The latest thing in networking and working, if you haven’t heard, is Jelly. Started by Amit Gupta of ChangeThis and BarCamp fame, Jelly-type gatherings bring solo entreprenuers and freelancers together to work out of somone’s home once a week or whenever. The result is a mutt environment of social hanging out, idea storming and actual working - all sans office politics.

Jelly is the hippie, laidback sister-in-law to the evergrowing Coworking trend where independents pay to come and go at jointly-funded office space. A local example of this is Betahouse in Boston. From what I’ve heard, the slots are for established techies versus just-starting-outs. A colleague of mine is dying to get in to Betahouse because of the networking potential. I’m sure Betahouse serves its renters well but the whole concept of how this developed intrigues me. I am always fascinated by how trends take shape and sometimes morph into the very thing they were getting away from. In this case, one of the goals of creating non-traditional work spaces through Coworking was to stave off office politics and create an open environment. Betahouse only has so many desks (12, I believe). It makes sense that they would limit those slots to folks that would most benefit from working in close quarters, but by channeling the networking, has an environment of exclusivity been created, similar to those found in traditional office politics? This isn’t a rhetorical question, I’m really asking. If anyone in Betahouse or any other Coworking space stumbles on this post, I’d like your thoughts.

Note that I have no idea if someone would be turned away from Betahouse if they didn’t fit the typical characteristics of that crowd - and, if they did, so be it. They have every right to do whatever they want with their rental space. I just find the evolution of certain types of social networking intriguing. No matter how organic an idea begins, it’s bound to get formalized. Rules follow, opinions clash and pretty soon bloggers like me start jumping all over it.

Pals of mine recently started a Jelly in Connecticut, Jam At Work, and so far I’ve only attended one afternoon. I liked it - I actually did get some work done and had a few laughs in the process. I’m sure I’ll return in the future. I doubt, however, that I will rent a coworking space anytime soon but I won’t discount it down the road.

I could start a jam or jelly or preserves of my own. Of course, this would require me to keep my dining room table free of papers, coffee mugs and random items that seem to crawl up out of nowhere. On second thought, I’ll preserve my workspace and keep the jelly in the fridge.