It seems to be a hot week for community input here in Seattle.  Throughout the week, we’ve seen community input being gathered at venues such as design review sessions on Capitol Hill, the open-source transition process for Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn, and even here at Office Nomads with Tuesday’s “State of the Nomads” meeting.

What each of these opportunities provides is a chance for members of a community to weigh in and help guide the direction of the community they are a part of.  As opposed to more traditional business models which try to anticipate the needs or desires of a market, community input enables a business, a nonprofit, a governmental body, or any other organization to truly map their offerings to what the community desires.

This was the second time we held a State of the Nomads gathering at Office Nomads, and it was another success for our community.  Members had a chance to hear how Office Nomads was doing as a business, what initiatives we were currently working on, and then weigh in their opinions and concerns on all aspects of Nomadic life.  This is a critical aspect to how we want Office Nomads to continue growing and thriving – with the community instead of in front of it.

Community input is more than just watching activity on a blog or a Facebook page.  It requires time.  Patience.  Solid listening skills. It is, as Tara Hunt would say, about turning the bullhorn around.  Community input is the cornerstone of building anything that is meant to serve a community need.  Whether for a building, a service, or an entire government office, community input allows for the voices of the community to be heard.  But as Steve, one of our Office Nomads members said at State of the Nomads, “you have to participate in what is made available to you.” Couldn’t have said it better myself, Steve.

So get out there in your community and start letting your voice be heard.  You might be surprised at how receptive those your speaking to are to your needs.

(Thanks to Flickr User Audin for providing this photo “Holy Feedback!” as part of the Creative Commons license.)

Last night I was happy to present a quick 3-minute stint on coworking at Great City’s “What’s the Big Idea?” event.  This was the first time they’ve held an event like this, and it seems like they got enough positive support to host more in the future.

I was excited to share a big idea for Seattle, and am now happy to pass along some of what I presented.  Ideas are still very much in the initial stages, but if any of this catches your eye and you want to get involved or pick our brains about it, definitely get in touch!

Coworking Seattle: A Platform for Shared Working Spaces in Seattle
Coworking is a community-based approach to getting work done.  Coworking spaces exist to provide shared resources to independent workers and telecommuters to allow them a sustainable, local, professional option when it comes to trying to successfully “work from home.”  Seattle has put coworking on the map in the pacific northwest and has proven that it can succeed.  Coworking is recognized as a method by which cities can drive innovation and encourage collaboration – key success matrices when it comes to surviving difficult economic times. Worldwide, there are over 165 coworking spaces currently in operation, and coworking has attracted the attention of a wide spread of media outlets.

Why are coworking spaces a big idea for Seattle?  These spaces are a simple, resource-efficient way to address the transportation issue in our city. They encourage urban sustainability by encouraging individuals to work closer to where they live without sacrificing their sanity and professionalism by trying to work from their living rooms.  Coworking spaces enable citizens to get out out of their cars, save valuable commuting time, and keep their dollars local by supporting other neighborhood businesses.  Coworking spaces are economic generators for neighborhoods.

Seattle is current pouring huge amounts of tax dollars into building more roads and bigger transpiration systems to move people all over the Seattle region.  While this work is important, it also begs a question: when it comes to daily transportation needs, why not work on encouraging our citizens to stay closer to home?  Why push to do more when we could succeed by doing less? We have the technological capacity (access to the internet, virtual private networks, etc.) and city-sponsored programs to support increased telecommuting in our area. As the job market tightens, we see more and more individuals deciding to strike out on their own and start their own businesses.  Instead of asking these people to attempt to succeed by working isolated at home or amongst noisy cafes, why not support shared workspaces which not only allow individuals to work in their own neighborhoods, but also to share resources and save energy by sharing space?

