We’re thrilled to be hosting Code for America’s big hackathon event Saturday, February 25th, at Conjunctured! Code for America is an AMAZING initiative started with the goal of “helping governments work better for everyone with the people and the power of the web.” They’re a non-profit, non-partisan, non-political 501(c)(3) organization that is bringing together tech communities and local governments across the nation to bring about innovative problem solving.

From the KXAN article: “Last year, Code for America developers in Boston helped create an app that let parents track school bus routes in real time. The app not only provided information to parents, it also helped free up city staff who routinely handle a large number of calls about delayed school buses during winter weather events in Boston.” How cool is that?! I’m excited to see what the Austin folks come up with!

Code for America helps governments become more connected, lean, and participatory through new opportunities for public service — both inside and outside government — so we’re not only making a direct impact everyday, but also creating the relationships and network for lasting change. – “How we make a difference” Code for America

Austin is one of eight cities participating in a coordinated hackathon on February 25 called “Code Across America: A National Day of Civic Innovation.” In fact, even our mayor is a big proponent of the organization’s efforts:

“I think it would be good if Austin could work with Code for America fellows and create new applications for our community… I know Austin’s tech community will be very interested in the Fellowship program – it’s a great opportunity.” – Mayor Lee Leffingwell

The all day event at Conjunctured (on a hopefully beautiful Saturday) begins at 9:30am and will go until 7pm. It’s free to participate. If you’d like to come, here’s the info page with the RSVP sign up link:

Code Across America ATX: A Civic Innovation Hackathon

Relevant Articles:

• Code for America pushes public works for creators – Daily Texan
• Coding to make a difference in Austin – KXAN
• What Can Code for America Do for Austin? – KUT
• Could the ‘Code For America’ work in the UK? – The Guardian
• Are Millenials the key to resolving government’s woes? – Washington Post
• Names You Need To Know: Code For America – Forbes
• more Code for America press

If for some reason you decide you want to irritate me by email, there’s a very easy way. OK, the easiest is telling me I’ve won the UK lottery or that you’re a Nigerian prince in a tough spot (unless there’s a funny typo in there — I’m a sucker for a good typo). But the second-best way? Send me a press release. It doesn’t matter if it’s on a topic I write about or one I’ve never heard of — I hate press releases with a burning passion.

Journalists are supposed to be impartial and unbiased, so when someone approaches me who’s being paid to promote a specific product or service, I’m instantly wary. The moment I see a press release, I give it a scoff of irritation and and quickly hit delete.

I admit: Sometimes press releases work well. Newsworthy topics can get a positive response, and online journalists use press releases frequently. But if you’re pouring money into press releases that aren’t getting you any publicity, maybe it’s time to re-examine your strategy.

Now for the good news.

There are other ways to get your name and your company’s name in front of potential customers — and they’re free. Journalists spend a lot of time looking for sources to interview. If you’re qualified to provide insight, you may well get better exposure than any ol’ press release could provide. Think about all the expertise you’ve gained in X during your X number of years in the X business. Surely these topics are in the news from time to time.

Maybe you’re an underwater photographer, and could comment on the decline of a particular type of fish. Or perhaps you’re a teacher who runs a pet-sitting business on the side, and could comment on how hard it is to make a living wage as a teacher these days. Giving the media insight into any of these topics can help provide valuable exposure for your business.

I’m not suggesting you pretend to be an expert when you’re not. I’m suggesting you think about the ways in which you genuinely are an expert in something, then find the journalists who are writing about these topics.

So how do you find the right journalists? You may already know some of them. Think about the blogs, newspapers, TV programs and magazines you already pay attention to that cover your field. Consider sending the journalists an introduction email, perhaps commenting on a recent article or report they’ve done. (We love knowing that people are paying attention to our work!)

Here are some other ways to up your odds of getting quoted:

• Make sure journalists and editors you meet know what you do. If I’m looking for a bakery owner to interview about the rising cost of flour, and I remember someone I met a few months ago, I’d rather go to him or her than spend time searching for someone else. Likewise, sometimes a magazine editor will provide the name of someone I should interview, so even if an editor you know doesn’t do any actual writing, he or she may be a useful contact.
• Use social media. If you know me, you may know that while I’m liberal with the F word, I don’t take the T word lightly. So believe me when I say that in this case, both Facebook and Twitter are your friends. Find journalists who specialize in your field. Follow them. When they tweet about needing to interview someone who fits your description, let them know. (Bonus points: If you know someone else who fits the description, make the introduction. We will love you and be 10 times more likely to use your expertise in the future).
• Sign up for Help a Reporter Out, Reporter Connection and News Basis. Here’s how it works: Journalists post a description of whom they’re looking to interview, and potential sources can email them with why they’d be perfect. Just make sure you really do fit the bill before responding to a query.
• Lastly, follow up. If you initially get a positive response from a journalist but then don’t hear back for a couple of weeks, write to him or her again with a polite reminder. Be persistent but not annoying, and you may strike gold.

