An exploration in coworking, nice offices, good looking design and a brand new way to work.
“Blueseed is a proposed tech incubator that will float in the ocean near Silicon Valley. Because it will be located in international waters, it won’t be subject to immigration laws (and other laws). The developers say it will be open for business in late 2013 or early 2014.”
New ways of working remotely are popping up daily, but the Blueseed is taking coworking to a whole new level. Read up on this visa-free, floating tech incubator here on Boingboing.net.
So, what do you think? … All aboard?
“The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has allowed premium office space to sit empty in its downtown Toronto headquarters for years, despite a tight office market that has seen rents climb 60 per cent since the end of the recession.”This article was sent from our friends at Bento Misto in Toronto talks about the growing trend of large companies abandoning their large real estate developments. Companies like Canadian Broadcasting find it more cost effective to completely leave extra space empty then renting it out although it’s worth an estimated $12,000,000 a year.
“There’s a temptation in our networked age to think that ideas can be developed by e-mail and iChat,” he told me. “That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘Wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.”
I read this quote while reading an article about Steve Jobs in the Harvard Business Review. This important idea is succinctly articulated in this quote.
We believe that the magic of coworking and sharing space isn’t about the direct and obvious connections you might find in a space, for example, “I need an iPhone app” and someone else announcing, “I make iPhone Apps!” Those connections are great, but it’s the other connections that happen daily, like overhearing an idea you never knew about that then inspires and drives you to make new connections all on your own. That’s one of the best parts of sharing space.
An interesting piece on NPR articulating the growing trend of carefully picking “gatekeeping” the people invited into some coworking spaces.
“After all, even if there were 11,000 U.S. coworking spaces - roughly the number of U.S. Starbucks - with 50 members, they would only be serving 550,000 workers. This is less than 1/2 of 1% of the U.S. workforce and less than 4% of the number of independent workers.”Crazy statistics on “The Rise of Big Coworking”
Recently read this fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal talking about some of the changes large companies are making regarding their real estate. Below are some fantastic quotes regarding American Express and their recent real estate transition…
“At American Express, roughly 20% of the 5,000 workers at the company’s New York headquarters are considered “club” employees, who come to the office just a few days a week and set up in unassigned desks. These employees are part of a companywide program called BlueWork, which is intended to spur creativity and save money by doing away with traditional office space.
Susan Chapman, a senior vice president at American Express who is overseeing the redesign, says that studies show traditional office space has a utilization rate of just 50% due to sick days, vacations and travel. That doesn’t count wasted drawer space that holds stacks of old paperwork, cookware, shoes and other personal items.”
Similarly GlaxoSmithKline has been making changes to great success…
“GlaxoSmithKline says it has saved nearly $10 million annually in real-estate costs by gradually shifting 1,200 employees at its Research Triangle Park, N.C., office to unassigned seating. Similar moves outside the U.S. have saved the U.K.-based company some £25 million ($40 million) annually, says Christian Bigsby, Glaxo’s senior vice president of world-wide real estate and facilities.”
A brief little snippet of this larger info-graphic articulating the booming nature of the Independent Workforce.
“The Exponential Growth of Coworking Spaces: Each year for the last 5 years the global number of traditional, office-based coworking spaces has roughly doubled. This exponential growth will likely continue again this year.”Nice tidbit from Small Business Labs
Shelly Turkle talks about our over dependence on our technology and the importance of face to face real time connections and communities. Sounds like another reason coworking matters.
Since Desktime is based out of Chicago our directory is filled with great shared workspaces in and around the city. Here are a few that have excited and impressed us…
The Coop is one of Chicago’s original coworking spaces, and one of our personal favorites since we got our start there. Nestled Downtown feet away from the CTA and nearby art galleries, The Coop has desks for rent by the day, week or month. The day rates are cheap ($20) and they offer flexible options for people who want to use the space more sporadically. There is a friendly office dog and free coffee in the kitchen for ‘Coopers.’ Read more about The Coop on their newly retooled website: http://coworkchicago.com
Enerspace is an interesting combination of a shared workspace and a workout facility. Having just recently opened in the West Loop, this coworking space was designed for entrepreneurs and start-up business professionals. Enerspace offers flexible monthly memberships and configurable seating, but what’s even better is the full fitness center within Enerspace. Need to take a workout break or quick shower after biking to the office? Do it at Enerspace!
Walking distance from the Magnificent Mile, Workspring is an ideal place for holding a meeting. Workspring differs from other shared spaces because it functions as a full-service retreat space. That means the meeting rooms and conference rooms were designed specifically for collaboration. The entire facility is available for rent for events and private company retreats.
Topics is one of Chicago’s first coffee houses built specifically with mobile professionals and freelancers in mind. This coffee shop has your self-employed needs covered with their private work areas, a conference room, quality coffee and a soup of the day. Topics is the ideal environment to, as they say, “drop in, turn on and tune out.”
STUDIO 24 is pretty unique… This 5,000 sq. foot space operates as a shared photography studio. There are two studio-areas (23 x 30 feet each) available for rent and the STUDIO comes equipped with a shared kitchen, bathroom, conference area and shooting space.
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