There are an average of 210,000 cars going over and back on the floating bridges each day.  This is a shock, and an embarrassment to our city as we claim to be an environmentally friendly place to live.  Seattle can do better, and Seattle must to better.  Coworking spaces, whether for desk jockeys, caterers, woodworkers, or artists, are one way in which our city could take a strong step forward in making a difference.  In our current market, and with so many commercial offices spaces laying vacant, we cannot afford not to.  An effort which combines the energy of private coworking spaces and leverages their knowledge to support public spaces is going to be key to making these spaces available to all.

…and you’re invited!

It’s officially time to celebrate Office Nomads turning two! That’s right, we’ll be crossing into our third year coworking in Seattle, and want to throw a party to celebrate.  Here are the important details:

Office Nomads Turns TWO!
Thursday, October 8
6-10pm
@OfficeNomads – 1617 Boylston Ave., Second Floor

As usual, there will be drinks, food, and great people.  We’ll also be featuring new art from Kuros Zahedi, who’s beautiful piece “Garden of Hope” has been living in our main conference room for almost a year now.  More of his art will be out and about throughout the space, and it is not to be missed!  This date syncs up with the Blitz! Capitol Hill Art Walk – so if you’re planning on attending the art walk, make Office Nomads a stop for sure!

Come on by, meet the awesome members of Office Nomads, and raise a glass with us as we celebrate our first two years.

Want to RSVP to let us know you’re coming?  Here are some of the spots you can find the event online (because everyone has their favorite…):

Facebook
Twitvite
Upcoming

We can’t wait to see you!

Q13 is doing a story on the Seattle Jelly scene

Karrie Kohlhaas of ThoughtShot Consulting hosted her first Jelly here at Office Nomads today.  Jellies first started in NYC to bring creative folks together that had been stuck in home offices.  They have since spread and grown and are saving people from isolation world wide.  It’s a simple format where you shout out to your community that you will be working from a certain location and invite people to join you.  Karrie posted this event on Biznik and it quickly filled up.  People are eager to get out of the house and find social interaction that doesn’t interfere with their work.    Coworking and Jelly have tight histories and I’m excited Seattle is embracing the concept.  There is also a Facebook page to unite folks and hopefully make these happen more often.

Q13 was here to do a story on the event and the wider Jelly scene.  We are not sure when that will go live and we’ll keep you posted.

It’s a busy day here at Office Nomads.  Not only are Biznik and Q13 running around but the front area only has one free desk today and that is after we added four more a few weeks ago.  What a great way to start the week!  I thought I heard someone say something about the economy not doing so hot but from where I sit things are getting pretty exciting.

Today marked the fourth official time Office Nomads has been fortunate enough to have Karen Lindenberg of Phyzz Yoga come in and teach those of us who are interested an hour-long session of yoga.

After today’s session, I have a confession to make: until today, I doubted that we could ever regularly host yoga sessions in the office.  Why, you ask? I am a big believer in the value of a separation between work and “home” (or gym, yoga, art) spaces. Well, today I realized that it was time for me to bend that guideline a little bit more than usual. Because yoga in the office ROCKS.

Our hour-long break with Karen each Wednesday is officially my new favorite thing about Office Nomads.  Yoga at the office is providing me (and my fellow Nomads) with a great break from sitting diligently at our desks, a time to get our eyes away from our screens, and to enjoy putting our bodies through the paces that Karen leads us through each week. Coworkers stretch alongside one another, laughing in the moments when we all struggle to hit a pose or letting out a big collective sigh when we all get to relax on our mats. It’s awesome. And I’m coming to believe that it is a key part of an effective workday, even when it happens at the office.

As coworking spaces and other “alternative office spaces” emerge around the world, I imagine there will be a constant balancing out of the desire for office spaces to put in as much “fun” as possible in the interest of retaining members or employees (this idea reminds me of an old article I read in Utne, titled “Are We Having Fun Yet? The infantilization of corporate America” – the description of working at Aquascape was particularly wild to me) without overly complicating what they’re trying to do. You can overdo office “extras,” but with the right balance between productive work time and goofing-off time, it actually becomes easier to focus and the day becomes much more productive.

