Coworking in Dublin – thoughts from the BarCamp discussion

Olivier put out the suggestion on Saturday as we left BarCamp Dublin that next year everyone should get together and build a web app. For the next ten minutes, I thought of a million and one ideas, stemming from things like a Hack-a-thon style coding competition, to a single application where everyone contributes ten lines of code (or contributes a tiny app in whatever language they choose…) … then all the way through the reasons why such a venture might fall to pieces. But it sure was an exciting ten minutes inside my head.

The big question I’m left with is: why should this be limited to BarCamp? Imagine a place where this kind of energy, this kind of collaboration potential is at your fingertips every day. The realist in me says: Imagine a place where no work ever gets done. I guess that’s a natural danger of the open source world, but time and again we see open source thriving, despite the odds. Hell, I’m blogging on open source right now.

Anyway, I’ve been following this co-working movement this past month or so and seeing all the action distributed among the south and south-west. I want a piece of the pie up here in Dublin. I called a discussion about it at BarCamp and there were 16 of us, despite taking up the last slot at 5pm when everyone was tired and everyone else had already left.

The jist of the discussion went something thus: There’re lots of us working at home, or in small office spaces alone. Money’s coming in, but we’re not minted. Jobs come and go – sometimes we’re too busy to handle everything that’s thrown at us, sometimes there’s a dry spell.

We’d like a space, somewhere between an internet cafe and an office. It’s like an internet cafe, because anyone can walk in and use it, but like an office, because once you walk in, you become a resource – by using the facility, you’re saying that anyone can approach you about their project or for advice/eyes/idea exchange etc.. On the flip side, you’re getting a space and an on-demand team with immediate access to their skills. Of course, participation isn’t mandatory. “Sorry, I’m really busy, I can’t really help you right now” — nobody’s going to mind that. It’s not cheap, but not prohibitively expensive and the buzz generates a work environment of competition and innovation, so productivity is boosted.

There’re a million and one contingencies, but I want to get the discussion going. I do a bit of work for an estate agent and the guy in there seemed to think that we could get at least talking with space owners and VCs. Hell, Digital Depot already pretty much do what I’m talking about … but they cater to companies and startups, not Bedouins nor freelancers.

Antoin pointed out that the idea is effectively like joining a club. Besides the word “club” sending shiver down my spine, he does make a good point – I suspect there would need to be some sort of semi-exclusivity, but I think the BarCamp model is good – the barriers to entry are virtually nil, but the nature of the idea should make it essentially self-moderating – as has been said before, this kind of thing is not for everyone.

The analogy I like best is that of an Agora – an open space where regular merchants are joined by the travelling salesmen, whilst wise men and philosophers wander about imparting advice and generating discussions about the very essence of what it is to be. It’s all about the little guy (or is it??).

So there you have it – freelancers of Dublin, unite! I’ve set up a Google Group for now to get the discussion rolling. There’s a lot to be arranged, and lots of different approaches to be considered. The fact that there’s interest and that this site exists, though, is tantamount to the potential of achieving something worthwhile.

Then again, as Conor Halpin says, if we’re serious about this tech industry, we should really uproot like good Irish emigrants and get our asses over to San Jose.

Paul Campbell is new to this whole “Irish Internet Community” after years living in a metaphysical hole in the ground. He’s raring to get going with Patchwork and currently freelancing in and around the Dirty ‘Aul Town