August 9th, 2005 is considered the day coworking was born. In his blog, Coding in Paradise, Brad Neuberg asked:
Do you work for yourself from home? Do you miss community and structure? Join Spiral Muse and Brad Neuberg in creating a new kind of work environment for free spirits!
Brad offered a place where independent workers could share a space and work independently on their own projects, but still be together.
Even though each of us is doing our own work, whether programming or writing a novel, we can feel each other’s presence, run ideas by the community, or take breaks together.
The trend wasn’t completely new. Airport or hotel lounges, conferences, business centers, and trade fairs preceded coworking as places and situations where people working on different projects shared a workspace temporarily. Coworking is not only a way of escaping lonely working at home or a restrictive office, but has made this casual workspace sharing much more than that. It removed walls and barriers, and focused on the community. Coworkers don’t just share square meters; when 1 and 1 meet in a coworking space, the result is often greater than 2.
The coworking days at Spiral Muse started with a meditation session. To celebrate Coworking Day, some spaces may do meditations, others might organize workshops, and some may just have an evening out. What all of these activities have in common is the celebration of the community. Coworking Day is a day on which the community takes a special importance. Last year in our space, co-up, we organized a Coworking Hack Day with our coworkers. This year, many spaces are preparing activities and parties.
What are you preparing for your space? Tell us on Twitter or Facebook!
