Why I Ditched my Coworking Space

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

···

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

···

Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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I think that she (not he - worth noting!) pinpoints a lot of elements that are worth taking note of. Over the years I’ve noticed that members come to coworking spaces not to be sold things, but usually to fulfill more emotional needs. I heard a lot of that frustration in Rebekah’s article, and it’s worth taking note of instead of simply shrugging off. Because the emotional stuff is complicated and tough to put your finger on sometimes. But paying attention to it is critical to ensuring the sustainability of your coworking community.

Sure, we can shrug and say that she should have kept looking for the right space (and I’d recommend that she keep looking - sounds like she hasn’t found the right spot yet). But there are a lot of lessons in there that we can glean as well. She specifically calls out that the space was organized in such a way that it was nearly impossible to build a culture. We should be listening to feedback like that - even in spaces where we feel like we’ve got the culture “right.” I read this article and dove right away into reviewing our systems here at Office Nomads to be sure that we encourage our members to build the culture here as much as they want to.

Again, it’s easy to shrug off articles like this and point holes in this individual’s experience, but look closer and you’ll find there is a lot to be learned from her experience.

S

···

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Aaron Cruikshank [email protected] wrote:

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

__
Office Nomads
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206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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The way that I read the article wasn’t that it was impossible to build a culture, but that the existing culture of the space made it impossible for the author to build the culture she wanted for her company inside the existing culture of the space. That sort of problem is actually a better solved — IMO — by an incubation space.

I think that if you’re looking to build your own culture instead of contribute to the culture of the space, then coworking probably isn’t for you.

PS: I think you did the wise thing by conducting a review of your own cultural contribution inputs.

···

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Aaron Cruikshank [email protected] wrote:

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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i found the comment that she wanted to build her own company culture, versus joining the overall culture of the coworking space, very interesting. in that case, yes, it’s a delicate balance between being part of the pack and having room to find out one’s own values…

···

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:21 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

I think that she (not he - worth noting!) pinpoints a lot of elements that are worth taking note of. Over the years I’ve noticed that members come to coworking spaces not to be sold things, but usually to fulfill more emotional needs. I heard a lot of that frustration in Rebekah’s article, and it’s worth taking note of instead of simply shrugging off. Because the emotional stuff is complicated and tough to put your finger on sometimes. But paying attention to it is critical to ensuring the sustainability of your coworking community.

Sure, we can shrug and say that she should have kept looking for the right space (and I’d recommend that she keep looking - sounds like she hasn’t found the right spot yet). But there are a lot of lessons in there that we can glean as well. She specifically calls out that the space was organized in such a way that it was nearly impossible to build a culture. We should be listening to feedback like that - even in spaces where we feel like we’ve got the culture “right.” I read this article and dove right away into reviewing our systems here at Office Nomads to be sure that we encourage our members to build the culture here as much as they want to.

Again, it’s easy to shrug off articles like this and point holes in this individual’s experience, but look closer and you’ll find there is a lot to be learned from her experience.

S

__
Office Nomads
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206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

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On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Aaron Cruikshank [email protected] wrote:

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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Great point, Trevor. “If you’re looking to build your own culture instead of contribute to the culture of the space, than coworking probably isn’t for you.”

The creation and ever-changing nature of a culture in this instance is super complex. I wonder if they felt as though they couldn’t contribute to the culture for any particular reason, or if you are suggesting - that they just weren’t interested. Either way it’s a good topic to think about!

S

···

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:30 PM, Trevor Twining [email protected] wrote:

The way that I read the article wasn’t that it was impossible to build a culture, but that the existing culture of the space made it impossible for the author to build the culture she wanted for her company inside the existing culture of the space. That sort of problem is actually a better solved — IMO — by an incubation space.

I think that if you’re looking to build your own culture instead of contribute to the culture of the space, then coworking probably isn’t for you.

PS: I think you did the wise thing by conducting a review of your own cultural contribution inputs.


