Melksham Jelly - An Occasional Office for Home Workers
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2011-08-06 07:08:51 - Graham Ellis
A few years ago, a visitor stood in our kitchen at home and told me that "running your own business from home's not an option - it never works". She was new to the UK, having moved here from a different part of the world to get married to the love of her life who was British, and seeking suggestions as to how she could earn a living. Or perhaps she was seeking confirmation of her view that "woe is me - the world won't help".
On Monday, we hosted a "Jelly" at Well House Manor. The idea of such a day is that people who work from home can - for the day - come along and work in a communal location. To give them some company. Some networking. A new environment. A change. At times, working alone is a huge blessing - a chance to concentrate and to really be productive, but it can become too much of a good thing and darned lonely at times too. So we set up our larger "Wilts" room with eight large tables, chairs. Spare foldanble chairs for people to move around. Plenty of lighing and power points. Checked the wifi ;-) ... serviced the coffee machine (wait, those things happen every day anyway!) and waited to see how it went.
On the basis of the reports I received, it all went very well; the room was comfortably active all day, without being crowded. People were queitly working away - seted back to walls, looking inward to be part of the group for the most part, I noticed. Groupings and couplings went off into the Library for a chat, others moved and sat around in pairs in the room itself, others just typed away.
I can identify with the people who came along; "Designer One" software - the product which I wrote and supported in the 1980s - was a home product. And so are the Well House Courses - "Perl Programming" was writ initially at home in the mid 1990s, and from 2000 I was training from home. Each grew (or has grown) to the extent that it expanded away from home, although I still sit quietly at home at times (as I'm doing this morning) to write up notes, blogs, prepare materials and do so much more. I can adssure you that working from home can and does work - for some people. Perhaps the visitor who triggered my original thoughts as I write this wouldn't have been able to hack it at home, though, It takes all sorts.
Reports back from the participants at the Jelly? A good day for those who I spoke too. Even those who sat quietly in the background and didn't much interact confessed that they had been very productive in the different environment. And as far as we were concerned at Well House Manor, we got an element of payback in terms of a few drinks sold, and some longer term marketing in terms of making people aware of our presence and services. We'll happily host a second Jelly on Monday, 26th September. We'll probaly provide / sell a simple lunchtime sandwich selection too. For bookings / places, contact John Dickens - @godjira
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On Monday, we hosted a "Jelly" at Well House Manor. The idea of such a day is that people who work from home can - for the day - come along and work in a communal location. To give them some company. Some networking. A new environment. A change. At times, working alone is a huge blessing - a chance to concentrate and to really be productive, but it can become too much of a good thing and darned lonely at times too. So we set up our larger "Wilts" room with eight large tables, chairs. Spare foldanble chairs for people to move around. Plenty of lighing and power points. Checked the wifi ;-) ... serviced the coffee machine (wait, those things happen every day anyway!) and waited to see how it went. 
Reports back from the participants at the Jelly? A good day for those who I spoke too. Even those who sat quietly in the background and didn't much interact confessed that they had been very productive in the different environment. And as far as we were concerned at Well House Manor, we got an element of payback in terms of a few drinks sold, and some longer term marketing in terms of making people aware of our presence and services. We'll happily host a second Jelly on Monday, 26th September. We'll probaly provide / sell a simple lunchtime sandwich selection too. For bookings / places, contact John Dickens - @godjira