Well-known .NET developer Scott Hanselman is gearing up to leave the corporate office and work out of a home office, and as part of his preparation he’s asking readers a question that should resonate with many web workers: where is your current third place? The “third place,” of course, is the spot where we go that isn’t home or work when we want to hang out and feel connected with other people. For some of us this is a shifty concept, of course: if you do web work at home, and socialize exclusively on Twitter and IRC, do you have three places or just one?
Still, most of us can draw lines to divide our lives into compartments, even if those compartments aren’t watertight. As web workers, we tend to have less opportunity to socialize with others at work, so you’d think we would put more energy into finding vibrant and engaging third places to fill that side of our lives. Is there anything to that thought? Do you have some real-life third place where you hang out, whether a neighborhood bar or a church? Or is your third place online? What fills that niche in your own web working life?
This was an amusing item to see considering where I’m sitting at the moment…
http://thirdplacebooks.com/
It’s a combination of bookstore, food court and coffee shop. free wifi, decent power outlets and *spacious* so that I’m not jammed in next to folks. I’m sitting at one end of a 15×5 table and the tables are of all different sizes and spacings. The variety here is what I like – there are solo tables, large group tables, etc. There are even a couple of meeting rooms if I want to meet with someone and not sit in the open or if I need a whiteboard…
I am struggling with this as well. Right now my best place third place is the dog park or a coffee shop.
I wonder if the coffee shop counts though, because I end up going to there to get internet access and be outside, but I rarely talk to people (unless I bring a friend).
Being a hearty Canadian I would say good ol’ Tim Horton’s. I like Starbuck’s atmosphere, but I can’t afford cup after delicious cup of $4 coffee. Maybe one day, I’m still young!
Wait, there’s life outside of the office? ;-) I’d have to say that online is my 3rd place.
My third place for getting work done is a “portable feast” of coffeeshops, the local wharf, and other public wi-fi spaces. But as a web worker and mom to 2 very young children, my biggest social 3rd place is Twitter, by far. That’s my water cooler. And surprisingly, it is fast becoming my best professional network also. The energy, kindness, ideas and humor that are shared are off the charts some days.
Heh. I’m sitting in a coffee shop as I type this.
My third place is probably a friend’s house where everyone gathers at least once a week. Or at least, it was before I moved to a new town. Today I’m back in the old city, but I really need to find a 3rd place in the new locale.
I’ve been looking for a third space for the past year and have yet to find one. I need to find one! That much I know for sure.
I would say that when I’m not at home or at the office, I gravitate toward wine shops for tastings!
The larger fitness clubs (including the YMCA in my town) are great places to hang out(If your favorite friends don’t show up you just get a little better work-out than usual).
For people who have made the transition to an online life and work, it makes total sense for their Third Place to be an online location as well, although not as healthy maybe…
My third place right now is either my church that I go to every Sunday or my girlfriends house. I hang out with a lot of my friends at my girlfriends house.
I do need to spend a lot more time socializing then I do right now. It would be healthy for me to.