A JELLY is a casual working event. People are coming together (in a person’s home, a coffee shop, a public space or an office) to work for the day. Bring a laptop (or whatever you need to get your work done) and a friendly disposition. And you are free to create an interesting program (barcamps, exhibitions, workshops, networking events, exchange programs with other coworking communities etc.) during the jelly week.

Or as the Cohere coworking space blog puts it: “A ‘Jelly’ is like coworking, only without a dedicated space, time or set of attendees.” These meet-ups have obvious networking advantages, as well as reducing loneliness for remote workers usually slaving away in their home offices of at coffee shops, but are also a good way to get the feel of your local coworking community or to discuss setting up a new space if the idea hasn’t yet come to your area.

Organizers are encouraging participants to discuss the purpose and future of the coworking movement when they meet, suggesting questions to discuss such as: What important needs can be fulfilled by coworking? What local and global problems can coworking help solve? How can coworkers use the global coworking infrastructure to foster their businesses and projects? Which people and networks aren’t yet connected to the idea of coworking and should be involved? Organizer Anni Roolf explained in an email: “We are creating a new global work movement at the moment. #JELLYWEEK 2012 will be one milestone. There will be for sure a sustainable outcome of new common projects and structures. And #JELLYWEEK 2013 (again the third week in January) will be another, more developed milestone in the process.”

Primarily a European event last year, the idea has now spread to include 120 jelly hosts in 28 countries. Joining is totally free and more information is available through the Jellyweek website, as well as all the usual social channels as well, including a Twitter feed (complete with hashtag: #JELLYWEEK ) and Facebook group. Hat tip to the Cohere blog for highlighting the event.

Image courtesy of Flickr user philcampbell.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• By The Numbers: Running a Coworking Space
• Millennials in the enterprise, part 1: strategies for supporting the new digital workforce
• The rise of tablets in the enterprise

How are the founders you spoke to doing financially? Is the economic model of coworking tricky to get right or relatively easy to figure out?

Andrew: Before even opening a coworking space, a potential owner needs to find out what the actual local demand is. One of the best ways is to hold a “Jelly.” Find out who is interested. What are they looking for? Facilities, location, mix of businesses in the space, pricing, ratio of full-time to part-time members, open desks vs. dedicated desks vs. private offices? It’s not an exact science. It’s not, “Build it and they will come.” Often, to the dismay of a number of owners who have had to close down their spaces, people are not flocking to their spaces automatically. Owners have to adapt to the local conditions.

Take a look at membership turnover rates. On one hand, high turnover rates can be seen as a sign of instability or that the community is in flux; on the other hand, it can signal that a space attracts and cultivates superstars that are steadily expanding and find they have little choice but to “graduate” and leave for bigger, greener pastures.

Many founders see coworking as a space where businesses get an extra boost and then move on. Brian DiFeo of Hive at 55 told us, “I think inherently there will be a high turnover since successful businesses should grow out of a coworking space.”

Affinity Lab in D.C. has been in operation since 2001, even before coworking was a coined term). Those that leave the Lab go somewhere else because of space constraints. Co-founder Berit Oskey told us, “The businesses that have left and gotten larger office space have done so because they are either tech companies that are taking on more employees, or they are nonprofits that need more space for interns.”

Many businesses and organizations see coworking as an intermediate step in their life cycle. If they are looking for a temporary place test the waters of their business model and viability as companies, coworking can provide the accessible desk space and office facilities with minimal risks.

Genevieve: One of the biggest reasons for a space to close is that it can’t meet the membership threshold to cover the rent and keep the lights on. As a result, one in every five coworking spaces has closed its doors, according to studies done by Emergent Research. So that puts pressure on coworking spaces to decide “what” they want to be and “whom” they target.

For many spaces, it created a tension between wanting to promote the community but also being ruthlessly business-minded so that you can keep your doors open. Spaces try to balance the two.

There are certainly those who advocate for community first; many first-generation coworking spaces focus on that as their primary objective. They want to push a movement, not turn profits. But it’s absolutely essential to espouse good business practices. Jim Graham, co-founder of Satellite Telework Centers told us, “One of the challenges I’ve seen with some coworking spaces is the founders do it for the passion but haven’t developed a solid business plan… This is a business for us, albeit one that we hope helps local residents, local business owners, and the community in general.”

What are some ‘best business practices’ for coworking spaces?

Genevieve: Some ideas touted around include everything from experimenting with membership models (testing the optimum ratio of open desks to private offices) as well as exploring more unconventional practices like private and public sponsorships and franchising.

Gangplank in Arizona is doing interesting things. They are a no-fee model, meaning they don’t charge people to use the space. Instead they rely on “anchor companies” that take on operational responsibility — managing the space and making sure it keeps its doors open. They shoulder the responsibility and the space doesn’t have to hire staff.

They also get sponsorships for Internet access and work out contracts with local government for deals on real estate and electricity. At their two new locations in Avondale and Tucson the local government donated the use of buildings where the space will be housed.

Hive at 55, a space in New York City, is part of the city’s overall urban economic development program to promote its media and technology industries. It received a city grant from the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and partners with Pace University, the Freelancers Union, GuruLoft, Girls in Tech, the Hatchery, and others.

After conducting your research, where do you see coworking going next?

Genevieve: The conversation on coworking is shifting to spreading coworking as a movement to areas outside the usual urban innovation centers like San Francisco and New York City. Once we start talking about coworking as not only a development engine for individuals and startups, and as an engine of growth for local economies, that’s when coworking starts turning heads. Just from my background working on economic development projects overseas, I think what’s exciting about the future of coworking is its enormous potential to spark growth in depressed areas.

