The Betahaus Travel
In order to work together in person, you need a place to work in. Startups traditionally buy a room or two in an office building or a recently-closed [small] shop on the street. Recently, though, there's been a rise in cooperative workplaces, and not just here. There's Philadelphia's Indie Hall, though that's more for the lone artist (note: writing code is an art), and I'm sure that there are many other such spaces throughout many major cities.
The startup that I'm on internship for, Protonet, works out of a co-working space called the Hamburg Betahaus. There's a larger room meant for groups, and it is where Protonet has their table. There's also a smaller room where individuals work, and thus it tends to be quieter in an endless cycle. I haven't worked in a group on a dev project much before, but the Betahaus is definitely a great place to work and is much nicer than working completely alone (and I'd imagine also much nicer than working in a strict office).
There's Nerf darts strewn about, a central chat server that we share funny videos on (which is actually Protonet's making), and pretty much everyone goes out for lunch together. There's a loft, which is filled with pillows and beanie bags, and yesterday we discussed one of the core features up there. It was quite comfy, I must add.
The main room also has a small bar/café where you can get snacks and drinks while you work. It's a pretty nice arrangement. Hungry? Walk over and pick up a tasty ham-and-cheese sandwich.
The Betahaus officially opens at 9AM, and the Protonet team works from 10AM to 6PM, at which point everyone left assembles on the Urban Terror server and we play a few rounds. I'll probably be yelling "NEIN!" whenever I play games by the time this month is over. The commute is about half an hour each way, about 10-15 minutes of which is spent on the train.
Though I haven't worked with other developers in a group like this before, I really enjoy it and prefer it over traditional setups. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find another opportunity as awesome as this in the near future (I'm thinking Drexel Co-ops) but in the meantime this place is awesome.
jelveh:
dude, awesome post!we're glad we have you as an intern ;)
tielefeld:
Cool! Looking fwd to seeing you there!
doug:
can i work there too?
brenda:
Merry almost Christmas Eve! Did I see a picture of a dog? Food looks amazing! Send some more pics. I know you are busy....but blog some more!