2012 Cowork Conference Final Squeeze

Close to 300 leaders represented the global cowork movement as they met for the Global Coworking Unconference Conference, GCUC or juicy conference, in Austin, Texas in early March to collaborate as only cowork members, owners and visionaries can.

What is working? What is not? And what we can do together as a unified cowork-industry? All seemed to be a running theme throughout the various conference sessions during the day-long conference. While many attendees left the central meeting room sporadically throughout the day, others joined the unconference track for sub meetings and informal discussions on a varieity of topics.

Some of the main takeaways throughout the main session included tips on technology, best practices surrounding security and community growth, floor plan design and inspiration on how to engage with municipalities and other community partnerships. 

Located at the AT&T Convention Center, the space offered the best BBQ lunch and cookies bigger than my head. Near the close of the event, the leaders who participated in the unconference tracks presented on a few of the juiciest of the 15 -  20 topics presented on throughout the day. 

Attendees volunteered to present on the most popular items that included: 

1. Regional Alliances

As one member joins a cowork space and trust is established, that member is then approved to travel and partake in other collaborative work spaces that are in alliance with one another. Examples include a special alliance of Seattle cowork spaces, LEXC (League of Extraordinary Cowork Spaces) and global efforts such as Jellyweek. Some cowork spaces see one another as competitors, others are open to the idea and welcome the partnerships. 

2. Childcare

A Seattle cowork space owner wants to open childcare. Although she thinks “it is the best idea ever” she asked the group at large. Iris Kavanagh, founder of NextSpace and curator of the unconference track responded to the question, “We’re launching a pilot program in one of our California spaces and we will share our results with the community later this year.”

3. Tech Tool

Technology can manage community growth but it cannot be soley responsible to growing community.

This is a truism I personally see in media and marketing today too.  

4. Event Trends

Events are a great tool for a fertile cowork community. Some of the events cowork owners are using include lunch and learns where local professionals are invited to present to the community. Of course, food is a great incentive to bring local people into the events. Some are evolving the lunch and learns into actual workshops and education, changing the model as a classroom model. 

5. Icky Comments

Like any healthy family, there will be conflicts. One of the less attractive tasks of the cowork owners and community managers is conflict resolution within the community. Some suggestions to the occasional challenges? Be clear from the get go. Set and manage expectations. 

6. Ebb and Flow 

The rise and fall of members ares challenging to manage from a financial and moral position. Member retention strategies like good events, clear policies, marketing and recruitment programs are strongly recommended. Some cowork spaces offer celebrations when members leave, remembering that one of the reasons cowork members leave is because they’ve outgrown the space and are growing into the next level of business success. 

7. Expansion Plans

Think you are ready to grow? Be sure and have a contingency plan. Growing too fast can be difficult to your pocket book and your community.

Dave Walker, owner of Conjuctured in Austin talks to room (Dave’s roommate, Justin Timberlake twin sitting in crowd)

Liz Elam closed the conference giving the state of the cowork movement address. She shared the genesis of the cowork conference that started as a series of annual meetups in 2008 through 2010 in Berlin at Loosecubes. At this 2012 conference, there were 280 attendees who traveled as far as Australia, Hawaii and Europe. 

What does the future of cowork look like? Liz shared she’d like to see the hyphen dropped from the term co-working in every city and eventually she’d like to not have to explain what coworking is each time she talked about it. She encourage the crowd to stick with the core values and invited them all to the Texas Tailgate Tent party sponsored by Turnstone. 

The conference and unconference members gave Liz and the volunteers a standing ovation and filling the room with a spirit renewal and gratitude. Coworking is the place to be in 2012 and it is only going to get better in the next several months. As I ventured away from the enlightenment of this vibrant cowork community, I rolled into the South By Southwest conference and found myself talking up the cowork trend to anyone who would listen. 

Kyle Coolbroth, owner of CoCo Minneapolis I’m hoping to stay connected with the cowork leaders. I am fortunate to have met so many genuine professional thinkers, community developers and independent leaders through the cowork movement. It can only get better. 

The Perfect Cowork Space Search

Now that you are convinced that coworking may be a good fit for you and your professional needs, where can you find the best cowork space that fits your stlye, spirit and price tag?

With cowork spaces popping up all over the world, certainly there is a cowork space close to where you need to work, meet, collaborate during your next meeting, event or work day. Since no two spaces are alike, and since coworking is a relatively new industry, it can be difficult to find “coworking” in that big smelly yellow book called the Yellow Pages. You could Google your way, but since you are looking for the best cowork space and not necessarily the best SEO service hired by a cowork space, here are some great tools to search for that perfect space.  