Trevor Twining

Cowork Niagara

http://coworkniagara.com

Working independently, together.

twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining

cel: 416-201-2254

On Jul 8, 2014, at 4:21 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

I think that she (not he - worth noting!) pinpoints a lot of elements that are worth taking note of. Over the years I’ve noticed that members come to coworking spaces not to be sold things, but usually to fulfill more emotional needs. I heard a lot of that frustration in Rebekah’s article, and it’s worth taking note of instead of simply shrugging off. Because the emotional stuff is complicated and tough to put your finger on sometimes. But paying attention to it is critical to ensuring the sustainability of your coworking community.

Sure, we can shrug and say that she should have kept looking for the right space (and I’d recommend that she keep looking - sounds like she hasn’t found the right spot yet). But there are a lot of lessons in there that we can glean as well. She specifically calls out that the space was organized in such a way that it was nearly impossible to build a culture. We should be listening to feedback like that - even in spaces where we feel like we’ve got the culture “right.” I read this article and dove right away into reviewing our systems here at Office Nomads to be sure that we encourage our members to build the culture here as much as they want to.

Again, it’s easy to shrug off articles like this and point holes in this individual’s experience, but look closer and you’ll find there is a lot to be learned from her experience.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Aaron Cruikshank [email protected] wrote:

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

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Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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+1 to everything Susan said.

···

/ah
indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 4:21 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

I think that she (not he - worth noting!) pinpoints a lot of elements that are worth taking note of. Over the years I’ve noticed that members come to coworking spaces not to be sold things, but usually to fulfill more emotional needs. I heard a lot of that frustration in Rebekah’s article, and it’s worth taking note of instead of simply shrugging off. Because the emotional stuff is complicated and tough to put your finger on sometimes. But paying attention to it is critical to ensuring the sustainability of your coworking community.

Sure, we can shrug and say that she should have kept looking for the right space (and I’d recommend that she keep looking - sounds like she hasn’t found the right spot yet). But there are a lot of lessons in there that we can glean as well. She specifically calls out that the space was organized in such a way that it was nearly impossible to build a culture. We should be listening to feedback like that - even in spaces where we feel like we’ve got the culture “right.” I read this article and dove right away into reviewing our systems here at Office Nomads to be sure that we encourage our members to build the culture here as much as they want to.

Again, it’s easy to shrug off articles like this and point holes in this individual’s experience, but look closer and you’ll find there is a lot to be learned from her experience.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com

206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Aaron Cruikshank [email protected] wrote:

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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“First, we were presented with a raft of sponsors and their offerings.” First? The “sponsored” fun, shots, pizza and massage felt like a try-hard bait and switch sell for sponsors VCs. No harm having sponsors and partners, but to pitch it first as part of the introduction seems un-coworkingly. (that’s not a word, is it?) Core values/principles should guide our activities, not VC “gifts”. From her description this didn’t seem like a genuine coworking space. My 2 cents.

Chad Ballantyne

705.812.0689

ch…@thecreativespace.ca

Barrie’s Coworking Community

Perfect for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs.

12 Dunlop St E, Barrie Ontario, L4M 1A3

Memberships start at $25/mth

www.thecreativespace.ca

705-812-0689

···

/ah
indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 4:21 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

I think that she (not he - worth noting!) pinpoints a lot of elements that are worth taking note of. Over the years I’ve noticed that members come to coworking spaces not to be sold things, but usually to fulfill more emotional needs. I heard a lot of that frustration in Rebekah’s article, and it’s worth taking note of instead of simply shrugging off. Because the emotional stuff is complicated and tough to put your finger on sometimes. But paying attention to it is critical to ensuring the sustainability of your coworking community.

Sure, we can shrug and say that she should have kept looking for the right space (and I’d recommend that she keep looking - sounds like she hasn’t found the right spot yet). But there are a lot of lessons in there that we can glean as well. She specifically calls out that the space was organized in such a way that it was nearly impossible to build a culture. We should be listening to feedback like that - even in spaces where we feel like we’ve got the culture “right.” I read this article and dove right away into reviewing our systems here at Office Nomads to be sure that we encourage our members to build the culture here as much as they want to.

