working space – copied from the NotAnMBA blog – showing a cool concept for Co-Working. Of course, this is absolutely form over function, style over utility. The office layout is originally designed by Adam Kalkin, pictured at http://www.thecoolhunter.net/design/ (site very slow):

It’s clinical, it’s striking, it would cost a fortune. The costs of desks and office chairs has to be considered (never mind the lorry crates used to make offices in the picture above.

What do people expect from a Co-Working site?

This? An image taken from Wired of the Jelly Co-Working:

It just seems untidy and maybe not the best work environment – not to mention what it would do for your posture.

Personally I want something in the middle. I would prefer a sofa there for conversations but there need to be several workstations, places for people to work. Would there need to be a ‘do not disturb’ sign so that if you’re in the zone the guy next to you doesn’t keep talking about his weekend. I think a blog posts covering ‘co-working manners’ would be pencilled in for next week!

Something like this interests me.

The reality we have to remember is that in any new co-working space, unless there’s some external funding, you’re going to want to pack them in. You’re not going to have the luxury of large rooms and extravagant space between desks.

Co-Working 2008

Pat Phelan writes about Co-Working in Cork: so if you could get 20 people to invest â‚¬25 per week, co working should be incredibly simple plus â‚¬50 from each to start-up ?? It really requires people who are passionate about it to start to put their money where their mouth is. I’ve spoken a lot … Continue reading “Co-Working 2008”

Pat Phelan writes about Co-Working in Cork:

so if you could get 20 people to invest â‚¬25 per week, co working should be incredibly simple plus â‚¬50 from each to start-up ??

It really requires people who are passionate about it to start to put their money where their mouth is.

I’ve spoken a lot about co-working in the past in conjunction with ‘Bedouin‘ working. Though it’s not something I could really take advantage of right now (due to the day job requirements and my partner working nights), it remains something I would support with my money as well as my mouth.

Looking at the costs though – and assuming Â£20 a week for Belfast:

20 people at Â£20 a week is Â£19200 a year if you assume 48-week occupancy. I did a quick search on Propertynews Commercial this morning targetting the City Centre, Botanic, Stranmillis and the University Area.

For Â£7000 pa (plus same again in Rates), you can get 1000 sq ft in a second floor suite on Shaftesbury Square. For Â£9000 pa (and again about the same in Rates), you can get the ground floor of a house on University Street (with 711 sq ft). For Â£13500 a year (plus a massive cost in rates), you can get about 1800 sq ft in Rosemary Street (just off Royal Avenue). These start to make the costs a lot higher but consider the crush in trying to fit 20 people into even 1800 sq ft when you consider that you are going to want desks, maybe even some sofas, breakout space, maybe even a conference room/meeting room or two. This is meant to be a relaxed place to work – not a sweatshop.

One of the most promising premises in terms of size is one on North Street which has 2300 sq ft already subdivided into offices and meeting rooms. The list price, Â£30 000 annually is high and the rates add another Â£10 000 onto the total. But the shape is wrong (with it divided into a host of one-man offices) and with the cost now hitting Â£40 000 (though a good negotiator could get that rent cut down to half), you’d have to charge people a lot more just to get in the door and that then doesn’t count operational or capital expenditure – desks, chairs, carpets, projectors, internet, telephones.

Nor does anything here take into account the necessity for 5-15 year leases.

I am convinced that running a Co-Working site needs to be a full time job for someone and, as a result, they’d need to get paid for it. Someone to keep the place clean, someone to make sure the bills get paid, to make sure the milk is fresh, to restock the coffee and to scrub the toilet bowl. Sure, this can be done by the co-workers themselves but I remain unconvinced that people will do it unless it is their job. It will always be someone else’s job.

And I also think there needs to be a retail element of it. You need to increase revenue by bringing in people off the street. No sense in buying decent coffee if it’s just going to be drunk by the people who turn up to the co-working space.

[UPDATE: from the comments, Co-working spaces need some definition. This graphic is taken from my 2006 business plan.

The NewWorkSpace aimed to fill in the gap. Coffee shop on the ground floor with normal coffee tables in the middle and ‘work booths’ around the edges. Stairway leading to reception and entry to the co-working floor – large tables, room for 2-5 people at each, sofas, kitchen. Office manager pay-for facilities here too like fax, printer. Door leading to offices on next floor and secure storage for members. There was a lot more visual detail which I’ll lead someone though if they ask.]