At Office Nomads we have a simple goal: to be a home for 40 independent professionals who are looking for a great place to work.  But we don’t just want to be a place to work, we want to be a place where people & businesses grow, valuable conversations are had, connections are made.  This means that (even if it blurrs my clearly defined lines between work and home), we get beers together, we go out to lunch together and yes, we do yoga together.  And we’re all the better for it.

Namaste, baby.

As a quick follow-up to our recent post, we had a great time at Lunch 2.0 today!  Here are some photos to prove all the fun….

Thanks to everyone who attended, the great panelists, and for the support of the sponsors (Thank you in particfular to Redapt.com for supporting the purchase of the lunch!).  We had a great time and loved bringing this group’s vibe into the office!

Office Nomads is very excited to announce that we’ll be hosting a Lunch 2.0 event next week!

What is Lunch 2.0? It’s a monthly lunch and short panel conversation aimed at Seattle-area entrepreneurs, independent workers and tech folks who want to together for a FREE LUNCH and learn about how other people tackle problems, start businesses and the like.

This month the event will have a less technical topic. We’ll talk some about what coworking is and why it’s better than working in a coffee shop and some about the ins and outs of starting and running your own business.

Our panel will feature four Nomads:
Ryan Salva – Prinicipal, Capitol Media
Ron Theis – Principal, Ridiculous Software
Susan Evans – co-founder, Office Nomads
Gabriel Scheer – co-founder, Re-Vision Labs

Lunch is being served by Seattle’s latest and greatest lunch delivery service Molly’s Salads which strives to bring you the best tasting, organic, local and otherwise really good sandwiches and salads you can imagine. All for unbelievably great prices. You won’t want to miss it.

So please come to Lunch 2.0 at Office Nomads on Friday June 26 from 11:30 AM to 1 PM. We’re at 1617 Boylston Ave. on the second floor. To RSVP (space is limited), please visit http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/2912016/?ps=5sl.

This is the advertisement we put in The Stranger

We also have a facebook event. We are very excited that Tara is coming up to talk about her new book. This is going to be a great night.

Well we finally went for it – Office Nomads synced up with Karen Lindenberg of Phyzz Yoga and took a yoga break in the office!  As one of the participants, I have to say it was awesome.  Not only was it a great way to break up the day, but finally I didn’t have to stress about whether or not I was going to get in some exercise today – it just happened right here.

Hands-down my favorite moment was when Karen told us to tighten our “C-3PO wires” in our midsections – this woman not only is a rockstar yoga teacher but really knows how to speak to her audience.  We got to geek out AND get in a great stretch & strengthening session. How great is that?

We’re hoping to do more of these in the future as a great perk for our members.  If you’re another office space in Seattle reading this post, we definitely recommend having Karen come by your office to do the same – it’s a blast!  Thanks, Karen -we hope to see you here again soon!

It isn’t every day that a Nomad writes a book!  We are so excited to celebrate the official book launch of one of our members, Matthew Amster-Burton: Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater.  So great!  If you get a chance, please check out his book – I got leafed through it today and it looks awesome.  If you don’t believe me, there are plenty of reviews on his website, including the following:

“Since becoming the proud father of a little girl, I’ve found myself quickly morphing into Bill Cosby–minus the sweaters. One of my greatest fears is imagining my daughter insisting on nothing but crustless grilled cheese sandwiches and “chicken” McNuggets. Hungry Monkey goes a long way to allaying that concern. I finished the last page and immediately set about making her Thai Shrimp Curry. A very timely and excellent book.”
–Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential

In addition, Matthew is hosting a book launch event at Capitol Hill’s Baily Coy books – you should head there and support him if you can!

Hungry Monkey Booksigning Event
Bailey Coy Books
Thursday, May 14, 7pm

Congrats, Matthew!