Working Anywhere

Co-Working In Unique Places: Libraries

As a child I would go to the library often with my dad. Back then, the library was like being in a house of worship. Silence was the golden rule. Sure there were a few places where people could talk but those were few and far between. That said, when I was in high school, the Northeast Regional Library was where high school class groups would usually meet up to work on projects together. Little did I realize I was co-working in the 70s in a co-working space.

Fast forward to today, the public library may be the lowest cost co-working place around.

Women's CoWorking Spaces Are Growing With Good Reason

I grew up in Philadelphia and was a regular guest of many friends who were members of The Union League, Racquet Club, Rittenhouse Club and The Locust Club back in the 70's and 80s. Back then, the Union League was THE power broker club and was "Men Only" until the mid 80's just like the famed New York Athletic Club that back in 1989 broke the sexism barrier and allowed women in.

When I read about "Women Only" co-working spaces in Time I first thought back to how hard women fought to gain entry to Men Only clubs like those. There was an outdated (and by then outdated) reasons why the "Clubs" kept women out at first, but times and women changed. As more women had entered the workforce and were in leadership positions their being denied entry, curtailed them from the opportunities and dealmaking that was going on the "clubs."  But the more I thought about it, the more I like the idea of women only clubs even if it walks back on what women wanted in the prior generations. With all the upsetting news about sexual harassment and gender bias in today's society (and it isn't going away), giving a woman a place to feel safe, work without the wandering eye or groping hands of men is really good for them. They need sanctuary, much like the men did in their clubs away from the women. The clubs are about business. Not the search for Mr. or Ms. Right Now.

At the same time, it won't be a surprise to me if we see a rise and return of the men only, so called power clubs, like I grew up having lunches at with friends who were members (I was never a member though was asked a few times to join them,) as there can't be a double standard.  That's because clubs and private membership groups can only be one of two things. Inclusive or Exclusive, but not both. 

When In Roam

Grind TV has a nice summary about the Roam Co-working and co-living operation that currently have three properties up and running in Madrid, Miami and Bali. The company, which is promising more locations in the near future, has raised over $3 million dollars to fuel property acquisition and growth around the globe. 

Far more than a hostel or hotel, Roam is creating workspace/livespace communities for the digital nomadic community at relatively modest prices. Given the locations, $500 a week or $1800 a month for a private room and all the co-working facilities is fairly reasonable, especially given the promise of blazing fast, business grade Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity, and a full-time on site manager.

The winds of change in work, travel and residential living are here now, and properties like Roam and WeLive from WeWork are going to become the next phase in work, life, reside. It's only a matter of time and place.

A Man Wakes Up in A Room Without WiFi

We've all become so used to hotel WiFi being there, that when it's not we might go bonkers. But that doesn't always have to happen. At least not when you bring your own broadband.....I'm telling you this because this morning I woke up here in Seattle at the Coutryard by Marriott and the WiFi was connecting, but there wasn't any IP connectivity. I was too tired to care, didn't feel like being the IT guy for the hotel because thankfully I packed my AT&T LTE pocketspot! 

A few hours later, it's all back working. Someone must have called and gotten it fixed, but in the meantime, I wasn't disconnected. Besides, it's Saturday and time to go out and smell the coffee.

Let's Face It, You Get Hungry

Working on the road often means room service. Sometime, working on the road has you staying in extended stay hotels like Homewood Suites by Hilton or Staybridge by IHG. Those offer small kitchens but shopping for food isn't always convenient. Thankfully, today we have options that solve both the "I'm hungry now" and "I need some food in the fridge" for many of us.

For the hungry now crowd, there are now new services like GrubHub, Delivery.com and Doorstep Delivery, all of whom make it easy to have hot, or cold food, salads and beverages delivered usually within an hour.

For those who feel the need food to cook, or simply need things like shaving cream, mouthwash, toothpaste, deodorant, soaps and more, there's now Amazon Fresh in more cities. With Amazon Fresh you can order what you need, in advance or even in some cases, same day, and have it waiting for you. Just make sure there's a way to receive it, where you are staying as some AirBnB or VRBO locations may pose challenges for delivery.

Options on the road for the road warrior are changing, and getting better for us. All it takes is a little knowledged and some planning.

Wi-Fi-For Marriott It's All Hacking For Profit. This Is How You Hack Back

Marriott wants your business. Directly. And to get it they're offering free Wi-Fi to lure you, like a fish. The catch? You have to book via their website, using the mobile app, the call center or the property directly. But, if you're a business traveler, who has a corporate travel agency working on your behalf, you better have them negotiate the free Wi-Fi option or you'll find yourself paying.

This is in Marriott's mind, about loyalty programs, or in their case, Marriott Rewards. For the business traveler who has racked up thousand of miles, nights and bonuses, turning in a bill for Wi-Fi is sometimes aggravating, especially when the promotion about "free" Wi-Fi has attracted so much attention will cause grief.

