We are looking to link some of the local coworking spaces together under one passport. We are already a member of the Coworking Visa for national use, but wanted to start something locally as well for spaces that our members would use more frequently. Does anyone have suggestions of models that have worked? We are looking at the amount to charge, hours allowed in those spaces, how to verify membership, etc.
Hi Liz,
We did a coworking passport program last year in Toronto.
http://www.coworkingtoronto.ca/passport/
We’ve been chatting as a local collective on how to improve the passport program for another release this year or early in 2014.
I can answer any questions you might have - or reach out to Rachel Young at Camaraderie / CoworkingToronto.
Ashley Proctor
Foundery
ash…@foundery.is
www.foundery.is
···
On Aug 19, 2013, at 3:47 PM, Liz Tracy wrote:
We are looking to link some of the local coworking spaces together under one passport. We are already a member of the Coworking Visa for national use, but wanted to start something locally as well for spaces that our members would use more frequently. Does anyone have suggestions of models that have worked? We are looking at the amount to charge, hours allowed in those spaces, how to verify membership, etc.
–
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Hi Liz,
Some spaces within the CoworkingToronto collective ran a trial passport program last year. The Passport Program was a 9month promotion intended for those new to coworking to try out several different spaces at one cost (a significant discount from the cost of a day pass at each of the 7 locations), by way of a cardstock passport (a photo is here). None of the spaces financially benefited directly from the program itself, since all of the money went back into the marketing budget for our collective, however some spaces did get members sign up as a result of the program.
We sold it for $75 at participating spaces, of which there were 7 (or $82 if they bought it online and wanted it mailed to them), and then for the last third of the promotion we also ran a daily deal with ethicalDeal for the passport to sell at $25. I managed that project, including designing and printing the passport, writing the participation agreement, established a tracking system using a Google docs spreadsheet that all spaces had access to, and coordinated the media relations and the ethicalDeal promotion.
We also made it transferable, so even though there were downtown spaces, east end spaces, and west end spaces, if someone only lived in, say, the east end but had a friend in the west end, they could give it (or sell it, I suppose) to their friend to use the remaining spaces. We also ensured that it was the size of a credit card so that it could fit into their wallet easily.
This was the first real project that we worked on as a collective of spaces in our city. We had attended a few events together, but it was a great effort with promising results for when we do another one and garnered us some good media attention as well (here, here, here, and here). Plus it provided us with some money to do things collectively the rest of the year that didn’t have to come out of our pockets.
We’ve talked about doing another one, either paper again or as an app, and we learned a lot from running that promotion - from what to do if spaces close during the promotion, to how to onboard another space when there’s an available spot on the passport, to promotion, to realising the sheer benefits of working together as a collective. We’ve discussed whether we’d do a short or longer length next time, and whether it would be paper or digital, if we’d piggyback on another service, how we’d make some changes, if we’d charge again (we now collect nominal annual dues for the collective, which is what now fuels our marketing budget), etc. And this reminds me that I should put this on our agenda for our monthly meetup on Wed. 
Though I’d really curious to see how the Seattle Collaborative Space Alliance’s 5visit mug promotion turns out too. I’ll leave that to the Seattle folks to explain, but do let me know if you have any questions about the Toronto passport.
r.
···
____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca
We’re now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor
(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)
Toronto, ON M6R 1X6
See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.
Find us online:
Website/blog and Newsletter
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
On 19 August 2013 15:47, Liz Tracy [email protected] wrote:
We are looking to link some of the local coworking spaces together under one passport. We are already a member of the Coworking Visa for national use, but wanted to start something locally as well for spaces that our members would use more frequently. Does anyone have suggestions of models that have worked? We are looking at the amount to charge, hours allowed in those spaces, how to verify membership, etc.
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
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Denver Coworks, our local coworking alliance, is looking into a regional passport as well. Compared to the Toronto one that Rachel described ours is different in that it will focus on being a pass to all the spaces so companies can purchase multiple memberships and then the individuals find the best spot for them. Toronto’s passport is for promotional purposes and to encourage individuals to find a space while ours is to create an easy system for bulk sales while still letting people select the best community for them.
I am leading this project and it will also be a business for me with financial benefits for everyone.
Here is the basic structure:
Find spaces that are willing to participate and agree to a pre-determined day rate. Ours will be around $15 to each space per day.
Sell passports to companies that will distribute them to their employees. Passports will sell for $350 to $400 for unlimited days at any space.
The workers can choose any space on the passport or follow company’s code.
Passport holders check in to track attendance. This may be done with a simple sign in form or a app on a tablet or ipod at the front of the space.
Passport holders hopefully continue to work at the space that works best for them and will be important parts of the community.
DeskTime and Liquidspace are somewhat trying to do something similar but we are focusing on a local market for smaller companies.
Craig
Craig (and others):
On the logistics side of things, the passports are being sold by the participating spaces or by a 3rd party entity?
