Cooperatives and Collectives - Think Outside the Boss

As members of the USFWC (US Federation of Worker Cooperatives), Agaric is a group of worker/owners from around the globe, that work collectively on projects. Having attended the Worker National Cooperative Conference in Chicago (http://conference.coop/), I would like to present and discuss the options for cooperatives and collectives within technology. Developers cooperatives are an interesting and rewarding challenge!

What is a worker cooperative: Worker cooperatives are businesses owned and controlled by the people who work in them, the cooperative members. They are a time-tested way to create quality jobs, and are gaining momentum as a strategy to build and anchor wealth in communities.

Sessions Topics: 
Strategy
Speaker Bio(s): 
As FreeScholar, I am a member of Agaric, a growing cooperative of Drupal Developers. Bringing new members to the community is my favorite thing to do. I also love building sites that can be useful to Drupal developers and beginners. Agaric is building PowerToConnect.org as a platform service to Organize a group, post a BoF and keep in touch with a topical group. Anyone who is interested can subscribe to updates by text and email. I also love to facilitate Drupal mentors, tutors and students, helping them connect. I work on the sub-local level - preparing people with the tools to take control of their lives, so they can contribute. I liberate people from factories and CEO's from boardrooms. I believe in autonomy.

Comments

[email protected] replied on

The session I have planned ( "Discussion on Creating a Cooperative Design and Invention Lab in Amherst/Hadley/Northampton" ) is in a similar vein as "Cooperatives and Collectives - Think Outside the Boss", only more specific to design and innovation. What do you think about trying to 'Cooperate' in this subject and then maybe, upon gauging the interest in starting a design lab, have a spinoff discussion later on ( a.k.a. a BoF session or something of that vein) specifically on moving forward in trying to get a design lab started.

freescholar's picture freescholar replied on

Yes, I would love that and think it makes great sense. A few of us have been trying raise some interest in a co-hacking space ala droplabs.net Let's connect soon - skype, hangout, crypto.cat

[email protected] replied on

Sorry, I just saw this response. I'm working fervently on trying to get a website up that has details of the coop-space I have in. I should have the basic content up by the end of the weekend and hopefully have a semi-wiki format for sharing ideas up before the summit. My google username is azintirea is if you want to chat.

kelly's picture kelly replied on

I've added notifications for when comment are left. This one has a discussion that would have benefitted from it.