Despite the geographic distance between coworking spaces worldwide, coworking space owners and community managers have done remarkably well at maintaining and building an online community of support to help one another grow the coworking movement. It’s not every day that you get to take a thriving online community and see it happen first hand in the real world. The Coworking Unconference and the Coworking Happy Hour brought together the coworking community like never before.

Coworking Unconference

To coincide with SXSW, the very first U.S. Coworking Unconference was organized and brought to fruition by the fine folks over at LooseCubes. LooseCubes helps people nationwide find a “friendly place to work.” Attracting space owners, coworkers, and community managers from all over the country (and a few global folks too), the Unconference was a rousing success! The event ran smoothly all day, filled with breakout sessions run in a casual, lets-have-some-real-conversations approach. In addition to the breakout session there was also a keynote led by Tony Bacigalupo, founder of NYC’s New Work City and a moderated panel to close out the day. Here’s a clip of the panel moderated by Alex Hillman, founder of (Indy Hall), where he interviews a panel of other coworking space owners from across the country, “Who coworks now and in the future?”:

Source: GoneCoworking.com

Here’s a great article from a Shareable writer who attended the Coworking Unconference:
Visions of the Future of Work at the Coworking Unconference

SXSW Coworking Happy Hour

With the flood of coworking enthusiasts already in town, we figured there was no better time than SXSWi to invite all attendees from the unconference as well as others passionate about the coworking movement over to our coworking home, Conjunctured, for a party. (Here’s the attendee list) So we partnered with local coworking spaces (Link Coworking & Creative Space) and a variety of we-love-coworking company sponsors to host a happy hour, 4-7pm on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the Texas sun.

The coworking movement is huge

It’s crazy to think about how much coworking has grown in the last years. There were people visiting from all over the world, and we soon found out people are coworking all over – some as far as Berlin and Stockholm. And, the coworking movement has become so huge, spaces are popping up all over. Below is a map that shows everywhere our happy hour attendees have coworked. (We sketched a basic map on the dry erase board and attendees started filling it in!)

We met owners and community managers from all over the country – some with big, open spaces that can fit 80 people; others with smaller spaces that are better for just a few freelancers.

Coworking unifies people

One of the biggest things that was evident was how much coworking unifies people. Regardless of where the space is located, its general vibe or personality, coworking brings together people who may not have otherwise worked together. It gives them a reason to go into “the office” and get work done because that’s what everyone else is doing – and they know there’s a supportive community waiting.

Coworking is going to keep growing

Here’s a video of Liz Elam, owner of Link Coworking, here in Austin talking about the likely continued explosion of coworking spaces:

If you missed the 2011 Austin Coworking Happy Hour, take a look at some of the photos captured by Deskmag and some more here too: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=18547482893&aid=277409.

We want to give a huge thank you to the following companies that made the 2011 SXSW Coworking Happy Hour possible:

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Sponsors

We’d like to thank the following sponsors for supporting copartying.

Premier Sponsors

Partners

Co-Sponsors

For the past two years I’ve heard loud and clear (direct from Conjunctured members) why coworking is the way to go for them. We’ve been open for a little more than two years now and I’ve spoken with just about everyone that has walked in the front door. Members, visitors, and I have discussed all kinds of things. Specific to coworking, we’ve talked about what they’re looking for in an office, complaints about their previous setup, their experience working from home, the positives of being in a coworking environment, the negatives of being in a normal office, etc.

I decided I would share some of these things I’ve learned in a top list of sorts for coworking. I tried to make it general and not super specific to how Conjunctured does coworking. Every coworking space does things a little bit different, so I tried to focus on the commonalities. This list will be good for those of you out there that are considering coworking, but you’re just not sure if it’s really the right solution for you. Or perhaps you’re trying to convince a friend (or spouse!) of yours they need to get the heck outta the house! Feel free to send them this list to nudge them along and direct them to the nearest coworking space in their city or neighborhood. There’s coworking locations all over the globe, with a coworking space in pretty much every major USA city (see graphic below). No excuses!

