I coworked yesterday at Hub SoMa, my coworking homebase in San Francisco where Shareable is a member. When I arrived around 2pm, I didn't feel like just plopping down and opening my laptop. I did a lap around the bottom and then top floor to take in the space and see who was there.
I bumped into Cory Smith, the CEO of Hub Bay Area, by the spiral staircase. He asked me to come with him, he had something for me. I followed Cory upstairs to his office where he gave me the stamp in the below photo. It says, "This once belonged to: ________." Some cool soul at The Hub gave it to him, and he asked for an extra so he could give me one. That was so thoughtful of Cory. And it was an amazing coincidence too because the week prior my colleague Milicent Johnson and I talked about hosting a swap at The Hub. We thought it would be cool if every item had a little story to go with it. The stamp fit perfectly into that scheme. Serendipity moment number one.
The stamp says, "This once belonged to:_______". Perfect for making tags for a swap.
I then went downstairs to talk to Roe Cummings, who was at the host desk. I've known Roe since before the space opened through Shareable advisor David Hodgson. I just wanted to check in. As is my habit, I asked her what cool stuff was happening at The Hub. She paused, and then said that hub hosts from around the world were gathering in Milan next week to discuss coworking hosting best practices. I asked her if she'd share the notes from the meeting, and if it was OK to write a coworking hosting how-to based on them. She said sure. I was stoked because I hadn't seen a hosting how-to on the web yet, and hosting is an important dimension of coworking. It would make a cool story for Shareable. Thanks Roe! Serendipity moment number two.
Feeling uplifted from the gifts of a stamp and story, I sat down to work. I happened to sit next to a group discussion led by Bobby Fishkin. The day before he had sent me a fascinating concept paper for an innovation zone in San Francisco. That's what he was talking about. I couldn't help but follow along, and I accidentally got a full briefing. To top it off, I was going on a group hike in the Presidio after work that Bobby organized. Dreading the long uphill bike ride to the Presidio, I asked Bobby for a lift. He said he had one spot left in his car. Thank goodness for Bobby, that's a hell of bike ride. That makes three moments - a serendipity hat-trick.
This happened in a span of about 20 minutes. Such is the serendipity of coworking.
Comments
Alberto wrote on 09.26.11, 11:01am:
Hi Neal, I might be biased here, as the founder of a Hub myself (Milan), but I think serendipity is less casual than we think, if the conditions are set in the right way.
In other words, it's not really about 'co-working', as you have lots of co-working spaces where such serendipity moments do not arise, but about network hosting and space development, which is what we do inside every Hub every day. First of all, gather a bunch of people who share the same ethical values and vision and you easily end up with serendipity #1 (or similar ones, I could give you endless stories from Milan). Then make sure this bunch of people has a host whose main purpose is to connect those who don't know each other and act as a sort of information amp locally and globally. There you have much higher chances of serendipity #2 happening. And finally, make sure the spaces enable physical sharing, proximity and imagination, and sure enough you'll have lots of serendipity #3 episodes happening.
This is really what the Hub is about, and I am really glad you experienced all three levels in just 20 min!!
Ciao from Milan
Alberto
Neal Gorenflo wrote on 09.26.11, 11:28am:
Alberto, thanks for the thoughtful comment linking each of my serendipity moments to thoughtful design choices showing that serendipity can indeed happen by design.
Speaking of design, say hi to Andrea in Hub Milan! You probably saw the post he wrote about designing workspace for collaboration:
http://shareable.net/blog/designing-workspaces-for-collaboration
Love the learning across cities and coworking spaces. Thanks for the inspiration.
Alberto wrote on 09.26.11, 12:32pm:
Hi Neal, thanks to you for such a good Hub story!
I'll give Andrea a big hug from all of you in San Francisco, I know he misses you lots already. And indeed, I had seen his post on Sharable and have sent it to all my design-obsessed contacts!
Ciao
A
Leif Utne wrote on 09.27.11, 5:46pm:
@Neal: I love this. I was asked to speak a couple weeks ago at the grand opening of OfficeXpats (http://OfficeXpats.com), a brand-new coworking space here on Bainbridge Island, where I was the first member to join ("Xpat #1"). I talked about how coworking fits into sustainability, the sharing economy, innovation, traffic reduction, economic development, etc. But mostly I talked about the "accelerated serendipity," as Brad Neuberg famously put it, that happens in coworking spaces that successfully foster a sense of community and shared ownership among the members. That meme really grabbed folks. The owners have been using it in all their marketing and PR efforts since then.
Neal Gorenflo wrote on 09.27.11, 5:51pm:
Thanks for representing and moving things forward Leif. I always learn stuff from you. And congrats on being Xpat #1!
Yeah, and Office Xpats is a cool name. Transitioning to the sharing economy is really like becoming an expat, moving to a foreign land or a frontier.
The Hub Amsterdam made a video last year of what hosting in a Hub really means. I guess you can find it on their website.
Love from Belgium,
Ria