You can borrow my house and car if I can borrow your mobile home

Have you planned a trip to Klitmøller in your mobile home this summer? Would you like to live like a local in my house in Klitmøller – for free? Well, here’s your chance: Let’s swap! You can borrow my house and car if I borrow your mobile home. How’s that sound? If you are interested, please comment below. I know, there are some details – insurance, etc. – that must be in place first, but there are solutions to that. We'll find those together. If I succeed, we might pave the way for a more permanent home/mobile home swap service in Klitmøller — who knows?

No doubt, most of the residents in Cowork Klitmøller believe that our little village is the center of the universe, especially during the summertime, when the ocean is warmer, the days are longer, and the parties reveal so much more naked skin.

Believe it or not, we – the most dedicated locals – need to go somewhere else to surf, to eat, to get inspiration, etc. The ultimate freedom of a restless person such as myself is to have a mobile home. I can go north to Norway, east to Sweden, west to England, or south to France – maybe even Spain or Portugal. Only time and fuel will limit our mobility.

In Klitmøller, downsizing is not uncommon. It fits the lifestyle of a surfer, where flexibility is the key to the ultimate experience. I encourage myself on a daily basis to let go of consumerism and materialism, to free myself from “things” and focus more on freedom and possibilities.

Along with my boyfriend, I am, however, (still) a house owner, and not a wealthy one. We have three kids and an imaginary rabbit. In other words, sharing and trust are our currency. Renting a mobile home in Denmark is seriously expensive, as is renting a house in Klitmøller during the high season. So here’s a thought:

You, my (most likely German) fellow surfer, can borrow my house if I can borrow your mobile home. No money will change hands. You’ll be nice to my home because you know that I’ll take care of your vehicle.

//

Credits to my friend Ole Busk for coming up with the home/mobile home swap service idea. 

Ingen (freelance) jihadist skal få skovlen under modet til at ytre sig frit

I dag har vi sørger vi. Vore tanker går til ofrer og pårørende for det seneste døgns terror i Danmark. I morgen står vi op og – vær helt vis på det –  tegner alle de tegninger og møder alle de forskelligheder, der skal til for, at ingen, ingen (freelance) jihadist får skovlen under modet til at ytre sig frit i Danmark og resten af verden – og nej, dette er IKKE en kamp mellem den vestlige verden og islam. Dette er alles kamp mod dødsens farlige tosser.

Mutinerie: sharing values is the most important part

Coworking as a concept is only 10 years old. This post is one in a series of posts where I interview people I have met. They belong to coworking spaces in Denmark as well as in the rest of Europe and the world. Hopefully, the series will teach us something about the coworking movement. 

The first interview is with William Van Den Broek. I got in touch with William via Morgane Parma, whom I met when I participated in the Coworking Europe Conference 2014 in Lisbon. Morgane is a visual communication designer and a member of Mutinerie. William is the cofounder of Mutinerie in Paris. Here are his answers:

A: What is Mutinerie? 

Q: Mutinerie is a community of independent workers: entrepreneurs, start-ups, and freelancers based in Paris. The headquarters of Mutinerie is a coworking space of 400 square meters in the northeast of the city. We have about 200 active members. Some of them work nearly every day from the place, and others come only a few days per month. Mutinerie hosts and organises events, workshops, and celebrations. Mutinerie has various goals and no limits!

Q: When/how did it all begin? 

A: Mutinerie was initiated by three brothers and a playground friend who decided, one day in September 2010, to gather independent workers in a place where it would be nice to work, think, and live. After four months of hard work, Mutinerie opened its doors in early March 2012.

Q: What is a ‘Mutin’? 

A: A mutin means a mutineer. A mutin is a member of our community—a guy or a girl who decided, one fine day, to become self-employed and chose what he or she wanted to do with his or her life. He or she is a developer, designer, architect, journalist, translator, consultant, artist, or whatever he or she wants to be. Mutinerie is glad to have a huge diversity of skills. Sharing values is the most important part. Being able to share common goods with others and to trust and respect fellow coworkers is key to building a micro-society in which good things can bloom.