Coworking WIKI (led by Rock Star Jacob Sayles)

Liquidspace

Loosecubes

Deskwanted

Desktime

#GCUC Cowork Speaker Spotlight: Benjamin Dyett

As we march closer to March 9th’s Global Conference Unconference Conference (a.k.a. GCUC, or juicy cowork conf) in Austin, Texas, the speaker list brightly glows with brilliance. Thought leaders, game changers, trail blazers and community builders of the new world order of coworking will tread the lands from the four corners of the world to meet together all in the name of coworking. 

Although I will be at the conference covering the event live as an event correspondent, I can’t help but review the speaker list and share some tidbits on some of the people and places that have sparked an special interest to me. As you may have read from our Cowork Collection posts, you know I am fascinated about the emerging trend of coworking. Since becoming an independent professional in 1999 and starting my own cowork space in Indiana in 2010, I am on a mission to meet professional pioneers who are not only upping the ante but who are creating the game. 

One of the stars lined up to speak at the GCUC this year is Benjamin Dyett. He’s slated to speak on a panel titled, How to Design, Build and Grow your Space for Collaboration on Friday morning. Dyett will represent his New York City cowork space, GRIND. Other companies represented during this panel discussion include Blankspaces (see NOV feature in our Cowork Collection >), Gensler and Cambridge Co-working Center. 

You may wonder why this speaker fascinates me and here’s why: Dyett puts the new into innovation. Dyette writes his own blueprint for his destiny. He once was a corporate attorney until he experienced a revelation that led to a revolution. In the 90s, Dyett officially dropped out of the confinements of corporate cubicles. As he embarked his journey as an independent, he worked from home from time to time, he sat in the corner at a friend’s office. He then realized that the time he was using to find the right space for his daily grind was getting in the way of a successful outcome from his grind. He became a change agent for the future of the work place. 

With the help of some friends, he created GRIND, a platform for working in a whole new way, outside the traditional system and floorplan. Speaking of floorplans, Dyett is not an architect, by trade. Though the other companies represented during this discussion are all cutting edge architects including Gensler who designed the workspace for NextSpace and the founder-slash-architect Jerome Chang who owns Blankspaces, Dyett is less like a traditional brick and mortar designer and more like an innovative solutions architect. 

2012 #GCUC, March 9, Austin, TXAlthough I have not had the privilege to visit GRIND in person, yet, I did take a glance of GRIND’s “kick-aes-thetics (that is my clean version of sounding hip, though some would disagree that is sounds very hip) web site” and I strongly believe that Dyett’s work space design deserves the right to speak on the subject. GRIND’s overall floorplan is much like the spirit in the room: wide open and brightly lit. Clean, easy, simple, no-nonsense professionalism. Resourcefully designed, down to the furnishings and flooring with special products selected for their earth-friendly materials. Pure design for collaboration and community. That, and it is sweet! Whatever this guy has to say, I’m confident it will be delicious and juicy for #GCUC attendees who thirst for tips on coworking success.   

Stay tuned as I share more tidbits and fun facts on Dyett and the juicy cowork conference. You can sign up to get live updates of my coverage from Austin’s Global Coworking Unconference Conference - and SXSW by the way, or follow me on Twitter @andreacook . 

Do you have a subject matter or topic you would like covered live? Learn more >

Jellyweek 2012 Event Details

The Midas Center is pleased to participate as a global host for the Worldwide Jellyweek 2012. 

Throughout the world, there will be folks joining together in honor of Jellyweek and the spirit of community, collaboration and coworking. People are participating by meeting at one another’s homes, coffee shops or public space and working together. 

The Midas Center Cowork Space will have its doors wide open and will welcome YOU to come in any day next week and work in our collaborative cowork-workspace. Free daily passes will be available to use throughout the entire week!

Bring a laptop (or whatever you need to get your work done) and watch how your productivity will increase when you join a community in a cowork environment.

