Since we’re profiling each member of Office Nomads in the reverse order they signed up, you already know that eight members was not enough, but since I loved that show as a kid, I couldn’t resist using it as a headline for member number 8: Campbell Cooper.

Campbell comes from Napier, New Zealand which means he traveled the farthest to be a member of Office Nomads. His 7,000-mile plus trip beats out member #10, Henrik, who originally comes from Denmark. Campbell’s route to Office Nomads was somewhat winding as he’s worked in a number of exotic, international locales including Singapore, the Philippines, London and Melbourne. For all his international travels, this is the first time he’s ever worked and lived in the U.S.

Campbell’s professional life has been focused on commercial food companies which partially explains why he’s lived in so many far-flung cities (he also has a travel bug, so the urge to experience new places is a part of his DNA.) This time around, it was a job setting up a new business for Dutch food ingredients company SVZ that brought him to our fair shores.

Because the company’s main U.S. office is in Eastern Washington, Campbell said there was a lot of discussion about where he would be based and where he would live when he first signed on. He travels a lot for work, so being near a major airport was key and if you’ve spent any time in Eastern Washington, you know there’s nothing major about it. Seattle, he says, was a perfect fit for him and since there is no need for him to be in the office all the time, the company agreed.

Campbell told me that he was thrilled to find Office Nomads. Without it, he’d have to be setting up a full office with all the headaches and responsibilities that come with doing that, and he’d still be working alone in a country and city where he didn’t know anyone. When Office Nomads turned up, Campbell says he knew it was right. First, it would give him some social interaction with other professionals in his new home and second, he’d just be meeting new people, no matter what they do.

Now Campbell sits across from Robyn who is an urban planner which has given him an interesting insight into American cities.

When I asked him how Seattle compares to all of the exciting places he’s lived, Campbell said, “It’s great. It’s an international city with a big Asian influence.” He (like the rest of us) likes all the opportunities to get outside and says it’s not all that different from life in New Zealand and Australia. If that’s true, I’m going to see if I can find a way to get myself down there for an extended period.

You know what’s next in this countdown series on the Nomads: Lucky Number 7! Stay tuned…

Numbers 9 and 9.5

Ryan Salva holds coveted spot number nine spot here Office Nomads. Good thing he likes The Beatles (I caught him singing under his breath today). He may be the ninth regular monthly member, but Ryan started as daily drop in long ago. In fact, I don’t really remember a time when he hasn’t been around.

Ryan is one of the partners in Capitol Media, a web design and development agency which provides technology to support a host of online marketing endeavors. He and his other partners started the company in 2003 when one of his freelance clients came over to work with Ryan as a project manager. Before long, another client offered to incubate the newly forming company which Ryan says was an offer he just couldn’t pass up.

When they started their company, Ryan that they thought the idea of a centralized office didn’t seem to make sense. Although they never wanted to have official offices for Capitol Media, he and his partner did want that communal feel one finds in offices. In an attempt to make this happen, they held a 15-minute conference call at the start and end of the day between them and two other people. The effort didn’t really work though and was soon killed off.

At the beginning, Ryan worked at home but says, “That drove me crazy because I was alone all the time.” He moved to coffee shops like Capitol Hill’s Online Coffee Company which he loved for the racket they provided. He then became a regular at daytime coffee shop/nighttime bar Liberty where the owner gave him a key so he could get in before opening time.

Although Ryan felt comfortable at Liberty, as a permanent space, it wasn’t a good idea. Standing next to dumpsters in the rain to take phone calls got old he says. But he couldn’t go home because of his need for that community feeling. Enter, Office Nomads.

Ryan started out coming in as a daily member and was often here three and four days a week. When he found himself bringing in collaborators, using the conference rooms and acting almost like a monthly member, he felt like it was time to get a monthly membership. It’s worked out. “Just phone calls and emails don’t give much of a sense of community,” he says.

Membership at Office Nomads has an extra benefit for Ryan: It allows him to bring his five-month old long-haired Chihuahua Cortez the Killer in to work most days, something his girlfriend can’t do at her office. “If he was left at home everyday, he’d be so pissed,” Ryan says. Cortez is as important a part of the office here as any of our other members. His antics keep us all entertained and often provide a welcome distraction. He is also an excellent playmate for Stella, our other office dog.

All in all, Ryan is happy to be working at Office Nomads thanks to some welcoming distraction from his coworkers. If left to himself, he says, he’d sit at his desk for 12 hours at a stretch. Between us and Cortez, that doesn’t happen so much anymore.

Stay tuned for our next installment of “Meet the Nomads.” Next up: I Eight the Member!

Big news this week folks! Office Nomads welcomed our tenth monthly member! As the kids say, “W00t!”

We’ve been planning to profile each of our monthly members for some time now, but you know how things can get put off? Right, well since signing up the 10th member is big enough news for posting, we decided to start doing it here and now. Why, we thought, should we start with the first one? He gets all the press.

So please welcome Henrik to the Office Nomads world. He’s a software product manager for Pace Systems Group and an all around cool guy. I think he’s going to fit right in. The first thing he did when he signed up was to choose his desk which ended up being right next to mine. While we were talking on his first day, it took less than five minutes for him to tell me how he’ll probably like hearing me be on the phone all the time because he’s been stuck at home and isolated for so long.

A true Office Nomad.

As you can see, Henrik comes complete with a dog. Her name is Stella and she’s a sweet as can be (she also gets along famously with Cortez the Killer). He’s got a wife who stopped by the other day to give her approval of the new space (she liked it). Right now, he’s trying to get back into soccer-playing shape. (Ask him how his legs are feeling two days after his first game in a long time.)

Welcome Henrik (and Stella), to the Office Nomads fold!