CoCo Member Bill Petrich, CEO of Suntava, (recently featured in the Star Tribune) will talk about his company’s breakthrough product: a natural substitute for Red Dye No. 40, made from Peruvian purple corn.

Bill will talk about the challenges he faces in trying to grow the business and ask for ideas from attendees.

We’ll even serve up some purple corn in the form of homemade “chicha” (a traditional Peruvian soft drink) and purple corn chips. Come learn about an innovative business model and offer your ideas!

This is a members-only event.

Register at Eventbite

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.

The next library is a place, still. A place where people come together to do co-working and coordinate and invent projects worth working on together. Aided by a librarian who understands the Mesh, a librarian who can bring domain knowledge and people knowledge and access to information to bear.

Across town, Meg Knodl, a Senior Librarian in Communications and Community Engagement at Hennepin County Library, also noticed Godin’s post.

A quick aside: you may know Meg from UnSummit or Social Media Breakfast. What you may not know (and what Meg is too modest to tell you) is that she’s kind of a rockstar in the world of library science. In fact, as I write this, she’s heading to New Orleans to be recognized by the Library Journal as a 2011 Mover and Shaker.

Last month, Meg approached us with a brilliant idea: could she try to create a coworking librarian position at CoCo?

There was only one possible answer: “How soon can you start?”

So, please join us in welcoming Meg Knodl as the world’s first Coworking Librarian (as far as we know!). She will be helping us to develop a philosophy and approach toward programming, which is the professional word for all the social, cultural and educational events and activities that support our coworking community.

Meg will be coworking at both the St. Paul and Minneapolis locations on Wednesdays. (The other days of the week, she’ll still be at Hennepin County Library). If you have ideas about programs you’d like to participate in, attend or offer, please contact Meg at megknodl@gmail.com. Of course, Meg will also available for research and resource questions.

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.

What follows are some quick highlights – essentially my reconstituted notes – from the conference. I’d certainly recommend GigaOm’s own recaps of the event, starting with Simon Mackie’s recap and then this directory of live blog coverage.

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One of the first noteworthy statistics we heard is that the average mobile worker is 46 years old and lives outside Silicon Valley. This is underscores the need to better understand workers and the scenarios

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In a discussion about how and why people adopt new technology, Sameer Patel, managing director of The Sovos Group used the example of his mother, who when he left India didn’t have computer. Two years later she was happily Skyping. The lesson: people (and employees) won’t and shouldn’t be expected to adopt technology for its own sake. Adoption, however, will naturally follow if new technology offers benefits that end-users can clearly see for themselves.

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Sococo software that gives a virtual company a Second Life type environment in which its workers can collaborate, IM and Web conference. Essentially, what you see is the floor plan of a metaphorical office with many different rooms that have different purposes. And you can choose what room you want to hang out in. It feels like a heavy metaphor, but I suspect that this (and perhaps other metaphors) might be just the crutch that is needed in order for some teams to transition to the cloud.

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Allen Delattre, Global Mng Dir, Technology Practice for Korn/Ferry was the first to call out what became a recurring theme at the conference: that moving to the cloud was no longer a technological issue, but a leadership issue. How do leaders effectively manage and motivate a dispersed and virtual work team?

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One of the highlights for me was a chat with John Seely Brown and John Hagel, from Deloitte’s Center for the Edge. I wasn’t familiar with their concept of the “edge” but it appears they’ve built a whole consulting practice around it. They talked about how in the past companies have tried to innovate by bringing the edge into the center (i.e., developing new tech and then institutionalizing it). They propose that it might make more sense nowadays to try to bring the center out to the edge. One example of this would be a “reverse mentorship,” in which, say, the CEO would be paired with a 20-something who has more access to (and naturally makes more use of) so-called “power tools” than people within the core of the org!

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Some folks were making the case for the “mobilocracy”. Evan Caplan, CEO of iPass said that according to a study they did of 2.5 million users, mobile workers put in 240 more hours per year.

He also discussed what his company refers to as the “device stack,” which is the triumvirate of the laptop, pad and smartphone. The thinking is that this threesome will become the standard mobile worker arsenal in pretty short order. The relationship between each of these items will be come an important consideration for solution designers.

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Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff discussed their new Chatter social collaboration product. In the process, he dropped some neologisms, including “chatterlytics” and “chatterati” (how he refers to heavy Chatter users within the company).

