Host a Breakout SessionFrequently Asked Questions
What is Breakout!?
Breakout! is a month long festival (September 17 – October 16) that is returning creative work back to the streets of New York. This festival will liberate creative workers from the confines of traditional office buildings by setting up temporary workspaces in parks and plazas, on sidewalks and subway cars, and other public spaces throughout the city.
Why are you doing this?
Once upon a time, office buildings made sense. Now, they constrain our thinking and ability to work creatively as teams. A century ago, office buildings were an architecture suited to clerical work. We are creating a new architecture for knowledge work by taking advantage of the wealth of parks and public spaces in our city and building on the existing model of coworking. We’re using Breakout! as a way of exploring the dynamic connections between mobility and creativity. We are also trying to help the business world understand new models of ad hoc collaboration.
What will happen?
This site provides an entire social network dedicated to mobile work. From there, you’ll be able to find out where "breakout sessions" are happening, share your interests and projects with others, and organize sessions of your own. Sessions will take place in spots around the city to encourage different activities, from group brainstorming sessions to hands-on collaboration.
When you’re there, Breakout! will provide tools and processes for working together – free wireless access, portable furniture, collaboration software, and more! Each of these sessions will be led by a facilitator, skilled in cross-fertilizing collaborations, providing support and making connections.
Who will participate?
Everyone is invited! Come as you are or come as a team. Freelancers, entrepreneurs, coworkers, students, bored office workers, craftspeople, and clowns are all welcome.
What can I do?
There's lots of ways to get involved:
- Come to one of our breakout sessions
- Register or login to schedule your own Breakout session
- Organize a Breakout community in your city or town. Start by browsing our Wiki and adding your city (we'll be opening up the scheduling system for use in other cities on request)
