Coworkout

Here’s the idea: A mobile, outdoor co-working space. That’s pretty much it.

When? Where? How? All flexible, though right now, we’re thinking Fridays in the spring and summer, in parks and beautiful spots between West Chester and Philly.

Why? That one’s easy. In movies about the Utopian Future, everyone is wearing loose, comfortable clothing, is calm and relaxed, and is working in idyllic outdoor environments. We want to find out: is it the future yet? If not, why not? What still needs to happen? What should we be working on?

Also, John (that’s me) has a thing about the Culture of Air Conditioning. Don’t get me wrong: I LOVE AIR CONDITIONING. Probably too much. I’m worried that I’m completely destroying the planet, and that air conditioning is basically life-support for being overweight. So I want to explore: what assumptions about air conditioning are true? What aren’t? If we stopped wearing wool suits to work every day of the year, what temperature could we make our jillion-kilowatt climate-control systems be, and still be happy?

So, in February and March, we’ll be gathering the stuff we need, and thinking about what the challenges are:

• How long of an extension cord is long enough? How many power strips will we need?
• How many MacBook Pros can you power off a single, dedicated car battery? (Math says: probably five, for probably six hours. We’ll want to test.)
• Laptop sunshades and polarized sunglasses: good enough to be able to see your screen for six to eight hours without getting a splitting headache?
• Will state parks let those of us with motorcycles circle them up into a Nerd Corral?
• If there’s WiFi nearby, but not within range, can we use a cantenna to shoot it over to where we are?
• How many folks would need a ride from the closest Septa station? What would the best way to organize those?
• Food: delivery? Cookout? Brown bag?
• Lunchtime 5K run?
• Assuming you’re working RIGHT on the bank of the creek, is the 15-minute break between two conference calls long enough for a quick canoe trip?