CoWorking News » Praxisberichte, Beispiele, Best-Practice

How to transform coworking from expression to collaboration

Felix Schürholz — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:14:22 +0000

In his TEDx talk in November 2009 Michel Bauwens made some very interesting observations about peer to peer production. He points to the fact that when people create something in common, they create their own infrastructure. On the other hand when people link to share their expression they tend to use a corporate infrastructure like Facebook or Flickr. I see coworking at the moment as a combination of these two.

There is now a great variety of coworking spaces some of which are based more on a “commons” foundation and some more on a “corporate” foundation. The work that is being carried out by the coworkers in these spaces tends to correlate to the foundation of the spaces. This means people working in more “corporate” coworking spaces tend to work more by themselves than people working in “commons” coworking spaces.

By means of deduction from the fact that there is very little to no common infrastructure between coworking spaces and coworking spaces (applies also to infrastructure between coworkers to coworkers) , it seems likely that the majority of work performed by coworkers in coworking spaces is individual or corporate in nature.

In contrast their is a lot of expression about collaborate coworking on platforms like Facebook. The danger I see is that the desired collaborate coworking I observe with a growing number of coworkers will not manifest effectively that way. As long as collaborative coworking rests in the realm of “expression” very little concrete collaboration takes place.

To change this and to evolve coworking the Free Coworking Group was set up. While still based on a corporate infrastructure like Facebook, the Group stands a very good chance to grow very quickly to gather the critical mass or momentum to build its own infrastructure.

To develop this process a number of tools will evolve in the same way as the Group will evolve. Two tools are already in place. The “Open International Coworking Calendar” to announce and promote Jellies and Free Coworking Offers. Secondly the Skill-Sharing list which evolves today from a Facebook document (via a Piratepad) into a GoogleDoc (Input), and Spreadsheet (Output).

Please use these tools and develop new ones!!! Free Coworking evolves by freely and actively using all tools that help to strengthen the Free Coworking Evolution.

Jellyweek 2012: Manual now available !!!

Felix Schürholz — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:38:38 +0000

Today Anni Roolf and Willi Schroll published the Jellyweek Manual for the Jellyweek 2012, that takes place from the 16th to the 22nd of January. In the manual you find the listing of all the jellies. To get an idea of where the jellies are, it is very nice to refer to the Jelly Map. Also available is the project list that is just starting to build up. To enter a new jelly use the “Jelly Questionnaire“. To enter a new project use the “Project Questionnaire“. Well done Anni Roolf and Willi Schroll!!! More information about Jellyweek on the Jellyweek Homepage as well as in the article “Worldwide Jellyweek Offers Free Intro To Coworking” by Beth Buczynski on Shareable.

Creative Environments for Coworking (Part4): Entreprenörskyrkan (Entrepreneurs Church)

Felix Schürholz — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:18:19 +0000

Thanks to Mindaugas Danys we can present you the “Entrepreneurs Church” described in the article of arcticstartup. We believe this new coworking space which starts “extended” operation on the 10th of January with “Startup Tuesdays” fits very well into our series of creative environments with its motto: “have fun and play with ideas”. Three elements are particularly conducive to creative work. 1. Large Open Space: To widen the mind for new solutions you need space to develop several ideas at the same time. This happens not only on a physical, but also on a mental level. Literally we have to give space to our new ideas. 2. Multi-Level: For development the change of perspective is extremely important. How does our idea look from a different perspective (looking down from the first floor and vice versa)? Which dimension changes or is affected by our new idea? 3. Historic background: A building like this former church offers an unusual and provocative environment. Similar to the process of change of perspective, the provocation by new sets of meaning and association/dissociation brings about new insights.

On top of being a coworking space: “the building serves as a venue for events such as TEDx, pitch evenings, parties and even the occasional wedding.” Congratulations to Gustav Nisser, Jesper Lindmarker, Jesper Lejfjord and Petra Jonsson the four founders of this project!!! You truly created a “creative environment”!!!

Makespace in Singapore joins “Waste becomes Resource” Campaign

Felix Schürholz — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:42:06 +0000

Makespace, Coworking Space in Singapore, opening in January 2012 has joined our campaign. The latest pictures are very promising. Boon Teck Tan writes:”We had to do up our coworking space, quite a bit as it was a pretty old space. We had been able to reuse some of the 20 year old light fixtures and supplement them with newer ones. Brings about a certain charm, to repaint and reuse them.” Of what we can see, this looks great!!! If you like to share examples of ”Waste becomes Resource” elements in your coworking space please join our group on Facebook or send an article to redaktion@coworking-news.de .

