A New Desk

A weekly round up of coworking chatter.

Hey creatives--Is blogging the new resume?

The first results of the 4th Annual Coworking survey are being released by Deskmag. Current topics: How do coworking spaces talk to each other and do coworking spaces need a lobby?   And, it's not too late to participate in the survey. The survey tailors questions to whether you are a coworker or manage/own a space so everyone can have a say.

A discussion on the top benefit of coworking, here called assisted serendipity, from Reuters. 

A weekly round up of coworking chatter.

This week we had a very retro-y retro meeting thanks to NextSpace River North. Big windows and lots of light as well as lots of coffee thanks to JavaBob made for a very good morning. Thanks for helping us be comfortable, caffeinated, and productive.

Some things we talked about this week:

UpCity featured Desktime in their post on successful landing pages.

The Atlantic confirms what many creative coworkers know, that a 9-5 workday doesn't work for knowledge workers. (Thanks to Grind for sharing)

How to work hard without working yourself to death. In fact, you may just wind up healthier and happier.

This coworking champion is ac-cen-tuat-ing the positives and addressing common complaints about coworking spaces.

A weekly round up of coworking chatter.

We met this week at Level in the heart of the Loop. Loved the reclaimed wood table in our conference room. It's open 24/7 so go get working.

Elsewhere

Blue Sky, the Chicago Tribune's new innovation and entrepreneurship focused site, focused its attention on coworking spaces its writers loved and why. They also hosted a coworking live chat, totally worth the read for space owners and coworkers.

This piece from Work Design Magazine explores the boom in tech suites in Chicago. Work Design is a great resource for people thinking about space design.

After the political upheaval of 2011, it's cool to see how Tunisian entrepreneurs are using coworking for social change. 

USA Today gets on board with the rise in coworking, with a focus on Detroit and coworking out of hotels.

Deskmag looked at coworking in Hanoi.

From Desktime

This week, we talked about art, and walking in the rain, and Barcelona. Last week, Sam talked about coworking on TastyTrade.

"It was a rainy, balloon-toting, drink-filled good time that, at the end of the night, made me appreciate where I'm spending my days and who I cowork with even more." - cocrawler & coworker Lisa O'Leary

On November 21, Desktime handed out the party hats for our inaugural cocrawl - part traveling happy hour, part tour of coworking spaces in Chicago, all friends and big balloons. Getting people to do the brand new can be a challenge, but the spirit of coworking means a willingness to try the unknown for both people and spaces.

Desktime's Sam Rosen gave the motivation for the cocrawl as a chance "to get to know some of the faces and places of some of the fantastic spaces and folks that use Desktime in Chicago."

Heathyr Ditts, director of operations at Grind's Chicago space echoed that sense of community building. She shared, “We wanted to participate to spread the word that coworking is a real thing that real people do, and that we're all a part of a community of coworking spaces with a common intent of making work work better.”

She noted all the different participants including “people in the industry, people looking for a workspace outside the box, people who love and adore their current coworking space, but are interested in what and who else is going on in Chicago.”

Moises Arevalo, who coworks out of Level and works for Descubre, a company catering to the Spanish-speaking traveler and visitor in Chicago, agreed, adding that "the cocrawl created the opportunity to see the many faces behind the growing community of coworking and it serves as a great ice breaker."

Winter may be settling in but we’ve got plans for a Spring cocrawl here in Chicago. If your space would like to be involved or, even better, if you want to help organize a cocrawl in your city, get in touch with us and we’ll help you plan! Email [email protected] for ideas.

A big special thanks to NextSpace River North, Industrious, Grind and Level Office for hosting this great event and making it spectacular.

Here are some glimpses of the good times.

The cordial invitation.

Sam Rosen makes an entrance.

Johnny Michael starts the party.

The Cocrawl carries onward and through the rain.

All smiles at Grind.

Mixing and mingling at Industrious with their insanely good Mandarin old fashions. (photo courtesy of Industrious)

Johnny Michael, Sam Rosen and Ashley Aspiranti get together for a good photo and good times.

Desktime had a seat at the Coworking Europe Conference November 11-13 in Barcelona.

Here are some of our takeaways from the event.

Big picture:

Coworking has real, global momentum and the movement is growing at a rapid pace.

Still, coworking is still a fairly immature, fairly undefined thing.

While there are plenty examples of success, sustainability for spaces is a pressing issue. It's important that the coworking movement evolves its business model to make sure the undertaking is lucrative enough to sustain the pace of all this growth.

Because of these first points, there is room for opportunity for spaces, coworkers, and companies like Desktime, who work with and for both spaces and coworkers.

Three talks & panels that left an impression:

Ashley Proctor of Coworking Ontario did a fantastic talk on building COHIP, the Coworking Insurance Plan for Ontario she created. Using her own health as a backstory, she talked about finding a great plan in Canada and the advantages and hardships of getting COHIP off the ground. (read more about COHIP on Deskmag)

James Friedenthal from Club Workspace spoke about his spaces, and opening new spaces, across London. His company is working to mix together business centers & coworking and his hybrid approach for shared workspace was cool to learn about.

Jonathan Markwell, who runs the Skiff in Brighton, ran a panel in which he opened up his entire books to the small group. Participants were able to ask specific questions about what he pays for things, how he manages the space and how he does with cash. It was really awesome for him to be so open with his information, and that candidness is a trait that exists in much of the coworking conversation.

Desktime also participated in a panel on "Software in Coworking". This is a group oriented activity with about 30 coworking space owners from all over the world and included insights into what is needed to manage spaces effectively (from billing to scheduling to booking). The space owners’ wisdom will definitely impact Desktime’s approach to features we roll out in the future.

