The latest Pew Report on Internet usage has suggested some interesting tends in the age of users. It appears from the data, although somewhat vaguely, that Facebook is becoming more popular with the older audience while Twitter adoption amongst younger web users is increasing dramatically.

Under the heading, “younger internet users,” Pew’s document inconclusively addresses the whole age issue over Twitter users by reporting that users between the ages of 18 to 44 report rapid uptake of Twitter over the last nine months, whereas internet users ages 45 and older report slower adoption rates. For example, 37% of internet users age 18-24 use Twitter or “another service,” up from 19% in December 2008. Let’s be real here, the 18-44 demographic doesn’t adequately define “younger internet users.” The report also indicated that Facebook users may be graying a bit. The median age of a Twitter user is 31, whereas the media age for Facebook, now 33, up from 26 in May 2008.

Over the last 5 years we have had several different office locations ranging from Starbucks and a friend’s basement, five years ago, to our current location at the Watch Factory in Waltham, MA. Location seems like an old idea when you consider that so many businesses are either run from anywhere. It has become part of our modern office experience not to have an office. All you really need is a wireless connection and a steaming cup of Joe, right? Initially we thought the same thing but there are some aspects of our business that do still rely on having a physical location. We still meet face-to-face with our clients on a daily basis. We still collaborate closely with each other and we still love the silliness and humor that can only happen in a shared space. Those things are constantly battling the desire to avoid traffic and the usual tedium of commuting.

So when we had outgrown our last office we decided to do something a little special. We wanted to find something that wasn’t just a shared space but something that would actually make you want to make the commute into the office. Our realtor took us to a few places but nothing had the spirit we were looking for. Then one day as I was heading back from a client meeting I drove past the Watch Factory on the Charles River in Waltham. It’s a stunning building that dates back to the 1800’s. Typical of the architecture from that time, its red brick with tall towers at each corner. What’s unusual about this mill-type building is that it has thousands of huge windows, which let in enormous amounts of light for the intricate work of watch making. Back in the 1800’s workers relied on the sunlight to piece together the tiny watch pieces. Situated on a bend of the Charles River almost every window has an amazing view of the water and the uninterrupted tree-line on the opposite side.

We’ve been here in the Watch Factory for about 8 weeks now and it seems to get better by the day. The trees are changing color and the finishing touches to the building are making that commute very worthwhile.

Not every business needs to be located in an office and not all teams are at their best sharing a single space, but it works for us. If you are in the Boston-metro area and would like to take a look for yourself, please drop in and say hi.

Last Friday was the Babson Entrepreneur Forum 2009 event. The day’s events overall was a bitter-sweet experience for me. I’ll get to that in a minute but first a little background to the how we were involved.

Fresh Tilled Soil was one of the sponsors along with our latest venture Web-o-Matic. I was also a judge of the business plan competition, which selected 3 finalists from about 30 submissions.

On the positive side I’d like to congratulate Erin Vierstra and her classmates for making it a really professional event. Everything ran smoothly and the content of the presentations was generally really worthwhile. I attended a few of the break-out sessions and was impressed with the sophistication of the young business owners and presenters.

On the down side I was a little disappointed in the business plan judging process. The structure made it very hard to judge the teams and the final voting made very little sense. I’d like to see some innovation in this area. Why can’t we use some of the cool social tools out there to help gather feedback on the business plan ideas? Judges also need an opportunity to speak to the entrepreneurs behind the plan before voting. It’s impossible to judge a business by looking at the business plan alone. In fact it’s irresponsible to judge a plan without meeting the people running that business.