“Waste becomes Resource” Campaign: Clean Cooking & Electricity Access

Felix Schürholz — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:22:19 +0000

When you start to focus in a certain direction, it is amazing what you can find. Put together the idea of clean cooking and “Waste becomes Resource” Thinking you find a product like the “BioLite” stove: “BioLite has created a biomass cookstove that, by converting waste heat into electricity, reduces smoke emissions by 95% for improved health while providing mobile phone and LED light charging capability to drive widespread adoption.” We are not the only ones that like this project. Very successful participant in “America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs 2011” (Top 25)and now (Top 11) in “McKinsey on Society, Social Innovators“. Join our Campaign on Facebook to support “Waste becomes Resource” Thinking and Action.

BioLite from BioLite on Vimeo.

Creative Environments for Coworking (Part3): Het Paleis Groningen

Felix Schürholz — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:20:11 +0000

We started on the theme of colours, and when you look at the first promo video of Het Paleis in Groningen (Netherlands), you could certainly think it is all about “alchemy“.

Yes, there is some “alchemy” built into the former chemistry lab of Groningen University, which is now the home of about 100 creative companies. The right ingredients need to be transformed into real life offers, see promo video two.

And what you get is a complex structure of studios, fablab, conference rooms, brasserie, hotel, appartments etc.
Here people can live, work, eat and celebrate creativity!!!

Revival des Coworking Business Lunch in München

Felix Schürholz — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:48:51 +0000

Eine Münchner Coworking Institution lebt wieder auf: Der Coworking Business Lunch. Nachdem 2010 sieben sehr kurzweilige und produktive Lunches im Zoozies stattfanden, geht der Business Lunch 2011 in die zweite Runde. Auftakt ist am Mittwoch, den 30. November 2011, natürlich wieder im Zoozies. Neben der Geschäftsanbahnung, soll diesmal tatsächlich der private Aspekt im Vordergrund stehen. Ein klassisches Powerdating (6 Frauen, 6 Männer) zur Team- und vielleicht auch Pärchenbildung :-) Who knows. Massimo Carraro hat Coworking einmal “Organized Promiscuity” genannt. Schaun mer mal…, was die Münchner daraus machen ;-)

P.S. Nur wer ein Ticket hat und für eine ausgeglichene Geschlechterverteilung sorgt, kann teilnehmen (Anmeldeschluss: 27. November 2011).

“raumteiler” in Mannheim bietet jetzt Coworking

Felix Schürholz — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:04:00 +0000

Das Deutsche CoWorking Verzeichnis freut sich über den 63. Eintrag: “raumteiler” in Mannheim. Ab sofort gibt es dort auf 460 Quadratmetern noch 20 helle Büroarbeitsplätze zu vergeben. Der Besprechungsraum und die voll eingerichtete Küche können von allen „Mitteilern“ genutzt werden.

Creative Environments for Coworking (Part2): Catalyst Ranch

Felix Schürholz — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:02:33 +0000

At the start of the series I like to stay it little bit more on the theme of colours. Colours are very important as they provoke an emotional response. Combining a wide range of colours in an unusual setting will certainly lead to new and fresh ideas. It might not be everyone´s taste, but once in a while it is very useful to leave the own “colour scheme” to reach new continents of thought and method. (Warning: You might feel tempted to put on your sun glasses while watching the following video of “Catalyst Ranch in Chicago“, to protect your eyesight ;-). Try to resist this reflex :-)))

I would also like to invite your participation. Suggest your favourite creative coworking space or describe the creative elements in your coworking space that you like best. Comment below or send an email with pictures that we can publish in one of our next articles in this series to redaktion@coworking-news.de .

Manchmal dauert es 2 Jahre! Coworking Saarbrücken eröffnet am Freitag

Felix Schürholz — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:45:48 +0000

Als Jochen Breuer am 5. Oktober 2009 nach Meiningen zum Treffen der deutschen Coworking Initiativen reiste, hätte er sicher nicht geglaubt, dass es noch 2 Jahre dauern würde bis er mit seinen Mitstreitern den geplanten Coworking Space in Saarbrücken eröffnen würde. Jetzt ist es soweit. Am Freitag, den 14. Oktober 2011 steigt das Eröffnungsjelly (siehe auch “Open International CoWorking Calendar“). Herzlichen Glückwunsch dazu!!! Die ersten Bilder sind auf der Facebook Seite zu bewundern. Wer selber einen Coworking Space eröffnen möchte, sollte sich vielleicht überlegen Kontakt zu Jochen aufzunehmen, oder wie er damals, zum Treffen der deutschen Coworking Initiativen und Spaces am Samstag nach Nürnberg zu fahren. Coworking braucht Ausdauer, eine klare Vision und manchmal auch etwas Inspiration von Außen.