Robert Paterson's Weblog

Coworking in 2103 - A Movement on wheels

Global Coworking Survey 2012 from Deskwanted

A short deck showing the highlights of another huge year of growth

Happy Birthday Queen Street Commons - 8 years old this May

The Queen Street Commons, PEI's Co Working site, at 224 Queen St Charlottetown, opened its doors in May 2005. We were one of 5 such sites in the entire world! 

There are now nearly 800 commercial co-working facilities in the United States, up from a little more than 300 only two years ago, and about 40 in 2008, according to an annual survey by Deskmag, an online magazine that covers the co-working industry.

More than 110,000 people currently work in one of the nearly 2,500 coworking spaces available worldwide. Compared to last year, there are now 83% more coworking spaces that serve a total of 117% more members! Considering only workdays, we see 4.5 new coworking spaces have emerged daily for the past twelve months. During the same time, the number of coworking members increased by 245 people on average each work day. (Deskmag)

As a member of the QSC, you are also part of the Coworking Visa - you have the benefit of access to over 200 sites all over the world. Details here.  Visiting Toronto, London, Paris, Los Angeles? You have a space and a community waiting for you.

What is going on and how might this help you?

Working at an office can be too structured. Working  at home can be too lonely. You may not have a job anyway. If you are under 30, you probably don't. Same if you are over 55. So you seek to make a living. Co Working gives you the network to help. It gives you the social space to thrive in. 

So are you a student with a summer clear ahead of you and want to get a feel for this kind of work and space? Maybe you have a project? Are you in your 40's and 50's and wonder how you will cope when you lose your job? have you retired but are going mad from boredom?

Try out the Commons. Here is the link to the main page. Here is the link to how to become a member. 

Here is what the global survey by Deskmag found:

The benefits of coworking continue to be realized: 71% of respondents said their creativity had increased since joining, and 62% said their standard of work had improved. Countering the common claim that coworking spaces can be distracting, 68% said they were able to focus better, as compared to 12% who said the opposite. 64% said they could better complete tasks on time. 

Who are the coworkers? 53% are freelancers, while the remainder are entrepreneurs, small company employees, big company employees, and 8% who describe themselves as none of the above (the proportion of "other" respondents has increased from 5% two years ago to 8%, while entrepreneuers has fallen from 18% to 14%). The proportion of female coworkers is growing, up from 32% in 2010 to 38% today. 

The average number of desks and members is growing. The maximum capacity of most spaces is now 41 people, and the average membership size is 44. Desk utilization is up, from 49% to 55%, meaning spaces are being used by their members more frequently.

The majority of coworkers are so content with their workspace that they don't plan to leave. 62% said they have no plans to leave their locations, while less than 5% will stay just for one month, disproving the notion that coworking is for mobile workers only.

And for those that like infographics:

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Citizens are leading Education reform in Atlantic Canada - I name the names!

Coworking Spaces: The New Workplace Alternative That Increases Productivity and Creativity

Can Coworking Accelerate Your Business?

Citizens are leading Education reform in Atlantic Canada - I name the names!

Changing the bureaucracy is a slow and sometimes impossible task. So how are kids in Atlantic Canada going to get access to the kind of learning that they need now?

The answer is that a number of citizens have tired of waiting and are starting to off what many kids want and need right now. Here are some that I know.

Jevon MacDonald and Gavin Uhma, are based in Halifax. Jevon is an Islander by birth and is one of the regions top entrepeneurs. They are starting to offer Programming to kids. Jevon with Milan Vrekic are also starting a co working place for start ups called Volta Labs.

Maureen Kerr on PEI has been working with UPEI to offer Robot making and programming for kids.

Peter Rukavina and the UPEI Library are offering labs in Minecraft.

Don't you find this encouraging? Who else is doing this? Might it be you?

It might be a good thing to all get together. And BTW well done UPEI for being such a help.

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School and Learning Engagement - Back to the Future Please

My personal journey to taking charge of my health - Part II My Body

Here are more of my working notes for part of my new book: You Don't Need Medicine - To Be Healthy.

The central thesis of the book is that our health is directly connected to the environment. That is why you and I can make the changes that we need to be healthy.

This post is a sketch for the chapter in the book that will be about our body. My Notes on the choices that we face for Diet are here. My notes for the ideal Social World will be here. My notes on all the science that supports this thesis are here.

It's all a system. See the connections to the rest as we look today at your body.

