"It's impossible to go through life with blinders on in New York City," says Economopoulos. "You have to figure out how to live with millions of other people. That's what coworking is about."

when elliot winard transplanted himself to nyc, not only did he find a new city, but a new community of like minded folk. if you've been wondering what's it like to cowork, read this great article by Kiera Butler in the New York Post (archived pdf article).

Technorati Tags: brooklyn coworking, coworking, freelancers union, jelly nyc

Tired of arguing with your cat about a bad client?
Wondering what is the next wave of social networking technology?
Looking for an invigorating environment to call an "office?"

You are invited to Brooklyn Coworking's monthly open house and happy hour!

Break free from hourly coffee purchases and grab a slice of Williamsburg's alternative working community - Coworking @ The Change You Want to See - a cafe-like community and collaboration space for developers, writers and independents. These types of grassroots coworking spaces are popping up all over the world, from San Francisco, to Paris, to a few here in New York City...

Join us this Friday, 30 March, at The Change You Want to See gallery for COWORKING BROOKLYN. From 10 am to 5 pm, our doors will be open for anyone to come on by and give us a try. Bring a laptop, a snack or two, manuscript, screenplay, or killer app and leave the kats behind.

From 5 pm to 7 pm, we will host a happy hour(s)! Bring a treat or two and get ready to let your hair down.

Who are we? Writers, Programmers, Organizers, Artist, Philosophers, Activist, Bloggers, and Adventure Seekers...

When you join the Brooklyn Coworking space you get:
• a community of like minded folks
• a low monthly rate
• a flux of interesting people
• networking and expertise
• wifi
• printer and scanner
• coffee
• beer-o-clock
• quiet spaces to work in

If you have questions feel free to email us at brooklyn.coworking[a/t]gmail[d0t]com

Cost: Free!!!
When: Friday, 30 March, 10AM - 5PM (Happy Hour 5pm - 7pm)
Where: The Change You Want to See Gallery, 84 Havemeyer, Willamsburg, Brooklyn
Map: OnNYTurf Subway map

Want more info?
Join the new NYC Coworking Google Group -
http://groups.google.com/group/coworkingnyc
Check out The Change You Want to See Gallery:
http://www.notanalternative.net/wordpress/
See the Coworking Wiki: http://wiki.coworking.info/
See the Coworking Blog: http://blog.coworking.info/

Technorati Tags: brooklyn, brooklyn coworking, coworking, economy 2.0, freelancers union, nextNY, not an alternative, social entrepreneurship, the change you want to see, williamsburg

if you're looking for boiled down comments on the value of face to face conversations and how they support your constituency, check out this creating passionate users blog post. i've written before how online connections must meet physically, but in this post, kathy sierra lays out 10 universal components that are golden rules in building ANY constituency. fast companies' friends network is one the best examples of a physical medium using online tools to promote a disaggregate support network. heath row's journeys in 1999, 2000, and 2001 provide tangible experience supporting user networks. also, you should note that one of the best examples of diy face-to-face organizing is Four Eyed Monsters - check out henry jenkins' take on their impressive work.

1) Put together a "How To Start A Local User Group or Club" document. (noel's note - FastCompany.com has an interesting FAQ that should be a good start.) Include tips on things like finding a space, topic ideas, and getting speakers.

2) Offer free materials for the user groups User group meetings often start or end with prize drawings; give the user group leaders plenty of swag for the meetings. It'll make the leaders look good, etc.

3) Treat your user group leaders like royalty Sun puts JUG (Java User Group) leaders on a pedestal--helping them promote their groups, giving them special receptions at the annual JavaOne conference, etc.

4) Instead of a traditional user group, provide guidelines for a Study Group (noel's note - one really good example of this is the Drupal Dojo - a weekly user let training session.) Collect advice and lessons from other existing groups. Provide a list of suggested books to read, and 6-months' worth of topic plans.

5) Hold a very low-cost annual weekend conference. (noel's note - couchsurfing.com has historically set up "collectives" around the world to help maintain their website.) Make it ridiculously easy for people to get there. Find sponsors to help. Even better if you hold several mini-conferences a year, in different locations.

6) Encourage users to start a local BarCamp (or other *Camp). (noel's note - there are many examples of *camps - check out rootscamp or drupalcamp) Direct your users to the BarCamp Wiki where they can learn how to do it.