Q. How is Mutinerie different from other coworking spaces? 

A: We don't try so hard to be different; we just try to be good! The first thing was to find good people and to work hard to deliver a good quality of service. At the same time, we have high expectations of what is a community of coworkers. Coworkers are not in Mutinerie to show off or promote their stuff. There is an authentic atmosphere with authentic people who are able to trust each other. We managed to find a good balance between core coworkers, others who come here more rarely, and travellers. Doing so, Mutinerie remains an open community with strong relations between members. At Mutinerie, you will always have someone to welcome you and explain how things work in the community. The result is that ideas and relationships can grow strong quickly. 

Q: What is Coworking Rural (Mutinerie Village)? 

A: It is a coworking/co-living space lost in the middle of Le Perche, a French region located 140 km west of Paris. The farmhouse stands alone in a little valley surrounded by forests, grasslands, and a little river. As many coworkers can often work remotely, we thought it could be nice to offer a place where you can mix work and nature! The Village was born last summer after a major renovation of the old farmhouse. It includes a hostel, a coworking space, a maker space, and a permacultural kitchen garden.

Q: How are the rural and urban locations of Mutinerie connected? 

A: Mutinerie Village is a kind of countryside house for our coworkers and for the freelancers of Paris. Our little maker space in the Village creates another reason for you to go to our urban Mutinerie and craft things you need. We also organise workshops, parties, and celebrations at Mutinerie Village with our community from Paris.

Q: Where will Mutinerie be in 5-10 years? 

A: We have always said that Mutinerie is more a movement than a facility. Our motto means "Free Together" and sums up our main goal: connecting independent people and free minds. In terms of coworking spaces, a new Mutinerie is brewing in the south of Paris, and another space will open in June! If we prove our ability to develop new spaces, we will continue to open spaces in Paris. That said, operating in the heart of a serendipity machine like Mutinerie also means that a lot of unexpected things will cross our path and change it…

Q: Bonus: How do you envision coworking in 10-20 years? 

A: Ten-twenty years is really far away, and considering the rapid changes in our societies, predictions are a bit dangerous! Yet, some figures are still pretty explicit. When Mutinerie was launched three years ago, there were about 1,000 spaces all over the world, and, today, we are reaching 6,000! The number of coworking spaces has nearly doubled every year for the past six years, and we don't really see why the pace would slow down in the coming years.

Some studies have predicted that the number of self-employed people will exceed the number of office employees in a decade or so in most western countries. It is the beginning of a revolution in the ways in which we work and organize societies! Yet, I'm not describing a shining future where everyone is free, wealthy, and happy. Being independent is an exciting but dangerous adventure. Big companies are still able to offer protection, security in terms of revenue, and social interactions. Coworking mitigates the dangers facing a society of self-employed individuals. It enables people to be independent and free without being isolated.

Thank you William and Morgane – #JeSuisCharlie 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Egon – the storm – is here with gusts reaching 35 m/s. You probably know how it is when you're out here on the edge under those conditions:

Grains of sand bang on your skin. The sea looks like Armageddon. There is no order, only chaos moving like wildfire along the coast. Houses creak and squeak, and cars wobble down the street. Stuff tumble through the air ...

It's all over the place. It's nature moving in – as a reminder of everything from climate change to the things you have to tie to the trees that aren't here. You can run, but you can't hide. We love it!

The year 2014 was a good one for us. We had plenty of waves and decent wind conditions. Each of us did good business, and we all learned a lot about what it means to live in Klitmøller. Through our cooperation with the Foundation Realdania, we are, as you know, on our way towards establishing what we hope will be the perfect retreat for you, your friends, and/or your family.

We are not quite there yet. Right now, we are focusing on finding the rest of the funding needed to begin construction and on determining where the house should be located. Once this has been determined, we will carry out a design contest, find a winner, finish the construction of the building, and then all move in. The year 2015 will be a crazy one.

Until then, we are staying in a place on Ørhagevej 84. Lunch is at 12 o’clock, and you are welcome to join in. If you have time, we would like to hear your story and share waves, experiences, and, who knows, maybe even fame and fortune with you. ;) See you soon in Klitmøller.

Cold Hawaii nominated for the Danish The Sport Award

All Cowork Klitmøller residents have to a greater or lesser extent been involved in the development of Cold Hawaii. We’re stocked to learn that the "phenomenon" has been nominated for the Danish The Sport Award.

If you vote for Cold Hawaii, we get one step closer to 100,000 kr. for a NEW sports initiative in Thy. VOTE NOW! The voting stops already on Friday 14th, at 09.00!! 

