Office Nomads: coworking is individuality without isolation (2011)

This 2011 conference deck by Jacob Sayles of the Seattle coworking space Office Nomads examined why people joined coworking communities and framed coworking as “individuality without isolation.” It placed the movement’s early development in 2005, naming Brad Neuberg, Chris Messina and Tara Hunt, and identified the Hat Factory, Citizen Space and a Google Group as 2006 milestones. The deck also located Office Nomads’ start in Seattle in 2007 and described coworking as a global movement.

Its central evidence was an Office Nomads member survey conducted in May 2010. Asked why they had become members, 40% cited feeling isolated and another 40% cited increasing productivity. Business connections accounted for 7% and “other” for 4%, while social connections, being hired by a Nomad and decreasing overhead each accounted for 3%. The presentation used those responses to argue that coworking met practical and social needs rather than operating only as shared office space. Its closing material emphasized enjoyment and community and provided links to Office Nomads, Coworking Seattle, the CoworkingDB and the Nadine Project. The figures represented Office Nomads members in 2010, not the coworking market as a whole.

Key findings

• Feeling isolated and increasing productivity were each cited by 40% of respondents to the May 2010 Office Nomads member survey.
• Business connections accounted for 7% of responses, while social connections, being hired by a Nomad and decreasing overhead each accounted for 3%.
• The deck dated the naming of coworking to 2005, identified several community milestones in 2006 and placed Office Nomads’ Seattle launch in 2007.

Presented by Jacob Sayles, Office Nomads, at Coworking Europe 2011