I have had a few people ask me what events I threw at the coworking space I managed…here are few of my favorite things:
Food Trucks-I would have local trucks come and provide food for the members, mostly it was the members paid for their own, but I did have a few trucks come where we paid for it…ie we had an ice cream cart come and we had an ice cream social in the middle of summer. I would mostly look up new/up-and-coming food trucks, this would be help them gain exposure AND there wouldn’t be a fee for coming.
Cook-outs- These were probably my most popular events, we did these almost every other month…we would provide the food for these events, I would ask people to bring dessert if they wanted. We had a grill so we would pull it out on the patio and grill up a bunch of hot dogs and hamburgers and people LOVED this…free food is always a winner. We also had cornhole, so we would pull this out during the cookouts, I would also pull out tables and get people to sit together-help to encourage the community!
Chili Cook Off-this was a TON of fun…we had 7 different members bring in different chili they made, one of the offices sponsored the event (so they brought all the toppings) then we tasted all the chili and people voted. This was super fun and really got people involved. We even had a gold ladle statue for the winner!
Happy Hours-both on site and off site…going to local nearby bars was always good, and I would try to create a relationship with the owner and get discounts and then send people to the restaurant/bar at other times. With a number of establishments I worked out a neighborhood discount that I could extend to my members.
Commuter Challenge- I ran a commuter challenge where people would log their distance commuting ie: bike, walk or public transit. I gave out prizes for longest and shortest distance, most days/least days, commuting in bad weather, first time commuters go a mention… I didn’t want it to just be about longest/most days…I also went around one day, ringing a bike bell and gave everyone a prize pack just for participating (prize pack being some granola bars, little snacks, ResQ water etc)…the members really appreciated being recognized.
Scavenger Hunt around the neighborhood-this also is a great way to provide exposure to your neighborhood partners and help your members to see what is around your space.
I hope this might help!
Jen Anderson
Former Operations Manager at Thrive Ballpark
Denver, CO