This means that corporate travel buyer has choices. They can negotiate the rate directly with Marriott, or they can work with a Corporate Travel agency, but what's clear is Marriott is working to leverage their loyalty program, and put the power back into the hands of the traveler to let them do their own booking.

The way this can be done is with the business traveler using the rate code vs. booking it through the travel agency. The rate code insures the negotiated rate is applied, but there's no comission back to the agency. For agencies, they need to work on a fee basis, vs. the commission basis. That means negotiating for their clients vs. buying for their clients. They have to manage, not just sell.

For in house travel departments this isn't a problem. The travel manager can establish a direct relationship with Marriott vs. going through their agency. For the agencies, they see this as one more effort by the travel industry to catch up and flatten the business model, squeezing out more profits vs. paying commissions.

What Marriott is doing is hacking the travel purchase model, doing pretty much what Uber is doing with transportation and Amazon is with shopping. They are breaking down the model to change what the middleman does and how they make their money.  At the end of the day, this all means the traveler needs to establish better relationships at the properties they stay at. Here are some tips on how to do that:

1. If you're a one time only guest, don't bother. Use your status and ask for as much as you can get in perks.

2. If you're a guest who will be regularly staying at a property, take the time to meet the hotel GM, Rooms Manager. When you know you're returning, given them a heads up as soon as you make your reservation, or better yet, let them book it directly.

3. When you are on property, ask to meet them for a coffee or a drink. Spend time, let them know what's going right, and wrong with your stay. Share other hotel experiences, both good and bad.

4. Become their favorite guest. As you visit other cities and if you stay in the same brand or family of brands properties ask them to give their peer a heads up for you, and let them share what you like, and don't like. The idea is to get you treated as well in the one time property the same way you do in your home away from home.

5. Be nice and be helpful. If you have some way of returning the favor do it. If you learn of someone's birthday, send them a note, or a small gift. By taking care of the people who take care of you, you'll win.

The key to all this is about what I call property loyalty. It goes well beyond brand loyalty because people in the hotel industry move around, and as they move around, you're reach and benefits of personal relationships will benefit you, and your business.

Silent No More-The Return of Working Anywhere

I realized over the weekend that I've been silent too long on the subject of working anywhere, something I pioneered pretty much at the age of 14 when I was pulled into the world of sports, sports marketing, public relations, game and event operations and more. So I guess, now 40 years later it's time to put all that I've been learning to practical use.

For starters, people work in more places today than ever before. Working from Home (WFH) isn't the abnormal for many. Working On the Road isn't just reserved for truckers and field force technicians. Being at the clients offices is no longer just for a meeting. Doctors, once those who made house calls but who became restricted to offices by draconian insurance industry regulations now use mobile devices, video and more to evaluate their patients and keep office time for those who need it. 

As someone who has closed deals in bed, worked from the beach, on snow covered mountain peaks, on planes, trains and automobiles, in restaurants, on ferry boats and yes, in the doctor's office too, I'm not shy about working wherever I may be.

As a frequent business traveler, one who logged on average more than 200 days a year on the road the past three or four years, the idea of working anywhere is as second nature as brushing one's teeth. Our world has changed, and as someone who has been using a cellular/mobile phone for what feels like 30 years, and who has had his own phone for 40 plus years, one can only look ahead at what being mobile has done for us.

For starters its created freedom for many. No longer bound to desks, offices and meeting rooms, we are now working in many more places. Once thought to be only for sweatshops, the idea of a giant communal workspace is being fueled by the fact that people talk less but use text more. This has given rise to IM, SMS, third party apps, services like HipChat, Slack and more. Connectivity via the Internet, both wired and wireless at speeds that are over 1000 times faster than my first 300 baud modem are just around the corner for many of us. 

Video conferencing, once only ready for the boardroom is now available to just about anyone using any number of services. Conference calling, once the bane of group participation is now sounding better as HD Voice is part of some services like GoToMeeting, ZipDX and Voxeet. VoIP, once taboo compared to circuit switched telephony is now so widely deployed it's begging for the major telephone providers to all work together to insure seamless, high quality audio, rapid connection times, and more services as part of you plan vs. third parties who provide just that.

The devices and "things" we take with us are also getting better. My keys are tracked by my iPhone as is my wallet and billfold. Leave my iPad in a cab or shopping cart? I'll find it and have it back in thirty minutes or less. Devices like TrackR and TILE are always telling me where my THINGS are so as I get older, forgetful (or is that mind too busy) I can locate them quickly, send a signal to them, or in the case of a lost smartphone or tablet, wipe them out and not worry about what's on them.

When it comes to travel, our boarding passes and reservations are now electronic. This makes changing flights and hotels faster. Why we can't pay less is because the yield management tools are geared to getting everything lined up as far in advance as possible, and hotels, trains and planes operators have not yet mastered just in time travel the way McDonalds has nailed down their supply and staffing systems. Toss in security and the layers of what's possible just isn't there yet.

