Yesterday, nti’s Linda Broughton was invited to speak at the inaugural Going Solo conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Linda took part in a panel discussion with Pistachio Consulting’s Laura Fitton and Stephanie Troeth, focussing on going Solo in a Networked World and notably her experiences in establishing a coworking space here in Leeds.

By all accounts, Linda’s contribution generated a lot of interest and questions from Going Solo attendees and I’m sure we’ll hear more about her impressions, right here.

In the meantime, conference organiser Stephanie Booth, has rounded up coverage of the conference for those who couldn’t make it to Lausanne, including streaming video of various panel sessions and keynotes; notes from Jaap Stronks and Suw Charman (including a transcript of Linda’s panel) as well as the official photo gallery.

Well done Linda -  and congratulations on joining Twitter!

Update: Some photos of Linda in action on Flickr!

Springwise recently ran an article - More work spaces for parents - covering the development of coworking spaces that include childcare.

New York’s TwoRooms and San Francisco’s Cubes & Crayons both offer care for pre-school kids, randing from a few months  to five years old. Alongside workspaces are playrooms and activities for children.

Cubes & Crayons goes a step further in encouraging the cohesion of its community, be asking parents to volunteer several hours each month, depending on how many hours they’re using the facilities; a wonderful way of deepening bonds between coworking colleaugues! I wonder when we’ll need a creche here at Metspace…

Find out more at Springwise…

Stephanie Booth, a social media consultant, prolific blogger and the force behind the upcoming Going Solo freelancing conference, has recently been given the chance to develop a coworking space in her hometown of Lausanne (incidentally, Steph’s grandmother is from Leeds!).

The space itself is a 120m² of spare office space in central Lausanne; perhaps enough to accommodate 15-20 people and a meeting room with a monhtly cost of around 4000 CHF. We’re hoping that we can help Stephanie develop this space with the experience and insight we’ve gained in establishing met:space over the last year.

In the meantime, here are Stephanie’s initial thoughts…

I awoke this morning to Twitters from coworking gurus Chris Messina and Tara Hunt pointing to a pair of articles - in the New York Times and SF Gate - covering the burgeoning culture of coworking across the globe…

• Shared word spaces a wave of the future
• They’re Working on Their Own, Just Side by Side

There’re some interesting insights including larger companies - Timbuk2 - setting aside their own corporate space for use by coworkers and the serendipity that’s accompanying coworking communities in various locations - how business and creative opportunities form quite organically between freelancers and people sharing a space…all without too much overhead.

We’re starting to see that here at Old Broadcasting House too - with residents collaborating on events like tonight’s special edition of GeekUp.

In the next few weeks, we hope the number of residents reaches a critical mass where such serendepitous opportunites and collaboration are commonplace; we’re gonna try help this along with themed coworking days as pioneered by Manchester’s Paul Robinson.

Hot on the heels of last Friday’s Open Coworking day, organised by Brighton’s Werkshop, comes Manchester’s own effort, organised by Vagueware’s Paul Robinson.

The full day schedule includes a meeting of the city’s OpenCoffee networking chapter as well as, free fairtrade coffee, brainstorming and some afternoon collaborations, all taking place at the Manchester Digital Development Agency in the heart of the city.

Paul’s filled up all 20 places already, but is looking to hold the next event around 26th February.

Open Coworking days sound like a great idea for met:space. Perhaps having one or two free and open-access days each month could broaden the community and help encourage collaboration.

Good luck Paul!