Coworking day

The Plan

• Come spend a day in a space where you can meet other telecommuters or people working from home in your neighborhood
• Work mostly, but also get a chance to meet people that are not connected to your business in any manner, as an opportunity to relax, and exchange ideas who may even turn into your next project

Some background

I have spent some time thinking about the concept of Coworking and Telecommuting. And while I am convinced that telecommuting is the way of the future, and Coworking environments a must to make telecommuting a more pleasant experience, I also think that it will take time, and a lot of education, before it becomes something that can be truly sustainable.

In the meantime, as a smooth transition towards the ideal, I think that there is room for "Coworking days" where one day a month maybe I would go in a Coworking environment to meet other professional who like me work from home most of their time. This would allow the establishment of the coworking concept without a critical need for it to be completely sustainable from the beginning.

I was lucky enough that I have been telecommuting for a couple of years before going full time into working from home. I am also lucky that I have an office, and a complete setup that allows me to be self sufficient.

But then going from telecommute where I was still going to the office once a week to full time working from home as meant that I do not get to socialize with corporate co-workers anymore. I meet clients and partners, but not this guy that happens to be at the watercooler at the same time I am and with whom I can exchange and relax.

A coworking day event is the opportunity to do that: keep working from home where I have all I need, but go to a local Coworking place once a month, or once a week to see who else in the neigborhood works from home, and to get a chance to learn what they are doing.