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.
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.
Posted by: Pussycat Catnap | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 12:25 PM
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.
Posted by: Nexus Burbclave | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 12:33 PM
Actually I read on Facebook that they were busted for not having a tent permit, but managed to escape without a citation.
Posted by: Pituca FairChang | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 12:58 PM
Since everyone is in shorts and t-shirts I REFUSE to believe that picture was taken in San Fransisco during a summer month.
Posted by: Emperor Norton | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 01:01 PM
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.
Posted by: maxwell graf | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 01:11 PM
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.
Posted by: Hamlet Au | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 02:18 PM
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.
Posted by: Kim Anubis | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 05:11 PM
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!
Posted by: Iggy | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 06:36 PM
looking at the pic. must be Bro Life (:
Posted by: elizabeth (16) | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 08:04 PM
Can't afford space in an office building, eh?
Posted by: shockwave yareach | Thursday, June 14, 2012 at 11:02 AM
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
Posted by: David Nikolic | Wednesday, July 04, 2012 at 05:29 AM
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.
Posted by: Emma Tameside | Monday, October 01, 2012 at 09:05 AM