Cubes & Crayons Coworking - Silicon Valley

Sitting at a cafe - missing my coworking space

As I type this I am doing exactly what I am not supposed to be doing, I am working in a cafe.  Recently the on the Business Pundit blog, Drea posted about coworking versus the coffee shop.  He made some excellent points on the benefits of coworking.  Among the:
-You pay a flat membership fee instead of a daily fee.
-Everyone has a laptop!
-You get the chance to collaborate with your peers.
-The seats are probably more comfortable.

Flexibility: Best Buy Gets It

Before coworking, flexible work, and career customization were terms being discussed on a regular basis, Fortune 500 company Best Buy was already talking about a results-oriented work environment. The book, Why work Sucks and How to Fix It, is a study of the large experiment they performed at Best Buy and how they were able to increase productivity by providing ultimate flexibility to their employees.  I heard about the study long before I was in the coworking world and thought, well, duh!

Diversity in Coworking

I recently read Alex Hillman's blog post about the prevelance of social media utilizing coworking site, Independents Hall in Philadelphia.  I was struck by the development of these "production" individuals that are regulars, a group that we have yet to see at Cubes&Crayons.  Over the last year, I have been asked several times about who uses Cubes&Crayons coworking.  What is the common thread? Educated, think outside the box individuals who are dedicated to creating the life they want, even when or maybe especially because it may be the road less traveled.

The cupboards are bare: Cubes&Crayons Believes We Need To Give Now

Dear Cubes&Crayons Coworking Community,

It's the holidays.  And this year we are hearing about company parties being cancelled, layoffs, and businesses closing.  Cubes&Crayons has its own struggles in the current economic times.  But we all still have homes and food and can take care of our children.  Maureen, office maven extraordinaire, told me this sad story about her neighbor who has had her rent raised 60% and is now living out of her car with her two children.  This is  a woman with a job just trying to take care of her kids.
At the food banks, the cupboards are bare and more and more locals are needing assistance, and so even as we have our personal and professional financial struggles, we need to give back today.  We are launching a drive to raise money for the Ecumenical Hunger Program.