Coworking

Jessica Clark has an interesting article up on TAP's website today about working in "meatspace" -- a phenomenon where freelancers meet in a slightly more traditional office setting with people that they don't work with.

For $25 a day (or $175 a month for a 3 day/week commitment), you can drop into the space, use the wireless, meet with clients in the small glassed-in conference room, and, often, find folks to grab a drink with afterward. The feel is part dorm lounge, part ad agency and part cybercafe, and it's a hit.

I have a number of friends who are either full-time freelancers or have flexible enough jobs that they don't have to go into the office regularly. This always drove me nuts, since I'm the type of person that needs structure to help me get things done. In college when I set my own office hours as an editor, I rarely made it to them. I'm not disciplined enough on my own to work well with that kind of flexibility. Furthermore, the contracting trend tends to lose office collegiality and social interaction that comes with having a physical work location. But having a place to go like this seems to be a good solution for people who want social interaction and to get out of the house. What innovation.