"I’m a new evangelist for coworking in Austin," Writes Connie in her blog "Every dot connects." There was something common to the ideas we have been speaking about with Seppo Lappalainen.
Austin is too far for us. We need to find other means of cooperation and collaboration. The technical tools and platforms are available. But we need common goals and projects. Finland and Texas are not natural co-working partners traditionally. But the distance can bring some very new creative tensions to the drawing board of future co-creators and distance workers.This is my comment on her blog: "What some of us are talking about for Austin is a place where tecchies, writers and creatives of all stripes, could buy a membership, much like a gym where you go to exercise. Necessary technology would be built in and provided in a comfortable setting. Of course there would be a coffee bar and maybe even food. Workspaces and lockers would be available. Venture capital and government sponsorship could foster the creative genius that would gather. Relationships would develop organically and natural collaboration would be inevitable."
Comment by Helge V. Keitel | Made August 14, 2007 at 1:08 pm
About Co-working: We’ve a Finnish team with architects, Web 2.0 and other creatives who think that global open innovation and co-creation could be the next big thing.
Social Collaboration is fine. Talking, chatting, facebkooking, twittering and jaikuing is fine for a while. But talk doesn’t bring bread on the table.
Our thinking is that we need to work on bigger or smaller projects that have financial importance.
You speak about a meeting place in Austin. Finland is a big country and professionals are more dispersed. We use Basecamp as a co-working environment for distance work.
But it’s the same here in every town. You go there with your laptop and find out there is no WiFi. “Thanks for coffee, I never come again,” I think. WiFi should be a must for a public place.
Best regards
Helge
digitalvillages on Twitter
visualradio on Jaikuu
2 comments:
Helge, you are correct that while social networking is fun and leads to many new ideas, we must find a way to incorporate these ideas into business and make the social networking profitable.
While many more places offer free wifi now, it is still not easy to find them. Establishing a co-working place in a major city seems like a feasible alternative to working in coffee shops for many creative and tech people. And with tools such as Skype and BaseCamp, it even makes international collaboration possible.
I'm very glad we have made this Texas-Finland connection, and I look forward to having more conversations with you about using social media.
I guess the next best thing will be profitable collaboration.
It's fun to talk and twitter and to build new connections and networks.
The social networks are there to expand the global innovation and co-creation.
We need to get out from our narrow national traps, dead-ends and mindsets.
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