Most of all we must say there has been a general feeling of industriousness here at FunkBunk over the last few months. There has been coworking and collaboration a-plenty as Bunkers Provide Design, Hallway Studios and Purity Productions have been working together to produce an online events management system and new website, due to launch in August. It has been great to see everyone coming together organically to produce some really great, effective work.

FunkBunk were also proud to be part of the WorkHubs conference on the 29th June. The conference, held at BT’s Business Centre and attended by over 120 people confirmed a national and public interest in the WorkHub & Coworking concept. FunkBunk is just one of many fantastic WorkHubs all over the UK and an outcome of the conference was that a supporting network will be created to support work spaces like ours - the next generation of workspaces to fit the low carbon economy. You can find out more about the conference here: http://www.liveworknet.com/live-work-article580.html

On the 4th August we hosted our first ever Jelly. The peeps from Chiltern Jelly came together for a spot of monthly co-working and the event went down so well they have rebooked for next month with a view to making the Jelly a monthly feature here at FunkBunk. A Jelly, in case you were wondering is a free all day event were people from all different industries (mainly home workers) come together to simply work in a different environment. We supply the tea, coffee, desks and broadband and Chiltern Jelly even supplied home baked cakes! It’s a great way to change your working space for a day and meet some new people. We look forward to hosting many more!

You can find out more about Chiltern Jelly here and book yourself on the next one on the 1st Sept here.

On a silly note, a Buzz Lightyear costume somehow made it into the ‘Bunk and it was shoe horned into a video competition for Olympus called ‘Read My Lips’….. You can see the slightly surreal effort online here.

FunkBunk are also now proud to be part of the newly formed Milton Keynes Design Forum. This group promises to be shining light for design in the Milton Keynes area. We shall definitely be posting on this more in the future but for now, if you are a professional connected with the design industry you should signing up to their website.

Our new pricing plan at FunkBunk is proving popular and we are loving meeting all the new FunkMonks when they come in for their couple of day’s a month. There are still plenty of spaces available for both part time and full time desk rental packages. So whether you are looking for a permanent base or just hot desk to use as your second office on the odd occasion please get in touch. (Download the pricing plans here)

TTFN!

If by now you are wondering, what is a Jelly? A Jelly, in this case is not something you have in a trifle, but a casual event where freelancers, home-workers and people running small business can break away from their usual work space, meet new people and perhaps regain some sanity working in a social environment. Plenty of work, chat and collaboration without the ‘N’ word (networking). Oh, and did we mention they are FREE?

For the day up to 8 individuals can come down to Funkbunk and get involved. The Jelly begins at 9.30 and finishing up at 5.00. Chiltern Jelly has all the information you need on the Chiltern Jelly Blog and their Eventbrite page. Make sure you follow @chilternjelly and @shortcouture on twitter to keep up-to-date.

We’re looking forward to it we hope you are too.

I had a rather nice email the other day from a chap called James Armstrong who is completing a Postgraduate in Occupational Psychology at Leicester University. James is doing some research into how office locations affect the work/non-work balance.

As this is out particular area of expertise we have all filled out the survey (only took a couple of minutes) and we encourage you take part in this interesting bit of research (while you are having a cuppa and a biscuit perhaps?).

You can complete the survey here: http://80.252.126.31/self_employed/study/

This month sees the 1st annual WorkHubs conference at the BT Business Centre in London (29/06/2010) and FunkBunk will be attending to drink some coffee, eat some sandwiches and generally hob knob about the place talking to anyone who will listen.

As well as the consumption of sandwiches, founder of FunkBunk, Sam Cranwell will be sitting on a panel talking about supporting rural homeworkers.

Apparently there are tonnes of you guys working from home in the Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire villages such as Stewkley, Wing, Cublington, Soulbury, Wingrave, Eaton Bray, Edlesborough and Pitstone to name a few.

