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The sharing economy continued to gain steam in 2015: More people hailed Uber cabs, rented Airbnb apartments, and parlayed micro-jobs on TaskRabbit. Cities tried to enable sharing companies as a way of expanding access to services. The categories of things we could share expanded, from solar panels to coffee cups. And the term “sharing economy” even entered the Oxford English Dictionary, showing it’s really a thing and not some passing fad. advertisement advertisement At the same time, companies in the collaborative economy also faced something of a backlash. There were calls to separate out those businesses that genuinely shared ownership and governance from those that simply rent out other people’s stuff for a profit (like Uber). More seriously, people worried about an economy where we’re working “on demand” but don’t have any benefits or health insurance for when we’re not working. Potential solutions include … [Read more...] about More Customers, More Controversy: 2015 In Collaborative Consumption

It’s easy for writers or other laptop-bound freelancers to stave off isolation at a co-working space or, more cheaply, at a coffee shop (where I find myself writing this sentence). But for creatives who rely on more equipment than fits in a tote bag–like video editors and filmmakers–the options for space and community are more limited and expensive. advertisement advertisement As of Thursday, that’s no longer the case in Los Angeles. The co-working community Hub L.A.–which I wrote about when it opened last fall–is celebrating the opening of its new, 3,200-square-foot satellite space this week, the Hub L.A. Media Lab, just downstairs from the main Hub space. Access to the lab starts at $75 per month. I stopped by on Tuesday to check out the new digs tailored to the needs of “storytellers, message makers and visual artists.” There’s a 35-person screening room that can be rented out for $125, conference rooms, a mobile green … [Read more...] about A Co-Working Media Lab To Let Anyone Get Creative

Meetings–we love to hate them. advertisement advertisement And no wonder. One study found the average office denizen spends over four years of their life sitting in meetings–perhaps another reason we’re called working stiffs. With that in mind, Fast Company’s offered readers a compendium of ideas and executives on how to prune unnecessary excess of information (or whittle out people with no purpose a la Steve Jobs) avoid the seven deadly sins of a sit down including not actually sitting down–or even take a page from the (all pulled off without a single powwow). Something, however, is missing among all those tips and tricks. Namely: what does a modern meeting actually look like? Who’s more likely to arrive early, and who chronically shows up late? When are people more likely to gather and are men as equally represented around the conference table as women? In short: we’re missing more data. Knowing the answers to these questions not … [Read more...] about Fresh Data Reveals The Way We Meet Now

Silicon Valley may be the capital of the tech scene, but the geographical spread of the country’s innovation has expanded far beyond its borders. Cities all over the country, from Brooklyn to Charleston to Las Vegas, are making a concerted effort to take advantage of the creative bustle of the urban environment, creating dedicated innovation districts. In the words of the Brookings Institution’s Bruce Katz, these districts cluster “leading-edge anchor institutions and cutting-edge innovative firms, connecting them with supporting and spin-off companies, business incubators, mixed-use housing, office, retail, and 21st century urban amenities.” advertisement In Boston, a fledging District Hall, a city-sponsored center with workspaces, classrooms, community rooms, and a restaurant. The center comes out of a public-private partnership between the city of Boston and Boston Global Investors. Opened in October, the sleek, modern building by Boston-based Hacin + … [Read more...] about A Beautiful New Building Meant To Spark Innovation

Forget what you know about how to maximize productivity. advertisement advertisement That includes knowing which tasks can be breezed through with the help of a playlist, or exactly when to down that cup of coffee (or switch to another beverage) and when to mindlessly surf the web. According to a new report published in Harvard Business Review, the key to unlock the greatest productivity isn’t necessarily in the hands of the individual employee. Rather, authors Ben Waber, Jennifer Magnolfi, and Greg Lindsay posit that chance and face-to-face encounters are the way anyone working in the knowledge economy is going to improve performance. That’s in spite of technology that keeps us “connected,” even when we work remotely. Independent studies conducted by Waber, president and CEO of Sociometric Solutions, found physical closeness even boosts virtual communication. In one, engineers who shared space were 20% more likely to communicate digitally and emailed … [Read more...] about Forget What You Think You Know About The Office Of The Future