Diane noticed many of her new followers lacked the human element, and dug a little deeper. She found followers whose Tweets were populated exclusively by Twitterfeed. There was no human element there — every single post was automated, completely eliminating the possibility for connection and interaction.

There are plenty of companies out there ready to help you automate your Twitter stream, promising to bring you thousands of followers, and offering to help you fake your way to Twitter fame. I think of them as the get-rich-quick schemers of social media.

Diane’s post reminds us that there can be true value in the connections we make on Twitter. She now screens all her followers, as we all should. And she says it best:

… I feel like if we don’t screen like this, the medium will become a mass of autoresponders autofollowing each other, with little oases of interaction. And I love the heartbeat of twitter.

Congratulations, Diane, on winning this week’s Blog Carnival :)

About the weather

You probably all think we’re a bunch of weather wusses down here in Texas. Well, you’re right. We are. So we’re quite happy to know that the San Jose has lots of outdoor heaters and a firepit to keep us toasty. You’ll be able to spot the locals — we’ll all be in parkas. Don’t laugh! It’s only 50 degrees out there!

I’m also happy to announce that FreshBooks will be a sponsor of the event — thanks to them we’ll have a fabulous assortment of delectable snacks. Thanks, FreshBooks — you rock!

Last year over 150 people attended. Given the spectacular growth and success of the coworking movement, I expect an even bigger turnout this year.

You can help us promote the meetup by putting this badge on your blog — it looks just like the one you see to the right, complete with the countdown.

We’ll get started at 7:30. There’s no cost to attend, and it’s not an official SXSW event, so you don’t even need a badge to get in.

See you on the 13th!

In our last post, we explored the idea of VIP memberships and some kind of profit-sharing program. We got a lot of good feedback via email, Twitter, and in the comments. A bunch of you sent us some really good, thoughtful ideas, too. We learned that:

• The VIP concept sounds too stuffy.
• Profit-sharing doesn’t appeal to many of you.
• You really like the idea of pre-purchasing time.
• Cafe discounts are a great idea.

Thanks for all the ideas! We’ve come up with a great pre-launch deal for you. LaunchPad is now pre-selling time at a huge discount and including cafe discounts. The deal will only be good through March 17 (after SXSWi), so please spread the word!

A few specifics on the deal:

• Buy as many months or bulk hour packages as you want.
• If you buy a monthly membership and go over the number of hours, additional hours are charged at the same rate as your package’s hourly rate.
• Cafe discount includes all cafe food and drink, i.e., everything but coffee beans and swag.
• Membership starts when you actually use the space (no earlier!).
• NO RISK. All purchases subject to FULL REFUND in the unlikely event LaunchPad Coworking doesn’t open.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be rolling out other unique ways you can be involved in the opening of LaunchPad Coworking. If you have questions you can send an email to EarlyAdopter@launchpadcoworking.com.

Let us know what you think!

LaunchPad Coworking entrance. Left 2 panels slide to open.

Wow, what great response we’ve received from our last post! Your comments, emails, tweets, and calls have been so encouraging. And your ideas are fantastic.

As you know, we’re trying to raise the rest of the money we need — fast. We are still looking for investors, of course, but now we’re considering going down a parallel path.

Several of you suggested pre-selling VIP memberships of some sort. The more we talked it through, the more viable it became. Here’s what we’re thinking:

• VIP memberships available in $1K units — you can buy as many as you like.
• Each unit gets you x% of cash flow for x period of time. We have to run the numbers to define the variables, but the goal would be for you to make some money on this.
• All members would get recognition — as much as we can manage. A plaque, a poster, web site presence…
• We wouldn’t spend any of your money until we’ve raised enough to open, via memberships and investments (after a slash and burn budgets session, that number is approximately $600K). If we never raise enough, we’ll refund it.

Other possible perks:

• cafe discount for x period of time
• x amount of free space for x period of time

We’re also thinking that at some threshold (5 units? 10?) we’d offer some additional benefits, such as:

• use of the whole space x times for private events
• use of partial space (all the meeting rooms, all the coworking space) x times
• free conference room space

I have a lot of work to do to make this happen. We have to run the numbers on it, and put together a legal document. If you happen to know of the perfect person to help me put this together (like today or tomorrow) please let me know. I have experts, but would love to find an individual who can help me get this together quickly.

We need your feedback!

• Which of these perks would you find most valuable?
• If you’re not likely to use space in Austin, is there any other perk you’d find valuable?
• What’s most compelling to you? The profit-sharing? Recognition? Discounts on space/food?
• What kind of recognition would help you or your business most?
• Is this something you’d consider?

Ceiling over the cafe

Being transparent is relatively easy when things are going well. When times are hard — not so much.

It was so much fun to post updates here — photos of the latest new wonderfulness to appear at LaunchPad Coworking. I was pretty active on Twitter, keeping up with the blog, and generally letting everyone know how things were going.

This past month or so has been really hard, though. And rather than sharing everything with the world, I’ve grown quiet, afraid that posting bad news would just make things worse.