The Body and the Natural World - Make the ideal fit

Today, most of us sit for 10 to 15 hours a day, do no heavy physical work and live in an environment where night and day have no meaning. Most of our  lives are spent inside. We think that this is normal. We think that this is progress. 

But our bodies were designed for a very different way of life. 

For millions of years, so long as we were awake, we moved. We did not take exercise, we were active. We carried a baby all day. We carried wood, water, animal carcasses and our possessions. We used our bodies as tools. The sun and the moon were our main sources of light. They, and the seasons, drove when we went to sleep or woke up. We lived outside. We lived in the sunlight of the day. At night, we felt the pull of the moon. We were integrated into the natural world and our bodies were linked into all the signals of that larger world.

We are still that person. All our "wiring" is designed to operate in this kind of environment. If we live like this our bodies do well. If we don't....

Think for a moment how different your life is today from even your grandparents. Think of how little you use your body in the normal course of the day. Think of how unimportant the dark is. Think of how the clock and not the sun rule your day. Think of how different your children's life is. They are inside all the time. They hardly ever move. They know nothing of the natural world. Think how normal this all feels!

It is very hard for us to see how massive these changes have been. We don't see the huge gap that has opened up between what we do and what our bodies need. All we might hear is "Take more exercise". The gym, sport or even a marathon is not the issue.

The gap is not about what we add onto our daily lives. The gap is to be found in our daily lives. 

So let's see what this gap is. When we see it, we can see what to do to close it. We can see what is in our control to be healthy again.

Activity - Don't sit!

I used to sit at work for more than 8 hours a day. I was in the car for 2 hours a day. And, when I got home, I sat all evening and watched TV. 8 hours at the office, 2 hours in the car. 4 hours watching TV. I was a blob.

Every day people exhort us to "Take More Exercise". We understand this to mean "Go to a Gym"; "Train for a Marathon" ; "Play Sport" and "Get a Personal Trainer".  I could never do this. As with diet, I could not do what all the experts told me to do and I bet this may be hard for you too. I did not have the time and I hated mindless exercise. But the real issue is not "Exercise" but "Activity".  Sitting all day is the big mismatch. 

So now I saw that sitting all day was my life, what did I do to change this?

Move when you work

Who 150 years ago sat all day? Who 200 years ago even had a chair? Chairs are something that only Kings sat on. Here is Professor Michael Rose talking about how novel chairs are and why they are bad for us. 

 

So how do we do modern office work without a chair?

This is an answer. This picture is of my standing desk. As you can see I hacked it out of my old desk and a box. I now only sit down at the end of the day and have a drink and read before dinner. And that is when it is not my turn to cook and so keep standing. 

So I work, as most of us do today, in front of a screen. But, because I stand, I move all day. At first this was hard. By 10.30am my legs would ache. But, after 3 months, this became my new normal. It is like taking sugar out of your coffee. At first, you hate the new taste. But after a while, you can never go back. 

This one decision not to sit all day at work is a game changer. 

Choosing a Desk

You can do what I did and hack a desk or just go out and buy one. Here is a link to a review of desks and how to adapt to to them. 

I work at home and for myself. It was easy for me to choose to work this new way. It also cost me nothing. If I had more money I would add a treadmill. The ideal is to walk at 1 1/2 miles per hour all day.

If you have a job, you have to convince your employer. There is good evidence that this works well and that organizations that are getting behind this gain benefits very quickly. If they struggle with this idea, get them to set up a small experiment at work and measure what happens. Like this:

"Take Salo, a financial consulting firm based in Minneapolis. The company has 12 treadmill desks, and encourages walking meetings and a mini-breakaway game — a mixture of pingpong, tennis and a bit of squash.

Throughout the day, employees rotate on and off the available treadmill desks. Craig Dexheimer, Salo's director of operations and administration, loves his. He's lost 25 pounds since he started using it. If employees get distracted while walking, he suggests they stop or slow down the treadmill.

A few years ago, Salo took part in a Mayo Clinic study headed by Levine to see what happened when employees used treadmill desks. The study was small — just 18 participants. For six months, they rotated on and off the desks, walking, on average, about three hours a day. Everyone lost weight. And overall, Dexheimer says, health improved. "Total cholesterol decreased, plasma triglycerides dropped on average 37 percent in total for all 18 participants.

"Remarkable," he says. "We didn't even go to a gym. We just went to work!"

And productivity didn't suffer. In fact, Dexheimer says, during the six months of the study, Salo's revenues were the highest ever. The environment, he says, was simply "more dynamic." (Source: NPR)

This story has it all. Make moving at work the new normal. Activity is not an add on. It must be how we live. 

So, now you don't sit at work, what about the rest of the day?

The Commute

Most people commute. The average American spends 18 1/2 hours a week in their car. They spend 2 months a year in the car! (Source)

2 months a year sitting in the car! Ideally, we all have to reduce the time we spend sitting in the car. And, apart from the downside of sitting in the car for so long, think of all the other things you might do in this 2 months? Think about what this 2 months in the car also costs you? (See You Don't Need a Job)

I solved my commute time challenge by working at home. I work as a writer. My commute is a 20 second walk to the home office. But working at home has its draw backs too. We get lonely. We get interupted. We lose momentum. We are not designed to work alone. Do you have a Co Working site near you? Co Working sites are in many locations now. Here is a directory. There will likely be one closer to you than your office. When I lived on Prince Edward Island, the Queen Street Commons, my co working place, was 10 minutes away by car. It was a welcome break from home. 

But what if you have a job and live far away from work? Can you negotiate a telecommuting deal? Progressive employers are getting behind telecommuting.  It's not for everyone and it is not for every job or employer. But neither is 2 months in the car. Some jobs have to be at the plant too. So in the end, we have to decide what on balance is best for us. Many of us don't have jobs anyway. Most of us will lose our jobs. (See You Don't Need a Job) 

The Job and how that system works is of course the centre of the problem of the health breakdown of modern society. As you will, see throughout this book, the Job adds risk factors to our health. At some point, we all will have to confront this. 

But for now, ask yourself how can you reduce the amount of time you spend sitting in the car commuting?

TV - Get rid of it

The average American watches 76 days of TV a year (153 hours a week Nielson) I cannot stop thinking about the 2 months in the car commuting and 2 months on the sofa watching TV. No wonder we don't have any time.

It's not just the time spent sitting watching TV: which is such a long time anyway. But I think also of how TV drives all sorts of additional poor health factors. TV acts like a sedative. We don't just sit, we slump. We go into a zone. It also isolates us. Each family member has their own TV and schedule. So it affects how we eat and with whom. We tend to eat alone and to make the TV schedule the home schedule. TV also is a major factor in why so many sleep so badly. We stay up too late and we upset our circadian clock by its light.

TV is like junk food. It is a pivot of the culture that is making us ill. And of course Junk food and TV go together don't they? Getting rid of junk food and TV are the two easiest actions we can take for this choice depends on no one else. It is all in our control. Both are hard to do at first but, after only 3 months, you will feel so much better and this good feeling will spur you on to do more. 

My wife and I have been disconnected from the TV for 3 years now. At first, this was hard. TV was so central to our lives. But soon we felt the difference. I don't slump for hours at the end of the day. I am not assaulted by all the ads and jabber. Meal times are social again and they drive the evening schedule. We have time to cook real food. We talk! We read. And we go to bed early. More on that in a minute. Oh and cutting the cord to TV saved us about $90 a month or $1,000 a year. It just about pays my wine bill.

But what about the web? We spend a lot of time there too. The great thing about the web is that it is not passive. We do not just collapse before it. It does not force us to break our attention every 4 minutes. We don't have to be slumped in a lazy boy to use it. I stand to use my computer. It has no schedule. It's not perfect but it is much better than TV. 

Get rid of your TV. I promise that you will not regret this decision. 

Walking is the best exercise

When I hear the words "take more exercise." I think of gyms. I think of good looking, young and thin people in expensive outfits. Then I think of the cost, the time and how old I am and then I get put off. So here is the good news. While going to the gym is good for you, there are simpler and cheaper alternatives to ensure that you are fit.

We have to build activity into our daily lives and not make it an add on.  Walking is best exercise that we can take. And, to make this even easier, 30 minutes a walk is the optimum amount of time. That's not too hard to fit into a day is it?

So here is my "gym".

Here is my Personal Trainer! Having a dog is a wonderful motivator. Rain, snow or sun: every day the dog calls me to walk. Not just once a day but at least 3 times a day. There need to walk like this is an important reason why I choose to have a dog. Dogs are like children. They demand a lot for us. But I think they are worth it and I plan always to have one. 