So, without further adieu…14 Reasons Why Joining a Coworking Space Beats Renting Your Own Private Office Space

1. No lease! Coworking is month-to-month.

   Most commercial office spaces require you to sign at least a one year lease and many times even longer. Commitment issues? Flexibility is the name of the game in the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship.

2. Working alone sucks: the need for social interaction.

   In your own private office, yes, you can shut the door and concentrate. But the lack of human interaction for some is very difficult. After all, human beings are naturally social creatures. Simply being in a coworking spaces will give you that social element without you even having to try.

3. Office spaces are expensive! Coworking grants you low startup costs and low overhead

   As much as people join coworking spaces for social reasons, it is hard to deny the logical reasoning. Moving into your own private office costs money. Furniture, equipment, monthly utilities, internet access, fridge (and everything to stock it with) —- all of it costs money! Wouldn’t you rather spend the money investing in your company and simply borrow all the office stuff? Coworking gives you that option.

4. A unique place to meet clients.

   Yes, a private office gives you the opportunity to do this too. Many times, though, coworkers enjoy bringing clients by and sharing what an innovative workspace they work in. Choosing to headquarter your company in a coworking space shows your client you’re on the edge of innovation and apart of the small business community in your local city.

5. Make professional contacts.

   There’s something about coworking spaces that attract specialists in their industries. As a result, working in a coworking space rather than a private office space allows you to weed through the mediocre professionals and jump straight to the best. It’s very common for people to hire each other as contractors, establish mutually beneficial partnerships between member companies in related fields, and even to start up companies together. It happens more often than you think.

6. Make friends.

   There’s something about being around the same people every day that allows you to slowly get to know one another. Friendship is pretty hard to guarantee, but it’s pretty easy to make a friend or ten when you work in a coworking space. It’s very common for people to go to lunch together, grab drinks after, do weekend trip together, etc.

7. Receive pro-bono consulting.

   Need an opinion on your company’s new logo? How about you lean over to the graphic designer next to you and get his quick opinion. Need feedback on your new headline for your soon-to-be-submitted advertisement? Ask the copywriter down the hall to give it a quick read. The scenarios are endless. Certainly, you don’t want to bug someone and get free advice all the time. The law of reciprocation definitely holds true in a coworking space. With a spirit of giving, often you get much more in return.

8. Learn about and become a part of the local entrepreneur, social media, tech community.

   Many coworking spaces host events for local meetups and get togethers. And if they don’t, many times the members are attending them, so all you have to do is keep your ears open and you’ll naturally learn the inside scoop on the important events to attend.

9. Share important contacts

   Coworking is a perfect example of the “six degrees of separation” philosophy. Example: At Conjunctured, we share media contacts we have good relationships with so that when one member needs to get some press attention it’s just a matter of an introduction.

10. Build yours and your company’s brand and reputation.

    Often times coworking spaces will promote their members to the local community. Conjunctured has a specialists page where we promote freelancers, a members directory, and also have a weekly featured member that is spotlighted on the main page.

11. Have a cool place to host company events, workshops, parties

    Often times if you were to get a private office, it wouldn’t be as spacious as a coworking space. Most coworking spaces allow their members to utilize the space however they want as if it were their own. At Conjunctured we’ve hosted company launch parties, a book release party, organization meetings, workshops and more. Members have a free for all and genuinely feel like it is their office.

12. Be more productive.

    It seems counterintuitive that being around other people would cause you to be more productive, doesn’t it? There’s this interesting phenomenon coworking seems to have discover: social pressure. There’s something to be said for being surrounded by others who are working hard, staying focused, and making big things happen. There’s something about overhearing your coworking neighbor close a big deal on the phone that’ll get you motivated to make big things happen too! It’s hard to daydream and stare off into space too much when you’re around others.

13. Experience a pet-friendly work environment

    Many coworking spaces allow pets. Animals bring a new dynamic to the workplace. There’s something about having pets around that keeps things fresh and fun. See our blog post: Coworking’s Best Friend.

14. Learning little things you wouldn’t expect.

    Many coworkers at Conjunctured have learned to make a barista quality latte on our commercial quality espresso machine. It’s a fun talent that many enjoy sharing with others. No doubt there have been a few that have brushed up on their chess skills and their guitar skills at Conjunctured, as they’re both just there, waiting to be played. We even had one member start trying the crossfit workout program after another member spoke so highly of it. And we have shared library where members bring in books that were integral to their professional and personal growth. With a spirit of sharing and community, learning comes naturally.

