How to cultivate a international network of peers and business partners?

In October, as part of a hunt for inspiration, I made a three-day visit to the Makeshift Society. During my stay I had the privilege of spending a few hours with the founder of Makeshift, Rena Tom. I asked a lot of questions and she generously shared her experiences creating a successful coworking space with me. 

I gained insight into the basic ideas behind the venture, got a taste of daily life at 235 Gough Street, and dug deeper into the business model of her place. It was exciting and inspiring. 

My most important takeaway from my stay at Makeshift is Rena’s idea of what she calls “friction”. To her, friction is the points here and there where things could be more streamlined, but aren't, because the goal is to create interaction between people.

One small example at Makeshift is payment. As a day-to-day user, you can’t pay online at Makeshift. It's not that Rena hasn’t thought about offering online payment or can’t figure out how to set up a system that makes it possible. She has deliberately left it out because she wants in-person interaction. 

At Cowork Klitmøller, we’re going to do payment differently. But the idea of building in friction to promote interaction and maybe even a certain culture in a coworking space is worth remembering. 

Viewed from that perspective, a coworking space is to a large extent about creating a place that contains the right friction – the right kind and the right amount. It got me thinking.  

We’re creating what we call a matchmaking zone in Klitmøller to meet the challenges of residents and beta-residents. The starting point is a shared interest in surfing.

Ultimately the aim is to create business relationships among likeminded people, primarily from micro and small enterprises, regardless of whether they live in an area where a matchmaking zone exists or not. 

It’s obvious that you can’t create a matchmaking zone in any (rural) area. You have to have a special thing that generates the critical flow of recurrent visitors, a flow that feeds the network and allows relationships to develop and grow. 

The “thing” however doesn’t have to be surfing — it could be skiing, climbing, mountain biking, SCUBA diving, or any other activity that requires proximity to areas particularly suited for that activity.

It could also be locations that are loved for their history and architecture — for example, Florence— music (Vienna), a vibrant arts community (Santa Fe), other lifestyle features (Tahiti, the desert, the mountains, etc.), or even a religious community. It could be San Francisco. 

Now, I'm a business owner. I have a ton of ideas and a lot of heart. I would like to go to a city like San Francisco where I could visit a coworking space knowing I would meet people with whom I could share knowledge and ideas and maybe even business projects. It is possible, but I find it too hard. In fact, I felt that even during my stay at Makeshift. 

I’m also a windsurfer and a SUPer. If I could visit a coworking space in San Francisco where I knew I could find people with this same interest, I would go there — simply because it would initially help me to connect. The place would be my gateway to both local surf and new business opportunities. It’s just easier to get started if you share a passion. 

Which brings me to my conclusion. What really interests me is how we can make it more desirable for creative people outside big corporations to meet and cultivate a large, international network of peers and business partners.

To make that possible, we need to create places that’ll work as magnets for micro and small businesses, because the right type and amount of friction makes it (much) easier for people to meet, connect, share knowledge, and—ultimately—do business together.  

I believe that linking a special interest — like surfing — and coworking might be one of the possible solutions to this challenge. I am not suggesting that I’ve found the (only) philosopher's stone, but I hope that we’ve found a niche that can make globalizing micro and small businesses easier and more attractive.

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

Cowork Klitmøller vært for landsindsamling til Dansk Flygtningehjælp

I år var Cowork værter for landsindsamlerne til Dansk Flygtningehjælp. Der var rigtig godt fremmøde, og vi takker alle - 10 voksne og 4 børn - for hygge, snak og god indsats! Og især dejligt at møde op til flere spritnye mølboer! Vejret var fint, og folk var gavmilde, så vi satte rekord i år! Tak for hjælpen! Håber, vi ses igen til næste år!
 

Carsten Ingemann

På en mørk novemberdag -præcis som han allerbedst kan li dem- kiggede Carsten Ingemann forbi Cowork. Det blev til en lang og hyggelig snak om fascinationen af mørke ... og af lys. Om mørkeruter, stilhed og storm. Om at bruge skumringen og om at Danmark først rigtig starter nord for Struer.
Carsten kan bare rigtig godt li den her del af Danmark, og han har derfor lovet at afholde et kursus her i Klitmøller i starten af 2015. Dato og program er næsten på plads, og jeg kan løfte sløret for, at det bliver et intenst, udfordrende kursus iblandet en god del rødvin og røverhistorier...
Jeg GLÆDER mig!!!!