Digital technology is leveling the playing field. When I worked in development, microfinance was touted as strategy to get small businesses access to finance to grow their microenterprises. Growth was associated with access to capital. Well, what about access to information and know-how? We should start talking about creativity and innovation as catalysts for economic growth. It counts just as much in expanding any enterprise. Collaborative knowledge sharing is what coworking is about, so in that way coworking is a great way for startups and small companies to access ideas, tips and strategies to get their businesses up to scale and more competitive.

We also see the trend of employees exploring coworking spaces as place to work. As telecommuting and flex work options get more popular among big companies, coworking spaces will start to see an influx of remote workers. That will certainly change the dynamic. Hopefully, the openness and collaboration you see in coworking spaces may start to filter through to corporate culture.

Andrew: Another trend we see is existing spaces expanding to multiple locations. A lot of spaces are expanding as franchises to other locations, rather than creating a giant single space. The Hub, NextSpace, Gangplank, pariSoma Innovation Loft are a few spaces that are rolling out multiple sites. Just like Starbucks, you can’t have a few big Starbucks locations. Coworking spaces need to stay relatively small and localized. People don’t want to travel across the city to go to a big coworking space.

Part of it is to meet the increasing demand for coworking spaces. Faced with a depressed economy, many people are taking the opportunity to start their own businesses. The Atlantic published an article last month on how freelancing is the next ‘Industrial Revolution’. Coworking provides the structure to really make freelancing and startups a preferred work option.

Image courtesy of Flickr user khawkins04.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• By The Numbers: Running a Coworking Space
• Millennials in the enterprise, part 1: strategies for supporting the new digital workforce
• The rise of tablets in the enterprise

I always find that a change of scenery does me good, but considering that I was working in a room with 10 other people, sitting around a conference table, and occasionally getting stuck into conversation, I was surprised at the amount of work I got through (and that’s despite the speed of the Wi-Fi connection getting a little slow with 10 people working away).

If you’re feeling a bit isolated at home (or perhaps you just want to brainstorm some ideas) and would like to try out the coworking experience, but perhaps aren’t quite ready to commit to membership of a coworking space, attending a Jelly would be a good first step.

The first Jelly was started in New York back in 2006 by roommates Amit Gupta and Luke Crawford, who originally wanted to recreate some of the benefits of working from an office (without having to work from an office): brainstorming, sharing and camaraderie. So they started inviting people over to work from their house occasionally, and thus Jelly was born. It’s an idea that has spread worldwide.

The Jelly I attended was organized by CoWorkingWest and held in the nice office space of The Office, Bristol, UK, but Jellies are held in over 100 cities all over the world. (Some of them are even held weekly.) If there isn’t one near you, you can always start your own — you just need to pick a venue and get some people involved. They are often held in people’s houses, but also take place in other locations, like coffee shops and offices. As long as there is space for everyone, power and Wi-Fi, you can have a Jelly.

Have you tried working at Jelly?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

I’ve been fascinated by businesses popping up around major metropolitan areas that create a shared workspace for independent workers. Imran Ali wrote about the trend of co-working spaces back in April, and I’ll be exploring the trend further as I look to set up a co-working space in my town.

Office Nomads in the Seattle area, for example, is a co-working space where workers can leave their homes to work in a shared environment. The company provides:

• Spacious desks
• High-speed internet access, both wifi and ethernet
• Conference rooms
• A kitchen
• Unlimited network printing and faxing
• Couches and lounging area
• The requisite water cooler

They are also dog-friendly.

They target everyone from web designers, writers, consultants and anyone else who has portable work. Pricing ranges from $25 per day for drop-ins to a Regular membership at $375 per month or a Resident membership at $475 per month plus a deposit for a more permanent space.

Imran mentioned a co-working space in his piece called Jelly which is more like a co-working event. The concept is that you can start your own Jelly by opening up your home to other indy workers in your town. You need to provide seating and wireless internet either at your home, a wired cafe or someone’s place of business.

The Jelly wiki now has a page explaining how to hold your own Jelly event. Current Jellies take place around the globe, from Australia, Africa, and Israel to Mexico, China, Canada and the Philippines to random cities across the United States.

For ongoing information about the co-working trend as well as a list of co-working spaces, check out the Coworking Community Blog and keep your eye on WWD as I explore setting up my own Jelly in Anchorage, Alaska.

Details and photos to come.

Have you worked in a co-working space? In your mind, what are the pros and cons?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

• Coworking is becoming unhooked from physical places as developments such as Jelly – a monthly 24-hour workathon – enable coworking communities to spring up wherever they’re needed; indeed encouraging gracious hosts to offer their facilities for one-off coworking days.

• Messenger bag gods Timbuk2 were recently persuaded to create some coworking desks that outside workers could use, helping to stimulate the company’s creativity

• Coworkers in Manchester – lacking a dedicated physical space – have been mashing up OpenCoffee networking events with an afternoon of coworking in a borrowed space, such as local company or coffee house. Interestingly, this particular community has somewhat of an agenda in furthering the city’s role as a hub for the digital industries, thought collaborating on startup and technology ideas.

• Still in the UK – Just across the Pennine Mountains in Leeds, that city’s coworking community is running free, ‘open coworking‘ days to attract people into signing up for their plans and encouraging local university students to use the facilities to launch startups as part of a push to create more entrepreneurs in the region.

It’s interesting to see coworking snowballing as a phenomenon, but like many trends originating in dotcom culture, what’ll be most interesting is how these shifts begin to affect larger companies and more traditional employers.

As enterprises belatedly adopted social media and communication as part of their IT infrastructures, how will human resources and more rigid line management begin to accomodate coworkers in their corporate culture?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks