Had a lovely discussion this weekend at Xindanwei to discuss “The Future is Co-”, a look at the future of coworking, collaboration and collective creativity. I wrote recently abotu Xindanwei’s coworking model in Hyperallergic, and in a way, the panel was a way to continue that dialogue. What added to the event was that Tony Bacigalupo had come in from New York to join the discussion and share his thoughts. Tony co-founded New Work City, one of the more popular spaces in New York, and it was in his space that I first discovered the concept of coworking (with a hat tip to the fabulous Julia Kaganskiy for introducing me). It was in Shanghai that I discovered Xindanwei, and that’s when I realized coworking was so much more than a New York thing: it’s a global wave, as these hubs of creativity pop up around the world.
So we all got together. The panel included Tony from New Work City; Liu Yan and Chen Xu from Xindanwei (which means New Work Unit); and Ricky Ng-Adam and Min Lin Hsieh from Xinchejian (New Garage), the hacker space that grew out of Xindanwei. Silvia Lindtner and I moderated, and Lawrence Wang live blogged on both Twitter and Weibo. So many thoughts swirling in my head, but here’s what’s been sticking so far:
I was first of all struck by the role of diversity and synergy in coworking spaces, whether in Asia or North America. Tony mentioned in his talk that coworking spaces create accidents, by bumpling people into good ideas and sharing these ideas. Liu Yan noted a more deliberate approach at Xindanwei, as she actively introduces people with each other. The diversity cuts across many angles, from diversity of nationality to diversity of profession. At a hacker space like Xinchejian, this might mean bringing in hackers of different kinds, from software programmers to roboticists to urban farmers. The point is to find that magic spark of synergy that a more homogenous group wouldn’t be able to provide.
Secondly, I’m thinking about the role of the community vs. the role of the coworking space organizers. Aaajiao, one of Xindanwei’s founders, talked about cutting of all the branches and just focusing on building the tree. Tony brought up the analogy of the spider, which has a head, and the starfish, which has a decentralized nervous system. These analogies help get at a key point: the ideal coworking space is, perhaps, leaderless. Up until that point, however, coworking spaces do need more active leaders, as Liu Yan pointed out, especially in a new market like China where people might not be familiar with what services a coworking space can provide, and what they can expect. And I’m guessing that, in any space, some form of leadership will always be necessary. But ultimately, if the space is driven more by the community than the the organizers, then it’s safe to say the space is successful.
Thirdly, I’m thinking about the business models that coworking spaces can develop. Because as much as it’s helpful to develop a rich community, coworking spaces still exist in brick and mortar buildings, and that means rent, especially in expensive cities like Shanghai and New York (the former is actually now ranked as more expensive to live in now). What are the models for success? At Xinchejian, there are classes and events, and they sell kits and badges to support their expenses. Xindanwei offers tiered access, everything from a one-year membership for people like Emlyn Wang, who’s building her business from within the space, to people like me, who pass through Xindanwei only briefly and intermittently, but appreciate the community there. A robust and active membership is obviously the goal, but it isn’t quite enough; each space has to find its own way to grow funding and build a sustainable business.
And fourthly, I’m wondering about how we can connect all these international coworking spaces together. I felt there was such a unique energy on Sunday, to have people from China, Canada, Taiwan, Austria and the United States talking together about coworking in Shanghai and New York, and other spaces they’ve seen. But how can we continue this dialog? There’s social media, of course. The coworking wiki and Google group allow for ongoing discussions, and more informal discussions are happening every day on Twitter and Facebook. But surely there’s more to be done. Tony brought up the idea of the Coworking Visa, which I really took to. Having traveled to so much as of late, I’m finding that coworking spaces offer a excellent “entry point” into a new city, as I meet like-minded city natives who can introduce me to different sides of their hometown better than any guidebook could.
Here are a few tweets from the conversations, using the hashtag #xdw:
[@sharism]: this sharism # coworking project s also facing challenge in China,but I believe this brilliant idea, guys just need a bit more time
[@yunnia]: @ CXu : creative clusters are about property, @ xindanwei is about community & creativity
[@lawrenceyeah]: sharing is a key character in modern society , esp new tech makes it far easily, effectively to connect ,share reproduce
[@yunnia]: @ theliuyan coffee layer and events as channel to speak to people from all kinds of backgrounds, people bring in own social networks
[@serenitygao]: ” @ LawrenceYeah : # xinchejian 新车间 a special hacker space – good place for kids to spend holidays
As Silvia and I were preparing for this discussion, we both struggled to find a word that encapsulates the rapid growth of coworking around the world. It’s not quite a “movement”, which suggests strong leaders guiding the way. Coworking spaces are very much ground up, sparked by seeing successes in other parts of the world, but tailored to the unique needs of the city. Xindanwei, for instance, was started after Liu Yan observed successful spaces while she lived in The Netherlands, and New Work City emerged as a result of Tony Bacigalupo’s earlier work with Sanford Dickert at CooperBricolage.
Ultimately, we decided on the word “wave” to describe the rapid growth of coworking in different parts of the world. It feels right to me, and it suggests an idea that’s successfully finding implementation across contexts and cultures, a result of the growth of the creative class and freelancing community in a given city, and a real-world analogue to the connecting, synergizing effects of digital social media. According to Wikipedia, coworking as a formal practice really started taking off in 2005, which means the wave is just a few years old. What’s next? How can we develop these spaces? How can foster more creative dialogue across spaces? Things are just beginning, and that’s pretty darn cool.
