Anyone out there also use their coworking space for events and, if so, are there dedicated desks with equipment on them in that space? Do you attempt to secure the equipment on the dedicated desks in some way?
Julia Ferguson
Cowork Frederick
Several of the Coworking spaces in Seattle host events in their spaces. Most often, those are the general floater areas and they are designed to have events. That is, there is no fixed desks in that space.
This is true for Impact Hub Seattle, Cowork Box, and Extra Slice.
Some places like Think Space, WeWork and Galvanize have separate Event or Classroom set aside.
We have seen things like startup weekend take over a whole coworking space, including the fixed desks. All of the members were asked to clear their desks and to lock up things that they had on the desk. Mostly those spaces have low rolling cabinets under the desk for holding things.
I don’t think that these events were particularly comfortable for the fixed desk members.
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On Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 7:40 AM, Julia Ferguson [email protected] wrote:
Julia Ferguson
Cowork Frederick
Anyone out there also use their coworking space for events and, if so, are there dedicated desks with equipment on them in that space? Do you attempt to secure the equipment on the dedicated desks in some way?
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We used to do that often, and never had anything go missing, not even a cable. We were always staffed during events, or a member was hosting via a bunch of event hosting rules. We didn't lock down equipment - physical locks can easily be worked around; we have Community Guidelines which I think are more effective, if they're enforced/people are held accountable.
Some members with reserved desks lock equipment; most don't. We do have lockers for members as an option, and most people don't put locks on them.
Years ago a member with a reserved desk suggested requiring at least a week's notice minimum to members: via email, and writing it clearly visible where members see signage in the space. That helped community vibes/communication/expectations.
Since moving from our first location we have many fewer events in the main spaces but I think it worked better for us to have more events.
-Alex Linsker, Collective Agency, Portland Oregon https://collectiveagency.co/
Hi Julie,
We have recently opened and have been doing some events to get a bit of exposure. Now that we have more fixed desk members it is becoming a little tricky. However we do have the benefit of being a fully open plan office. So we can move desks and book shelves to made computers etc relatively safe and out of the the way. However I believe that there will come a point when we can no longer host large events.
How long have you been open? I would be interested to know how fixed you were with your price plans in the initial stages. I have made a few custom packages but now I am more reluctant to do so. I am also getting requests for a better price for taking multiple fixed desks. I believe the demand is here so I am doing my best to keep to my fixed desk rate and hold out for members more willing to pay the going rate. We are nearly breaking even as we have not staff to pay, so their isn’t too much pressure and I am also keen to build a diverse community of members rather than have a space full of teams. (our space can seat around 30 members at desks + more on at break out areas if required) Always good to hear another point of view.
···
On Friday, March 16, 2018 at 2:40:10 PM UTC, Julia Ferguson wrote:
Anyone out there also use their coworking space for events and, if so, are there dedicated desks with equipment on them in that space? Do you attempt to secure the equipment on the dedicated desks in some way?
Julia Ferguson
Cowork Frederick
We have recently opened and have been doing some events to get a bit of exposure. Now that we have more fixed desk members it is becoming a little tricky. However we do have the benefit of being a fully open plan office. So we can move desks and book shelves to made computers etc relatively safe and out of the the way. However I believe that there will come a point when we can no longer host large events.
I’ve learned something fairly counterintuitive about events & coworking: it’s weird but while smaller events may have less individuals attend but if it’s the right kind of event, smaller events are often MUCH better for membership building (and supporting your existing community). Large events can be good for creating noise/buzz, but they tend to convert very poorly to membership (I’ve heard this over and over and over in basically every market). Smaller, more intimate events (lunch and learns, show & tells, roundtable discussions, etc) are much better for building bonds that make people see the value beyond the space…and as a result often convert much better.
There are some people who do events really, really well. Many of them will tell you that they essentially run it an entirely separate business. Increasingly I’m hearing from people who are deciding to decouple their coworking businesses from their events businesses because events are so disruptive to members who want to work.
I am also getting requests for a better price for taking multiple fixed desks.
This is super common, but we don’t do it and I generally recommend against it. If all you were doing was renting desks you can theoretically get “economies of scale” and having one person come in wanting to pay a larger $$ can be attractive, but the flip side of that is…
a) there’s more liability (if they leave they all leave at once, and you have to work a lot harder to replace that revenue) but also
b) it’s actually more work to help people on teams connect with people outside of their teams. I often joke with the handful of teams we have as members…really, we should be charging them MORE per head (and truthfully, we might at some point).
It’s not that teams are bad - it’s that their needs are fundamentally different from individuals. Kudos to you for seeing that so early on 
And some teams are much better at this than others, so we do quite a bit of work early in the relationship to get a sense of why they want to be here. Our most consistent successes with teams are when they actually grow from within the community (start as 1-2 people, then add people over time and even hire from within the community) vs the people who come in a 3+ people. I talk a bit more about why that dynamic is different (and what we do about it) in this interview from CUAsia back in Feb.
-Alex
···
On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 10:25 AM, Max Humphreys [email protected] wrote:
Hi Julie,
We have recently opened and have been doing some events to get a bit of exposure. Now that we have more fixed desk members it is becoming a little tricky. However we do have the benefit of being a fully open plan office. So we can move desks and book shelves to made computers etc relatively safe and out of the the way. However I believe that there will come a point when we can no longer host large events.