The hotel concierge, once the expert on dinner, theatre, shopping and sights to see are having their roles changed to. Today they need to know as much about Uber, TaskRabbit, Fiverr, Washio and other on demand services. Local on demand services is where the hotel concierge used to excel, but as online has replaced the phone book, and as Uber has replaced the cab, you can order just about anything overnight, and now with GrubHub, Delivery.com, Doorstep Delivery and other "local" services, what the guest's needs from the concierge and doormen has changed.

So too has the technology in our rooms. Televisions of old never let you plug in, but now an Apple TV or Google Chromecast can make you in room TV an in room extension of your Mac, PC, smartphone or tablet. This means your room is now your office on the go, and instead of having to go hunt down a Starbucks in hopes of a "work place" or venture out to a Regus location, you can work in silence in your sweatsuit, getting things done. Technology now tells the hotel chambermaid if you're in, or out, so no more knocks on the door when you're in deep thought, or on that important call.    

We now can be working anywhere, and I should know, as I wrote this over breakfast at SNOOZE AM, in Del Mar Highlands on my MacBook Air, connected via a Verizon Mobile Broadband device running LTE.....

Amtrak To Add More Wi-Fi to Trains

Amtrak is getting it right. After a successful deployment on the Acela trains in the Northeastern USA and up in the Pacific Northwest on the Cascades line, they have decided to add Wi-Fi to 450 rail cars using technology from UK based Nomad Digital.

This is a huge plus for the riders of the rails who need to get work done.

Related articles

• Amtrak announce expansion of free WiFi service (rail.co)
• Amtrak rolls out Wi-Fi on Cascades route (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Amtrak: Our WiFi doesn't discriminate (bilerico.com)
• Amtrak reports ridership growth (rail.co)
• Blogging from The Amtrak Cascades (johnchow.com)
• Five reasons why the Amtrak Acela Express is far superior to flying (gadling.com)

More HD Video Conferencing Portability

Samsung and Polycom are linking up to bring HD video conferencing to the Galaxy tablet. This brings a whole new level of face to face communications.

The Value of TripIt Pro and Flight Status Alerts

Yesterday, I was supposed to fly back to San Diego and my wife to Sacramento. We each had flights booked four hours apart. She on United and your's truly on AirTran as I wanted WiFi. The weather in Boston was dreary. Fog. Rain. Plus President Obama in the area down in Martha's Vineyard meant that flights were a tad all running late. Add to it that VP Joe Biden was in Milwaukee, the Air Tran hub I was connecting through, while my wife was connecting through D.C and these massive flight delays started to mount.

About ninety minutes before her flight I got the first alert from TripIt of her delay, which I immediately forwarded to her with a love note that read. "Go to your gate and ask if you'll make your connection." A few minutes later, my flight, slated for a 5:59 PM departure came through telling me there was no way I would make my connection. Fortunately, I had a very late check out scheduled for 4 PM and was still in my lovely apartment size suite at the Boston Intercontinental. I called AirTran and got a surprised customer service agent who had yet to get a status update, asking what my options were and if I elected to travel questioning if I would have a hotel room waiting for me in Milwaukee or if I needed to take care of that myself. She had no real answer other than the option of rebooking for Tuesday, going to the airport to see what could be arranged or getting a credit for the flights. About thirty minutes later I then received a call from AirTran's corporate customer service wondering "how did you know we had a delay before we notified our CSRs?" I said, the FAA provides flight data to services I subscribe to and then discussed that I was simply hoping to learn what my options were and explained that being in control of my own travel destiny was a far better feeling, than standing in line at a gate, with 100 people, all trying to get somewhere, with no real options other than to then go to another airline in hopes of getting somewhere.

Instead, I sat comfortably in my hotel suite, and reviewed my travel options. With Flight Stats, I was able to also review the departure times for some Virgin America non-stops to the west coast that I saw had availability. While they looked good on the schedules, Flight Stats showed that the flights to SFO and LAX both were running into weather delays. Since my wife wasn't getting out either, I simply extended our stay, in a great hotel, then booked my flight for today, after all my conference calls would be completed.

Had I not received the TripIt Trip alerts or had flight stats I would have been at the mercy of the harried gate agents, had to fend for a hotel room near the airport, and dined on airport area cuisine vs. had all the comforts of home and all of Boston at my door step.

Given we live in an information rich era, there's no reason not to use all the tools at our disposal to regain control of our lives, know our options and be able to decide what's best for ourselves vs. having someone who has layers of process and procedures staring them in the face, with no end of the day concern for what impact their actions or in actions cause you. To me, a good night's sleep, in a great bed with my wife, sure beat the daylights out of being stranded in an airport somewhere without any flexibility in options.

Oh, and yes. Air Tran will fly me today, and to where I need to be tonight, not where I was going yesterday. All at no additional cost other than one more night in Boston.