STACKD helps people in office buildings get in touch – for business or beers.

Do you know your office neighbors? That guy you see on the elevator everyday? Those familiar faces you see when you’re buying your morning latte? One of the ironies of our social networking world is that we often end up communicating more frequently with those across the planet than we do with the people living right next door. Stackd is a site that aims to change all that by helping to connect those who work in the same vicinity.
1 Building
19 Floors
103 Companies
10,609 Connections.

New site STACKD “helps people in office buildings get in touch – for business or beers. We would like to think that it’s the people around you that should be part of your social network: people you meet in the elevator rather than on Facebook, people you follow to the 14th floor instead of on Twitter. Online social networks are great for what they are. We built STACKD to tap the potential of the place you stick around most: the office.

Now in beta, Stackd was created by New York-based Supermetric to enable its own neighboring office workers. Currently focused on Manhattan and Brooklyn, the site is free to use for both individuals and businesses, which are encouraged to list their offices on the site. (I didn’t find any of my old Manhattan office buildings yet — but it’s early on.) After signing up with Stackd, users can browse by address through the listings of other businesses in their area, hook up and expand their social network locally.

Can’t you picture this concept thriving here in the Bay area, where the trend toward co-working spaces is already spreading? Check out these San Francisco co-working options. And then keep your fingers crossed that STACKD will catch on here.

Thank you, Springwise.

Forget the Office Space — Just Rent A Desk.

With half the world busily participating in the new Gigocracy, working from home or even from the corner Starbucks can get old fast. This is why we should all immediately up and move to London, where they’ve come up with a smart solution called Desk Space Genie.

Desk Space Genie is a new website that advertises vacant desk space. The service helps businesses make a bit of money from their unused office space and enables bootstrapping small businesses or freelancers feel more established. It also sounds like it would be a great networking tool; ever so much more social than taking tea with your pup.

Desk Space Genie lets space-seeking ‘deskers’ search for a space by postal code or town, contacting the advertisers directly. The site lists vacancies in most major cities around the UK, covering ‘all inclusive’ desk packages with wifi and other utilities, or more basic ‘pay for what you use’ services. The site is free to use until 1 May 2009.

While co-working is an awesome concept, Desk Space Genie sounds even simpler. Wouldn’t it be great if someone got this idea going over here? (Or will I be *forced* to move to London?)

Many thanks, as always, to the trendspotters at Springwise.com