The background:

Cold Hawaii, along with a number of other projects across the country, have been nominated to receive the Danish Sport Award. If the our project wins, the local council, Thy, receives 100,000 kr!! This money goes towards a NEW sports initiative in the municipality. 

The first step is to vote. The projects receiving the most votes will enter the BIG FINALE, on January 10, 2015 in Herning. 

For us along with the NASA surf club, Friends of Cold Hawaii and a lot of volunteers, who over the years have worked hard to establish Cold Hawaii, it will be a great pleasure if all the work could now also contribute to other good initiatives, in the area, so they could get some financial backing, to start THEIR project.

Therefore, we hope that you will help us spread the message and the link to vote, to your friends, family and pets. Together, we can come one step closer to 100,000 kr for a NEW sports project in Thy

Amazing event - amazing team

The Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup 2014 ended Sunday night at 8:12 p.m., with Thomas Traversa as the winner. Second was Victor Fernandez. Robby Swift and Leon Jamaer shared third place. Prior to the prize giving, nothing less than a high drama occurred Sunday in Klitmøller. 

In the weeks leading up to the event, Cowork Klitmøller served as the hub for all preparations. Having many of you in the house has been fun for all of us. Thank you for the good vibes, and by all means, swing by the next time you’re in Klitmøller. 

Mette took some pictures of the team - find them here (click to browse). 

Being responsible for all media in conjunction with the Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup, I have had the privilege to work with nothing less than an amazing team. I can honestly say that we’ve made this event the best possible experience for anyone with an interest in following and understanding a World Cup in windsurfing wave performance. 

Thanks to Ole Svarrer, Michael Breinhild Johansen, Andrea Hoeppner, Benjamin Greve, Julia Lauber, Florian Gebbert, Tobias Abt, Nils Bade, David Strüning, Frank Frese, Chris Yates, Ane Cecilie Scheel, Simon Reeve, Maja Tarp, John Carter, Jacob Thorn Jensen, Jeppe Svendsen, Jeppe Søndergaard, Pedro Bjerregaard, Silas Thorn Jensen, Martyn Kent Francis, Sebastiaan Van Den Berg, Ben Proffitt, Justyna Sniady, Andre Gothe, Alicja Cupial-Nurnberg, Roberto Hoffman, and Ole Sørensen. As part of a fantastic team, you’ve done a fantastic job.

A touch of Klitmøller revealed

Revealed — the package to our ambassadors contained a small bottle with sand from a selected Cold Hawaii surf spot, a little Klitmøller marram grass, one “Come to Work” Sex Wax, a voucher for one month's stay at Cowork Klitmøller (a really early bird ambassador treat) and Cowork Klitmøller business cards for hyper-local distribution — quite simply, a touch of Klitmøller. The revealer was Pedro Reis from Colab Óbidos. He put it out there — right out in the open on his Facebook.

Pedro is the founder of CoLab Óbidos, located on the first floor of an old farmhouse just above the market street that leads to the main gate and the village of Óbidos. He’s a designer, innovator, nomad, and surfer and one of the many people we have encountered in our efforts to create a matchmaking zone in Klitmøller. Now he’s also an ambassador for Cowork Klitmøller. We look forward to seeing Pedro (with friends and family) in Klitmøller and going to Portugal to visit them.

Project application submitted to Realdania

Today it happened. Today we today submitted a project application to Realdania, under the program Places Matters. It is the culmination of a long process and one more step in our efforts to create an open-ended co-working space or “a matchmaking zone" in Klitmøller. 

As mentioned earlier, we are one of over 20 projects and we may or may not receive funding to realize our idea. We believe that ours is a good one, and, hence, that we have a fair chance of getting through the next needle's eye. If we do, we have come significantly closer to turning the first sod for what eventually will be the next version of Co-work Klitmøller. 

There will be an elaboration of what we have delivered today –  this is just to mark a milestone in the Co-work Klitmøller history.

Loppemarked, iskold saftevand, kaffe og kage i centrum af Klitmøller

Vi har arrangeret et lille loppemarked foran Cowork Klitmoller.

Hvornår: Tirsdag 22. juli kl 14-16
Hvor: Ørhagevej 84

Vi håber derfor, at du (og din familie) vil benytte lejligheden til at komme forbi. Det er som det er med loppemarkeder - med lidt held, finder du lige det, du står og mangler. Har du selv lyst til at lave en bod, kan du komme og stille den op. Husk et bord til dine ting.

Vi GLÆDER os til at se jer!