I worried that if potential investors learned we were struggling, they’d be reluctant to invest. That’s a legitimate concern. But mostly I was worried about my own embarrassment. After all, I’m a successful serial investor, right? And this is an awesome idea and a great model. It’s innovative, well thought out, and in demand. How could I be struggling to get it open?

Well, we are indeed struggling.

Investors have backed out, banks are keeping their fiscal fists tightly clenched, and we owe lots of people money.

Individual coworking area

We are so, so close to opening. If we had the money we need today, we could be open in 6-8 weeks. But construction has stopped. We continue to move forward on many fronts. The reservations software is being tested, the equipment is sourced — so many things are ready to go. And our incredible team is intact. Believe it or not, we sometimes even manage to laugh and have fun as we work our asses off to figure out how to fix this.

We need help. We need investors. Or a loan. I can’t put deal details out there, because anything construed as advertising will get me in hot water with the SEC (as you can imagine this is extra infuriating given the SEC managed to look the other way at the Bernard Madoff $50 billion fiasco).

Everyone we’re working with wants us to open. And clearly Austin wants us to open. I have been getting more requests for space this past month than ever before. This economic debacle has actually made the demand for a place like LaunchPad Coworking even greater.

We’re looking for leads. Contacts who can help us make this happen.

And thanks for listening. This was a hard post to write, but it really does feel better to put it all out there.

But it’s the conversation the post inspires — dare we call this collaboration? — that really gets things going. In particular, commenter Duncan Kinder takes the time to school Robb on the history of innovators swapping creative juices over a plateful and a cuppa over the past umpteen centuries. He even includes helpful source links.

Kinder cites Plato’s Symposium, a philosophical dialogue written about the nature of love, which was set (as were real life symposiums) over supper and wine. And he notes the Florentine Camerata, a sort of coworking model for Renaissance musicians. And then there’s the Mermaid Club — a bunch of Elizabethan poets who gathered at a tavern regularly to throw back brew and couplets spew.

Do note Kinder has more than a passing interest in the history of folks gathering to swap ideas. As he himself points out — also with a link — he’s compiled a list on Amazon called Philosophically Correct Entertainment offering up other examples of the predecessors to that smart group thinking that informs the success of coworking.

Photo by kino-eye

Spike Gillespie: What exactly is the Centre for Social Innovation?
Eli Malinsky: We do a bunch of things, but the main thing we do is provide shared work space and shared services. We have around 120 current members — 40 in offices, 40 in permanent desks, and 40 in hot desks (part-time desks). They represent nonprofits, charities, social enterprises, social purpose businesses, green businesses and are also individual social entrepreneurs, artists and activists. They reflect a variety of interests, including arts, culture, social justice, education, health, environment, technology and much, much more. They are a diverse bunch — but they are all using their energy to improve their communities and the world at large.

We also provide event spaces so we have about 1,000 people per month come in for workshops, meetings, book launches, press conferences etc. And finally, we act as an incubator, helping promising social change projects get off the ground.

Spike: How did y’all come up with the idea?
Eli: We know that the majority of social change projects start off small — one or two people small. And it’s these folks who are most likely to work in isolation and in substandard facilities. It’s also these folks who have the most difficult time with administration, because they don’t have staff support. When you are a one-person organization and the internet connection goes down, you are the only who can deal with it.

We imagined the Centre as a place where a diverse cross-section of people and organizations would come together with two common motivations: to reduce costs through economies of scale and shared administrative support, and to build community across sectors and interests.

We started with 5,000 square feet and 14 tenant organizations. Within two years we had a waiting list of 40 organizations. We’re now at 20,000 square feet and it was only in the past two years that we really invested in desk space and shared desk space as opposed to offices. We’ve also broadened our focus beyond nonprofit organizations to include all types of organizations working for social change.

Spike: What you’re doing sounds very much like what the coworking movement is doing, only with an emphasis on non-profit work. Can you give me an example or two of how pooling resources has resulted in success/improvements for the groups at the Centre?
Eli: Yep that’s exactly what it is. Coworking for ’social mission’ organizations and individuals. Everyone wants to know the big story — how two groups collaborated and created change in a way that wouldn’t have been possible without the Centre for Social Innovation. And that does happen. But the real magic is in the more pervasive and diffuse collaboration that occurs through natural day-to-day exchange. Members are constantly sharing tips, feedback, resources, connections and expertise in a way that simply wouldn’t be possible without a shared space. And a lot of genuinely great friendships form too!

Spike: Some examples of the groups at the Centre?
Eli: See the bottom of the web site. There are a ton! From the African Canadian Social Development Council to EcoSchools — our members run the full spectrum….

Spike: Are you at full capacity?
Eli: All of our permanent space is full with a waiting list. But we have space for about 80 part-time people, so our goal is to double current numbers by March 2009.

Spike: How, exactly, has it worked — does a group apply for use of space? Do they pay rent or are they funded by the Centre?
Eli: We are a nonprofit social enterprise — we have no funding except for what we get from our tenants (although we do get grants for special projects). So we can only survive in the marketplace if we generate enough revenue from rent. All tenants pay rent for their space, based on size and any special features (windows, exposed brick, etc.). The part-time members select among a series of packages based on a set allotment of hours.