Recession coming, solution = Entrepreneurship

John F. Kennedy writes about the recession of the Irish economy Enterprise and entrepreneurship are the antidote for unemployment and recession. Encourage people to use computers and broadband to beat the recession, they can work for anyone from anywhere. They can create businesses based on anything from selling stuff on eBay to using their intelligence … Continue reading “Recession coming, solution = Entrepreneurship”

John F. Kennedy writes about the recession of the Irish economy

Enterprise and entrepreneurship are the antidote for unemployment and recession. Encourage people to use computers and broadband to beat the recession, they can work for anyone from anywhere. They can create businesses based on anything from selling stuff on eBay to using their intelligence to write, provide consultancy services or develop technology. This is the way out. Failure to provide them with the tools is economic sabotage. Let’s hope intelligence prevails.

Yes!

This sort of thinking is what Momentum and the Digital Circle[1] should be working on. It’s not necessarily about supporting the existing economy but by providing grass roots access to technology to take advantage of nascent knowledge workers.

I just don’t see us taking advantage of it. And we’d have to work hard to create value in this ‘credit crunch restricted’ world. That said, while the property market is in the doldrums, there are investors with cash in their portfolios looking for technologies to invest in.

To this end we need strategies like Co-Working Belfast or my as-yet-stillborn New Workspace to provide the most basic substrate for people to find places to work and collaborate. Just getting the space organised would make a big step – the rest is then up to the individuals with experienced mentors providing the introductions. How about a system of half a dozen mini-Ycombinators?

Anyway. You’re a taxpayer. Think about it.

[1] For a laugh, see digitalcircle.org without the www. Anyone see a problem?

Workplaces

I’ve never made secret my love of the concepts of ‘Going Bedouin’ or ‘Co-Working’. The difference between them is simple. Going Bedouin The principle of having your entire business on your back. Today you work in a coffee shop on Royal Avenue, tomorrow a coffee shop in Bradbury Place. And with 3G USB doohickeys being … Continue reading “Workplaces”

I’ve never made secret my love of the concepts of ‘Going Bedouin’ or ‘Co-Working’.

The difference between them is simple.

Going Bedouin

The principle of having your entire business on your back. Today you work in a coffee shop on Royal Avenue, tomorrow a coffee shop in Bradbury Place. And with 3G USB doohickeys being so cheap these days it seems that you don’t even need to find a WiFi-enabled cafe. Going Bedouin is going to be best for someone who has a relatively paper-free business due to the lack of printing facilities and they’d also be likely to stock up on extra batteries just in case their workplace of the day doesn’t have any convenient power points. Your expenses are going to be the amount of food and beverages that the coffee shop owner will expect you to buy in order to retain your seat. Some Bedouin workers have scorned the idea of ‘paying your way’ but it is an important part of the economy. If you don’t like it, shack up in a corner of the bus station or in another public space.

Co-Working

For the most part, this is about hiring a desk in a shared space. This is different to hiring a serviced office and sitting hidden in there knowing that the guy in the next office is working on something different. Shared spaces are all about getting the benefits of being in a busy office with less of the negatives. Candidates for co-working tend to be social people, people not irritated by the presence of others and people who might have worked for a big company before and missed the interaction at the water cooler or the photocopier when they went independent. Most co-workers will only use the shared space part-time due to other pressures in their lives. The Co-Work space should therefore be something of a refuge and it’s not conducive to have stressed-out, under-pressure individuals in your space (unless watching someone slowly implode really relaxes you). Co-Working is about relationships more than anything.

Excellence in workspace

An important point in changing your workstyle to add in Bedouin working or Co-Working is to make sure it provides an improvement.

The space you choose should fit in with the pattern of how you want to work. If you like working early in the morning or late at night, you’ll need to consider this (most half decent cafes in Belfast seem to close at 6). Consider your transport routes and, more importantly, your footwear. Consider that you may need to bring a coat of some sort even when the weather seems fine (and a warm sweater if you’re in Ireland).

For a Co-Working space, look at the other co-workers and make an attempt to be friends with them. Is the space tidy or well-kept? Do they have insurance? Or Alarm systems? What’s to stop someone walking in off the street? Do you feel comfortable leaving your equipment and content unattended? Do they have a lockup for your stuff when you’re out of the office? What ‘virtual office’ facilities do they have? Fax? Telephone? Receptionist? Do they have a kitchen? What about a breakout area for chat? Do the other co-workers have any odious habits? Does it smell fresh? Are the windows open? Is the carpet clean?

And when it’s restroom time – do you pack up your mobile office into your bag and disappear into the restroom to emerge later smelling faintly of cheap liquid soap? Do you leave it all out and hope that someone will look after your stuff?

Co-Working is all about relationships – do you trust these people?