How long have you been open? I would be interested to know how fixed you were with your price plans in the initial stages. I have made a few custom packages but now I am more reluctant to do so. I am also getting requests for a better price for taking multiple fixed desks. I believe the demand is here so I am doing my best to keep to my fixed desk rate and hold out for members more willing to pay the going rate. We are nearly breaking even as we have not staff to pay, so their isn’t too much pressure and I am also keen to build a diverse community of members rather than have a space full of teams. (our space can seat around 30 members at desks + more on at break out areas if required) Always good to hear another point of view.
On Friday, March 16, 2018 at 2:40:10 PM UTC, Julia Ferguson wrote:
Anyone out there also use their coworking space for events and, if so, are there dedicated desks with equipment on them in that space? Do you attempt to secure the equipment on the dedicated desks in some way?
Julia Ferguson
Cowork Frederick
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The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.
Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten
Strong +1 to both of Alex’s comments.
There’s definitely marketing value in having big events, but in our experience conversions are terrible and it highly reduces the work environment for your community. Our best events by far for the community are the small and largely informal ones where members get a chance to get to know one another better: the annual Christmas dinner, weekly coffee breaks, a monthly “beer Friday”, weekly planned lunches out, an occasional summer barbecue. These are all members-only events, but our good events that are open to the public tend to be those that introduce non-members to members: monthly pub nights, monthly game nights.
Regarding team discounts: I’ve almost always found team memberships to be more “expensive” than individual memberships, but that’s partly because our space is primarily oriented toward solo-workers. But there are some great counterexamples and it really depends on the team. We don’t have private offices and we don’t have good group work areas for teams that woulnd’t disrupt the rest of the space. And honestly we target solo-workers, because in my opinion coworking serves a much more important role for that group. In that context, team discounts charge less for the members that take more work and that are more likely to reduce rather than improve the quality of the space as a whole. But we’ve had a couple large groups during our slower months (the summer) who have been great. Partly because they’re not really teams (they’ve been groups of digital nomads getting to know each other and happy to get to know other members in the space), partly because many of them don’t end up using the space at all and it’s just an offered perk. Of course, that latter reason isn’t good for community building, but it’s good for paying the bills, and warrants a discount, as long as you’ve been clear about expectations for the members.
···
On Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at 5:28:30 PM UTC+2, Alex Hillman wrote:
We have recently opened and have been doing some events to get a bit of exposure. Now that we have more fixed desk members it is becoming a little tricky. However we do have the benefit of being a fully open plan office. So we can move desks and book shelves to made computers etc relatively safe and out of the the way. However I believe that there will come a point when we can no longer host large events.
I’ve learned something fairly counterintuitive about events & coworking: it’s weird but while smaller events may have less individuals attend but if it’s the right kind of event, smaller events are often MUCH better for membership building (and supporting your existing community). Large events can be good for creating noise/buzz, but they tend to convert very poorly to membership (I’ve heard this over and over and over in basically every market). Smaller, more intimate events (lunch and learns, show & tells, roundtable discussions, etc) are much better for building bonds that make people see the value beyond the space…and as a result often convert much better.
There are some people who do events really, really well. Many of them will tell you that they essentially run it an entirely separate business. Increasingly I’m hearing from people who are deciding to decouple their coworking businesses from their events businesses because events are so disruptive to members who want to work.
I am also getting requests for a better price for taking multiple fixed desks.
This is super common, but we don’t do it and I generally recommend against it. If all you were doing was renting desks you can theoretically get “economies of scale” and having one person come in wanting to pay a larger $$ can be attractive, but the flip side of that is…
a) there’s more liability (if they leave they all leave at once, and you have to work a lot harder to replace that revenue) but also
b) it’s actually more work to help people on teams connect with people outside of their teams. I often joke with the handful of teams we have as members…really, we should be charging them MORE per head (and truthfully, we might at some point).
It’s not that teams are bad - it’s that their needs are fundamentally different from individuals. Kudos to you for seeing that so early on
And some teams are much better at this than others, so we do quite a bit of work early in the relationship to get a sense of why they want to be here. Our most consistent successes with teams are when they actually grow from within the community (start as 1-2 people, then add people over time and even hire from within the community) vs the people who come in a 3+ people. I talk a bit more about why that dynamic is different (and what we do about it) in this interview from CUAsia back in Feb.
-Alex
The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.
Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten
On Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 10:25 AM, Max Humphreys [email protected] wrote:
Hi Julie,
We have recently opened and have been doing some events to get a bit of exposure. Now that we have more fixed desk members it is becoming a little tricky. However we do have the benefit of being a fully open plan office. So we can move desks and book shelves to made computers etc relatively safe and out of the the way. However I believe that there will come a point when we can no longer host large events.
How long have you been open? I would be interested to know how fixed you were with your price plans in the initial stages. I have made a few custom packages but now I am more reluctant to do so. I am also getting requests for a better price for taking multiple fixed desks. I believe the demand is here so I am doing my best to keep to my fixed desk rate and hold out for members more willing to pay the going rate. We are nearly breaking even as we have not staff to pay, so their isn’t too much pressure and I am also keen to build a diverse community of members rather than have a space full of teams. (our space can seat around 30 members at desks + more on at break out areas if required) Always good to hear another point of view.
On Friday, March 16, 2018 at 2:40:10 PM UTC, Julia Ferguson wrote:
Anyone out there also use their coworking space for events and, if so, are there dedicated desks with equipment on them in that space? Do you attempt to secure the equipment on the dedicated desks in some way?
Julia Ferguson
Cowork Frederick
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