Another interesting innovation was the Sandy Coworking crowdmap. A #NYResponds initiative, the map lists spaces where people can work, recharge and reconnect. At the heart of #NYResponds is a message to encourage the tech community to get out and take direct action in the recovery process by providing tech skills and resources.
Tag: Coworking
SandyBaggers offers an exemplar of how, in Lincoln’s words, “the better angels of our nature,” rush to confront disaster in the digital age. So, too, do efforts like Sandy Coworking and NeedMapper. Even FEMA has recognized the importance of digital technology in the wake of a tragedy like Superstorm Sandy; the organization’s applications for Android, iOS, and Blackberrry provide checklists, weather updates, and important relief information. This, of course, raises a question that looms over any major disaster relief effort: Where do we go from here? What lessons — and innovations — can we carry with us?
The New York Tech Meetup signed up over 800 potential volunteers to help build tools on the fly. Perhaps the most successful has been the Sandy Coworking Crowdmap, which helped businesses displaced by the storm find places to set up shop free. The map worked, and a big reason was that the local tech industry excels at spreading information internally. Efforts to reach the larger city have not caught on as easily (in part because many people’s phones did not work in the immediate aftermath of the storm).
The problem is, much of Lower Manhattan, where many are located, is still without power and Internet. But entrepreneurs, engineers and developers aren’t letting that stop them. They are camping out in one another’s apartments and offices in an attempt to still get a day’s work done. Of course, any place with a humming Wi-Fi connection, whether a coffee shop or an Apple Store, seems to be drawing displaced workers eager to get back into the swing of things. But camaraderie spurred by the storm seemed to knit the New York start-up scene together a bit tighter.
ShareDesk, a company that usually charges to connect people with available office space, placed people all over the city for free. Their site was getting flooded with startups looking for a place to work but most offices on their site were already at capacity. Rather than sit idle, they began manually making calls to anyone they could think of, even companies who weren’t members. Slowly they began finding available places, but rather than post them on their own site, they posted them on Noel’s SandyCoworkingMap. As CEO Kia Rahmani said, “It’s not about profit, it’s about helping other people out, and pooling resources is the fastest way to do that.”
One of the most amazing things is seeing the community saying ‘I have an open door. Please come in. We understand that you’ve been affected by this. We understand that your business may not survive a week or two weeks without power, without internet. So come back, get back to work, reconnect with your community, recharge and be prosperous again,’
The New York community has always joined together and felt a sense of togetherness,” O’Donnell told me. “Because we don’t have the resources of Silicon Valley, New Yorkers have realized we can only succeed by working together so it’s not surprising that people have jumped on board.
It didn’t take long for New York startups and techies to spring into action after Hurricane Sandy left parts of our fine city without power, water, shelter, or Wifi.
With many office buildings in Manhattan still without power, mobile workers are finding ways to coexist—peacefully, for the most part—wherever they can find a power outlet and an Internet connection. The savviest nomads, weary from the battle for space at cafes, are now making temporary homes in other offices—some of which have opened to other workers for free.
Work @ Jelly / Open House – FRIDAY, Jan 30th
About
friday, 30 jan 2009, williamsburg coworking throws open it’s doors to celebrate belgium’s legalization of same sex marriage, the birth of FDR and the assassination of the great freedom fighter, Mohandas Gandhi and the launching of Greenpoint’s USS Monitor.
on friday, we will host “work at jelly” and at 2pm we will pipe the inaugural session of “Jelly Talks” featuring Chris Messina (Board member, OpenID) and Dave Morin (Senior Platform Manager, Facebook). starting at 5pm, we will break into a vivacious happier hour! we hope that you can clear your schedule, snag your laptop and join us – this friday (25 July) from 9:30 till 7pm!
we guarantee to cross two items off on your to-do list…
1. be productive during the day.
2. meet some of the most wonderful people.
Where
The Change You Want to See – 84 Havemeyer Street, storefront – Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211 Map.
Subway: _-L- to Bedford, -J- to Marcy, or -G- to Metropolitan.
When
Coworking: 9:30am – 5:00pm
Jelly Talks: 2pm – 3pm. for this hour, we will be projecting a life video stream from San Fran with audio. this might be disruptive to some people.
Happy Hour: 5pm – 7pm