Start dreaming – things just got a whole lot more interesting

We have just been notified that we have gotten though the final needle’s eye of the Realdania program – Places Matter. More specifically, this means that they intend to finance up to 70% of the building that’ll be Denmark's first matchmaking zone. 

Needless to say, this brings us nothing less than a giant leap forward in the process that will eventually give us a truly unique place for meeting and creating together. 

It’s indeed happy days and will be for a while, but before we know it, it’s back to work. 

It’s important for us to emphasize that we are not there – not yet. As mentioned, Realdania will fund 70%. We still need 30% to fund the entire project. We have proposed a model in which the remaining portion will be financed by a combination of the Thisted Municipality and a credit union. 

Whether or not this model is the way forward depends on several things - including local politics. In addition, the financing of the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the place must be ensured and kept on solid ground. 

We’ll also emphasize that it is not us e.g., Mette, Benthe, Troles, Tina, Marie Louise, Rasmus, etc.  who have been promised up to 70% of the financing for a matchmaking zone. It’s Cowork Klitmøller and thus all of us – residents as well as beta-residents – who have been given the opportunity to create a valuable venue in Klitmøller. 

In other words: Economics is one thing, another and far more important thing is what we - all of us - intend to do with such a place. The things we’ll be doing will constitute “life” in the house and thus what’ll be of value. In the end, this will determine whether being part of a matchmaking zone in Klitmøller is good for people, skills, and business. 

That said, start dreaming - this journey just became a whole lot more interesting. 

Background: 

On August 18, 2014, we submitted an application to the Realdania foundation. The work leading up to that moment had been a pretty intense process. 

On January 16, 2014, we received confirmation that we had gone through the first needle’s eye in the Realdania program Places Matter. 

This meant that we were part of a relatively small pool of projects selected for a process through which we were allowed to refine our idea and thus try to convince the jury that our idea is good enough for Realdania to invest rather heavily in. 

Apparently, it is - and don’t we just love it?

En mand kom forbi

Når en matchmakingzone bare virker..
En dag kom der en mand ind af døren. En ung flink fyr med et kamera over skulderen. Han havde hørt så meget om stedet, at han havde pakket en bil og var taget herop et par dage for at se lidt nærmere på det hele. Han viste sig at hedde Andreas Houmann, og han var blandt andet på jagt efter motiver til en artikel i Euroman.
Jeg fik lov at komme med på sidelinjen og fik på den måde en masse fotosnak, tips og inspiration + lidt 'behind the scene' billeder. Nogle af Andreas billeder blev til en artikel om Kenneth Danielsen.

Water of Life

To illustrate the mood, design influence and creative process behind the new Super Schwarz »Water of Life« designs, we joined forces with one of our most dedicated beta-residents - Peter Alsted – who directed and shot the video.

Passionate about the sea and its influence on our minds, the »Water of Life« designs are simple and graphic silhouettes taking us back to our element of origin. The designs are for like-minded people living a simple and balanced life. Designed in Klitmøller. Knitted in Denmark The video illustrates the mood, design influence and creative process behind the »Water of life« designs.

Passionate about the sea and its influence on our minds, the »Water of Life« designs are simple and graphic silhouettes taking us back to our element of origin.

The designs are for like-minded people living a simple and balanced life.

Designed in Klitmøller. Knitted in Denmark.

Capturing the essence

Together with one of our most dedicated beta-residents - Peter Alsted - I’m participating in the effort to make a documentary about Casper Steinfath. 

For the last four days, I’ve had the privilege of working with Alsted on the project. The occasion was this year's edition of the Battle of the Paddle in Salt Creek, California. We’ve been flies on the wall following Casper; his girlfriend, Mette; Casper's brother, Peter; and their soulmate, Oliver. 

It’s been hard work but definitely worth it. I've witnessed a young man with a lot of passion and character – and an admirable friendship between the four of them. I've met a lot of interesting and welcoming people. It has been inspiring and great fun.

I look forward to working with Alsted and many new faces during post production. I really hope we manage to capture the essence of the viking from Cold Hawaii.  

ENDELIG ENDELIG

Efter rigtig lang tid med mange tekniske problemer tror og håber jeg på, at jeg NU endelig har fundet den rigtige løsning til mit stock-site! Jeg er rigtig glad for at arbejde med stockfotos, og jeg har derfor været ked af, at det har været teknikken, der har sat begrænsninger.
Jeg er derfor glad for og stolt over at kunne præsentere mit Mette Johnsen Stockphotos version 2 og håber, at jeg nu bare kan arbejde løs...
Mange af billederne på sitet er taget her i og omkring Cold Hawaii