Best selling author and marketing expert Seth Godin's article Goodbye to the Office points out that the traditional office is no longer as useful as it once was. Key quote:
"If we were starting this whole office thing today, it's inconceivable we'd pay the rent/time/commuting cost to get what we get. I think in ten years the TV show 'the Office' will be seen as a quaint antique."
While Godin suggests the traditional office is obsolete, he doesn't know what will replace it:
"What's missing is #7... someplace to go. Once someone figures that part out, the office is dead."
Many, of course, are suggesting that coworking might be the "someplace to go" that replaces the traditional office.
A good example is Why Coworking is the "Go To" Solution from Workbar, a coworking facility in Boston. It covers the advantages of coworking versus working at home or coffee shops.
We think coworking is a logical successor for traditional offices (at least for many), which is why we are conducting a research project on this subject. As we get deeper into the project, we hope to more to say on this subject.
We've been conducting a count of coworking spaces in the US and one interesting trend is the growth in coworking facilities in mid-sized US cities and smaller towns.
We're also seeing more facilities in the deep suburbs of bigger cities.
We'll have more on this as we complete our count.
Posted by: Steve | 07/16/2010 at 12:38 PM
I'd be interested to see if smaller communities in the US are able to facilitate coworking as easily as their big-city counterparts.
In Australia, it's hard enough finding coworking spaces in capital cities - let alone smaller communities!
Posted by: Thinksync | 07/15/2010 at 02:48 PM