All members must apply and must be approved for tenancy. We have an application form and take very seriously our responsibility to select the best possible tenants. We are ‘curators’ of the shared environment — and this is critical to our success.

Spike: You’ve been open for 4 years now — how have things changed and what have you learned in the process?
Eli: We have learned a ton since we opened our doors. There are three main discoveries/lessons that really influence our unique approach: The first is diversity. A good coworking space is a diverse coworking space. For us, this means a mix of permanent and part-time members. It also means a variety of organizational forms: charities, nonprofits, social purpose businesses, social enterprises, consultants, grassroots community groups and individual social entrepreneurs, innovators and activists. Finally, diversity means a mix of areas of interest and focus: social justice, health, education, arts, environment, technology, business, and professional services. It is only by connecting with others outside of our own familiar spheres that we can take our ideas to the next level and develop systemic solutions to the problems that face us.

The second is physical design. The physical design of the space plays a massive role in its success a space for work and for collaboration. A coworking space must be functional: it must manage noise, provide sufficient meeting rooms, include a variety of standard office amenities and allow people to be efficient and productive in pursuit of their missions.

But it must also be designed with community in mind.  For us, this means using glass walls wherever possible — so you can get a real sense of the dynamism of the space. Glass also reflects core values of transparency, openness and collaboration. We also make sure that we have large kitchens and unstructured spaces for social interaction, including casual and comfortable furniture. People are more likely to share ideas and spark a connection if they are just ‘hanging out’. We’ve come to realize how important it is to provide such spaces to really foster the development of community.

Finally, we’ve learned that our coworking community needs animation as much as it needs administration. But it must not be heavy-handed — it should be with a light touch. We focus on three levels of animation: physical, social and technological. Physically, we put up message walls, maps and photo walls that allow people to learn who’s in the space and what they’re doing, and which foster communication among members. Socially, we have quarterly formal events (and many informal events throughout the year) that allow members to kick back and get to know each other without focusing on work. We have had picnics, sailing trips, and the annual Cookie & Cocktail Smackdown. Technologically, we have an internal e-mail list that allows members to get in touch with each other, share leads and find support, as well as website profiles that feature the members and allow everyone to learn more about each other’s work.

Heffernan mentions @cafe as an example—a place in Manhattan where I was once booked—in 1995!— by Prodigy Services (anybody remember Prodigy?!) to do a reading. (It was Prodigy’s hope, at the time, to launch a cyber-celeb into the world. Such heady times!) Well @cafe is long shuttered. But Heffernan reports that cyber cafes still exist out there and have morphed some.

Now, when I think of such places, I think of traveling far away without a laptop, and tracking down a badly carpeted drab room where I rent a beat up, buggy computer for too much per minute to check my email. Or feeling some small sense of comfort if my son is traipsing around Europe, knowing he’ll have ample access to cybercafes to send back reports of how “pretty” Amsterdam is. These images I have of cybercafes aren’t inaccurate. However, they don’t paint the full picture.

Here’s a bit from Heffernan’s blog, within which is a quote from 1998, pointing out why cybercafes should, logically, be obsolete by now:

“The notion of a cybercafe — a place for Net surfers to socialize on a tide of gourmet coffee — is at odds with how most people want to use computers, even in their leisure time,” Michel Marriott observed that year [1998] in The New York Times. “Those who Web surf, read e-mail, write or program or do just about anything else on a computer often do so in solitude.” Today, with superpowered handhelds, we imagine digital life as something that no longer requires devoted surfaces, mouse pads or uninterrupted stretches of time.

And yet, still some gather in cybercafes. Heffernan tells the tale of Web2Zone, near the campus of NYU, where more than half of the space is dedicated to gamers. Technically, these gamers have no real need to come and play amongst each other — unless they’re having a hardware crisis at home. But the café’s owner has a number of theories why they do choose to congregate. Heffernan has ideas of her own, too:

Participants in social networks and any kind of massive-multiplayer-online existence often feel suspended between total isolation at their screens and howling online crowds. The next incarnation of the cybercafe should take into account that people will pay not only for coffee and online minutes but also for the reassurance that in their cyberjourneys they might find traveling companions whose faces — in line for a Red Bull or a margarita? — they might even see.

As explained at Creators Inn:

With Creators Inn by Elvine we tried to add some creativity to the equation, labeling what we do as CSR — Creative Social Responsibility. By offering visiting creators free accommodation, we hope to remind people of a lovely little thing called hospitality. And in addition to making the visiting creators happy and Gothenburg a more interesting city because of their presence, we hope this simple idea can be exported and implemented around the globe. What a wonderful world that would result in.

Anyone is welcome to register for a chance to stay for a short visit. Foreigners and creative types get priority. They even have a guarantee — if you can find a place to stay that costs less than nothing, they will match that rate at Creators Inn.

Pretty cool way to shine a light on the clothing line while simultaneously turning outsiders on to Gothenburg and Gothenburgers on to artists they might not otherwise know about. We might have to invent the CoExcellence award and bestow our first trophy upon the folks at Elvine for coming up with such a CoZy way of bringing folks together :)