Prerequisites

The first and most important element in considering Bedouin or CoWorking plans is whether or not you can make money – some businesses lend themselves naturally, while some do not. Services like Twitter give you a skewed perspective of work because there’s little visibility of time zones, business models and segregation. While you’re making your decisions, you can see that some people are re-installing their gaming machines or going for a walk, sitting in a coffee house drinking Americanos, giving talks or drumming in the park. You don’t see the work that they do because you’re always being updated by someone.

Another element that people don’t consider is outsourcing work that doesn’t bring direct value. Hire an accountant. Make sure your mail host and file server host are reliable. Make sure you have a reliable communications network with others in your team (if you are part of a team) because your team will need that interaction with you.

Ask yourself why you want to change your workstyle. Coffee is cheaper at home. Peace and quiet probably more achievable (unless there are kids involved). Talk through it with your partner at home as they may resent you changing from being a teleworker-at-home to a teleworker-in-cafe.

If you’re doing it, embrace it. Make the most of it and don’t be a wallflower.

Next Steps

I plan to talk more about possibilities in Co-Working over the next few days. I don’t know how much of my vision concurs with the vision of the individuals who make up the Co-Working Belfast group because I have some very specific ideas of what I want to see. I still have this business plan for ‘the new workspace’ which I wrote in 2006 and I think it deserves another crack of the whip.

BarCamp Belfast 08 mini review

Things that interested me most… Emma Persky’s Feature Recognition. Although challenged by being opposite Brian O’Neill’s freelancer talk (and let’s face it, what geek doesn’t dream of sticking it to the man and going ronin!). Best idea – move it to another time slot and that really worked I think. I thoroughly enjoyed it and … Continue reading “BarCamp Belfast 08 mini review”

Things that interested me most…

Emma Persky’s Feature Recognition. Although challenged by being opposite Brian O’Neill’s freelancer talk (and let’s face it, what geek doesn’t dream of sticking it to the man and going ronin!). Best idea – move it to another time slot and that really worked I think. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it gave me ideas for five, six, seven more applications that I don’t have the skill (yet) or the resources to build (again, yet). The possibilities with pattern recognition are fascinating and though this technology has been studied for a while, it takes a good demo to move it from ‘yeah, sure’ to ‘oh, that’s cool’. Good job Emma!

Tracy Dempseys Life Wheel/Spokes demo – I’d not really thought about my priorities that way. I have therefore resolved to work on the areas most deficient (quality time with my kids, general day to day job satisfaction) and not worry about the areas I’m happy with (how current I am with technology etc, money). The interesting thing is not thinking about how much effort you put into these things but how happy you are with the results. For those areas where I want more – I’m going to work on them with the theory that you get out what you put in. It’s funny, I’ve been results oriented (and passionate and loudmouthed about achieving them) for years in my ‘professional’ life.

Gerard McBreen’s Digital Circle. I wasn’t interested in the Adobe FLEX/AIR stuff anywhere near as much but Digital Circle is like a taster-for-10 of some ideas I’ve had for years (and the reason I tried to start Infurious). I’d still like Infurious to be a ‘publisher’ for a small group of developers but don’t know how to approach it just yet. I need to think on that but would encourage anyone creating any sort of digital content (software, eBook, movies, animations) to join Digital Circle.

And the rest?
All of the others were good though not especially relevant to me (Ruby scales? Whoodathunkit?) and next time round I’d like to hear Richard’s presentation on webcasting. Nick’s talk on the New Music Economy was an alternative path to my promotion of ‘1000 fans’ but as he said on the day – there isn’t just ‘one way’. As an homage to the existing model of music economy, I bought ‘Feel Good Lost’, by Broken Social Scene last night from iTunes after a short listen to a track during BarCamp. I’ve not bought much new music recently so that was nice.

Best Bits– conversations in the corridors and between talks – finding out how people got into their line of work, why they made their choices and also discovering some pleasant feedback on things I’ve done (or could be about to release). I do need to talk to Will King about his OpenGeo data but that can wait for a little bit. Mix that in with a little WiMax and you’ve got a spicy meatball!

Worst Bits – the WiFi disaster. Something was definitely rotten in Kislev. I’m blogging about this concurrently but it flummoxed me and Paul Dundas and in the end to supply two rooms with intermittent WiFi, we ended up having to use three infrastructure access points and one ad-hoc access point. The latter was my laptop which effectively kept me from vegging out and using it which was probably a good thing.

Next steps?

