CoWork with Me?
The notion of ‘coworking’ comes up every couple of months in the MNteractive community, a place where a number of independent or otherwise office-challenged people could spent the afternoon working near others.
CoWorking.Info is aggregating info about worldwide coworking efforts. I see Madison, Chicago, and Milwaukee, but not us.
Bueller?
ELSEWHERE:
Ben Edwards unpacks the need for an open source office space and Justin Grammens started the coworking minneapolis wiki. Thank you both.
3 Comments
Didn’t the ‘Rennaisance Box’ in St. Paul try something like this a couple of years ago? It offered cheap community-style office space for techies (and others). Apparently too few participated as the RenBox no longer exists (it was sold to the Central Community Housing Trust).
@Mark - yes, you’re right, and I think you nailed the issue with this entire concept. One of the benefits of working solo is not having the overhead of an actual office….things like the Renaissance Box, no matter how low, bring that overhead back. I think that’s also why there hasn’t been another effort like it locally.
I really wonder if a full-on co-working scenario is what everyone needs. If overhead is an issue, maybe a coffee shop that has a meeting room that can be used for $20/hr, a laser printer, and a way to secure a laptop is a better way to go. I’d pay a more for that kind of thing, but I’d use it less frequently. Seems like a more flexible model might might attract the more casual freelance crowd.