But you don't need a dog, you only need to make walking your normal. Walking is why people in cities are now much more healthy than rural folks. The difference is walking. City folks walk more.  

Or get a bike. Look around cities like Copenhagen or Amsterdam where biking is the norm. Look at the people. See the difference. It's all about choices. 

I have chosen to live in a small community where I can walk to all the important parts of town. The General Store is 5 minutes away. The bank, post office and restaurants are maybe 8 minutes away. This choice was very deliberate on my part. 

Chose to make your car less important in your life. Once you make this choice, other avenues open up for you. 

We have to be strong

It is important to be strong. As we get older, we lose strength. As we get weaker we can do less and less. It's a vicious cycle. In the end we can do next to nothing to help ourselves live a normal life. So again do we all have to go to the gym to get strong? You can. This is an area where the gym can be a big help and again, you don't have to spend hours there. My Crossfit friends spend very little time at the gym but their time there is very intense.

Intensity is important in strength training.

But I don't go to the gym. I have instead tried to build strength into my daily life. Just as I have tried to build activity into it as well. After all our paleo ancestors did not workout. They just worked. 

Here is a big part of my strength building activity. 

The joke about heating with wood is that it keeps you warm in three ways.  First of all there is the sourcing of the wood. Cutting and stacking. Secondly there is the moving the wood inside and stacking it there for the winter. Lastly there is the moving of the wood every day to the stove. Oh and yes the stove gives off heat too!

You can find your own way to be more active around the home. This is my answer but there are many others. Gardening would be a big help. All that lifting and bending. 

What helps is to find something that has a high utility and that forces you to work with your body. It can be anything but the test is "Is it part of your life?' or "Is it an add on?" 

Can you see the pattern I am drawing?

An active life is a life where all that you need to look after the bio mechanical needs of our body is built into the life that you live every day. It is the same as eating differently. 

Sleep

Just as food is not a pitstop, so sleep is not just a rest. Sleep is a major part of how our body and mind restores itself. But modern life makes it hard to get the sleep we need. 

The most important factor in how you sleep is light. Our circadian sensors are acutely sensitive to light.

It's the same kind of process with Leptin and appetite. If we eat grains and sugars, we block the Leptin channel that tell us that we are full. Our light sensors tell us to get sleepy is the light goes away. If we stimulate them with light well into the night, they get confused. We lose our internal clock.

So how best to get our clock running properly again?

Here is what works for me. Never have the TV in my bedroom. Even better, don't have a TV as it can keep you up in the light long after you are ready to go to sleep. Read before bed in another room in low light. The bed is for sleep or love.

Keep off social media in the later evening (OK I do cheat here sometimes) NEVER read email late at night.

Go to bed early. I am usually asleep by 9.30pm in the winter. So if I wake up at 3am, as older folks tend to do, I can know I have already had nearly 6 hours sleep and don't fuss.

Have blackout curtains. Many of us live in urban settings with high intensity street lights. If they shine into your bedroom, they will confuse your clock.

Diet plays a role in a good night's sleep too. I used to suffer from heartburn and apnea. My dad died of apnea. Taking grains and most carbs out of the diet has ended this. I regret that I find drinking less is a huge help too. 

You don't have to have all your sleep in one go either. We are not designed to sleep for 8 hours straight. We are designed to sleep in batches. A good nap is also very restorative.

The job plays a large role in our not sleeping well too. The job works on clock time and we work by circadian time. Knowing that we have to get up at a fixed time every day puts "Performance Pressure" on our sleep. How I remember waking up and looking at the clock and worry about how I only had 2 hours left. How wrenching the alarm could be. How wonderful it is not to have to get up at a fixed time! I still get up early but now I wake naturally and there is no pressure. Now when I wake in the middle of the night, I can go back and have the kind of dream filled sleep that I had as a teen. It's a joy to go to bed.

Make sleep as important a priority as good food and activity. It's worth it I promise as you will find out as you sleep better.

The Sun and Vitamin D

The sun has become our enemy. When we go outside, we are told to lather on the sunscreen. But the reality is that we are designed to be outside. The sun is how we get most of the hormone that we need to stay well. Many of us live in zones that make it all but impossible on the best of days to get this vital benefit from the sun.

(Source)

The problem is that we are now starved of a key hormone, Vitamin D. 

