Contact: Don Ball Cell phone: 612-735-7425 Email: don@cocomsp.

com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CoCo launches d.school @ CoCo

Minneapolis coworking space to teach methodology pioneered at Stanford d.school
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (April 11, 2012) - CoCo is bringing the design-thinking movement to the Midwest with the launch of d.school @ CoCo, an innovation school based on the worldrenowned d.school at Stanford University. d.school @ CoCo will offer classes and workshops on design thinking to individuals and larger organizations. The school will be led by Anna Love-Mickelson who is a former Fortune-500 innovation leader and currently teaches design thinking at Stanford Universitys Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). Classes will be taught by Love-Mickelson as well as other coaches certified by the d.school at Stanford. Well be using the same great curriculum that is used on campus in California. However, because we are in Minnesota and operating within the CoCo community, we will also looking to prototype new ways of solving local problems by enabling radical collaboration at the community level, Love-Mickelson said. Classes and workshops will include: Crash Course a 2-hour introduction to design thinking methods and mindsets. The first class is on April 20. Design Thinking Workshop Three half-day, hands-on sessions that explore the design thinking methodology more thoroughly. The first Workshop series will be held May 7-9. Design Thinking Bootcamp Designed after the Stanford d.schools flagship course, Bootcamp gives executives hands on experience leading a design-thinking project from start to finish. The first Bootcamp will be held Sept. 26 - 28. One of the most exciting things for us at the d.school is hearing how past d.schoolers are spreading design thinking. We are excited to see how this new venture impacts the Minnesota community, said Evelyn Huang, Lecturer, Executive Education at the d.school at Stanford. The opening of the d.school @ CoCo represents a big step for CoCo and coworking movement in general. We are building a community of members who are naturally inquisitive and creative. said CoCo founder Kyle Coolbroth. the d.school @ CoCo makes our collaborative environment available for leaders in the area to learn design thinking methods and fully experience a collaborative community. More information about d.school @ CoCo is available at http://dschool.cocomsp.com. ### If you would like more information about this topic or to schedule an interview with Kyle Coolbroth or Anna Love-Mickelson, contact Don Ball at don@cocomsp.com or 612-735-7425.

Backgrounder
About Coworking Coworking is a rapidly growing global phenomenon that has attracted innovators and entrepreneurs of all stripes. CoCo, like many other coworking spaces worldwide, emphasizes openness, collaboration and inter-disciplinary innovation, values that are equally shared by the d.school curriculum. About design thinking Design thinking is an approach to innovation that draws on methods from engineering and design, and combines them with ideas from the arts, tools from the social sciences, and insights from the business world. About Anna Love-Mickelson Anna Love-Mickelson first went to the Stanford d.school in 2010 as an executive participant in the Customer-Focused Innovation program and soon became a certified d.leader. She splits her time between executive education coaching at Stanford's d.school and leading designthinking sessions for organizations worldwide. Her mission is to use the principles of design thinking to inspire cross-functional teams to create new products, services and business strategies. About the d.school at Stanford The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford was founded five years ago to prepare a generation of innovators to tackle complex, cross-disciplinary challenges. Known on campus as the d.school, the institute brings students and faculty from radically different backgrounds together to develop innovative, human-centered solutions to real-world challenges. You can learn more at http://dschool.stanford.edu or at Fast Company: http://www.fastcompany.com/tag/stanford-dschool.