I hope this list was helpful to you! If you can think of more ideas I forgot on why joining a coworking space rocks, then by all means comment below!

It was definitely great to see some old friends as well as getting to meet some remarkable new folks too at our Two Year Anniversary Party on August 21 (205 RSVP’s!). It always AMAZES us the exceptionally genuine people we’ve been privileged to meet over time through the Conjunctured community of friends and supporters. So, thanks for the amazement! Also, with your help, we were even able to raise some money for an East Austin classroom.

A word about our kickass sponsors…

We’d love for all our parties to be as great as this one, but can’t do it without generous sponsors. Please let our food and drink sponsors know you appreciated their goodness by interacting with them on Twitter & Facebook:

Tito’s Handmade Vodka – @titosvodka, fb fanpage

East End Wines – @eastendwines, fb fanpage

KIND Snack Bars – @kindsnacks, fb fanpage

Sweet Leaf Tea – @sweetleaf, fb fanpage

The Green Cart – @thegreencart, fb fanpage

In case you missed the party, or simply to refresh your mind, here’s some highlights from the night:

Video time lapse

- can you spot who spends the most time at the bar?

Credit: Conjunctured Two Year Anniversary Party from Nick Simonite on Vimeo.

Live Art throughout the night

There was a team of artists set up in the back doing randomly inspired pieces of artwork. Each were improvisational, and some even were based on a MadLibs-esque suggestion system. Special thanks to Zach Taylor for organizing the artists and helping to create some unique visuals

Good eating

Special thanks to Green Cart, West End Bistro, and KIND Snack Bars.

Good drinking

Special thanks to Tito’s Vodka, East End Wines, Sweet Leaf Tea & of course Mando and Sharlee (bartenders extraordinare!)

Music by Andrei Matei

Chatting it up in the back

We turned our back parking lot into extra space for the party. Some christmas lights go a long way! This was the first time we’ve opened up the back for a party, and it turned out great! We had the music from inside piped to the back too.

Chatting it up in the front

A number of us were hanging out on the picnic tables or on the front porch enjoying the nice cool breeze.

Chatting it up inside

Nothing beats a lil a/c and good people

More Photos:

Flickr Photos:

www.flickr.com conjunctured’s Conjunctured’s 2 Year Anniversary Party photoset

Conjunctured Party Facebook Photo Album – Feel free to tag yourself!

Conjunctured Party photos on TwitC – The founder of TwitC stopped by and took a bunch of photos too. Check ‘em out!

Drawings by Honoria Starbuck – did you get drawn and eavesdropped on by our live sketch artist guest? Take a look and see!

Mr. K.'s Classroom

On our 2 year anniversary party RSVP Eventbrite invitation we asked generous party attendees to contribute money to East Austin Schools. We are thrilled to have raised $85 via this casual request for donations. To top it off some, Conjunctured is going to pitch in an additional $25 to the cause. What is the cause exactly?

Mr. K.’s mathematics class at “Austin Can! Academy” a school for at-risk students, located 5 minutes away from Conjunctured, needs color and black ink cartridges for their classroom printouts. We’ve donated the $110 in donations we raised from the party and want you to take this project on home.

If you have not already donated or would like to donate more, please go to Donors Choose right now and donate a small amount of money to this cause. If money is tight, please use their social media links on the page to promote the cause.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to celebrate our 2 year anniversary and very special thanks to everyone who donated!

Featured Artist, Lavanna Martin – Austin Guerilla Coffee Shop Portrait Artist

This is a guest post from new featured artist on display at Conjunctured, Lavanna Martin, who was featured in the Austin American Statesman, Artist devoted to ‘guerrilla’ coffee shop portraits.

I started painting “live” in coffee houses in Austin in the spring of 2008. I had thought about doing it for years, and had always drawn people with my mind’s eye in public.

After almost a year of terrible stagnation in the studio, I began formulating my first attempts at “live” painting. I chose the coffee houses because I knew that the bohemian “anything goes” attitude would afford me the comfort and cover that I required. (I had worked at the legendary, original coffeehouse, Les Amis, profiled in the movie, “Slacker”).

The first day, I set out for Epoch Coffee, the 24-hour hipster hang-out closest to my house, and painted until time to pick up my daughter from school. I went back that evening. I was hooked. The first day, I did 9 paintings. I was in my element.

