Though I’m a writer for print and online outlets, I’ve got a deep love for radio. That makes me particularly thrilled to report that one of my favorite radio shows did a piece on what they termed, “Something called ‘coworking’” this week.

Marketplace covers all aspects of business. Wait! Before you yawn and turn the dial, give it a listen because Marketplace covers business in a very colorful way. Somehow, even as they stick to the roots of business reporting (numbers, business trends and the like) they craft interesting and intricate story arcs that regularly engage my imagination.

Marketplace’s coverage of coworking, may not be a prime example of their best work because it is so short. Still, it’s an engaging piece with a few good quotes that, I think, really helps illustrate the feel of being a coworker.

At Nutopia, in New York, people are there “sharing the workspace, but not the work.”

The reporter also visited one of the most popular Jelly meetups (and possibly the originator of the concept) in New York City where he reported that people were “working together thigh to thigh” (that’s hot!) and even sitting on the floor to be a part of the scene.

Finally, he interviewed one person at that Jelly meet up who had an interesting take on that version of coworking: “I’m not more productive, but I’m happier.”

Nice.

The picture is courtesy of Flickr user petroleumjelliffe. Thanks!

I’ve got a couple of Google Alerts running about coworking and Office Nomads. Usually when something comes through on the Office Nomads one, it’s under the “Blogs” heading as when Laura posted about us (sorry for just getting around to linking back Laura. No excuses.) and it always starts my day off well when see that because I’m not expecting it.

When the “Web” heading has something about Office Nomads though, it’s nice to see, but I know it’s coming because that means an article has been published somewhere and we know when that’s going to happen.

So imagine my surprise when I checked my email this morning and there was a Web alert for Office Nomads, in the New York Times!

Coworking sites are up and running from Argentina to Australia and many places in between, although a wiki site on coworking shows that most are in the United States. While some have grown-up-sounding names, most seem connected somewhere between the communalism of the 1960s and the whimsy of the dot-com days of the ’90s, like the Hive Cooperative in Denver, Office Nomads in Seattle, Nutopia Workspace in Lower Manhattan and Independents Hall in Philadelphia.

Sweet! This is the second time in 2008 that the Times has mentioned coworking. Obviously Jacob and Susan are onto something. (By the way, I think the name Office Nomads is great and has nothing to do with the communalism of the 60s or the “whimsy of the dot-com days.” I think it speaks to the new ethos in our professional work force. But that’s me.)

Yes, that’s a picture of Susan getting her picture taken. The photo shoot is actually for another article on Jacob and Susan coming out soon.