OCC BBQ is on the 16th July down in Terryglass, County Tipperary (about 200 miles away from where I’m sitting as I type this). I’m driving down and will be sorting out some accommodation in the next day or so. Current thinking is to trip down on Tuesday afternoon (arriving before closing time at the pub), enjoy the BBQ throughout the Wednesday and then trip back on the Friday. That would mean two nights accommodation though.

I also want to continue that chat with Andy McMillan, Andrew Gribben and Matt Keenan about Co-working that we started right at the end when I was packing up. David Rice should also be involved but only if he can find a ‘first name twin’ like the rest of us. I’m joking, David. Mostly.

There was also some talk of doing another ‘event’ in six months? Maybe a TechLudd? (Go on, call it TechNorn or something). I’m up for helping get this going – I’d wanted to start an ‘Expo’ for tech companies for years!

Fabulous stuff today. My only regret was that I didn’t talk! I’m going to remedy that at OCC BBQ by the way as well as talking to some interesting people I’ve wanted to chat with for ages.

XCake.org

The site is up. It’s for people interested in Cocoa and geographically on the Island of Ireland (North and South). http://xcake.org There’s just a Wiki there at the moment. More to come if there’s a perceived need for it. Related posts: XCake 1st Meetup XCake.org is now back up. Dublin XCake.org Meet, Thurs 26th March, … Continue reading “XCake.org”

The site is up. It’s for people interested in Cocoa and geographically on the Island of Ireland (North and South).

http://xcake.org

There’s just a Wiki there at the moment. More to come if there’s a perceived need for it.

BarCamp Belfast this coming Saturday!

I got this from Andy McMillan, the organiser of BarCamp Belfast 2008. L I N E U P 9:00 – 10:00 – Session-setup (registering) & networking 10:00 – 12:30 – Morning sessions and workshops 12:30 – 2:00 – Lunch (provided) 2:00 – 5:00 – Afternoon sessions and workshops 5:00 – 5:30 – Wrap up and … Continue reading “BarCamp Belfast this coming Saturday!”

I got this from Andy McMillan, the organiser of BarCamp Belfast 2008.

L I N E U P

9:00 – 10:00 – Session-setup (registering) & networking

10:00 – 12:30 – Morning sessions and workshops

12:30 – 2:00 – Lunch (provided)

2:00 – 5:00 – Afternoon sessions and workshops

5:00 – 5:30 – Wrap up and clean up

5:30 – late – Pub

The lineup for speakers will be available on Saturday morning after everyone has registered their session.

P R E M E E T
Since we have a lot of people coming from out of town, a meetup on Friday evening has been suggested. Anyone interested in a few pints should head along to McHughs for a few drinks on Friday at 6pm. Plan to make it an early night, though!

S P E A K E R S
The idea behind BarCamp is that everyone that attends also talks. Well under a quarter of the registered attendees have also registered a talk – theres still plenty of time to put something together. Everyone can find something to talk about, it doesnt even have to be long or insanely detailed – have a think about it, fire any ideas up on the wiki, and if you need any advice or questions answered, just fire me an email.

T E C H
Yep, we’ll have projectors available in both rooms with standard DVI connections. A few DVI to VGA adapters will be knocking about for those bringing Macs, but it’s still a good idea to pack a spare. Free wireless internet will be provided on the day, and we’ll try to have power strips running along the seating for laptops, etc.

R E Q U I R E D
If anyone has any spare wireless routers, please bring them along. The router(s) I have available are likely to go on fire once they get any serious traffic going, spares would be useful!

P U B L I C I T Y
If you’re attending or talking, please do all you can to plug yourself and the event on any blogs / social networks you frequency. Tell your friends, spread the word as much as you can! Anyone who has already blogged, I’d love to read what you’ve written, and if you’re planning on live-blogging or twittering like a manic, please let me know!

S T R E A M I N G
The conference will be streamed online – full details will go on the wiki as soon as I get ’em.

C O N T A C T
I haven’t been able to find email addresses for Paul Dundas, Paul Browne, Philip Orr, Florian Hollerweger, Paddy Donnelly, Peter Armstrong, Conor McCluskey, Daniel McLaughlin, Danielle McDougall or Michael Kitchen. If you know any of these people please forward this email on to them.

Any other questions, email Andy – or send him a message on twitter @goodonpaper.

Hope to see you all there.

9:00 – 10:00	– Session-setup (registering) & networking
10:00 – 12:30	– Morning sessions and workshops
12:30 – 2:00	– Lunch (provided)
2:00 – 5:00	– Afternoon sessions and workshops
5:00 – 5:30	– Wrap up and clean up
5:30 – late	– Pub