Collaboration Archive

CoCo launches “d.school @ CoCo”

April 11, 2012 | By
dball
CoCo launches “d.school @ CoCo”

CoCo is bringing the design-thinking movement to the Midwest with the launch of d.school @ CoCo, an innovation school based on the world-renowned d.school at Stanford University. d.school @ CoCowill offer classes and workshops on design thinking to individuals and larger organizations. The school will be led by Anna Love-Mickelson who is a former Fortune-500 innovation leader and currently teaches design thinking at Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). Classes will be taught by Love-Mickelson as well as other coaches certified by the d.school at Stanford. “We’ll be using the same great curriculum that is used on campus in California. However, because we are in Minnesota and operating within the CoCo community, we will also looking to prototype new ways of solving local problems by enabling radical collaboration at the community level,” Love-Mickelson said. Classes and workshops will include:

  • Crash Course – a 2-hour introduction to design thinking methods and mindsets. The first class is on April 20.
  • Design Thinking Workshop – Three half-day, hands-on sessions that explore the design thinking methodology more thoroughly. The first Workshop series will be held May 7-9.
  • Design Thinking Bootcamp – Designed after the Stanford d.school’s flagship course, Bootcamp gives executives hands on experience leading a design-thinking project from start to finish. The first Bootcamp will be held Sept. 26 – 28.

Anna Love-Mickelson, director of d.school @ CoCo

“One of the most exciting things for us at the d.school is hearing how past d.schoolers are spreading design thinking. We are excited to see how this new venture impacts the Minnesota community,” said Evelyn Huang, Lecturer, Executive Education at the d.school at Stanford. The opening of the d.school @ CoCo represents a big step for CoCo and coworking movement in general. “We are building a community of members who are naturally inquisitive and creative.” said CoCo founder Kyle Coolbroth. “the d.school @ CoCo makes our collaborative environment available for leaders in the area to learn design thinking methods and fully experience a collaborative community.” More information about d.school @ CoCo is available at http://dschool.cocomsp.com.

Strategy for Good #6

April 8, 2012 | By
dball
Strategy for Good #6

April 28
9:30 a.m. to Noon
CoCo St. Paul

Thinkers & Makers is hosting 6th Strategy for Good Workshop. This workshop will pair non-profit and small business leaders with brand, media and marketing strategists from all around the Twin Cities.

At this workshop, teams will have time to address strategic and marketing issues in their organizations, brainstorm, and create solutions. Topics to tackle throughout the morning will range from social media initiatives to broader questions about brand awareness and marketing strategy.

> Register on Evenbrite

 

Creative Commons photo by Flickr user Double–M

How coworking is changing *how* and *where* we work

March 15, 2012 | By
dball
How coworking is changing *how* and *where* we work

In preparation for the Global Coworking Unconference/Conference in Austin last week, CoCo and LINK Coworking worked with CoCo members MojoSolo to create this cool video that explains how coworking is reshaping the world of work. The good folks at Turnstone and Emergent Research sponsored this joint. Check it out! If you like it, think about hiring MojoSolo, as they do awesome work.

Looking for a few good instigators!

September 15, 2011 | By
dball
Looking for a few good instigators!

Like to start fires? Enjoy provoking constructive chaos? Then you just might be an instigator.

As you probably know, CoCo draws all kinds of creative and resourceful folks from across different professions. But, save for a few outliers, we’re fairly well entrenched in the software, startup and marketing/advertising realms.

As our coworking librarian Meg Knodl has been helping us consider what it means to curate our culture, one of our realizations has been that we need to work actively to introduce “outside elements” – catalysts, flies in the ointments, irritants in the oyster, or to use one of my favorite words, instigators. The goal is to make sure that we are actively introducing new strains of thought that keep us all aware of new and different ways of looking at things.

So, we’re going to try a little experiment here. For the foreseeable future, we’re going to be inviting someone into the CoCo community as our “Instigator in Residence.” It’ll be someone who has a point of view, a line of work or a skill set that is not typical and whose presence promises to prompt some interesting conversations and insights.

Here are the rules of the game:

  • As an Instigator in Residence, you’ll have free access to both CoCo locations for three months.
  • We’ll ask you to observe the Woody Allen rule, which is to say that you’ll agree to being a regular presence at CoCo. But while you’re here, you’re certainly free to work on your own stuff.
  • We will actively introduce you to our members and generally talk you up.
  • We will ask you to staff the Smart Bar at least once during your stay.
  • You’ll agree to tell members about your line of work, your POV or whatever it is that makes you an instigator.
  • Finally, you’ll agree to post periodic updates to the CoCo blog about your experience.

So, what do you say?

If you think you’d make a good instigator, please drop us a line and tell us about yourself! We’re open minded and even open to trying some crazy stuff, so don’t be afraid to throw us a curve ball.

Photo by JohnGoode

CoCo and Project Skyway to team up in Minneapolis

March 8, 2011 | By
dball
CoCo and Project Skyway to team up in Minneapolis

In his State of the City address today, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak announced that CoCo and Project Skyway will be teaming up in Minneapolis.

CoCo and Project Skyway have been looking separately for locations in Minneapolis. At the urging of the city, the two groups decided to operate out of the same space. A final space has not been selected, but the teams are considering buildings in downtown Minneapolis, near-Northeast, Loring Park and North Loop.

For CoCo, this will be its second location and will feature specially designed collaborative settings designed by the commercial furniture maker Steelcase. The new space will also feature several meeting locations for use by members for everyday meetings and by visiting organizations for off-site meetings.

About Project Skyway
Project Skyway is Minnesota’s first seed-stage tech startup accelerator program for motivated entrepreneurs. The program will build connections among entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and other innovation hubs, and bring them together both online and in physical space. The vision places emphasis on building companies with long-term, sustainable value, ethical practices, mentorship, and strong networks.

Project Skyway, Launch.MN and CoCo members pose with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak after his State of the City address. (l-r) Jeff Heegaard, Kyle Coolbroth, Judy Grundstrom, John Montague, Darren Cox, R.T. Rybak and Don Ball.

« Older Entries