Moworking

Moworking (mobile working) allows independent workers to have the flexibility, variety, and low expense of working from cafes with the more social atmosphere of coworking. Moworking works by protocoled use of Twitter's hashtags and wiki knowledge sharing to allow independent workers to gather to work in a particular location - cafe or not.

Where to Mowork

Here's a few places that already have some moworking venues in their directory:

• San Francisco Bay Area
• Chicago
• Omaha

You can find more - or include your favorites - in the moworking directory.

Prerequisites

• A Twitter account
• Receiving updates on something you check regularly (ideally, your mobile device). How to manage this
• "Protect my updates" OFF on your Twitter Settings

How To Mowork

Start a Moworking "Pod"

1. Start working in any publicly-accessible place with good Moworking amenities (WiFi and power outlets are key), like a cafe, for example.
2. Twitter "#[moworkingcityhashtag] at [locationnameandrelevantdetails], [linktothispage]"

Find/Join Moworking Pods

1. Track the [moworkingcityhashtag] of your choice on Twitter. Make sure your device updates are on, and you're set up to receive updates on your Mobile Device. To track a City Tag, just Twitter "track [moworkingcityhashtag]"
2. When you get a tweet that includes [moworkingcityhashtag], go to the location mentioned in the tweet. If you know the person who sent the tweet, then finding them will be easy - otherwise, hopefully they have a clear picture on their Twitter profile.
3. Briefly greet the Pod member(s) and start Moworking.

Why Mowork?

• Cheaper than a coworking space
• More fun than a coworking space. There's a reason why you escaped the office enviroment
• You still want to be social
• Changes of scenery are good for your creativity and sanity
• You need someone to watch your laptop while you go to the bathroom or take a break

Moworking Credo

Moworking exists to give independent workers a sense of community, while maintaining the flexibility that attracted them to being independent in the first place. While Moworkers still want to get things done, they also want friends, business partners - familiar faces.

Some general guidelines to remember when Moworking:

• If you're Moworking at cafes and other places of business. Be mindful that these are businesses, so:
  • Buy stuff regularly
  • Remember some cafes don't want to be "that kind" of cafe - where there are people on laptops everywhere. You'll usually be able to sense this from dirty looks, etc.. Don't take it personally, this is their choice. Don't complain, just take your business elsewhere, and make a polite note on the Moworking Directory, so other Moworkers will know to try some other venue.
• Remember that Moworkers want to get stuff done so
  • If you're talking to someone, assume that you may be interrupting/bugging them. Use your best judgement of course, but generally, keep interruptions to a minimum, and conversations short.
• But the Moworking world is still a community, so
  • Help out other Moworkers if you can. If you're a designer, and you can whip something up for a programmer in 5 minutes, then please do so. If you're a programmer, and you can help a designer troubleshoot some code in a few minutes, graciously help out.
  • Represent the Moworking community well. Be polite and kind to business owners and fellow patrons. So if you have a conference call - you may want to take it outside or at home.

Helpful Tools / Info

We recommend the foursquare app (available for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android). Just make sure to send your check-ins to Twitter and include the right hashtag.

Since Twitter's "track" feature doesn't work, we recommend subscribing to the appropriate RSS feed on Twitter's Search, and receiving updates through Pingie.

Some cities, such as Chicago, tend to have lots of paid WiFi hotspots. Check with the hotspots in your area, but for this we recommend Boingo, which is available in over 70,000 coffee shops, including and as well as Starbucks & McDonald's. It's also available in just about every airport, and many popular hotel chains. Even if you don't see a Boingo network in your favorite location, you may find that you can roam on that network with Boingo.

Acknowledgements 

Moworking is very clearly inspired by the Coworking movement.

Moworking peeps are good friends with the Jelly peeps. Jelly is like moworking, but with an established schedule.