By August, I ran into another former Les Amis waitress at the Spider House. She got a kick out of what I was doing, and told me to start a blog. I didn’t know the difference between a blog and a website, and didn’t have a clue how to begin. While researching places to practice my “guerrilla painting” (a moniker given to me by local graffiti artists that thought I was their age), I found out about Cafe Caffeine, and the “jelly”, originally started by the Conjunctured boys. Well, I went there, hoping that they could hep me start a blog. From there, I followed the trail over to their new location on East 7th.

David Walker helped me set up my blog “I Stare At People” on WordPress, . Since that time, the blog has grown “organically” to a Page 4 ranking – pretty shocking for just a local art blog.

I’m still doing it – painting live. I keep a record of everything that I paint. At first, by journal entries pasted on the backs of the paintings, and now, my blog serves this purpose. I even record my color palette for every painting.

The paintings are all live, with no touch-up or re-dos in the studio.

I would really like to branch out of the coffee house to do “guerrilla painting” anywhere.

In the past, I have refused to sell them, or give them away. I’m rethinking that.

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If you’d like to come view Lavanna’s artwork at Conjunctured, swing on by 1309 E. 7th Street M-F 9a-6pm.

What’s Conjunctured Coworking been up to lately? July 2010 Update

Howdy!

1. We’ve been consistently building our community of members. Lot’s of new faces around here! Check out our updated members and alumni page here: http://conjunctured.com/members
2. Last Friday, we hosted our first ever "Help a Coworker Out Night" – a roundtable discussion with members and alumni centered around one current member, in this case, Nik Daftary of Moodfish.com. We collaborated together to help brainstorm creative solutions to current business issues. It was a great success and a lot of fun. Here’s a few photos:
   
   http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181169&id=18547482893&ref=mf
3. Speaking of Moodfish…they’re in the running for "Coolest New Austin Company!" You’ve probably met Nik Daftary—he’s actually our longest consecutive member. Help a fellow coworker out by voting for Moodfish by clicking on this link: Voting closes TODAY (friday), please vote for Moodfish now
   
   http://abjentrepreneur.com/contest_nomination.html
4. A month or so ago we launched our first "Launch a business night" where seven of us all got together at Conjunctured and launched a business in just one night—it was pretty crazy and random, but lot’s of fun. Read the blog post here, that Shelly Leonard (Owner of SparkNight) was nice enough to write up.
5. We’ve been starting to use the Conjunctured Facebook fan page quite a bit to share news and invite friends to happy hours, etc. If you’re not a fan yet, "like" us here:
   
   http://www.facebook.com/conjunctured
6. Back in March, We were featured in USA Today, on the front page of the "Money" Section. It’s the 2nd link on our press page:
   
   http://conjunctured.com/press
7. We got all new furniture in April thanks to the generosity of Conjunctured friend, Drew Jones, and author of "I’m Outta Here: how co-working is making the office obsolete". Stop by and check it out if you haven’t yet!

Last week, a group of six Conjunctured members (Gavin Todes, Ross Barbash, Ben Wills, David Walker, Marcus Mateus, and Shelly Leonard) got together with the end goal of launching a business by midnight. We had a well-rounded group with many areas of specialties from marketing and copywriting to website development and SEO.

We started around 6 p.m. and made sure to have lots of pizza and soda to fuel our creativity. Two hours later, after throwing around several ideas (including at least one idea that was associated with bacon), we decided upon artShare Austin. Then, we split up and got right to work.

A few worked on the logo and branding, others wrote website copy, and Gavin and Marcus got to work building the site. We ran into a few bumps along the way – and didn’t quite meet our midnight deadline, but were on our way home by 2 a.m. after finally launching the website with a sign-up form where users can gain more information and sign up for the service.

In a nutshell, artShare Austin is a way for talented local artists to gain exposure throughout the community while local businesses can make their space beautiful by getting art on their walls.

Artists can visit the site and create a profile with their contact information and available artwork. This can be seen by the public, who can rate each piece of art. Business owners can login to the site and browse through artists, then choose which pieces they’d like based on medium, location, highest rated, and more. When they find the pieces they want in their business, they’ll fill out a form on the website and will be put in contact with the artist.

artShare Austin will continue to develop over the next few weeks, so stay tuned for more details.Learn more about artShare Austin

Recently posted some photos of some of the various furry friends we’ve had coworking along side us at Conjunctured.  I really think more offices should be pet-friendly as it really improves the vibe of the place—gives the place more life and a fun attitude! Austin already is a very pet-friendly city and I’m starting to see why! Here’s some dog-friendly restaurants in Austin I found on Yelp. And of course any of the amazing food stands / “trailer park” eateries are going to be pet friendly too.

View the “Conjunctured Mascots” Facebook album