” Vitamin D is by far the greatest deficiency in the civilized world. Surveys show that at least 70% of all Americans are vitamin D deficient, and up to 85% of African-American women of child-bearing age are deficient. 48% of young girls aged 9 to 11 are deficient. 76% of pregnant mothers are severely vitamin D deficient causing widespread deficiencies in their unborn children. 90% of all hospital patients are deficient, and 99% of nursing home residents are deficient. 65% of Chicago residents are deficient and even doctors living in southern Florida are 42% deficient. It is estimated that at least 1 billion people worldwide are deficient.” Saunders Vitamin D Deficiency (Link pdf)

It is hard enough to get enough D naturally in the North. But now we live indoors, many of us get next to none. 

"Caucasian skin produces approximately 10,000 IU vitamin D in response to 20–30 minutes summer sun exposure. This is over 16 times higher than the US government’s recommendation of 600 IUper day!

This high rate of natural production of vitamin D3 cholecalciferol(pronounced koh·luh·kal·sif·uh·rawl) in the skin is the single most important fact every person should know about vitamin D—a fact that has profound implications for the natural human condition.

Technically not a “vitamin,” vitamin D is in a class by itself. Its metabolic product, calcitriol, is actually a secosteroid hormone that is the key that unlocks binding sites on the human genome. The human genome contains more than 2,700 binding sites for calcitriol; those binding sites are near genes involved in virtually every known major disease of humans.

Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more.

Vitamin D’s influence on key biological functions vital to one’s health and well-being mandates that vitamin D no longer be ignored by the health care industry nor by individuals striving to achieve and maintain a greater state of health.

If well adults and adolescents regularly avoid sunlight exposure, research indicates a necessity to supplement with at least 5,000 units (IU) of vitamin D daily. To obtain this amount from milk one would need to consume 50 glasses. With a multivitamin more than 10 tablets would be necessary. Neither is advisable." (link)

I am not advocating sun bathing. Just as I am not saying we have to be at the gym all day. I am saying that we need to build the sdun back into how we live our lives. This means being outside a lot more and wearing less clothing and NOT putting on tons of sunscreen.

Back to walking the dog. Playing with the grand kids. Wood cutting and stacking. Gardening. Biking. You choose: but get outside as a matter of routine in the summer and take Vitamin D pills in the winter. How much to take? I take 8,000 units a day. This is the equivalent of 20 minutes outside in summer. 

Summary

I find that bringing how I live every day back to how I use my body is the best way to look after it.

I can design how I live today to meet the needs of how evolution has shaped my body. I can also do that with how I eat. But can I also live socially as I was designed to live? Can I bring the tribal life and all that comes with that back into my reality too?

I can and have done that.

 

Related articles

An introduction to the Science for taking charge of your own health

My personal journey to taking charge of my health - Part 1 Food

Can you believe medical research? Why you should be careful. What is to come!

Sitting - The biggest health risk we have - Easiest to change

Co Working will be part of your future

(Source)

If you want to find out what the real new network economy is all about - Join a Co Working space like Scrib

If you want to know why - Read my new Book - You Don't Need a Job

Join a Co Working site - The amazing growth/value is revealed

Look at the growth of Co Working sites. What is going on?

What is going on is that we are seeing the emergence of the new face to face workplace that fits the life of the freelancer - who is at the core of the real new economy.  (All images from the 2nd global survey of co working - PDF here)

You can have a job now, be a student, be on the verge of retirement, be just layed off - here is where you can find the network you need and learn how to be a human again. 

I think that the Co Working Space is the "Factory" of our time. This is the social space that the Freelancer needs to combat the separation and loneliness of the solo role. This is the social space that opens us each up to the broader network. It is also the space where we learn to be a proper human again - where how we behave matters. 

 

View Coworking Spaces in a larger map

Here is a map that will show you the closest one to you.

What they offer is a real Tribe. While the income has improved - look at all the other parts of life that are better! 

They were mainly very urban. But look at how they are growing now in rural areas.

The Queen St Commons was started in 2005 - we were one of the first 5 in the world in a city of less than 35,000. We were an oddity but now are more of the new norm as rural co work grows. As more of us leave the city, the Rural Co Working spot becomes more important. Rural sites also have to have an economic model that fits - much more a co-op than a top down space rental.

Lots to learn from each other as new micro models emerge. So lots of good reasons for Co Working spaces to get connected now to each other. 

The next big move I think will be connecting all the co working sites into a global network. So a member of a site in a rural village can get to London or New York or Mumbai! And then think of the power of the connections?

