The tech community in Hawaii — specifically of the startup, entrepreneurial, boostrapping variety — seems to have really come alive in the last year, and suddenly coworking doesn’t seem like such a far off, we’re-no-San-Francisco fantasy anymore.

At TechHui, Truman Leung has successfully organized a couple of “Jelly” sessions. A “Jelly” is traditionally coworking at one participant’s home, but it’s been working well at local cafes. There’s a Jelly Coworking Group to discuss and organize more such meetups. Meanwhile, on the Big Island, Brent Norris is starting a coworking group in Hilo, taking advantage of the Hawaii Innovation Center.

Of course, a conventional coworking space would be a permanent, dedicated, privately operated location where there’d almost always be like-minded folks for conversation and collaboration. But these are a great start!

Perhaps most intriguingly, a friend mentioned to me that the Hawaii Arts Alliance may be developing an initiative that could create a “digital arts space” that could conceivably also work with and for technology groups and companies.  With government support, no less. I’m definitely hoping to learn more about it.

With the Manoa Innovation Center facing possible homelessness, it seems like the perfect time to create a different kind of tech space, a grassroots incubator, a real-world business lab… something more flexible, agile, and fun. Stay tuned!