Blog of the Gate 3 WorkClub

The End? Part 2 – What is a WorkClub?

I recently wrote to a correspondent that, though the club is closing down in Emeryville, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure that eventually “there are workclubs in every city in every corner of the world”.

Then I realized that I have never clearly articulated what a workclub is, if its not what we built in Emeryville. What have I learned about the essential elements of a workclub that I would like to see in every city? If the concept is to succeed, there are going to be a huge variety of forms and types that will be variations on a theme – but at their core they will need to reflect some common elements.

So here goes a first pass at a definition: a workclub is a congenial place, where people can find work community in a location that is easy and quick to get to and provides them the work amenties they need to do the portions of their work that are not best done at home or at a centralized corporate facility.

That’s quite a mouthful. And it involves a number of concepts that bear further definition.

The End of Gate 3 WorkClub? Part 1

Having been scooped on my own story by Heath Row at Fast Company (http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2005/01/27/work_space.html#comments) I bring bad news to those of you who were rooting for our little experiment in new work community in Emeryville, and good news for the other three of you who scoffed at the idea or the particular interpretation of it: I have decided to shut down the WorkClub in Emeryville. February will be our final month of operation.

The main reason for shutting down is lack of funds to do the serious kind of marketing that it is going to take to get subscriber traction – and the short runway I have left myself to generate this funding. The feedback I received in the early stages of development (and continue to get today) led me to believe that I would not need that runway – that fundraising was only needed for the next, expansion phase, which would be undertaken once the concept was proven in the single location. Hindsight proves me wrong.

The Big But! – Overcoming the “behavior modification” hurdle.

One of the most heartening elements of this Gate 3 adventure has been the almost unanimous positive feedback from almost everyone who hears about it. “What a great idea, when are you opening one in..(enter name of a city or town).” And “It’s amazing no one has ever done this before”. And “this is really needed, there are so many people I know who could use it”. And “I would join but…”

And that’s where the problem is coming in – it’s always “someone else” who could use it – well very often. And there’s always one insurmountable problem that makes this a bad time to modify work patterns to include the WorkClub in you your work-style. So while interest is high, it feels like a lot of people are still standing on the sidelines, observing, watching, and waiting to see what happens. And we all know what happens if everyone becomes a spectator and no one wants to throw his or her hat into the ring.

So we’ve been thinking a lot lately about why this is and what we can do about it.

Getting Back Into It

Finally getting back to the blog – the first time since I wrote from Findhorn, and what a long time ago that was; and what a lot has happened since then. We opened with a big bash on October 7th with 400 or so friends, supporters and people who came out of pure curiosity. We had a great time and it was worth every bit of the effort – but it took its toll. It drained the team’s energy and in some ways we’re still recovering.

In the past couple of months the WorkClub has “come to be” – we have had a flurry of activity with a lot of people joining and starting to use the club – and of course in ways that we did not predict.

Letter from Findhorn: Work is Love in Action.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to work in the house-keeping department doing laundry and other household chores. This will be one of 3 mornings this week I’ll be doing this as part of the Findhorn Foundation’s (http://www.findhorn.com) family experience week in an idyllic setting on the east coast of the Scottish Highlands.

The Findhorn Foundation is a “center of spiritual education and personal and planetary transformation” that offers a “Family Experience Week” in which one can gain an insight into their special blend of the pragmatic and the divine through a week long immersion into daily life here. This blend is expressed in the promotional brochure for the program which states “It is primarily through the work programme that the community receives spiritual training”. And the oft repeated wisdom here that “Work is love in action”.

Getting on With It!

The Gate 3 website has been up now for about a month, and now it’s time to start breathing some life into this blog and provide both the information you’d expect to find here as well as a forum for discussion of issues and ideas relating to our central theme – getting the most out of the options and opportunities presented by independent work – or “free agency” as Dan Pink calls it (more about that later).

NEW BLOG SECTIONS
To help with this I am very happy to introduce 2 people who will be editing cornerstone sections with regular postings:

Patrice Curtis will be editing the “Work/Life Balance” section. Patrice is a Researcher / Analyst who practices the art of online and offline research for businesses and automates her internet searches as much as possible so as to leave time for doing other things she cares about. She will be using her techniques to uncover items of interest for cross referencing, and adding a comment or perspective or two of her own here and there. You can reach Patrice at 510.665.1725 or go to www.curtisresearch.com.

Edo Amin is a Internet and personal technology consultant at the cutting edge of understanding what makes people react positively and negatively to new technologies. He will take us beyond mere excitement and interest in the latest technology or gadget du jour, but bring insight into how best to apply specific products from within emerging technology domains and how to incorporate them into evolving work strategies.

FEEDBACK
The response to the website has been fascinating and encouraging. There is no question that the WorkClub concept touches on a nerve and I have received numerous emails inviting us to locate one in a city of choice. Maybe. But for now, we’ve got a lot of work to do to develop and perfect this one. In fact our next major milestone is coming up fast; in September we are planning a big launch bash, so check back regularly here and on the website (www.gate-3.com) for details if you would like to be part of it.

And as a self confessed blogging neophyte I have been fascinated by the amount of blogging activity we have stimulated. You can check out a couple at http://www.ars-technica.com/news/posts/20040617-3898.html and at http://electrolicious.com/archives/2004/06/workspace.html. The comments are an interesting read. And you can even hear a blog-radio interview of me at http://jobseekersrevenge.blogspot.com/2004/07/audio-gate-3-is-future-of-working.html.

FREE AGENTS AND OTHER INDEPENDENT WORKERS
A week after the site went up I got a mysterious FedEx package. I gingerly opened it and found a book. It turned out to be Free Agent Nation: the Future of Working for Yourself which Dan Pink, it’s author sent me with a note. After complimenting the WorkClub concept he added “…alas the reading list on your web site has a glaring omission…” and offered his book. I have only read a small amount of it so far (testament only to the level of effort required to get the club up and running, not at all to the quality or ease of read). I am so far delighted and encouraged to read so much reinforcement of the concept in his pages and will definitely be posting a review on the website (eventually ;-).

MORE ABOUT FEEDBACK
Gate 3 WorkClub is a work in progress. Your comments are welcome and if you would like to become a regular contributor to this blog, or would like to participate directly in one of our Learning Community events, please let me know.