My new book You Don't Need a Job - explores more of the value of co working for anyone who wants to put a toe into the real new economy.

 

How to help your entrepreneur sons and daughters?- Help them join a co-working site

 

If you have not met me - this is what I look and sound like.

In this short video I talk about why the more innovative children do so badly at school. They don't fit into a culture of obedience. I talk about how on PEI, where I know many of the entrepreneurs few did well at school. Many did not even graduate. But many had help - from older entrepreneurs. 

Is your son or daughter one of those that do not fit in to school? Mine were.

They are not "bad" kids. They are in fact our best hope. My advice - help them to connect with others who have been though this. One way they can do this is to join a co working space. Here is the link to a global directory. These exist in many cities. On PEI there is the Queen Street Commons. Link Here. 

Co working sites are full of entrepreneurs. They are the embodiment of the real new networked economy. They are not expensive and welcome the young. Once a member in one, you can get a pass to visit others all over the world. 

The new New World is reaching out to your kids. 

More on this in You Don't Need a Job

Queen St Commons - Leaving my "Meme Baby" behind

One of the new age mantra's is "Letting Go". I have been letting go of our lovely place here on PEI. Letting go of much of our stuff. It's hard. But next week I let go of one of my Meme Babies, and this is hard.

The Queen Street Commons is one of the earliest co working sites in the world. Dan James, Cynthia King and I founded it in a moment of intuitive madness back in 2005. I have been its chair for 3 years and next week I give up my role as chair and become the most junior of members - a non resident Network Member. 

But I leave it as a parent does when they have a grand child. There is a special love for a child that now has taken up the full role of being an adult and that gives new life to others. I know this feeling well as both my real kids have their own children now. So I know that how I feel about the QSC as it moves on playing such a role in the life of PEI.

What a wonderful Tribe it has become. What a proud grandpa I am. How fortunate!

 

Here is how you can be part of the network - PEI's Ultra Small Business Network - Making a living!

Six Month Full Membership requires 6 monthly payments of $100.00 and includes:

• One I-Button key for entry into secured building
• Unlimited 24/7 use of the common areas (workspace, small meeting rooms, kitchen, etc.)
• Phone extension with email messaging
• An open post box within the Commons – 224 Queen Street mailing address
• Internet Access (wireless & limited wired connections)
• Average use of other Common’s equipment (photo copier, printer, fax, desk top computer)
• Boardroom Meeting space (based on availability) – Bookable online
• Front Room Meeting Space (based on availability) – Bookable online
• Free subscription to Commons Academy Intranet

Single Month Full Membership requires 1 monthly payment of $200.00 and includes:

• One I-Button key for entry into secured building
• Unlimited 24/7 use of the common areas (workspace, small meeting rooms, kitchen, etc.)
• Phone extension with email messaging
• An open post box within the Commons – 224 Queen Street mailing address
• Internet Access (wireless & limited wired connections)
• Average use of other Common’s equipment (photo copier, printer, fax, desk top computer)
• Boardroom Meeting space (based on availability) – Bookable online
• Front Room Meeting Space (based on availability) – Bookable online
• Free subscription to Commons Academy Intranet

Network Membership – $10.00 monthly and includes:

• Access to QSC member events
• Access to QSC learning and training events at member rate
• Boardroom Meeting space (based on availability)at ¾ Standard User  rate and for free after  7PM
• Front Room Meeting Space (based on availability) at ¾ Standard User rate and for free after  7PM
• Free subscription to Commons Academy Intranet

Drop-In Daily Membership – $30.00 per use and includes:

• Use of the common areas (workspace & kitchen)
• Phone extension
• Internet Access (wireless & limited wired connections)
• Average use of other Common’s equipment (photo copier, printer, fax, desk top computer)

Standard User Fee: $100.00 per full day use of either Board Room or Front Room Meeting spaces.

Standard User Fee: $75.00 per half day use of either Board Room or Front Room Meeting spaces.

Network Member User Fee: $75.00 per full day use of either Board Room or Front Room Meeting spaces.

Network Member User Fee: $56.25 per half dayuse of either Board Room or Front Room Meeting spaces.

The QSC is happy to offer one free day to prospective members to come and experience the space, the company and the services. This is a once only offer.

via queenstreetcommons.org

Until this week the Queen Street Commons was only available to "Full Members". But now we have many ways where you can find the value of being part of the movement toward ultra small business and the ideal of "Making a Living" where having access to a network gives you more power than just being on your own.

