Trading Jacks

This post is a response to Work Together, Build the Bar, posted on Florida Creatives by Ryan Price.

Coworking is happening now.  The coworking movement in Orlando has essentially been self-organizing and remains dependent upon a community of independent, creative, and enterprising individuals.  A coworking space is just a space.  Its primary selling point is that it has the potential to be ‘owned’ by a group of creative, independent people who can use it as they see best. It offers a highly visible, neutral ground for people of different industries to meet and collaborate, and it has the potential to increase the visibility of the freelancing population in general.  But the people occupying the space are the true assets that give a space its character, appeal, and, ultimately, its marketability.

A coworking space must be well-designed in order for it to achieve its full potential.  Like any other endeavor, the design of a given project will strongly influence what and with what efficiency tasks can be accomplished.  In the case of coworking, both the physical design and the organizational design need to be strongly considered.  Despite the unplanned, spontaneous nature of the activities within the space - or perhaps because of it - the space must be organized so that it can be very flexible and very agile in its operations.  Whoever is running the space (making sure that there is paper for the copier and that six groups aren’t trying to use the conference room at the same time) needs to be able to work with the community to proactively make things happen.

To go back to the bar metaphor:  a bar is designed as a gathering place for people to relax and talk, to  share ideas and experiences.  A bar can be a neat place, but a bar designed as a pool hall and a bar designed as an Irish pub and a bar designed as a indie joint are going to function very differently and attract very different people.  If you don’t try to design certain principles into the build-out and expect to add those things in later, you may run into some problems.  (i.e. Where do we put these pool tables?)  And, no matter how cool the setup is, if the guy behind the counter is a miser and accuses you of stealing or, conversely, if he allows anything and everything to happen within his operation, the bar could very easily become unfun or unsafe.

This all to say:  a bar is built for people, for gathering, for specific activities to take place. In these things, it is very much like a coworking space.  If we forget the people we cater to, we’ve lost the big picture; as we all know, a bar loses its draw if there are no cool people available to spark interesting conversations and make things happen.  After all, that was the whole point of building a bar in the first place.

Tags: coworking, orlando

Tuesdays are official coworking days in Orlando.  Every Tuesday, people gather at Stardust Video and Coffee, sit at tables, and work together.  While they work, they drink coffee or tea or root beer or kombucha, or any other of the various beverages Stardust offers.  The shop is a great environment for casual coworking:  the tables are easy to work at, the wi-fi is free, and the food is excellent.

For those of you unfamiliar with “casual coworking,” it is essentially an informal gathering of professionals who would otherwise work independently.  There are some exceptions to this rule:  some people who hold day jobs come to cowork during the lunch hour.  The level of responsibility is relatively low:  you show up when you can and stay as long as you want.  Different members of the coworking group work at Stardust throughout the day, but the biggest crowd is generally during the lunch hour, when people who normally work out of an office are able to join the group.  People use the time together to collaborate, to discuss current projects, or simply to enjoy the luxury of working with and near other people.

Most of the regulars in the group are people in the tech community, but people of any profession are welcome to join.  The group usually sits on the far right side of the shop.  If you’re interested - or even just curious - the invite is open; check us out.

Stardust Video and Coffee offers an extensive range of beverages, including coffee and tea, gourmet sodas, niche ‘health-food’ drinks, hard-to-find brews, and other alcoholic drinks.  A wide selection of lunch and snack items is also offered, with vegetarian and organic options available.  Stardust is open from 10am-10pm.

Tags: coworking, orlando

Coworking is becoming a catchphrase amongst freelancers in big cities all over the world, but many people in the general population have never heard of it.  So what is coworking, and who participates in it?  What benefits are there to being part of a coworking group or of having a coworking space?

Let’s explore the concept of coworking first.  Coworking can happen anywhere, any time of day, between people from different professions or between people of the same profession.  Coworking is working together, collaborating together, and sharing professional experiences in a neutral environment.  Coworking groups are often self-forming and can meet in cafés, restaurants, or other public areas.  Some people even open up their homes to provide a place for coworking to occur.  Jelly is one of the most prevalent ‘casual coworking’ organizations.

The benefits of working with a coworking group are numerous.  You get to be part of a community of creative, independent people with whom you solve problems and share experiences.  At the same time, you are able to maintain your freedom and independence, make your own schedule, and retain the benefits you would normally have as a freelancer.

A space specifically designed for coworking provides a platform for the community, giving its members better collective visibility to employers and to other freelancers.  A coworking space, ideally, is designed, to allow interaction between individuals of different fields of study.  In this way, people who would not work together under usual freelancing circumstances would have the opportunity to connect and benefit from their mutual exposure.  Seminars and community events may also be held in coworking spaces to raise funds, highlight the work of a member of the space, or just to promote community spirit.  Well-known coworking spaces include CitizenSpace in San Francisco and Indy Hall in Philadelphia.

Tags: coworking, definition