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

Cowork Collection: Strongbox West

We are pleased to share our next feature with you from our growing compilation of our Cowork Collection. In our efforts to learn more about the variety of locations, missions, visions, costs and management styles of the cowork spaces around the world, we are reaching out and inviting cowork fans to share with us more on their own space. 

   

If you want to find “some of the coolest startups in Atlanta,” you will find them at Strongbox West, a shared workspace located in Atlanta West Midland area at 1736 Defoor Place.

This cowork space, owned by Amy Hoover and Rick Myers has a thriving membership of about 70 professionals. Working independently together in a stellar office setting of exposed brick walls and modern furnishings, people on fire with an entrepreneuerial passion are drawn to join and end up thriving to succeed. Hear the Strongbox West mantra:

Part office, part inspiration, part hub, we’re your jumping off point. This isn’t another office. Strongbox West is your place. You can work privately, you can work with others, you can drink free coffee, you can meet, and meet again. You can move your business forward.

Check out the membership directory to see who the the movers and shakers are proving they are moving their own businesses forward Strongbox West Membership Directory >

It is an honor to peek into the world of Strongbox West. They have a lot to offer their community and the world at large. There is a lot that other cowork spaces could learn from them! 

Power to the Strongbox West friends! 

The Midas Center Cowork Space strives to learn more about the emergence of the cowork culture.

The more we connect with other coworking professionals, the more fascinated we become over the endless styles, stories, benefits and people coworking throughout the world. We would like to share the stories with you as we discover more about how this emerging activity is changing the workplace. 

We hope to showcase one tidbit of cowork spaces throughout the globe and will be sharing them with you in our Cowork Collection. If you would like to see more of the Cowork Collection on cowork spaces, click here >

If you would like to be part of the Cowork Collection, share your story >

Cowork Owner Cook on Economic Outlook Panel

Please tune in to Economic Outlook this week as the show focuses on the topic of coworking and its impact on economic development. The show airs Friday, January 6 at 8:30 pm and repeats Sunday, Jan. 8 at 12:30 pm on local channels of public broadcasts of WNIT. 

Hosted by Phil D’Amico, the Director of Business Growth at the Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, this stimulating 30-minute program reaches out to the business and educational decision-makers who explore the risks and opportunities at work in today’s markets. Selected panel discussions focus on issues around economic growth, the impact of education on economic development, key industry sectors, the impact of trade on employment, and a host of related issues.

Andrea Cook, co-owner of The Midas Center Cowork Space in downtown Plymouth, Indiana will participate as a panelist for the show to be aired this week. She shares, “Coworking in rural communities can have a positive impact for economic development for communities who support independent professionals. It is an attractive draw for innovative and entrepreneurial types of professionals.” This emerging trend of coworking has many benefits to professionals and the communities that support coworking as a vital economic tool.

Cook has written an ebook titled, “65 Reasons to Cowork” and it can be downloaded for free here >> 

The show will be available online along with the other episodes after the program airs later this week. You may view this here >>

Cowork Collection: BLANKSPACES

“Collaboration,” one of the many fantastic must-see BLANKSPACES commercials.

We are pleased to provide a treat of cowork candy for all of you today!

In our efforts to learn more about the variety of locations, missions, visions, costs and management styles of the cowork spaces around the world, we are reaching out and inviting cowork fans to share with us more on their own space. 

Jerome Chang, owner of BLANKSPACES shares photos of a thriving cowork space with 175 members across two locations in California, one in Los Angeles and one in Santa Monica. Jerome comments on the genesis of the name BLANKSPACES, as it is “derived from an academic discussion among my architecture classmates about the “interstitial”, or blank spaces in a spread out city, a collection of intense nodes of activities, with interstitial spaces in between that could be revitalized or intensified.”

We are pleased to share with you a peek into BLANKSPACES today as part of our Cowork Collection. For starters, we are impressed with some of the BLANKSPACES commercials available on their web site and wanted to share one of our favorite clips with you, called “Collaboration.” 

We recommend you to treat yourself to a few minutes of viewing pleasure and watch these quick commercials showing the benefits in cowork spaces. Check it out >

Also, we want to share some photos of some interior views of the BLANKSPACES locations and have included some of them in this slideshow. We encourage you to visit BLANKSPACES online to learn more about their unique space and story.  

Our mission is to provide a modern, communal workspace that will inspire creativity, promote occupational freedom and accommodate independent professionals and entrepreneurs with ever-changing schedules and needs.

The Midas Center Cowork Space strives to learn more about the emergence of the cowork culture.

The more we connect with other coworking professionals, the more fascinated we become over the endless styles, stories, benefits and people coworking throughout the world. We would like to share the stories with you as we discover more about how this emerging activity is changing the workplace. 

We hope to showcase one tidbit of cowork spaces throughout the globe and will be sharing them with you in our Cowork Collection. If you would like to see more of the Cowork Collection on cowork spaces, click here >
If you would like to be part of the Cowork Collection, share your story >