Question:

I was at your seminar in Tennessee last week and you talked about Jellys. I’m still not sure what a Jelly is or why it might be useful to me in rural Tennessee.

Mo:  Think of a Jelly as a pop-up coworking event. They are usually single day events hosted somewhere terrific: in the atrium of a corporate building, in a park, a museum or even in someone’s living room. The organizer generally provides Internet, coffee and food or entertainment. Like regular Coworking, people attend Jellys to conduct work but the day is punctuated with meet and greets, happy hours and introductions between folks who might not otherwise connect.

In economic development, Jellys are often used to take the temperature of the entrepreneurial community in advance of investing in a Coworking space. Mark Nolte, President of the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD) hosted a series of Jellys before opening their downtown Merge cowork. 

My favorite Jellys are hosted at corporate spaces; corporate lawns, atriums, lofts and penthouse suites that the average person won’t often see. Corporations tend to like hosting Jellys when asked. They get access to talent they wouldn’t otherwise see and the interaction that happens in a Jelly can support innovative thinking among their own staff. I’d encourage you to give it a try!