He suggested the very real possibility that future compensation could be based one’s internal social standing (e.g., an internal Klout score).

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Another great term somebody used to describe the mobile worker lifestyle: “live/work arbitrage.”

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Now, the main reason we went to the conference wasn’t to hear about software, but to attend a panel on coworking, which featured owners from New Work City, PariSoma and NextSpace, as well as the founder of Loosecubes, a web site that lets you find an open meeting or work space anywhere in the world.

What became clear in the panel discussion is that coworking is growing up. It has served independent workers and entrepreneurs very well, but the panelists agreed that coworking might be relevant to a larger audience and to bigger organizations.

There definitely is a lot of curiosity about coworking from bigger organizations and people who don’t necessarily work in coworking spaces but are champions of entrepreneurship and innovation. Om Malik himself  has been a vocal proponent of coworking (which is evidenced by inclusion of a coworking breakout at his otherwise tech-oriented conference).

Of course, the verdict is out on how the burgeoning coworking movement will intersect the trend of worker mobilit and cloud computing, but we are optimistic that some future incarnation of the “office” will have its roots in the humble coworking space.

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Creative commons photo credit: rsmith179

So, like kids with a pair of golden tickets to a tour of Willie Wonka’s factory, we’re excited to be able to attend GigaOm’s Net:Work 2010 conference on Dec. 9 in San Francisco.

As they describe it Net:Work is

“…a new conference that highlights the opportunities that broadband and mobility have created for connecting work and workers and the technology that addresses the way corporations operate and conduct business.”

We hope to connect with like-minded folks who are curious about how the converging forces of technology, mobility and worker free-agency might reshape the way we all get work done in the coming decade. If you’re attending, please reach out and we’ll make plans to connect at the conference!

Now we’ve been asked to host two, possibly three additional unconferences. Which is nothing but good news. What better home for unconferences than CoCo?

So, bring it! Do you have an idea for a unconference? Please let us know. We want to be the home base for unconferences in the Twin Cities. We’re happy to make our space available (on a DIY basis) on weekends or evenings. If your idea needs some development, we can help you think it through. And when your unconference is ready for prime time, we’ll help you get the word out.

We do have some thoughts and questions, however, about the future of the unconference format in Minnesota.

Attending a true unconference takes a bigger leap of faith than many of us are used to. The way it works is that an unconference is organized around a central question, like “What’s the future of public transportation in Minnesota?” But no agenda is determined or published before the event. Instead, the agenda is crowdsourced (often by an experienced facilitator) on the day of the event, as participants identify the discussions they’d like to have in response to the central question. And did we mention, there are no presenters? There are definitely discussions. Lots of energetic discussions. But no presenters.

So, there’s the difference: the whole model of an unconference is based on everyone answering the big questions themselves, whereas a traditional conference model is based on everyone listening, often quite passively, to a few peoples’ conclusions. It’s centralized planning versus democracy.

It’s interesting to note that fontconf, UnSummit and Real Food weren’t true unconferences. They split the difference between conference and unconference formats. They crowdsourced the agenda and then published it beforehand, so that attendees knew what they were getting into. In the case of UnSummit and Real Food Minnesota, this wasn’t the organizers’ first instinct. Both conferences tried going all-out “un.” But as time progressed, they were worried that attendance would be too light if people didn’t know ahead of time what would actually be discussed and who would be leading the discussions.

So, it would appear we haven’t quite embraced “un” yet. To be sure, we all seem to have enjoyed the loosely structured and participatory nature of the unconferences we have had. But most of us are yet to experience the full, democratic power of a true unconference.

If you’re an organizer, part of the trick is to let yourself off the hook for making the meeting what you think will constitute a success. One of the principles of an unconference is that whomever shows up is who was meant to show up. Another one is that whatever is discussed is what was meant to be discussed. This isn’t  just New-Age hippyspeak. It’s about stopping yourself from trying to engineer an outcome (lots of attendees, big-name speakers, etc.). Instead, the goal is to get out of the way so that attendees can create a successful event through their participation. This is one reason why unconferences want to be free (or close to free).

So, who wants to do a full-gonzo, no-holds-barred unconference? It’s certainly not a requirement for holding your conference at CoCo. But it would be great fun, a great learning experience – and potentially a way more powerful experience. Will you be the first one to give it a try?

