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Last night was the first meetup for the New Work City coworking group. If you are not up on the whole coworking idea, basically a few people are trying to rent out shared office space so that different NYC-based freelancers can have a place to work. This space would be affordable and designed so that you are not isolated from the other people at the office. You are not necessarily working together on things, but you are surrounded by people who you (ideally) would be able to talk to about ideas, network with, ask for help, and maybe grab a beer with after work.

Right now the idea is in it’s early stages- they are still trying to find a space (there are some great candidates), figure out what people are looking for, and the big hurdle is finding enough people to ensure that the space will be able to pay for itself. Obviously office space in midtown Manhattan (the proposed area is between 34th Street and 14th Street, between 5th and 8th Ave.) is expensive, plus taking on a lease requires considerable money down as well as serious risk (or at least the potential of risk) for whoever signs it.

Anyway, there are tons of details and serious hurdles to the project, but it’s a great idea, and something Manhattan could definitely use. Right now they are looking for people to step up and commit so they will have some assurance that the numbers will add up by the projected June 1 move-in date.

One of the organizers, Tony Bacigalupo, sent out an email to everyone, giving some more information if they have not been following the coworking scene. Here are some excerpts:

1. What you can do now
As we discussed in the meeting, the best thing everyone can do to help at this point is spread the word. We need to hit a critical mass of interest in order to be able to get the space open, and I know that the interest is out there. So if you know anyone or any resources you can tap to reach people who’d be interested in New Work City, send them our way!

We’re working on the letters of commitment we discussed last night. We’ll keep you posted on that. This will be the most important; if we can get enough people to demonstrate their commitment to the space, we’ll be in great shape.

2. Links
* Jelly - Casual coworking in someone’s living room, once every Friday or so.
http://jellynyc.pbwiki.com/JellyBrooklyn2008-4-18 http://jellynyc.pbwiki.com/JellyBrooklyn2008-4-25

* CooperBricolage - Cafe-based coworking community based in Gramstand in the East Village.
You can show up anytime; there will be people there, some of whom are in the community and some who aren’t (we’re working on better identifying who’s who…stay tuned on that)
If you use Twitter, you can follow CooperBricolage here: @coobric
You can also see who’s broadcasted when they’re going to be at CooBric here: http://cooperbricolage.pbwiki.com/cooperBricolage+Signin+List

* Williamsburg Coworking at The Change You Want To See - A membership-based coworking space in Williamsburg. If you live in the general vicinity or are looking for a creative coworking community to join right now, you should check it out!

Photos of the “Balcony” space we looked at last night, this is the space we currently are hoping to get.

So it’s a great concept, and some people are really into it, but it (as always) comes down to the money. For $500 a month (the price of a full-time desk) you can’t get your own office but you could continue to work from hope and from coffee shops (most of which have free WiFi and don’t mind computer users camping out). Additionally, that $500 monthly could probably get you an extra bedroom in your apartment if you don’t mind the working-from-home thing. You’d lose out on the dedicated work space, conference room, office atmosphere, and camaraderie of your coworking peers, but it’s not an easy call.

Anyway, I’ve been looking into coworking for a long time and this is the first one in Manhattan that is worth considering. If you are the type of person that absolutely can’t work from home then it could be an amazing opportunity but if you are used to the pleasures/pitfalls of being a home-based web worker then it’s about balancing the benefits of working around (and potentially with) some very cool people with the fact that you are paying to commute.

I’m weighing my options and strongly considering it. I like to keep business expenses to a minimum when possible, but the thought of working around other people is intriguing. I’m not sure that I am interested in getting into midtown every day (maybe 20 minutes each way), but I am definitely not about to rule it out.

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