As promised, Tacoma’s entry into the coworking world, Suite 133, started taking down borders today with a visit North to spend the day working here at Office Nomads. I’m not exactly sure how many of them were here, though I’m sure there was at least a tableful, and possibly a few more who came for part of the day and hung out on the couches.

However many they were, it was totally fun to have them. They’re a pretty tight crew of folks which makes sense since, they said, the space down there is somewhat smaller than ours. But being close doesn’t equate with closed though and the crew who joined us fit right into the swing of things here. Though I was working, Susan reports that going out to lunch with them was a blast and Jacob said it was just awesome to have them here. I agree, if only because of the awesome picture we took on one of their Macs. (Now I need one myself!)

We seem to have made a good impression too. Apparently, they’re wanting to use some of Jacob and Susan’s ideas, including the giant exercise balls some of us sit on and the highly organized waste collection system Susan has set up (we all have bins for waste, recycling AND compost thank you very much). They also want a water cooler of their very own now. I couldn’t believe they don’t have one already. Apparently they gossip at their desks or at the copy machine.

Now that we’ve shared the love and seen the glory of tearing down borders, Office Nomads is fervently planning a trip or two South to Suite 133, and further to Souk and CubeSpace in Portland.

Coworking rocks for several reasons, but right now, I want to talk about one in particular: collaboration.

Since Office Nomads opened in November 2007, we have been incredibly fortunate to collaborate with and converse with several other owners of coworking spaces who have been and continue to be more than willing to share their knowledge, ideas, suggestions, insights and experiences along the way. There is no way that Office Nomads could be what it is today without their incredible help.

It is because of this that Office Nomads is totally geared up for the possibility of a coworking passport system between various coworking spaces throughout the country and the world. The idea is simple: If you are a member of one coworking space and are traveling to another city, you can hook up with a coworking space there that is open to guests from other spaces in the network. In other words, it will be a network of coworking spaces that are interested in opening our doors to each other’s members. It’s the kind of unique colloboaration that happens in coworking spaces everyday. Pretty neat.

So how is Office Nomads going to participate? Simply, as usual. For all of you who members of other coworking spaces out there, know that our doors are open to you to be drop-in members whenever you’re in Seattle and need a spot to work.

To kick off the adventure for Office Nomads, we’re getting geared up to host a big team of coworkers from Suite133 in our space this coming Friday. It’s bound to be a fantastic day and we couldn’t be more excited to have folks from our sister space from Tacoma come up and hang out. If you’re in Seattle on Friday and want to meet some of the cool folks who work at Suite133, come on over to Office Nomads and join in the fun!

[If you're a space owner and want to see what's going on with this conversation, definitely check out the buzz going on in the coworking Google group!]