Virtual World Innovators Innovate Virtual Office Like a Boss

Here's the remote San Francisco office of Coffee & Power, Philip Rosedale's new micro-work network startup, and it's seriously cool: A pop-up tent in Hayes Valley park, in San Francisco, where the employees' laptops are solar powered: "The solar panels are the long dark things laid out next to the tent," the C&P teams reports on the company Facebook page. "We're working on a few other set-ups to see if we can get them off the ground and out of the way (bonus points for them providing additional shade)." The Coffee & Power app, by the way, recently went offline for re-tooling, but you can sign-up to get an Alpha invite to the new version on the homepage here.

Bonus SL-related trivia:

The original Linden Lab office, on Linden Street, is a block to the left of this photo, while the Coffee & Power office on Market Street is 4-6 blocks straight ahead. The metal sculpture in the background, I believe, is inspired by Burning Man, which in turn, of course, inspired Second Life. It all comes full circle, or at the very least, full rhomboid.

Photo via C&P's Facebook page.

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Comments

[Pussycat Catnap]

No wonder SL makes it so easy for people to squat on land.

/wonders how long till they get cited.

Or somebody or somedog playing the park steps on those panels.

/pushes baglady shopping cart through park. Oops.

[Nexus Burbclave]

For some reason, I'm reminded of the Upright Citizens Brigade woodsy office skit. There's definitely something to be said for taking advantage of Wi-Fi during a nice weather day.

[Pituca FairChang]

Actually I read on Facebook that they were busted for not having a tent permit, but managed to escape without a citation.

[Emperor Norton]

Since everyone is in shorts and t-shirts I REFUSE to believe that picture was taken in San Fransisco during a summer month.

[maxwell graf]

Meeting Agenda:

10am: Setup Tent, chairs, table, rollout solar panels, boot up
11:30: Begin Meeting
12:32: Pause Meeting to shoo away wandering meth-head who keeps asking for change and smokes
12:49: Resume Meeting
1PM Stop for lunch and some frisbee
2PM: Resume Meeting
2:15: Meeting paused for gang bangers who "want to see yo macs to get on ma facebook, just fo a minute, yo. We give em right back." Police called
2:30: Luckily, police assumed we were white business people, so got there in under 10 minutes and ran off the crips. Only 2 laptops gone.
3PM: Trying to resume meeting
3:20: Crowd Gathering to see whats going on
4PM: Same police return, begin to pepper spray us, thinking we are OCCUPY something or other.
Meeting closed.

[Hamlet Au]

Ahahahaha, Max!

@Emperor: Generally your assessment is accurate, but San Francisco is currently in one of those rare periods where the temperature is upper 60s/low 70s. But if they stayed out past 7pm, they'd probably get hit by a 20-30 degree temperature drop also typical of SF.

[Kim Anubis]

A step up from basing a company in bars and lobbies. I can just picture the executive porta-potty. Great publicity, in a Cory Doctorow only-works-for-him sort of way.

[Iggy]

This would not *ever* happen in the tropical humidity of an Eastern Seaboard summer (okay, we've had non-sucky weather for a month and everyone is suspicious).

Being from America's Snarky Coast, and possessing our region's half-smirking, half-envious attitude toward the Bay Area, I'd still prefer a meeting in a bar.

Imagine the agenda at Martinis and Mayhem: taking your money and not getting a damned thing done!

[elizabeth (16)]

looking at the pic. must be Bro Life (:

[shockwave yareach]

Can't afford space in an office building, eh?

[David Nikolic]

I wish even my office would have operated like that. In the garden, under the trees, in those couches, on those green grasses. Wow! If I ever happen to set up an office ever, I will set up nothing other than online virtual office so that I could have the ease of earning good money by even working from the comfort of my home with my kids playing in front of me

[Emma Tameside]

I really didn't quite comprehend the benefits of a virtual office until recently. It took articles like this to really convince me to actually invest in a virtual office opposed to a physical one. I haven't looked back since, it's opened up a much bigger budget to invest in growth.

The setup definitely looks cool up there in San Francisco! Congratulations on making the move to them.