July 17
9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Real Food Minnesota is a free event with a practical focus. For those with a new interest in learning about the food you buy and eat, we hope to unveil the mysteries of selecting and preparing healthy, delicious, and ethically-produced “real” food. Already comfortable in co-ops and your kitchen? Come hear about new ways to learn about food via the web, emerging sources of local ingredients year-round, and some of the great food communities being built throughout the Twin Cities. There will be:

• Guided tours of the St. Paul Farmers Market with tips on how to buy fresh ingredients
• Food prep demos with experienced chefs
• Discussions led by folks doing cool things in the local food scene (topics include urban farming, the ethics of eating, and more)
• Opportunity to chat with other curious and enthusiastic eaters, and to learn about ways to get more involved with our local food system

Join us for the day, or come and go for the session(s) you are interested in. No experience necessary…just come hungry to learn!

Learn more and register at the Real Food Minnesota site!

Did you know that Steelcase owns the industrial design consultancy IDEO? Well, neither did we until recently. And as it turns out, IDEO’s human-centered design process has had quite effect, not only on Steelcase’s product line, but its prognosis for the future of work, a future in which cubicles and corner will give way to open, flexible floor plans where workers can work, meet and socialize freely. This is being driven by pressure to reduce real estate costs (the 2nd largest cost for most organizations, after payroll) as well as increased mobility among workers, thanks to laptops, mobile phones and even increased acceptance of telecommuting.

What does it all mean? That someday most corporate offices will look like coworking spaces! Only, from what we saw on our field trip, the work environments and collaborative technologies that Steelcase has developed are light years ahead of the humble Ikea sticks we’ve been able to assemble at CoCo.

Below are some highlights from our trip, in which we visited Workspring, a collaborative offsite meeting center in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, followed by Steelcase University and Steelcase headquarters, both in Grand Rapids Michigan. Enjoy!

Workspring

Entrance.

Meeting space with a media:scape unit, which allows meeting participants to share one or more laptop screens.

Meeting room with a double media:scape setting. Notably, this table has an unusual bowed shape that ensures good peer-to-peer communication as well as screen visibility.

The hallways at Workspring are designed with seating/standing areas that allow meeting participants to have ad-hoc conversations, which research shows is just as important to the collaborative process as the meeting itself.

More casual seating areas in the hallways.

The view from Workspring. A private courtyard? This is a rare setting in Chicago’s Loop!

Steelcase University and headquarters

Steelcase University is a former manufacturing plant that is now a training center for the company’s employees, customers and dealers. Just as importantly, the university serves as a living laboratory, where Steelcase can try out new work and meeting settings using its product lines and prototypes.

First, a note on the lost art of hospitality…

Coming to Steelcase University, we didn’t know what to expect. Perhaps we’d get to look around, sit on some furniture…who knows. But to our astonishment, the whole day had been thoroughly planned out, including chef-catered meals and a meeting with the company’s SVP in charge of new ventures.

They even took the time to put our website up on the big screen!

This was the dining room where we were served a killer two-course breakfast. The chef was personally on hand to tell us what he had prepared.

Debra Shrontz, a 30-plus-year Steelcase veteran, was our guide for the entire day. She personally made sure that we had a great experience.

The first course included steel-cut oatmeal with cranberries. At about this time, we had to ask: had Steelcase mistaken us for a couple of Fortune-100 procurement managers with multimillion-dollar budgets? Nope. They hadn’t. This is just how Steelcase treats visitors: by attending to all the details that add up to a great experience.

After breakfast, we progressed through different areas at Steelcase University and the nearby headquarters.

Diner-booth-like seating is a common sight at Steelcase. The high seat backs help enclose the space and make the setting less like a lounge and more like a workspace.

Same story in the company’s executive suite, where a large kitchen/coffee area provides ample room for impromptu information exchange and casual meetings.

Another type of furniture system we saw is called “Post and Beam.” As the name implies, it’s a series of posts with crossbeams that together help define areas, which can then be used or formal or casual meeting spaces, work enclaves or whatever. In the picture above, you can see two meeting areas. To the left, a perforated curtain serves as a visual “wall” that provides a subtle sense of privacy.

Another Post and Beam setting.

