COWORK IN CONWAY

RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — Arlton Lowery is a full-time AETN employee and says he loves every second of it.

But his dream job is what he does on the side: developing websites.

And it’s where he does what he does on the side that’s interesting. He’s part of a coworking group.

Coworking is a relatively new concept, most popular in larger cities, where designers, web developers and other types of freelance contract workers who would ordinarily work from home rent office space together. They work side by side on various projects for different companies.

Lowery, a Jonesboro native, was part of a failed coworking venture in Little Rock, where he graduated from UALR.

He was inspired to try again after attending a conference in Atlanta. This time, Lowery decided to give coworking a shot in Conway.

Lowery sent a message about coworking on the micro-blogging website Twitter and got responses right away.

“We just started talking about it and went from there,” Lowery said.

“We” is a group of designers and developers who joined him at the office, so to speak. They include Drew Spurgers, Luke Irvin, Cotton Rohrscheib and Daniel Decker - all of Conway.

Most of the young men have 9-to-5 jobs and freelance on the side. Deckeralso works at AETN.

“For me it’s more about the after hours,” Decker said.

Spurgers agreed.

“Working from home is nice for so long,” he said. “For me, it’s nice to come up here to work. My air conditioner went out the other day, so I just came up here to read, and it was really nice.”

Lowery said he has held meetings and met potential clients at the space, but he maintains that camaraderie and bouncing ideas off one another are the most important parts.

“It really is about building a community,” he said. “For all of us, it’s more important to come together.”

About a month ago, the coworkers in the group didn’t know each other. A few of them had a class together, and, while Lowery and Decker both worked at AETN, they had never spoken until the idea of coworking came up.

Now, the coworkers have lunch together several times a week and hold monthly meetings to inform the community about what they are up to and invite new members.

A full membership in the group’s space on Front Street costs $150 per month and includes free high-speed Internet access, a coffee-tea-cereal bar, parking, a locker, a laser printer, a lounge area, and a desk.

A basic membership is also available for $75 per month, and limited access to the space is available for $15 per day.

Conway Cowork is currently functioning as a nonprof it organizat ion. Any money made from membership dues is used to pay for the space.

“Anybody in the creative field is welcome,” Lowery said. “Once we get the membership up, we are going to get a bigger space.”

More immediate plans for the group include a BarCamp, to be held Friday, Aug. 20.

“I explain the concept of a BarCamp very carefully,” Lowery joked. “People ask, ‘Are you going to go drink?’”

The answer is no. A Bar-Camp is a workshop or conference focused on web development, open-source technologyand social networking.

“In the spirit of BarCamp,” Lowery said, “we will follow with tradition, and attendees will decide what presentations will be heard.”

The BarCamp’s website explains: “At the beginning of the day, we will call for presenters, and the attendees will vote on which presenters will present. There will be four sessions throughout the day.”

The Coworkers already have about 40 people registered for the event and expect many more.

“It’s gone better than I ever expected,” Lowery said.

For more infor mat ion about BarCamp and Conway Cowork, including the group’s next scheduled meeting, visit www.conwaywork.com.

- czilk@ arkansasonline.com

River Valley Ozark, Pages 63 on 07/15/2010

Print Headline: COWORK IN CONWAY