The first time I heard about coworking spaces, Glen and I were driving from Atlanta, GA to Navasota, TX. We were executing the first stage of the move that would ultimately take us to Frederick, MD and passing the ever-so-long drive with conversation. Sometime about 2 am, Glen mentioned something “cool” he read about. Coworking – people who had struck out on their own as freelancers, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and telecommuters, people who would otherwise be trying to work at home, a coffee shop, library, or wherever, coming together work work in the same space.

Call it an “AHA” or a “DUH!” moment, either way, I was completely won over. As a telecommuter myself, I was keenly aware of the difference between working by myself for long stretches of time and the energy I felt when I went into the office for a meeting or even just to grab a “floater” desk and work around others.  It was disturbingly clear how much of my edge was lost, how out-of-the-loop I was. I could easily see how quickly someone could lose steam a few months into going independent. Glen felt the same way. “Let’s do it! Let’s open a coworking space!”, we agreed. And so it was that the spark that became Cowork Frederick was lit and we became part of the global coworking movement.

Deskmag – the Coworking Magazine – recently published a History of Coworking that provides a pretty great timeline of the key events of that movement. If you’re curious like I was – and continue to be – about the history of coworking check it out.  There’s some really awesome stuff happening out there.