I’ve become fairly fascinated with Jelly lately. The idea is simple: individuals who may or may not know each other gather together on a semi-weekly basis in one place and they work together/separately for the day. Quote, “We provide chairs and sofas, wireless internet, and interesting people to talk to, collaborate with, and bounce ideas off of. You bring a laptop (or whatever you need to get work done) and a friendly disposition.”
Quote, “Jelly started in NYC in February of 2006 when roommates Amit and Luke realized that they loved working from home, but they missed the creative brainstorming, sharing, and camaraderie of a traditional office. (Office politics, not so much.) So they started inviting friends to come work from their home one day a week. They soon found that working in close proximity to new and interesting people every couple weeks resulted in new ideas and interesting conversations.” So far they’ve been featured in Wired, The NY Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and NPR.
People are now doing the semi-weekly work-together in Manhattan/Brooklyn, Austin, Atlanta, Sydney, Philadelphia, and Boston. I’ll be working at the Jelly in Boston in December. I look forward to meeting some smart, motivated people, and trying a new work environment for the day. Other Jelly groups are getting started in different cities around the world, setting up their own wikis to stay connected and let each other know who will be where working on what.
Simple idea, huge impact. This is a perfect example of how the way an entire generation of people may come to view work, office culture, office hours, and so many other things that we think have to be a certain way because that’s all we’ve ever known. It’s a whole new work world, one with more freedom and less constraint. But we still crave the benefits of collaboration, social interaction, brainstorming, and human contact that the traditional office sometimes provided.
Maybe now we can have our jelly and eat it too. (I couldn’t resist. I apologize.)
similar concept in San Francisco - albeit with a revenue model… http://hatfactory.net/
said Dwayne
at 2:36pm on Thursday
I’ve tried (and will continue to try) to get something like this going in Richmond, VA for folks I know that have full time day jobs but want time to work on pet projects outside the office.
It hasn’t worked so far, but I’ve not given up on it yet. Maybe some tweaks will help…
said Daniel
at 2:44pm on Thursday
This is what we call the future (I hope). I know at the library I used to work at, I used to see this quite a bit. Free wireless, relatively peaceful but not shushy. Quite a few business folks gathering throughout the day.
I think the local Waffle House held some sort of annual summit at our branch for a couple days. For a while, there were 6-7 people with the tables were covered in papers and a slight smell of syrup.
said Mark
at 3:47pm on Thursday
This would be an amazing thing to do at my new studio in Franklin. It’s the perfect space for it. I might just have to give it a whirl. Thanks for the HOTT tip.
said Jeremy Cowart
at 10:29pm on Thursday
I love this idea!
said Grant
at 11:56am on Sunday