So as well as being a full member, you can be a Network Member for a very small sum of $10 a month. See how this works above.

Need a great meeting space - you can book it for a very competitive rate.

Need just a day - you can book that too.

There is more than space involved here. We have 2 big ideas that we are working on.

The first is to set up the network so that we can share our knowledge.

For instance, today, Ann Worth is hosting a conversation on how the very very small organization can prepare to export. On PEI there are many of us who know a lot about some things and there are the rest of us who need to know this. For instance, when I started working a lot in the US, I could find no one who knew anything about the Visa regulations for my kind of work. I am now an expert and can share that knowledge.

Later we will have conversations on getting paid!! Later logistics - see what I mean. We plan to cover the full range of issues both business and personal.

The second big idea that we are working on is sharing expensive gear. You have a big presentation to make - but do you really need to own a digital projector? You need a flip chart.. you need a great video camera.. and so on. But some of us do have these things - mainly hardly used. We are looking to find a way of setting up a sharing/rental facility among the members.

The QSC is also part of a global network on Co-Working spaces. As a member, you can use other co-working spaces all over the world. So you have have access to a network in any city.

Our purpose over all is to create a network that provides practical value to the very small. More than just meeting for coffee. More than schmoozing. But finding the missing person for your project. For instance Ann is helping me on setting up a conference - one of her areas of expertise. You may need a website. You may need marketing help. You may also need kit - such as a projector. You may have a question that has to be answered - I can think of the many times that I had to call Kelly to get help on using Simply Accounting. The network is full of people who can help you directly. The network has people that need you too.

Why are we doing this? Because the old way of doing business is not working very well - if at all. The job is dying. We are being forced to look after ourselves. But alone, this is too hard. In a network we have all the value of an organization without all the bullshit and costs.

So this is why we are working to create such a network.

If we can find a way of coming together in a network, then we can do a lot more for less and have more power. We can make having a very very small business a way of making a good living. This may be the future of business and of our economy.

So check us out - please. We also need your help. We have a good idea of where to go but the HOW is the challenge - you can help design that how.

Are you a freelancer? Lonely? Co-Working? Making a Living!

I read this in the Globe today.

But for a solo freelancer, it can be even more challenging to build your career when you don’t have an organization behind you. You’re responsible for your own networking and creating your own opportunities.

Freelance videographer Rosa Park misses having people to bounce ideas around with, so relies heavily on her social media for interaction.

“It’s kind of lonely not having co-workers,” says Ms. Park, who works out of a tiny downtown office. “I live on Facebook and Twitter. I try to cut it down, but I can’t. It’s the only way for me to be social.”

One of the benefits of Co-Working in a palce like the Queen Street Commons is that you get back into the tribal conditions that we all crave as humans but without the office politics!

Co-Working is exploding around the world as more and more of us work as freelancers and need to be socially connected.

Here is just North America

Here is the link to the world - there is even co working in Saudi Arabia!

At the Commons, as with other co working spaces, we offer a place where you can have a professional environment - meeting rooms etc - AND interact with others who may be in very different fields than you. It is a place to get help and fellowship as well as a good place to work and to meet outsiders.

But next month we are expanding this idea of a place only to a network that extends beyond the walls. 

Fellowship does not mean that we are always in the same place. It can often be the launch pad for a great quest. So what might be our great quest? Might it be to make to make the little meangingful? For who saved the world in LOR? It was a hobbit.

This is who we really are. 70% of business on PEI has less than 5 employees. What if we had a quest to make this powerful? What if we could make this the core of the economy? What if being small meant that you could make a great living? Who might then stay? Your kids? Who might then come? The kind of people who would fit PEI?

So this then is what we at the Queen Street Commons seek to do. We seek to be a catalyst for this kind of Fellowship. We will do our best to help you help yourself and those you care about make it possible to have your own "Living".

We want to make "making a living" the best way to live on PEI.

As with all quests, they start humbly with the kind of people that the Dark Lords laugh at. As with all quests, the power of the Dark Lords is real and immense. Tolkien wrote LOR as a response to the industrialization of the world. That is what we are up against.

But rather than rail against the system, why not build a new one? The Industrial system was strong in Tolkien's day - but it is so weak now. This is surely the time?

Every quest starts with a few people and has to start with a few steps. In the next month, I will tell you about what few steps we intend to take. I hope that you might like to join us.