Partway through the day, we were lucky enough to talk to Frank Graziano, who, as the head of Steelcase’s Futures group, is the company’s resident futurist. He sought us out in a far corner of the building, where we proceeded to have an hour-long chalk talk about collaborative work trends, social networks and lots more!

Finally, we toured one of Steelcase’s office buildings where they were in the midst of performing an experiment on themselves. This looks like a coffee lounge, but it’s actually a mobile work area that once held cubicles for some 70 employees. Now, the same number of workers use these and other seating areas to work on their laptops, drink coffee, socialize and have meetings. Sound familiar? See, like I said earlier, eventually everyone will work in a coworking space!

Another view of the same space. Note the countertop in the background, which was full-up with focused workers typing away on their laptops.

So, all in all, a pretty inspiring trip. While we don’t have corporate offices, we learned a number of lessons that are applicable to our own collaborative space, including the importance of hospitality and customer experience. What’s more, before going, we were pretty firm in the opinion that the people side (community, networking, etc.) of the equation was far more important than environmental factors, such as decor or furniture. Now, I’d say that we’re looking at both sides as equally important.

Finally, a huge thanks to the folks at Steelcase, including Darren Shavor, Debra Shrontz, John Malnor and Frank Graziano for their tremendous hospitality. And last, but not least, thanks to Kris Hansen of Target Commercial Interiors for having made the initial introduction!

Since we’ve launched CoCo, we’ve been approached by a handful of corporations, often by the groups responsible for innovation or change management, and often with a similar question: “How can we get in on this?”

Now, you might that coworking and collaboration are anathema to the button-down, risk-averse, by-the-book style of many corporations. But these are strange times we live in. And it doesn’t take a genius to see that innovation has become the order of the day. Not just as a one-time thing, but as a permanent way of doing business. As a result, many companies are asking, “how can we make innovation part of our culture?”

One way innovation happens is through the thoughtful, deliberate and continuous introduction of new ideas, new processes, new technology and new team. And, well that’s what we’re trying to put together at CoCo.

So, long story short, we’re gonna run with this whole idea of corporate coworking. Or better put: that a coworking space is just the environment where corporate innovators can try on new ways of working and meeting, with the goal of bringing these ideas back to the nest. Or perhaps never going back to the nest! (see ROWE)

We still have to finalize some text and post it on our site, but below are some of efforts we’re contemplating on the corporate side. We’d love to get your feedback on whether you feel these offerings would be meaningful.

OOO passes – As in “get Out Of the Office.” The idea here is to help corporate employees recharge their batteries by getting away from the cubicle farm by taking a work vacation at CoCo. Could managers offer OOO passes as rewards or incentives – or simply because it fuels innovation?

Corporate DayCamps – We already run DayCamps that are open to the public. The model would be the same: an authority on a given subject would give a presentation and then moderate a peer-to-peer conversation amongst attendees. But are there topics that would be of interest to managers from different non-competing companies? The answer’s probably yes, but obviously we’ll need to cue up speakers and subjects that are particularly meaningful to people working within larger organizations.

War rooms - Project teams that need to focus, or want the stimulation of a new and creative environment, could camp out in one our many worksites, which would be equipped out with big whiteboards, work tables and lounge furniture.

Corporate sponsorships – What if a handful of companies pitched in to make coworking free? With a good number of sponsored coworking seats, we would be able to hand-pick leaders in different disciplines and invite them to be part of the community. We might call them “CoCo Fellows.” Think tanks work roughly on this model. Only this would be an innovation tank. And once a quarter, we’d convene a daylong conference in which our sponsors and the CoCo Fellows get together and do a deep dive on an issue of the sponsors’ choosing.

Innovation Labs – Ideation and creative problem solving are central to innovation. But how do you innovate on command? Drawing on previous consulting experience, we’re refining a methodology that will take advantage of collaborative meeting approaches (and our resident genius coworkers) to help companies generate, evaluate and implement breakthrough ideas. Each Lab would take place at CoCo over multiple consecutive days and would involve peer-to-peer meeting approaches (see Open Space, DeBono, etc.), rapid prototyping, operational assessment and internal communications planning.

We’ve got a few more ideas in the hopper, but this should be enough to get the ball rolling. What do you think? Do you toil for a large corporation? In your position are you feeling the pressure to innovate? If so, would any of these ideas hold some promise for helping you meet those demands?

Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net