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The collective knowledge and skills of coworkers remains the most under-utilized resource of the coworking movement. One method of tapping into the shared intelligence of a network of individuals is Plug, an event format similar to a Jelly meet-up but with a twist: participants are asked by their host to solve a challenge during their working session. Plug began in Amsterdam one year ago, and is now a weekly event that draws on a network of over 200 individuals.
By Joel Dullroy - Monday, 12 December 2011

A café owner in Amsterdam had a problem. Although her eatery had possibly the best view of the city, people couldn’t seem to find their way there. Unsure of how to improve her situation, she called in the Plug network.

Plug is a diverse mix of individuals, some freelancers, some employed workers, from a variety of fields of expertise. Among them is Linda Van de Sande, an environmental psychologist with a second degree in urban planning.

“We are a team of consultants for hire, in exchange for coworking space,” Linda explained. “The business owner just provides wifi, tea and coffee.”

One recent Wednesday, ten members of Plug arrived at the Amsterdam café. They set up their laptops and worked on their own projects, as they would in a coworking space, at home, or in a Jelly meeting. At lunchtime, the laptops were put away and, over a hearty lunch, the team spent an hour or two with the business owner discussing her issues and bouncing solutions between each other. After lunch, participants returned to their individual tasks until the end of the working day.

The goal of Plug is to bring different perspectives to the table, and to leave executable ideas. In the case of the café owner, they suggested creating a pop-up boardroom, drawing classes, new channels for advertising, and increased street-level visibility.

The Amsterdam Plug network just celebrated its first birthday. In that time, advisory working sessions have been held in galleries, a city farm, a soccer club, and regular businesses. Most of the hosting companies heard about the group via word of mouth. The participants themselves join by referral, and receive no payment for their advice, except for the possibility to work in random locations and interact with a wide community of well-connected individuals. The Plug network has grown to about 200 members, and each session attracts about ten participants from that community.

Plug has some similarities with the concept of a Jelly session; a diverse group of people come together in a changing location to conduct their own projects. Asking such participants to put their heads together for an hour or two is a clever way of utilizing that great untapped resource – collective intelligence.

The concept of Plug could easily be adopted or adapted in coworking spaces around the world. It’s another way coworking spaces could promote themselves as centers of inspiration and interaction.

Another method of crowd sourcing between individuals that comes from the Netherlands is the Durftevragen (or “Dare Questions”) meeting format. This idea, pioneered by entrepreneurs in Utrecht, sees a group of random individuals sit down around a table and each put forward a question. One might need a graphic designer, another might be trying to select between two business options. After each has stated their question, the participants pull out their phones and laptops and begin sharing contacts and ideas.

It’s no surprise both ideas come from the Netherlands. The country has one of the highest proportions of freelancers and part-time workers, as well as one of the most diverse and successful array of coworking-like spaces.

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