mtl3p

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about, watching, and talking to ISF users. It keeps making me think of the need for clubs with memberships - not a private club, but something more semi-public with a large grey boundary between the two. I see people sitting in ISF cafe’s for 8 hours because they are self-employed and want / need to get out of the house. They buy their 3 lattes and a lunch, but it’s far from perfect for a bunch of reasons. The resources we need aren’t there (printer, shower, couch, locker) and it still not “our” space.

I *hate* working at home. Whenever I want to do some work I start with the question “Where?”. Partially this could be explained by the fact that I don’t have internet access at home and so am dependent on ISF hotspots, but even for off-line work I much prefer to be in a public space.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while - but this section from Robert Paterson’s Weblog: Going Home - Our Reformation about communal spaces “of the future” made me want to write smthg.

“It‚Äôs like a home and not a hotel. It is clean and comfortable and, more important; it is full of your friends who spend a lot of their day working there. Your network is here. It is like going home but in another place. The one he’s writing about when he’s visiting another city.

Every evening feels like a party as members drop by for a drink, a chat, a movie and maybe to take on the world in a number of games.

Local membership costs only $45 a month. Members get wireless, copying, space, coffee and the meeting room in the basic membership price. This unique pricing was designed to drive a forgotten type of group behaviour. The social norms of the Commons are the same as those that are used in many Kindergartens. Treat others and the place as if it were you and yours. Like eBay, your reputation, your character and your behaviour are central to your success in the Commons. Like eBay your reputation precedes you. Your reputation is everything. Members share a space that probably feels a lot like Lloyds Coffee House felt to the pioneers of business 250 years ago. Then too, your word was your most important asset.”

I don’t buy most of his post (especially the time-frames), but I admire the sentiment.

But I do want a club. Not an exclusively private club, but the whole public cafe + (member priviliges like: some private work areas + access to booking conference rooms + shower for when I bike there + kitchen +etc would definitely make me part with $30+/month. And I got a bunch of friends that are contract workers I think would be interested as well.

I know people have tried stuff like this (workspace + thirdspace) before (there was one on St. Laurent a few years ago). Does anyone know about any examples in Montreal right now?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 7th, 2005 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Identity & Community / Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.