Operation CoWork: JellyWeek2012 and Working at Bitmap Creative Labs

I am really excited for these next few entries in my Operation Cowork experiment. Last week I was thinking to myself that it was time for another one especially before it get extremely cold here in New York. I decided to hit up two more local libraries and that when I came across news about JellyWeek 2012. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, Jelly is a casual work space everywhere everyone’s invited. Some meetups may take place in someone’s home, local coffee shops or in as the case is this week at CoWorking space worldwide.

Photo credit: Loosecubes.com

This post is coming to you live from Bitmap Creative Labs in the East Williamsburg area of Brooklyn. They held three FREE days as part of JellyWeek (Monday 16th – Wednesday 18th). I only been to Bitmap once before for a meetup and bookmark it as a place that I must return to. JellyWeek gave me that reason. I moved my “office” to Bitmap for two days (Tuesday & Wednesday). It was a vast difference from working at a library. For one it was quieter and it gave me that feeling that I think I been missing – working around others like me. Working from home is great but at some point you miss just being around other people.

Bitmap is pretty cool and a nice size. There’re desks, tables and conference rooms and unlike a library there is a kitchen (there is one library that has a cafe, I was there is past weekend and will feature it soon). You have pretty much everything you would need to get your work done. The internet connection was good so I could put in couple of solid hours of work with no problems. Despite the delays from “construction work” being done by the MTA, the total travel time isn’t too mad – just about 44 minutes for me on a normal day.

I wish I knew about JellyWeek earlier so I could have scouted out more places but I would definitely recommend checking out Bitmap if you live in Brooklyn or not far from East Williamsburg. If you feel like I do, traveling into the city can be a hassle and you only go if you must. So having a place in Brooklyn (other than home) to work from is great, especially when you need a grownup place. Bitmap Creative Labs is located at 300 Graham Ave. and the B43 and the L train are close by.

Cost of Coworking at Bitmap Creative Labs*: $9

Cost of running Operation CoWork (as of 1/18/12): $13.50

*Since the days I work from Bitmap were free the cost only includes transportation.

http://www.latonyaricharsdon.com/ LaTonya

Looks like a great space to work, and your Coworking experiment is very interesting. It seems like a workable book idea.

http://www.artiatesiadeal.com ArtDeal

Thank you. Yes, it was a great place to work – quiet and professional. Maybe I will combine all of the posts into a an ebook by the end of the year. I have a few more places I would check out.

http://www.artiatesiadeal.com ArtDeal

Congratulations of building your own business, much success to you. I would suggest you look at your local library first, especially now that the school age kids are in school. The wifi is free but depending on where you go it maybe a little slow at times. Plus if you need a laptop, they do have them that you can use while there. The central library over by Grand Army Plaza open earlier than most locations and have has a cafe. Then there is the Business Library in the Downtown BK area. I haven’t venture out to Canarsie or Flatbush yet but if you check out Loosecubes.com, you maybe able to find a coworking place close to you. From my research some will allow you to visit the first day for free just to get the feel of the place. I will keep a look for if I hear anything and pass it along.