Coworking Ireland

I’ve said before that I’m not really interested in using a public coffee shop for working. I think it might be more workable in the US where internet access is ubiquitous and there’s certainly more of a laptop culture but laptops are still few and far between in Europe.

The spacial logistics for using a coffee shop are also pretty poor:

• Tables often too small (designed for two lattés and a danish)
• Coffee plus laptop = bad (Trust me on this one)
• Laptops often too big (Come on Apple!)
• Large laptop bags obstruct walkways (this creates coffee+laptop situations)

Read More…

Damien Mulley floats the very cool idea of applying the FON model to Coworking-

“Wouldn’t it be nice to travel the world or country and hop from one place to another for plug in for free in return for you having a Coworking facility that allows a few free seats for the nomad Coworkers?”

Wouldn’t it just! So let me see if I’m interpreting Damien’s idea correctly. Let’s say 8 people in Dublin were renting a coworking space between them with 2 spare places available. Now, if that group of 8 people joins “The International Coworking Club” (TICC) and agrees to let any other members avail of their 2 spare places free of charge then they can also travel to any other TICC location worldwide and avail of a cowork space free of charge. Comments?

This article in The New Yorker debates commuting.

“I was shocked to find how robust a predictor of social isolation commuting is,â€? Robert Putnam, a Harvard political scientist, told me. (Putnam wrote the best-seller “Bowling Alone,â€? about the disintegration of American civic life.) “There’s a simple rule of thumb: Every ten minutes of commuting results in ten per cent fewer social connections. Commuting is connected to social isolation, which causes unhappiness.â€?

What of coworking? Read More…

Silicon Republic reports on the new €21m Government investment in Community Enterprise Centres (CEC) -

‘The CEC Scheme is a community led initiative in the form of a partnership between the local community and the State whereby the local community provide business space in a centre and Enterprise Ireland fund up to 50pc of the costs of the centre. The remainder of the funding is actively raised by the community itself from local sources.Announcing the latest investment, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin TD described the CEC scheme as a partnership between the State and the local community “where business space is provided in a supportive environment for emerging entrepreneurs.â€?’

I’m wondering if this scheme is something that’s compatible with the aims of Coworking? Could hotdesking space be set aside for nomadic independents? Or could they help to take up the slack? Read More…