Coworking in Houston

I wanted to take some time and write a little bit about the phenomenon that is in many ways sweeping the nation right now. It’s called coworking. A coworking space is basically a place where like-minded individuals gather each day and work next to each other. Wikipedia has a more thorough explanation that is definitely worth a read if you’re unfamiliar with the concept (I love Wikipedia):

Coworking is an emerging trend for a new pattern for working. Typically work-at-home professionals or independent contractors or people who travel frequently end up working in relative isolation. Coworking is the social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share values and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space.

I like to explain coworking using the Fight Club and Project Mayhem metaphor. The Fight Club in the book/movie was started up by Tyler Durden as a way for “socially disenchanted” men to let out their frustrations in the form of bare-knuckle boxing, and eventually the simple concept spread across the country like wildfire. Well, coworking started somewhere in San Fransisco, or maybe Philadelphia (I’m not sure, correct me in the comments) as a haven for the “socially enchanted” to let out their frustrations in the form of high speed internet, free coffee, and creative expression… you get the idea.

As you might imagine, a state as large as Texas, with cities like Houston, Dallas, and Austin, ought to be able to support some kind of coworking or collaborative work environments of its own, and it turns out that it does. Here are just a few of the more notable coworking spaces in Texas, starting with the most important one, of course, Houston’s own Caroline Collective:

The Caroline Collective – 4820 Caroline, Houston, TX

“A unique combination of private workspace, public art space, and open collaborative desk space, Caroline Collective is Houston’s newest coworking solution. Provides citizens with an environment to creatively work, network and experience a different way to work smarter, together.”

The Creative Space – 211a West Wm J Bryan Pkwy Bryan, TX 77803

“The Creative Space is a group of like-minded individuals out to make great work, together. We all work as one to push the local community through artistic and business endeavors while sharing space and cost.”

The Big In Japan Coworking space – 1950 Stemmons Freeway, Suite 2022, Dallas, TX 75207

“The Big in Japan Coworking space is an experiment and as a result we are not planning to charge tenants, instead we are attempting build an interesting ecosystem that is beneficial to our businesses as well as the businesses of the coworking tenants. We are attempting to help local start-ups that we believe have promise. The Big in Japan Coworking space is the first of its kind in Dallas, feel free to stop by to check it out!”

Conjunctured – 1309 E. 7th Street Austin, TX 78702

“Conjunctured is the very first Austin coworking space. We’re a growing community of like-minded professionals who have grown tired of working alone and crave the vibe of working in a collaborative and creative space. We’d love to meet you!”

I have been to the Caroline Collective and the Creative Space, and they are both worth checking out if you haven’t been yet.  Many of these coworking spaces have different types of space available for rent, from open desks in a large room, offices with closing lockable doors, or just the ability to come in once or twice a week and work in whatever space is available. Rent prices can vary from city to city and may depend on the type of space you want and the amount of time you want to spend there, but here is an example of some prices just to give you an idea:

• Caroline Collective: free for “drifters”, $125/mo. for any open desk, $300/mo. for a specific desk, $600-900 (this is a wild guess) for a lockable office
• Conunctured: free for visitors on their first day, $25/day after that, or $250/mo. for full-time keyed access
• The Creative Space: $165/mo., free for visitors almost anytime
• Big In Japan: free for anyone they accept into the group, but you probably have to have a pretty good start-up idea going first
• The Hat Factory in San Fransisco: $200/mo.
• Citizen Space in San Fransisco: $350/mo. for a private desk, 24-hour access and unlimited use of the conference room. $250/mo. for 24-hour access but no private desk. Drop-ins are free.
• Sandbox Suites in San Fransisco: $495/mo. for a private desk, 24-hour access and eight hours per month of conference room time. $135/mo. for one day’s use per week, no private desk and no conference time. Drop-ins pay $20 for half a day or $38 for a full day.

If the concept of coworking piques your interest, then I also recommend you become familiar with these other up-and-coming trends:

• Jelly – “Jelly is casual coworking. We invite people to work from our home for the day. We provide chairs and sofas, wireless internet, and interesting people to talk to, collaborate with, and bounce ideas off of.”
• BarCamp – “an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants.”
• BIL – “an ad-hoc conference for people changing the world in big ways. It’s a place for passionate people to come together to energize, brainstorm, and take action. We invite you to bring your world into ours. See you in Long Beach!”