Co-working in France

Article as it appears in Le Forty Six

It’s the new craze that is sweeping across the world and becoming very popular in France, particularly with the expat community but what is co-working, co-lunching and Jelly all about?

Co-working started in San Francisco in 2005 , where a guy called Neuberg set up a group of independent workers who could come together to a work space and work together , usually online, yet independently. The idea being that you wouldn’t feel lonely hammering away on your computer in your own home or workspace. It is huge in the states where some of the larger cities have developed busy open work spaces where people can come together and do their work in a friendly office type environment.

The expat community is a perfect group for co-working as a lot of expats work independently on their own and can feel isolated. Add to that the fact that they are not in their native country and don’t have the support system and local knowledge that the locals may have.
Anna Walmsey, a freelance business consultant, living near Perpignan has organized a few co-working events in the Pyrenees Orientales which have been very well supported.

“I really felt the need to be in a work colleague environment from time to time, to brainstorm and share ideas on a projects and needed to find a way of getting out the house and bounce my ideas with others as a self-employed freelance. I first came across the Jelly co-working concept through social media thanks to Annette Morris. Jelly free is a concept that Annette brought to France in March 2011 which is growing from strength to strength.

Jelly is a casual working event. It takes place in over a hundred cities where people come together (in a person's home, a coffee shop, or an office) to work for the day. Here in the Pyrenees Orientales we tend to organise it in a Salon de Thè or similar where there is free wifi connection and somewhere to sit, and interesting people to talk to, collaborate with, and bounce ideas off. Jelly differs from networking in that the aim is not to find new clients, pitch your business or to sell.”

Anyone can set up a Jelly and Annette ( or as I call her, the Jelly babe!) would be more than happy to help anybody get started who would be interested in hosting a Jelly co-working event.

For more information, you can contact :

contact@languedocjelly.com or call 09 66 03 03 03

http://www.languedocjelly.org