Yesterday I popped my digital nomad cherry and hooked up with a Jelly meeting in Bristol organised by Lee Cottier.

The idea of a Jelly meet is super simple. You rock up with your laptop, plug in and go! The meetings are free to attend, relaxed and informal. They offer the promise of accidental conversations with clever, engaged people and a chance to poke your head out of your front door and sniff the air for collaboration and support.

It all happened in that elegant way things happen when you just let them. Apart from the work Lee clearly put in to organise it (and my computer spitting a rod) - the day seemed effortless to me.

The grand thing about turning up with your computer and a desire to make friends and interact is that you just don’t know what conversational adventure you’ll end up on.

I failed my immediate neighbour to the left by being utterly clueless about Java and over compensating by showing him my little websites - I woke up this morning laughing my head off at the very idea this hip programming urban warrior would be the slightest bit interested in my Shamanic website… he handled it with charm and grace and he gets my vote for patience and sweetness.

This Bristol Jelly was held at The Office in the middle of Bristol’s historic St Nicholas area - I made a slick entry, was met with a lovely, friendly receptionist and swept down the art deco staircase to crash into the quiet of a bunch of studious chaps with posh laptops.

I ate three hobnobs, drank too much coffee, shipped two client documents and had a really productive conversation with a generous and knowledgeable jelly participant.

I don’t particularly miss office life, but I can highly recommend a Jelly Jolt to provide input and creative fuel to your work practice.

Find out more about the concept of a Jelly worktogether at workatjelly.com.

Keep an eye on eventbrite for Bristol/Bath Jelly action or if you twitter, follow Lee at CoWorkingWest for info and insight into hotdesking, digital nomadery and all things co-workery.