Sam will be taking part in a discussion with Roger Turner (Head of Rural Economies, Commission for Rural Communities), Ian Baker (head of economy, DEFRA) & Nick Kirkham (Founder of Old Glove Factory, Holt, Wiltshire - a fine coworking space). They will be trying to uncover what benefits places like FunkBunk have for homeworkers in rural communities and the challenges we face in setting up and running our establishments.

If we get some piccies or videos from the event we will post them here!

Find out more at: www.workhubs.co.uk

“The experience of a loss of professional image and credibility is common-place. Frequent episodes of dressing gown days may occur and friends, family and neighbours consistently ask favours as your business is ‘just a hobby’.”

Click here to download the PDF.

FunkBunk - shelter for stray creatives from FunkBunk on Vimeo.

Do you want a video like this? Speak to Provide Design

With FunkBunk becoming a more active coworking WorkHub every day, serving Milton Keynes, Leighton Buzzard and Aylesbury we are learning more about small businesses needs and wanted to offer more flexibility and better pricing to you guys.

So we created FunkMonk, FunkTrunk, FunkChunk & FunkBunker to cater for the ‘homeworker who just needs to get out of the house occasionally’ through to the ’small business that needs a permanent base to develop their enterprise from’.

Check out all the details here!

We will also be adding online payment and booking to our system soon. Watch this space for more info.

The wonderful creative magazine Weave (http://www.weave.de) have published us in a great article about coworking and workhubs in the latest issue. Now if only we spoke German……  but a friend of ours does and assures us it is a very nice article. We will try and post a transcript.

It also uses a photograph that we haven’t used enough and I really quite like:

“A place to work, a place to  focus, a place to inspire, a place to achieve, a place to interact, your place, FunkBunk.”

More news from around the globe (that you probably wont ready anywhere else) from the ‘Bunks resident news hound - Mr Gary…

About 5,200 naked people embraced each other on the steps of Sydney’s iconic Opera House on Monday
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_ODD_AUSTRALIA_NUDE_ART?SITE=KPUA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Yellowstone Park Attempts To Increase Ranger Population With New Mating Program
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/yellowstone_park_attempts?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

Amazing X-ray: Boy survives rod ripping through 10 vital organs
http://metro.mobi/;channelId=home/getArticle.jsp?in_article_id=815041

Strike wave sends oil price soaring
http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/stock-markets/strike-wave-sends-oil-price-soaring-47567.aspx

Gaddafi calls for jihad against Switzerland over minaret ban
http://mobile.france24.com/en/20100226-libya-gaddafi-calls-jihad-against-switzerland-over-minaret-ban-revenge-hannibal

Boozy chimp sent to rehab
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61P3SM20100226

Lady GaGa Has Told Her Female Fans To Be Celibate. Is It Any of Her Business?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-pemberton/lady-gaga-has-told-her-fe_b_481916.html

Second anthrax case confirmed in London
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1267025735873?p=1158945065095

Massive Antarctic iceberg threatens ocean circulation
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18595-massive-antarctic-iceberg-threatens-ocean-circulation.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

‘Record high’ for bad bank debts
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jzmDfUGiBqBzME-y13gQ8yzQ0hqw

Bishops slam pay-to-confess hotline
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/02/2833885.htm

Chile quake may have tipped Earth’s axis
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/02/chile.quake/index.html?eref=edition

Re-trial for ’speeding’ reverend
http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/Retrial-for-39speeding39-reverend.6104437.jp

9-Pound Infant Barrels Way Down Birth Canal
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/9_pound_infant_barrels_way?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

Dutch anti-Islam MP in poll gains
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/03/20103492847982214.html

Now it’s the MK ‘road tax’
http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/Now-it39s-the-MK-39road.6104629.jp

Protests could be coming to Aylesbury soon
http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/Protests-could-be-coming-to.6123689.jp

Child’s play at NY airport sparks investigation
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/04/2835971.htm

Mexico detects first mutation of swine flu
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/04/2836326.htm