Again, it’s easy to shrug off articles like this and point holes in this individual’s experience, but look closer and you’ll find there is a lot to be learned from her experience.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com

206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Aaron Cruikshank [email protected] wrote:

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

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Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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Misread the name. Sorry for the gender slip.
And to Trevor’s point about contributing to the culture of the space instead of trying to build a culture inside a culture - spot on, mate.

···

Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:21 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

I think that she (not he - worth noting!) pinpoints a lot of elements that are worth taking note of. Over the years I’ve noticed that members come to coworking spaces not to be sold things, but usually to fulfill more emotional needs. I heard a lot of that frustration in Rebekah’s article, and it’s worth taking note of instead of simply shrugging off. Because the emotional stuff is complicated and tough to put your finger on sometimes. But paying attention to it is critical to ensuring the sustainability of your coworking community.

Sure, we can shrug and say that she should have kept looking for the right space (and I’d recommend that she keep looking - sounds like she hasn’t found the right spot yet). But there are a lot of lessons in there that we can glean as well. She specifically calls out that the space was organized in such a way that it was nearly impossible to build a culture. We should be listening to feedback like that - even in spaces where we feel like we’ve got the culture “right.” I read this article and dove right away into reviewing our systems here at Office Nomads to be sure that we encourage our members to build the culture here as much as they want to.

Again, it’s easy to shrug off articles like this and point holes in this individual’s experience, but look closer and you’ll find there is a lot to be learned from her experience.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com

206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Aaron Cruikshank [email protected] wrote:

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.

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Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

web: cruikshank.me

twitter: @cruikshank

book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank

linkedin: in/cruikshank

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

__
Office Nomads
officenomads.com
206-323-6500(o)
206-484-5859(m)

Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com


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Just posted a response. What she describes is our biggest fear - a frat house with lots of rules about what NOT TO DO.

+1 to Trevor and Susan. Coworking is something that works well for people looking for a collaborative environment. I don’t think an incubator space is the right fit once they want to build their own culture though. At that point companies should be looking to lease their own office space.

-Fletcher

*PivotDesk *

···

On Tuesday, July 8, 2014 1:37:05 PM UTC-7, Alex Hillman wrote:

+1 to everything Susan said.

/ah
indyhall.org

coworking in philadelphia

On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 4:21 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

I think that she (not he - worth noting!) pinpoints a lot of elements that are worth taking note of. Over the years I’ve noticed that members come to coworking spaces not to be sold things, but usually to fulfill more emotional needs. I heard a lot of that frustration in Rebekah’s article, and it’s worth taking note of instead of simply shrugging off. Because the emotional stuff is complicated and tough to put your finger on sometimes. But paying attention to it is critical to ensuring the sustainability of your coworking community.

Sure, we can shrug and say that she should have kept looking for the right space (and I’d recommend that she keep looking - sounds like she hasn’t found the right spot yet). But there are a lot of lessons in there that we can glean as well. She specifically calls out that the space was organized in such a way that it was nearly impossible to build a culture. We should be listening to feedback like that - even in spaces where we feel like we’ve got the culture “right.” I read this article and dove right away into reviewing our systems here at Office Nomads to be sure that we encourage our members to build the culture here as much as they want to.

Again, it’s easy to shrug off articles like this and point holes in this individual’s experience, but look closer and you’ll find there is a lot to be learned from her experience.

S

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Office Nomads
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On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 1:09 PM, Aaron Cruikshank [email protected] wrote:

Sounds to me like this is not the kind of guy who should be in a coworking space.
I used to get these kinds of guys all the time at the space I used to run and I would always re-direct them to local tech incubators. Not that they’re any less noisy or chaotic…

It sounds like what he needed was a private office but all he could afford was hotdesking.

Aaron Cruikshank
Principal, CRUIKSHANK

phone: 778.908.4560

e-mail: [email protected]

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On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 12:41 PM, Susan Dorsch [email protected] wrote:

Out in the New York Times (h/t to Steve King - I caught the article via his Twitter Feed): http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/why-i-ditched-my-co-working-space/

There is so much I could say about this article, but I’ll just start with saying how useful I think this piece is for any owner/cultivator/tummler out there. Lots of food for thought in there.

S

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