Here’s video of the Google press conference in Chapel Hill that occurred May 25. Thanks to the folks at RTP for capturing this. AGAIN they provided more detailed coverage than the local media.

He’s the link to the Google Economic Impact info. This is the PDF of data for North Carolina.

If I may I’d like to add a bit of personal commentary to this story. I feel Orange County, ALL OF IT, is well suited for the future of doing business. Especially on-line. A major reason I feel this way is because we’ve heavily invested in knowledge, quality of life, and creativity.

The Research Triangle Park blog wrote about this event today. They have a pretty good description of the event. Better than the pro-media press coverage in my humble opinion. But the part that most interested me was their last paragraph.

“But still, why choose Chapel Hill for the big unveiling? [Google Vice President for Global Agency and Industry Development] Penry Price had an answer: “We looked at the way business is growing in North Carolina.” He said they wanted a fair representation of the face and future of all the types of US cities Google works with, and Chapel Hill fit that bill.”

This is says to me that from an economic development perspective we should stick with our strengths and stop trying to be like the rest of the Triangle. i.e. building new shopping malls and office parks

I’m also crossing my fingers that this event hints at some Google Fiber coming our way…

As I got into the day to day of running a coworking space the assumption about where our space is located seemed to be validated. I believe that being close to where people live, shop, and play is essential. But can coworking spaces exist in other places?

This is why I created the following survey. If you work at a Coworking space I’d really appreciate it if you could take it. The results are located here. You can even download the data and use it how you want.

I feel its essential we have big numbers of survey participants to validate or disprove this assumption. Once we’ve made it over two hundred participants I’ll elaborate more on why I think this is important.

Thanks!

This is all just a way of saying I’m looking for freelance work. Recently I’ve put in several bids for a/v production work. Please check out my portfolio for examples and my resume for work experiences and education.

Here are some of this things I’d like to do for you:

• Produce, record, and edit audio podcasts
• Produce, record, and edit video for the web
• E-commerce design and setup for multimedia products
• Write and produce animation for the web using After Effects
• Train people on audio/video production for the web

If you know anyone who needs these kinds of services please pass my contact information along. The best way to reach me now is via the contact form on the Carrboro Creative Coworking site. I’ll respond quickly and help you all I can. Thanks!

Last night I shared with friends and supporters the news.

Via Twitter

Via the Carrboro Coworking Google Group and Facebook

Right now I’m sending my PR release to as many media folks as I can. Please forward this to people you know. CARRBORO CREATIVE COWORKING SIGNS THE DOTTED LINE PDF

To top it off I recorded a video last night. Its the first one in a series that will document the journey to create a coworking space. Should be a interesting roller coaster.

Please consider purchasing a seat, desk, or office at Carrboro Coworking now. I desperately need to pre-sell as many as I can. Contact me for more information. Lots of info on the biz website.

I define Green Business as socially and environmentally sustainable economic activity. Wikipedia defines Sustainable Business as:

A business is sustainable if it has adapted its practices for the use of renewable resources and holds itself accountable for the environmental and human rights impacts of its activities. This includes businesses that operate in a socially responsible manner and protect the environment.

I’m really just learning about this and trying to fit my business into this mold as much as I can.

One way our local government leaders could participate in this national movement is to sign the Green Jobs Pledge. Its goal is to "rebuild American competitiveness and environmental leadership by growing a green economy that fights global warming, pollution and poverty at the same time." Here are the five steps this pledge asks our leaders to agree to:

1. Commit to Action
2. Create a Green-collar Jobs Taskforce
3. Identify Goals and Assess Opportunities
4. Create a Local Action Plan
5. Evaluate, Leverage and Grow

So far the the U.S. Conference of Mayors has agreed with Green For All that this pledge is good idea. Mayor Martin Chávez of Albuquerque, New Mexico and County Executive Ron Sims of King County, Washington have put there name on it. You can download the Green Jobs Pledge Packet here. [PDF]

Let’s discuss ways we can build a green economy from the ground up, and see if we can get our elected officials to take the pledge.

This post was first published on OrangePolitics.org.

As Social Media evolves, the value of online conversations is becoming distributed and decentralized. As the host of any given conversation, it is almost impossible to expect your community to discover or congregate around your content in any one given place, especially the point of origin. It’s both the challenge and the promise of micromedia and social networks. The comments section of your blog, for example may not truly represent the community response or reaction because it may thrive across other disparate networks and communities, whether you’re aware of it or not.

Also another gem ..

The reward for participating and adding value to these conversations is Social Capital. The penalty for self-promotion, one-sided conversations, or lack of genuine participation is evident in the lack of apparent ROI as well as the lack of respect you’re granted.

I’m not sure how the web will change. But one thing is for sure… it will happen and quickly. Thinking about the tempo of change is good for staying nimble. HUGELY important for business, NGO, government, activists, and heck just about everyone.

Our mantra must be: Learn to listen and talk WITH others

Carrboro Coworking is moving steadily forward. I’m about to make some big decisions and could really use your help.

If you haven’t taken the first Carrboro Coworking survey I’d really appreciate it if you did. Might be good if you took this one first.
http://ccc.survey.sgizmo.com

Here is a short discription of the business in case you’re wondering.

Carrboro Creative Coworking is a professional shared working space with a cafe-like atmosphere. It is designed to be a welcoming environment for freelance professionals, home-office workers, entrepreneurs, startup business owners, tech workers, graduate students, writers, and others. Subscribers of the Carrboro Creative Coworking space will receive access to a reliable office space inside a unique modern community.

To keep up to date with the latest news about Carrboro Coworking please join the Google Group. Thank you for taking the time to complete this.

Thanks to Katie Spencer for writing this. I enjoyed talking with her. She acuratly reported what I said and did a good job of explaining the coworking concept. I find it interesting that the two reporters who have approached me to do stories about Carrboro Coworking have been students. There was another story September 2007 in the Daily Tar Heel called Resident plans shared space for creative work. I think younger people inherently understand the future of mobile work. I don’t think cubicals and big office parks are in their futures.

I have a Carrboro Coworking website with a survey up. Please go take it. If you want to keep up with what’s going on please join the Carrboro Coworking Google Group.