Spaces to Roam « p.39 So she came up with the idea of a coworking space, and soon found other freelancers and remote workers like herself who were more “nomadic” in their work habits, carrying their offices with them. Today, O2 has 32 “members” at two locations — the second is at 77 College Street — who pay based on how much space they occupy and how much time they need, anywhere from $5 for a single drop-in to $300 for 24/7 access. Individual offices are available for as much as six months at a time; conference rooms can be rented, too. All O2 members have access to high-speed internet, as well as a fax machine, printer,
weekly from 10 a.m. till noon, it’s an opportunity for professionals from vastly different backgrounds — filmmakers, web developers, attorneys, social-media gurus — to meet, network and talk shop. Among them is Mary Catherine Jones, a commercial voice-over expert from Shelburne who started her O2 membership two weeks ago. Jones’ “lite” membership allows her up to four days per month at O2, just enough time to finish projects such as mailings, bookkeeping, research and “other work that requires sustained attention. “I just thought it would be an interesting way to get out of my home office into a different space,” Jones explains. “It’s not terribly expensive at all, and I get more work done in longer chunks of time.” JEb WAllAcE-bRodEUR
The trading room at National Life in Montpelier
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kitchen, coffee machine and water cooler. “What I found over the years is, it’s really all about flexibility and options,” Mincar explains. “People like the ability to work at a desk one day and a conference room the next. Sometimes they want an office, sometimes they don’t.” On a recent Friday morning, about a half-dozen O2 members are gathered around the central conference table — made from an old solar panel — for an informal get-together known as “Friday morning coffee break.” Held
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They’re noT all alone in a room anymore.
Beside her is Nan Patrick, a Mary Kay cosmetics salesperson. Patrick says she used to work out of hotel lobbies and local social clubs but found O2 to be “cool, edgy and current. “I love the fact that there’s a kitchen,” Patrick adds. “My meetings go from 6:15 to 8:15 [at night], so [clients are] either gobbling something to get to the meeting or they’re starving and not thinking about what we’re talking about. Now I bring food and they love it! Attendance has gone way up since I started meeting at Office Squared.” O2 isn’t the only coworking space in Vermont. At least two others — one in Rutland and another, called Local 64, in Montpelier — are just getting up and running. Mincar also belongs to a Google coworking group of about 850 similar spaces worldwide, which are organized in a variety of ways. Some, like O2, are for-profit businesses, others are not-for-profits. For Mincar, it’s less about making money than creating a shared workspace that’s conducive to productivity and creativity. Though more and more Vermonters are becoming workplace “nomads” like herself, she says, “People still crave that water-cooler scenario.” m
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It’s kInd of excItIng because people are more energIzed at theIr work areas.
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