Art within coworking spaces is almost as commonplace as the people. Why? Because just like the people in a space, art helps define the culture and design the vibe we want for our environment.

Just like a fellow coworker, art can work hard right beside us. Being around good people can put you in a better mood, no doubt. So too, a great piece of art can be transcendent - lifting spirits, inspiring creativity and work, or giving a drifty daydream the needed kick to become a grand vision.  

To make this post and to make our point, we toured local coworking spaces and reached out to others across the United States to see what was on their walls.

Here are some of the inspiring pieces from those inspiring places.

New Work City - New York, NY, USA

Lift Off #8, 2013 by David Newman

David Newman paints portraits on an iPad, his 3rd annual show is currently on display at New Work City.

Grind - Chicago, IL, USA

Rise of the Free Range Humans

With a couple Sharpies, Grind depicts the history and evolution of the working human.

NextSpace - Berkeley, CA, USA

Keli Walker  featuring Sir Reggie The Moose

A colorful face and a jolly orange moose.

Workspring - Chicago, IL, USA

Woah by Matthew Hoffman

Handcut painted wood pieces with no shortage of intricate detail. Look closely, it'll make you say, "woah."

Benjamin's Desk - Philadelphia, PA, USA

Anetmai by Anne Moller

Bold & wonderful advice, no matter which way you look at it. 

NextSpace River North - Chicago, IL, USA

The Free Art Machine by Chicago The Beautiful

Go ahead and take one. The Free Art Machine is up on the wall and any piece is up for grabs.

Desktime is already the easiest and most enjoyable way to manage your space, but everybody needs a helping hand once in awhile. We’re proud to announce a new dedicated support site, packed with explanations, resources, and tips for getting the most out of Desktime.

Please dive in, and don’t hesitate to tell us what new topics you’d like to see discussed or how we can make the current content even better. And, as always, please reach out to our fantastic email support team if you can’t find the answer you’re looking for.

"With careful planning of open space and private zones, you hit the sweet spot of enviable office culture and inspiring productivity."

Not too long ago, we announced new Desktime features just for members, including profiles and payment history. We're happy to announce that we've added a a full booking history to that list, including active & upcoming bookings and punch cards.

Punch card users can keep tabs on their remaining visits, when previous visits were used, when a card is expired or empty, and whether their card has been punched for the day.

Daily and Monthly members can view a full list of active, upcoming, and past bookings.

Check out this absolutely beautiful documentary by Zaheed Mawani. It's mesmerizing everyone at our office for how powerfully it captures the history and insanity of the cubicle while making a broader statement about the shifting nature of how we work.

Last year, we had the chance to spend some time with the lovely Katy Jackson  As Desktime’s first (and only) intern, Katy spent three months working with us as she completed her dissertation for her Masters at Hyper Island.

Over the next few weeks we'll be gradually rolling out new features for members of Desktime spaces. If you're currently using the Desktime beta to manage your space, start getting excited for the following great new features:

Desktime Accounts for your Members

As of last week, all new members invited to your space will be asked to create a Desktime account before viewing and accepting their invitation. Over time, we'll be giving members more ways to interact with your space through Desktime, starting with member profiles…

Member Profiles

One of the biggest perks of joining a vibrant coworking community is the opportunity to meet great people. Desktime member profiles make it easier than ever for your members to learn about their fellow coworkers.

A member's profile can contain a photo, their organization, job title, bio, web and social media links, and more. Even better, members who choose to connect to Desktime through Facebook will have their profile completed automatically.

Members can choose not to add additional details to their profile, and can edit their profile at any time.

Payments

Now your members can view a full history of all payments made to your space, update their own credit card information, and receive notifications when payments fail or their card expires.

Wonderful. When can I see all this in action?

We'll notify you by email when these new features have been rolled out to your space. Once they've been enabled, new members will have access to these features immediately. Existing members will receive an email instructing them to set up their Desktime account, and will be asked to complete their profile after signing in for the first time.

Over the last year, we've solicited feedback from spaces all over the country about a redesign of Desktime--which we're confident is the simplest, most intuitive tool on the planet for finding and managing shared workspaces. Today we're ready to announce that our redesign is live.  Check out some of the changes:  Full-on mobility 

The entire space management tool and directory works just as well on your phone as it does on your desktop. Add new members, update bookings and manage your space regardless of where you are. 

Streamlining the set-up process 

We've consolidated everything into a few basic steps, so the entire thing takes only a matter of minutes. 

A refreshed booking calendar 

See how many folks are using your space on any given day, but also see who's coming and going so you can best prepare.  Punch Card support 

Punch Cards give a renter access to a certain number of visits over a set time frame--a new way to book beyond daily and monthly packages.

Invitations are smarter 

Now, when an invitation expires, it doesn't just disappear. Space Managers can view expired invitations and re-invite members. And an expired invitation is still accessible to a renter, so they now know what they can do to change that. 

An all new Desktime

  We're pumped to be introducing an all new version of Desktime at the Global Coworking Conference.

Over the last year, we have been building a reliable and effortless tool for sharing, scheduling and billing your coworking space. There are 15 minute demos available at GCUC today and tomorrow; if you aren't at the conference but would still love to check out the new version of Desktime, fill out this form at the bottom of hello.desktimeapp.com and we'll be in touch first thing next week with a time to sit down.

You better believe we’re headed to Austin next week for (literally) the biggest coworking conference in the world! We’re thrilled to sponsor The Global Coworking Unconference Conference for a second time, and even more excited to exclusively previewing a brand-spanking-new redesigned version of Desktime.

We'll be scheduling demos of our souped-up management software. To schedule a personal Desktime demo in advance, shoot us a note at [email protected] 

We can't wait to see y'all down there!