06/17/2019
How can you SHOW that your coworking community is so much more than a workspace?
My friend Cat Johnson recently posted an interview she conducted with me on her excellent podcast, Coworking Out Loud. Check it out here:
https://catjohnson.co/podcast/tony-bacigalupo/
We discussed the global impact coworking has had, and how hungry I continue to be to take things further.
For all the good coworking has done to change the world's relationship with work, it's now largely perceived as just another way to rent workspace.
But you aren't doing this because you just want to rent workspace... right?
So what are you here for, then?
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What does it mean to be more than a workspace?
Since moving back to New York City, I’ve been getting to know some of the more under-the-radar spaces I had heard about but hadn’t visited yet.
It turns out there are some pretty amazing little communities out there that most people don’t know about.
For example, The Artist Co-op has been offering one of the coziest spaces I’ve seen in Manhattan, right on 52nd Street, for eminently affordable rates. They’re geared towards the performing arts, so they have rehearsal rooms for rent by the hour.
Prime Produce, just around the corner on 54th, is a wholly member-owned, service-oriented cooperative with a ground-level event space. Everyone there personally introduced themselves to me when they saw I was new. It was refreshing.
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For all the talk of the big coworking chains, the stories of special communities like these go largely untold.
A lot of people—even me!—have fallen into the trap of thinking that coworking has been all but subsumed by the office rental industry it transformed.
In truth, it’s growing in a bunch of different directions at once.
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There are millions of people who *could* be members of coworking spaces but aren’t members of any. These unheralded spaces hold some of the answers.
My story mimics that of many of those people—I work from home. I don’t need a workspace and certainly don’t need to pay for one—my home setup is great!
I do, however, need an excuse to get out of the house and find a crew of people who can help me stay on track and troubleshoot challenges as they arise.
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I don’t need coworking space. I badly need coworking community.
For a long time now, I’ve been advocating for programming-driven membership for this reason. If a space can offer a way for people like me to connect with others at a designated time to set goals and share accountability, I’d gladly pay for a membership.
I might not pay for a full desk rental, but I would pay simply for the ability to participate in a group like that.
As I get to know these spaces better, I may develop a partnership with one of them to develop this kind of approach further.
It’s something I’m already working with several members of the New Work Cities network on implementing in their spaces.
Offering something like this is a terrific way of standing out from the other spaces in your city and providing an onramp to higher levels of membership.
It’s one way of showing why you’re more than a workspace.
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How do you tell the story of what you’re doing and why it’s special?
Share your story in the comments!
I’m looking out for opportunities for us to better tell those stories together. Let’s keep the discussion going!
Tony
Tony Bacigalupo from New Work Cities is a coworking legend. His commitment to community coworking is unwavering & he's a champion for indie space operators.