7) Utilize monthly meetings. There are many examples - Social Media Club's wiki, Drupal's Groups, NextNY.org's wiki, Frak Party, or Meetup.com. (original PSU's recommendation - Use Meetup.com as a resource!)

8) If you already have online user forums, enlist moderators to try to form an offline meetup. This is often one of the best places to start.

9) Hold special cocktail receptions/parties for user group leaders at industry conferences in your domain.

10) Advertise/promote your user group events on your main page! Remember, passionate users MUST connect with others who share that passion, so this is not a nice-to-have... it's an essential part of any product, service, or cause for which people are passionate.

Technorati Tags: couchsurfing, coworking, drupalcamp, economy 2.0, fast company, four eyed monsters

this post has multiple titles... ;)
What a week for NYC Coworking; Coworking at the Tank NYC; it's time to build cafeBricolage; Future of Coworking Manhattan...

Back in December, at the end of year Tech Meetup, I innocently jumped onto the microphone and predicticed there would be, unlike the cube farms today, there will be more organic office environments. The man who got on the mic after me said that the city will have more sunshine studios... little did i know that his firm invested heavily in sunshine... in the end, the only thing i care about is building interpersonal relationships that foster the growth of self and community. if sunshine can do it great, but the real importance is on organic, self-sustaining structure.

the past few weeks have been quite interesting for the coworking community in NYC. on 23 jan, charlie introduces a long conversation to the NextNY community about the future of NYC's startup community. Then on 2 Feb, fellow buckeye, Nate Westheimer, posts his's interpretation of Coworking and calls it cafeBricolage. I blog saying the Tank NYC wants to do this; Nate and I talk about our communal interest and agree to wait until after 28 Feb's Next NY event.

then on Monday, Business Week posts an article; it hit Boing-Boing on Tuesday, and on Wed nextNY hosts Big Apple 2.0 – New York’s Present and Future as a Startup Hub. thursday night ABC News runs an evening news segment talking about alternative working spaces featuring my buddies at 116 west houston. finally on friday, 1 March marks the six month anniversary of Brooklyn Coworking and the one year anniversary of Jelly NYC; Nate announces it's time to pull the trigger on cafeBricolage and solicit support; at the same time, David Chen posts to the NextNY list with his desire for NextNYCoworking.

There are several reasons why this timeline is important...

• One, i'm excited to see the history!
• Two, i think we have reached a critical mass of ideas and support.
• Three, there is enough room for everyone.

In my eyes, Wed's nextNY meeting was cathartic and progressive. The drinking session / post-meeting conversations was more progressive than any other tech meeting i've seen since moving to the city... one group to my right wanted to set up a quarterly review to compete with tech-crunch, and a bunch to my left started debating the exact location of a future cafe shop. when everyone left, i knew what should happen... EVERYTHING!

for the past two days, conversations on and off the nextNY list have floated a multitude of ideas. if the nextNY community is truly representative of "the next generation of digital movers and shakers," this is going to be one heck of a year for NYC... heck, even have my fellow DrupalCamp buddies are itching for another Barcamp... everyone now see the importance of building a social technology community...

...but this community doesn't need "leaders," it needs stewards who will facilitate conversation, creation, and community.

why am i making this so damn long???

at the beginning of feb, when nate published his cafeBricologe manifesto, i was relived and scared - relieved to know that someone else was thinking the same thing; scared to think that after working on idea of "coworking" that someone would attempt to brand it something else... alas, i am way over that now, but i am not over the notion that these are two separate ideas... they are one in the same... born from the fruit of inspiration for the productive soul.

according to tara hunt, paris is about to open up an OpenSpace cafe. this space, partly funded by the city and private enterprise, comes after much sweat and tears from the progressive technology community in Paris. from eailer document seems to be exactly what cafeBricolage is attempting to create. sadly from my own research into locations, people don't understand, let alone want you to have a space..

after having agents question our frequency of elevator use, (shish, this is nyc... elevators were made to go up and down...) i threw up my hands, not in discuss, but in discovery... after the 2006 election i had one of many ahha moments, i came to the understanding that we aren't talking about the meat and potatoes, which has led me to launch my global research project - on the luck of seven. i am now overwhelmed and have less time to make the outreach that i once had done. coworking and it's derivatives must happen, they are the counterculture to the walled gardens everyone calls cubicles!

where does the future nyc coworking community stand???