To fully celebrate this global movement of coworking, The Midas Center Cowork Space welcomes YOU to participate in any of the following events throughout the week:

Monday - JAN 16 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST #Cowork+Chat All are welcome to join the LIVE chat via Google Hangout and Twitter. First 10 people to join G+ Hangout will get a link for a free eBook titled: 65 Reasons to Cowork by Andrea Cook. This LIVE chat is open to the public and will be co-hosted with Joel Bennett from Veel Hoeden, a cowork space in Iowa

Monday - JAN 16 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. EST Tweet-Up We will be hosting our first Tweet-up and welcome you, and you and your friend and her friend and well, everyone to join in on the tweet up. Pizza and door prizes will be provided. BYOD (d=drink and duh).

Tuesday - JAN 17 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Laptops to Lap Dogs: Bring your Dog to Work Day Talk about a Bow-Wow-Wow-Yippie-Yo-Yippie-Yow Meet up! Meet Clio Cook, the pug-a-riffic pal and treat your dog to some good wholesome community while you cowork. Dog treats will be available. Potty-trained dogs - and people only please. Wednesday - JAN 18 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All Day - Jelly and Jam Drive Drop off jellies, jams, gelatin or any pantry item that is sweet and jelly-like. All donated items will be given to help support the Marshall County Neighborhood Center’s food pantry. Stop in and work for the day or just drop it off by the front office door. Please note: This specialty food drive will take place all week in fact.

Thursday - JAN 19 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. LUNCHtime 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. EST Melting Pot of Chili Come on in, warm up and chill out and join us for lunch. You may bring a chili topping to share if you like but it is not required. We will provide the chili, spoon and bowl.

Friday 6 - 8 p.m. Family Potluck and Movie Night Bring the spouse and the kids if you’ve got em and some food and beverage to share. A kid-friendly flick will be on the big screen in the conference room loft and the adults can enjoy cocktails, conversation and competition fun over cards or board games. RSVP by email to acook [at] themidascenter [dotcom].

The Midas Center Joins Jellyweek 2012

The Midas Center is pleased to participate as a global host for the Worldwide Jellyweek 2012. 

Throughout the world, there will be folks joining together in honor of Jellyweek and the spirit of community, collaboration and coworking. People are participating by meeting at one another’s homes, coffee shops or public space and working together for the day. 

The Midas Center Cowork Space will have its doors wide open and will welcome YOU to come in any day next week and work in our collaborative cowork-workspace. 

Bring a laptop (or whatever you need to get your work done) and watch how your productivity will increase when you join a community of coworkers. 

To fully celebrate this global movement of coworking, The Midas Center Cowork Space welcomes YOU to participate in any of the following events:

Jellyweek Events at The Midas Center Cowork Space

January 16 - 20, Jellyweek 2012 

Monday - JAN 16 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2:00 - 3:00 EST 

#Cowork+Chat

All are welcome to join the LIVE chat via Google Hangout and Twitter. First 10 people to join G+ Hangout will get a link for a free eBook titled: 65 Reasons to Cowork by Andrea Cook. This LIVE chat is open to the public and will be co-hosted with Joel Bennett from Veel Hoeden, a cowork space in Iowa. 

6:00 - 8:00 p.m. EST 

Tweet-Up

We will be hosting our first Tweet-up and welcome you, and you and your friend and her friend and well, everyone to join in on the tweet up. Pizza and door prizes will be provided. BYOD (d=drink and duh).  

Tuesday - JAN 17 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Laptops to Lap Dogs: Bring your Dog to Work Day

Talk about a Bow-Wow-Wow-Yippie-Yo-Yippie-Yow Meet up! Meet Clio Cook, the pug-a-riffic pal and treat your dog to some good wholesome community while you cowork. Dog treats will be available. Potty-trained dogs - and people only please.  

Wednesday -  JAN 18 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All Day - Jelly and Jam Drive 

Drop off jellies, jams, gelatin or any pantry item that is sweet and jelly-like. All donated items will be given to help support the Marshall County Neightborhood Center’s food pantry. Stop in and work for the day or just drop it off by the front office door.  

Please note: This specialty food drive will take place all week in fact. 

Thursday -  JAN 19 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

LUNCHtime   12:00 - 2:00 p.m. EST 

Melting Pot of Chili

Come on in, warm up and chill out and join us for lunch. You may bring a chili topping to share if you like but it is not required. We will provide the chili, spoon and bowl.

Friday - JAN 20 - FREE DAILY PASSES FOR ALL 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

5:00 - 8:00 EST 

Family Potluck and Movie Night

Bring the kids and spouse and some food and beverage to share. A kid-friendly flick will be on the big screen in the conference room loft and the adults can enjoy cocktails, conversation and competition fun over cards or board games. RSVP by email to acook at themidascenter dot com.