Tired of the home office? Shared office spaces, for rent by the day or the month, are popping up all over.
By Matthew Amster-Burton
December 26 2007: 11:24 AM EST  ___ reprinted from CNN Money

SEATTLE (FORTUNE Small Business) — As a sole proprietor who works primarily online, every day I face a painful decision: work from home or go to a coffeehouse?

Working from home is awesome. No boss hanging over your shoulder. No need to shower. No human contact. No incentive to stay on task.
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Wausauians gain online/offline collaboration space
By Emily Thierfelder
reprinted with permission from VolumeOne.org

With today’s increasing pressure on personal and professional success, the benefits of networking – that crazy concept of socializing to exchange ideas and advice with others – are obvious. In the past year, two unique Wausau-based enterprises have been created to promote these benefits: CitizenWausau.com, a web site devoted to encouraging community conversation, and CitizenDesk, an office that provides work space for independent professionals. Both enterprises are based on the concept of “coworking,” a social process similar to networking that unites people who are interested in benefiting from teamwork-driven synergy.

“We all have goals, and we can all help each other achieve our goals.” With this as his mantra, Marcus Nelson, owner of the web-design company Superstarch, created CitizenWausau.com and CitizenDesk to provide hard-working individuals with co-working opportunities.

By redefining the traditional workplace into a more community-oriented space, co-working centers enable people to “establish a regular workspace, facilitate collaboration among the regulars, and enjoy the necessities that serious business professionals need,” says Neil Takemoto, the founding director of CoolTown Beta Communities, a company committed to developing these centers. For instance, if a freelance writer needs design advice and a freelance designer needs writing advice, they can work together in the same coworking center to collaborate on their individual projects. In the cases of CitizenWausau.com and CitizenDesk,
then, users are given opportunities to network both online and in person with like-minded individuals.
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The always-on, perpetual freelance culture of Web 2.0 has spawned its own “coworking” spaces, but are these new techno-optimists building sustainable communities? Another enjoyable article on Co-Working.

It’s an interesting idea: temporary Marxism for a temp economy. No worker’s paradise; just some cool folks to hang out with, a place to get stuff done, a chance at autonomy. Utopianism isn’t quite what it used to be.