the most reasonable location that combines the elements of a cafe, manhattan accessibility and reasonable availability - you shouldn't look any further than the tank. the tank nyc is home to nyc's hope, and the world's up and coming performing and visual arts. formed shortly after the 2004 presidential campaign, the tank bounced from location to location. finally, firmly rooted it self in the basement of collective unconscious.

after several of my posts to the nyc dorkbot and a few political email lists, Mike Rosenthal, the Tank's Managing Director, called me and we have since entertained/discussed/planned on utilizing the Tank's daytime hours for a productivity space. outfitted with a mini-cafe, sound system, projector, stage, tables, couches, and with ready access to the subway - the tank is a perfect fit for productivity...

the original idea would have limited the use only to paying members, but that quickly evolved into if the concept if "coworkers" could find 100 people to donate a $1 dollar a day to the Tank, the space would pay for itself... if you cared to break it out even further and with a reasonably large pool of people could be cut even further...

members of this Coworking @ the Tank would have three extended benefits from normal tank membership:

1. daytime use of the the space.
2. the ability to host one happy hour a month.
3. the ability to host one evening of programming pending the tank's calendar.

pictures of the tank do not accurately represent the current layout, but if you've noticed they are hosting quite a few salons. (see saturday's event) mike and i have had two "come to jesus" meetings, but with mike becoming the managing director and my recent propensity to lift off for European conferences our momentum has stalled a bit...

if you are looking for an immediate cafe like atmosphere/solution, i am more than willing to assist in building a solid relationship with the tank. before i leave for SXSW and then Europe, a tuesday or wed happy hour would be great!

what's needed? for this to move forward there needs to be five stewards who are willing to shape coworking at the tank or any other similar location... also understand that this group would have practical knowledge in building and setting up an infrastructure ready to prep for a future laid out in Nate's call to arms cafeBricolage post...

consider this a study group to build the future...

this article has been post on the nextNY email list, click here to see comments...

Technorati Tags: barcamp, boing boing, brooklyn, brooklyn coworking, coworking, digital ecology, drupalcamp, economy 2.0, future of cities, jelly nyc, new york city, nextNY, not an alternative, social entrepreneurship, sustaninability, the tank nyc

this month celebrates six months of brooklyn coworking!! not only have they upgraded their space with bookshelves and a super plush couch, but they are looking for new friends. located in the gallery space of Not an Alternative / The Change You Want to See at 84 havemeyer, just a stones throw from L, G, and J/M/Z and surround by the best watering holes, brooklyn coworking always features a "mad-productive work ethic with the occasional look what i found on youtube thrown in"...

current rates...

• 2-3 days/wk = $150
• 4 days/wk = $175
• 5 days/wk = $200

for more information or if you are interested in stopping by and working for a day, email beka at brooklyn.coworking@gmail.com and bring your laptop!

photo by noneck - photo history of brooklyn coworking - cross posted on blog.coworking.info

Technorati Tags: brooklyn coworking, coworking, not an alternative, williamsburg

on saturday, our lovable ny times, tacit supporters of the atlantic yards project, came to realize that our society is changing and decided to profile the 16 year old "advocacy" organization. it's a nice article, too bad they don't have comments so i can ask my questions in the same forum as their article. wouldn't it be nice to ask questions or comments to newspaper articles?

on top of their good press, it's seems like i ruffled some feathers! not only has the freelancers union refused to add me to their blogroll, but it appears that a comment on my post last week caused some heat. i have removed the name of the whistle blower to protect his identity. it appears that the freelancers union holds an exclusive class m status from new york state's insurance department. if that's the case, it's very intriguing....

then the same day i got that comment, i get a the following email from the freelancers union as a follow up to my blog post/email asking to be in their "focus group" on advocacy. i hope they publish their "focus" group as well as their "results." in the meantime, i'll poke my head around and find out why this 16 year old advocacy organization, with ties to the afl-cio, has an exclusive "class-m" designation.

ps - i have nothing against the freelancers union. like all organizations, i wish they would be a bit more transparent. just like, greenpeace's green my apple campaign, i think that FU has much to gain and nothing to lose by being a leader in transparent organizations.

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Technorati Tags: coworking, curbed, freelancers union, gothamist, green my apple, online advocacy

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jason gooljar, a fellow state senate campaign alum, sent me a link to United Professionals. while not exactly an alternative to freelancers union, it appears that they too are attempting to herd the masses who want to work independently. are there any more alternatives?

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Technorati Tags: freelancers union, politics

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