It’s only been a couple of months, but I knew at first sight.
I was living with 5 guys and a girl – half were entrepreneurs. (Plus, two of the remaining three were developing side ventures.) Although I still loved and regularly visited my cafes, I was – for the very first time – able to enjoy working from home. We’d sit around the coffee table on our laptops, working solo but always able to bounce around ideas or ask for input as challenges arose. We’d start in the morning, taking breaks for tamales, ice cream or rock climbing sessions, and work until well past midnight. It was great.
Then we had an idea… Why not open the house up to other indies and have fresh entrepreneurial blood around? We were planning to put up a CL ad. Then Laid-Off Camp happened.
I discovered a name for what we were doing: CO-WORKING. It was something that I had hugely craved throughout my workspace-seeking days. I learned it was a small but growing movement; that there was a recently-published book about it (“I’m Outta Here!” http://www.lulu.com/content/6113756); there were people doing it – a wiki, a Google group, Jellies, shared spaces… I felt like a queer small-town kid stumbling into a gay pride parade.
How did I miss all this?
I already had the idea of developing Work Habitats into something that could help people find better spaces and ways to work. What I was missing was the uber-important piece of connecting people with one another. With that awareness it felt more real – and more scary. Like an actual (gasp!) commitment.
It’s taken (is taking?) me awhile, but I’m diving in. I visited a bunch of coworking spaces while in SF, am joining groups (even started one on Twitter:http://twibes.com/coworking – JOIN! :), and am working on building this blog into a useful resource.
I was a little afraid that people who’ve been in the space for awhile would balk at my attempts to be the kind of resource that I hope to be… Then I smacked myself with a big “duh” – the more the merrier!
This is a movement, afterall!!!
