Tag: iCollDay

From tiny acorns giant Oak trees grow – So what is #iCollDay really about?

Posted on by philipdodson

Why did I and a small group, initially made up of Bernie Mitchell & Neil Brook start this?

Pure and simply we wanted to help grow a revolution that is just beginning now globally, morphing out of the co-working communities.

More and more people want to do things differently from the old school world that many of us have all grown up with and have largely become disconnected with and in some cases scarred by.

We want to create a world where people share, collaborate, help & give to each other without the need to see a $ £ or Euro sign over the heads of the people we help.

We want to create a world in business, and life in general, that values people over things, the complete polar opposite to the current world that is dominated by old school system of consumption and where the top 1% control us and have all the power & money.

So #iCollday or International Collaboration Day 2 was all about encouraging people to see co-working spaces as a way of creating communities, as space to collaborate, help, share ideas and give to others. Places where the sharing economy and collaborative projects could flourish.

It is these small steps that lead to giant changes, every movement or revolution has to start somewhere and this revolution has started. There is no stopping the momentum now.

It’s an exciting time globally – it will be the biggest change since the industrial revolution.

The power of social media, in itself a collaborative tool, has made it possible for people who share the same values to connect, share ideas and spread the word.

The world so desperately needs to change and the stuff I have seen from today’s events proves that there are already enough people to spread the word & make this happen.

So keep your eye out for #iCollDay 3 and get involved with co-working communities, the sharing economy and change to a collaborative world.

From tiny acorns giant oak trees grow and the acorn of collaboration has already grown in to a sapling.

Thanks go to everyone who made today possible by hosting events, spreading the word and getting out there to make it happen.

Collaboration rocks!!

International Fruit Sticker Day

Posted on by philipdodson

So sat on the train one morning, scrolling through Twitter as always! and saw a tweet about International Fruit Sticker Day. I thought shit there is a ‘international day’ pretty much for everything now.

Why isn’t there one for co-working? Aha a chance to invent one, to be the first to inaugurate such a global day and I’ve thought of it. Immediately with complete enthusiasm I tweeted, ‘I’m going to start an International Co-working Day’ – ‘send’.

Much to my disappointment back came an almost instant reply ‘there is already one’. Oh, that’s scuppered that plan and why didn’t I know about it as Founder of @Work Hubs, they NUMBER ONE CO-WORKING SPACE in Euston Street.

Not to be deterred, I thought actually what co-working really needs in order to be successful and to launch us all forth into the sharing economy and to turn us away from the old school failing world, is the one thing that it is really missing in most cases. That is collaboration.

So sitting just days later from my brainwave, I was with Ronald and Vincent from Seats2Meet, Francesca from OuiShare, Neil from the Entrepreneurs Cooperative and of course Bernie from Sharing Economy Radio and told them about this idea. From this came the plan to do International Collaboration Day.

That meeting and the subsequent work that we have all put into this, is the very example of why collaboration is so important in everything we do and should be the very essence of what co-working should be all about.

We are all much more successful when we stick to the core things that we are good at and partner with others to do the stuff that we are not good at.

A number of co-working spaces are really starting to embrace this and people are connecting – someone to share ideas with, someone to be a future supplier, customer, etc. Or even someone to share shit day with. After all, if you just want a desk and sit with your headphones on all day, then home-working or coffee shops are perfect for that.

Co-working should be the antidote to the isolation that many free-lancers, self-employed, entrepreneurs or corporate nomads face. It should be a space where friction points, serendipity and chance conversations leads to greater things and inspires all of us.

So for me International Collaboration Day is about encouraging co-working spaces globally to embrace the whole concept of their space being the canvas where people mesh together and create greater opportunities through collaborating together.

If you run a co-working space, then please get involved and if you are a ‘free’ spirit and want to help create a meaningful community, then go to your local co-working space and be a part of creating that.

By Philip Dodson – Founder of @Work Hubs

For more information – click here