THE ALTRUPRENEUR CENTER PROJECT

Should we issue a YouTube challenge to coworkers?

Brad Neuberg and Chris Messina and Tara Hunt, from Citizen Space were in a short film piece under seven minutes about the benefits of coworking last year on ryanishungry.com.

The piece was put together by Jay Dedman and Ryanne Hodson.What else is out there? We’re going to start sharing our favorite videos that we find on YouTube.

It seems like we could still use more film exposure of the coworking movement at-large.It got me thinking, something that people ask us all the time is “what kind of work keeps people self-employed in coworking spaces?”

Should The Altrupreneur Center Project issue a YouTube challenge to members of the international coworking community to submit 15-to-60 second pieces stating a) their name, b) the name and location of their coworking space, and c) what they do exactly to earn money either being self-employed, as a virtual employee, or as an entrepreneur? If there’s time, it would be interesting if d) they also mentioned how they got into their line of work.

In some ways, think Gig or Working, only for coworkers and on film.

That kind of thing could grow organically and I think be of real interest to not only the public but also the coworking community itself. There’s a perception I think right now that it’s mostly “programmers,” but on the contrary, there’s a lot more variety from what I’ve seen so far and a ton of fascinating stories that need to be shared.

               

Coworking and healthcare benefits

When I talk to people about coworking, on more than occasion the reaction has been “I’d consider doing it if there was a way I could get good healthcare and dental benefits through the coworking space.”

The discussion has been going on for a while and I think the verdict is still out regarding the best way to go about it.

One thing I think we’ll see more with the Coworking 2.0 movement will be communities coming together around a preventative healthcare and holistic wellness culture. Obviously everyone has their different opinions, but I think promoting at least the abstract concept (while filling in the specifics later) in coworkspace could possibly be one of the stronger attractants for forming a community that sticks together — especially considering growing public health crisis in the US whether that is attributed to preventable causes.

               

Harvard Business School Cooperative Case Studies

If you’re interested, The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives has posted a list of cooperative case studies from the Harvard Business School Case Study series.   I wish they were free but when you go to their site they’re actually $6.95 each.

There are still a lot of other case studies on their site for free from sources all over the Web.  It’s a great list.

               

How do you design the ideal coworking space? Step 1: base it on research studies

James Corbett asked a while ago what the ideal coworking space would look like? The LaunchPad Coworking Blog also put the question out there along with a few others.

As a movement, we might want to consider basing our feedback on both our opinions as well as the research done out there regarding the human factors of coworking design.

What the coworking movement needs right now is a dialogue regarding what exactly is an “intelligent workspace” that’s in sync with lifehacking philosophy, GTD principles, and the latest research in Industrial & Organizational Psychology for creating productive work environments that also foster creative collaboration. This then needs to be combined with the latest in sustainable green architecture practices.

Incorporating these characteristics, and a few others, would probably be universally accepted as common sense and a good foundation for any grassroots coworking space in development.

For instance, I was surprised to read in a study conducted back in 2002 titled Traditional versus Open Office Design that “research in open office design has shown that it is negatively related to workers’ satisfaction with their physical environment and perceived productivity.”

Yet, numerous coworking spaces across the country have open office designs.

               

Will McMansions become tenements?

The Atlantic Monthly asked the bold question in an article they published last March titled The Next Slum.

               

Project Harvest Hope

Project Harvest Hope is a great example of a community using the power of cooperative agriculture and other cooperative development models to revitalize spirits and  sustainable rural development and the strengthening of civil society in the Székelyföld region of Romania.

               

2008 National Cohousing Conference in Boston, MA

Between June 12 - 15, 2008, folks from all over the US will be attending the 2009 National Cohousing Conference in Boston, MA.

Highlights will include a keynote speech by John Abrams, founding member and resident of Island Cohousing in Martha’s Vineyard and numerous breakout sessions exploring a variety of issues to forming a cohousing community.

               

Coworking 2.0 = The Hub

We dig The Hub.

According to their Website:

The Hub is an incubator for social innovation. We offer membership of inspirational habitats in major world cities for social innovators to work, meet, learn, connect and realise progressive ideas. The Hub is a place for making things happen. All the tools and trimmings needed to cultivate an idea, launch a project, host a meeting and run a business. You can find us in London, Johannesburg, Rotterdam, Bristol and Sao Paulo.

This is a classic Coworking 2.0 model and we love it.  It’s not just bringing self-employed people together — it’s for people who are interested in social innovation.

               

Eco-villages sweeping Higher Education and what’s next

Tony Sirna, a writer for Community Buzz, reports a sampling of universities that are either seriously exploring building eco-villages or getting things underway already. According to The University of Maine’s college newspaper site, bangoredailynews.com, they report that on their campus:

“Organizers envision the so-called ‘York Ecovillage’ as a model of sustainable living where students will eat food from local greenhouses and gardens, recycle almost all waste and live in rooms powered by the sun and heated by the Earth.”

I hope with this excitement over eco-villages in Higher Education, there’s also attention given to the rise in the importance of inter-generational residential colleges and the value they add to the collegiate experience.

               

Condominiums versus cooperative housing

Richard Linderman, an Associate lawyer and member of the Community Associations group of Stark & Stark, writes in his posted article on njlawblog.com, “Whereas ownership of condominiums provide the benefit of easy resale and mortgage refinancing, a homeowner has little to no control over who his or her neighbor may be.   On the other hand, co-ops provide the distinct ability for the cooperative to take on a unique identity and sense of community over time.”