Last year, when I was running 8-8-08 for Burma (a one-woman + interns crusade against Chinese support for Burma’s junta, focused on the Beijing Olympics), I set up shop for two months at Studio Guild, an amazing office space in Chelsea chock full of creatives, change-makers, and a supportive progressive community.
And so I was introduced to the notion of co-working, which I had not considered beyond the usual corporate cubicle scheme. It was amazing. When I wasn’t in an “Asperger’s-like” tunnel of focus, I would have the opportunity to chat and scheme with great folks on the cutting edge, from Social Markets to Just Vision to the ladies behind Drink.Pee.Drink.Pee.Drink.Pee.
There are two more spaces now set up in Brooklyn, the Change You Want to See and Brooklyn Creative League. These are great places for a start-up nonprofit or for profit organization, as well as for individual entrepreneurs, writers, and artists.
I have yet to hear about anything in Washington, DC – even it’s so desperately needed – like the “Democracy House” Avaaz’s Ricken Patel and I daydreamed about last year. Soon, perhaps?