Coworking Ireland

In response to Matt Johnston’s suggestion for a pushpin map charting Coworking locations I jumped into the new Google MyMaps feature and produced this quick draft of Coworking Locations in Ireland.

I thought it would be useful to have the following colour scheme for pushpins -

• Red = possible (requiring a lot of negotiation)
• Yellow = probable (being actively pursued)
• Green = confirmed / active

Any suggestions?

Chris Byrne of SpinnakerPro suggested contacting Fionnan at the Dingle Technology Park, a wonderful looking business facility that I was totally unaware of even though I’m a regular visitor to the town. Dingle is less than two hours drive for me and I love the place so I was delighted to learn about the Business Center at Milltown.

So delighted in fact that I got straight on the phone to Fionnan and had a great discussion about hotdesking, coworking and so on. Unfortunately they don’t yet provide the kind of flexibility probably needed by coworkers, requiring a minimum of one month’s lease on their hot desks, but I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to work together to get around that.

One concern is regarding security but Fionnan had a great suggestion about compiling a membership list of coworkers who register with their own local agency, enterprise board, etc. Thanks Fionnan and thanks Chris.

Technorati Tags: hotdesking, dingle

I’d like to hear some ideas on what people might want from a coworking space and perhaps think about it in terms of what I’m considering.

I have a 50m2 unit that would comfortably hold 10 people, with room for a meeting table. No shortage of power and broadband. There is a cafe in the building and conference and meeting rooms that can be booked. There is a high-speed printer/copier/scanner available and a video conference system. The centre is open 24 X 7. There are already over 100 people in the building so a ready-made community exists. 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…

I don’t really want to use a public coffee shop as an office.

Last year when setting up my software company, I investigated a lot of office options from the most basic government-funded business park closet to expensive serviced offices from industry leaders. Though the carpeting and wall coverings were very different, as were the provisions of furniture, there were still the same basic problems as I saw it.

• Closed doors leading to a lack of collaborative space and human contact.

The problem with the closed door is that it shuts everyone off in their own little domain complete with personal printer and coat hanger. It didn’t matter whether you were paying £250 a month or £1250 a month, the setting was the same.

At one large office vendor I toured, half the offices had their doors wedged open. That may have been because of the soaring temperatures in Ireland that month but I think it was as much to give the occupant, a sole salesman, entrepreneur or account manager, some sort of human contact during their working day. As I passed these offices, the individuals within would always look up and see what was going on, who was passing their door. When visiting the low rent office parks, the experience was the same. People leaving their doors open. Read More…

Tara Hunt AKA Miss Rogue:

Hey there! We put together a survey to see what we need to be doing/building/paving in the upcoming months to support everyone’s efforts. Please take the 10-15 minutes to fill it out

Fill out the coworking survey!

Technorati Tags: coworking, freelance

Chris Messina, one of the main drivers behind the coworking initiative Stateside, left a comment to Damien’s post about Cowork location Twinning, endorsing it as an idea that’s very much in line with his vision for coworking -

“Just imagine — wherever you — a place to shack up in and work, meet with the locals, be inspired and have a good time… all while living sustainably. Not bad methinks — and can’t wait to make it over to Ireland to see what you guys have going on!”

In fact Chris originally wrote about nomadic coworking nearly two years ago -

“I envision cults of traveling hackers, venturing from one city to the next, war driving and shacking up at homes and offices, seeking caffeine, a decent work environment and space for sleeping bags. Such places need not be permanent destinations, but rather convenient, temporary quarters for such hacking gatherings. Stay-overs may last as little as a day or may carry on over a week; indeed, it’s doubtful that more than a fortnight would even work for such a situation (for that, perhaps we would need hacker hostels).

Perhaps sleeping bags is all we’ll need to bring along on Paddy’s tour of the Valley. And then we can reciprocate by facilitating our Valley colleagues. Because, as Chris said -

“If such a networked, Meetup-like system were developed and I knew that I could plan a trip across Europe just stopping off at such hacker havens and not pay for anything but transportation, I would surely do so!”

Hopefully Chris you don’t have long to wait until you’ve a choice of locations in Ireland.

The concept itself is nothing new. Freelancers and small business have always teamed up for office shares. What makes coworking any different? In my mind the definition of an office share would be simple “A closed group of people spreading the cost of an officeâ€?. Whereas coworking is the next evolution of this model.

Think of it this way, what if you could not only spread the cost of your business, but quickly and easily pool resources with a larger community of likeminded individuals? Your office share is limited to a stagnant pool of talent that will rarely change. What if your community was more fluidic? How would that affect your business model?

This is the next revolution of business. Coworking allows seamless collaboration between companies and individuals who may never have met under other more static environments. Our new economy will be built on ideas and ideas need the right environment to grow. When creative minds are provided with an ideal environment and are supported by peer’s ideas with turn from good to ingenious.
Read More…

Tom Corcoran, who manages the WIT Research and ArcLabs Innovation Centre in Waterford, and was one of the organizers of BarCamp South East, contacted us yesterday, saying – “I’m interested in looking at the possibility of using some of the ArcLabs Innovation Centre at WIT for co-working. The infrastructure and services are already in place.” W00t!

I got the opportunity to see ArcLabs in January when I attended the excellent BarCamp South East. Afterwards I joined the universal chorus of approval for the location so it’s difficult to imagine a more attractive coworking facility. Thanks Tom!

Technorati Tags: coworking, ireland, waterford, arclabs

A recent post about the SoHo Solo (home working) project generated some debate as to the nature of its target membership. Which was hardly surprising considering the lack of clarity on their website.

My email to CorkBIC asking for clarification went unanswered but Jenny Kent has kindly told me that was probably because the girl who ran SoHo Solo on their behalf has recently left her post. Jenny also says -

“The rules for who can & can’t join are pretty fluid and there has been some discussion of late as to whether it should be opened to non-blow-ins. In fact, there are quite a few Corkonians in regular attendance – they might have recently been on day-trips to Killarney and hence, are recently returned!”

Hehe, sneaky! Well I’m just outside of the official South West region (being a mid-westerner) so I guess I also qualify as a blow-in?

In order to find out I’m going along to the next SoHo Solo gathering at 8.30am, April 16th in the NSC, Mahon. I’d recommend attendance for anyone else who’s interested in coworking initiatives.

Technorati Tags: soho solo, coworking, freelance, cork