-Alex
···
–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:00 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:
Denver Coworks, our local coworking alliance, is looking into a regional passport as well. Compared to the Toronto one that Rachel described ours is different in that it will focus on being a pass to all the spaces so companies can purchase multiple memberships and then the individuals find the best spot for them. Toronto’s passport is for promotional purposes and to encourage individuals to find a space while ours is to create an easy system for bulk sales while still letting people select the best community for them.
I am leading this project and it will also be a business for me with financial benefits for everyone.
Here is the basic structure:
Find spaces that are willing to participate and agree to a pre-determined day rate. Ours will be around $15 to each space per day.
Sell passports to companies that will distribute them to their employees. Passports will sell for $350 to $400 for unlimited days at any space.
The workers can choose any space on the passport or follow company’s code.
Passport holders check in to track attendance. This may be done with a simple sign in form or a app on a tablet or ipod at the front of the space.
Passport holders hopefully continue to work at the space that works best for them and will be important parts of the community.
DeskTime and Liquidspace are somewhat trying to do something similar but we are focusing on a local market for smaller companies.
Craig
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
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For the CoworkingToronto one it was sold at participating spaces, but also online. We didn’t think it was necessary to involve a 3rd party for the first trial.
I love seeing variations of this kind of promotion. Craig, I love how you’ve tied in businesses and corporations too.
r.
···
____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca
We’re now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor
(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)
Toronto, ON M6R 1X6
See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.
Find us online:
Website/blog and Newsletter
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
We’re a proud member of
CoworkingToronto, CoworkingOntario,
and CoworkingCanada!
On 19 August 2013 17:05, Alex Hillman [email protected] wrote:
Craig (and others):
On the logistics side of things, the passports are being sold by the participating spaces or by a 3rd party entity?
-Alex
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
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–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:00 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:
Denver Coworks, our local coworking alliance, is looking into a regional passport as well. Compared to the Toronto one that Rachel described ours is different in that it will focus on being a pass to all the spaces so companies can purchase multiple memberships and then the individuals find the best spot for them. Toronto’s passport is for promotional purposes and to encourage individuals to find a space while ours is to create an easy system for bulk sales while still letting people select the best community for them.
I am leading this project and it will also be a business for me with financial benefits for everyone.
Here is the basic structure:
Find spaces that are willing to participate and agree to a pre-determined day rate. Ours will be around $15 to each space per day.
Sell passports to companies that will distribute them to their employees. Passports will sell for $350 to $400 for unlimited days at any space.
The workers can choose any space on the passport or follow company’s code.
Passport holders check in to track attendance. This may be done with a simple sign in form or a app on a tablet or ipod at the front of the space.
Passport holders hopefully continue to work at the space that works best for them and will be important parts of the community.
DeskTime and Liquidspace are somewhat trying to do something similar but we are focusing on a local market for smaller companies.
Craig
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
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Rachel,
So does the space that sells the pass retain the revenue, or distribute it as they’re used at other participating spaces?
···
–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:08 PM, rachel young [email protected] wrote:
For the CoworkingToronto one it was sold at participating spaces, but also online. We didn’t think it was necessary to involve a 3rd party for the first trial.
I love seeing variations of this kind of promotion. Craig, I love how you’ve tied in businesses and corporations too.
r.
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca
We’re now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor
(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)
Toronto, ON M6R 1X6
See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.
Find us online:
Website/blog and Newsletter
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
We’re a proud member of
CoworkingToronto, CoworkingOntario,
and CoworkingCanada!
On 19 August 2013 17:05, Alex Hillman [email protected] wrote:
Craig (and others):
On the logistics side of things, the passports are being sold by the participating spaces or by a 3rd party entity?
-Alex
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:00 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:
Denver Coworks, our local coworking alliance, is looking into a regional passport as well. Compared to the Toronto one that Rachel described ours is different in that it will focus on being a pass to all the spaces so companies can purchase multiple memberships and then the individuals find the best spot for them. Toronto’s passport is for promotional purposes and to encourage individuals to find a space while ours is to create an easy system for bulk sales while still letting people select the best community for them.
I am leading this project and it will also be a business for me with financial benefits for everyone.
Here is the basic structure:
Find spaces that are willing to participate and agree to a pre-determined day rate. Ours will be around $15 to each space per day.
Sell passports to companies that will distribute them to their employees. Passports will sell for $350 to $400 for unlimited days at any space.
The workers can choose any space on the passport or follow company’s code.
Passport holders check in to track attendance. This may be done with a simple sign in form or a app on a tablet or ipod at the front of the space.
Passport holders hopefully continue to work at the space that works best for them and will be important parts of the community.
DeskTime and Liquidspace are somewhat trying to do something similar but we are focusing on a local market for smaller companies.
Craig
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
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None of our spaces got any money for selling the passports or for redeeming days. All of the funds went into the bank for the CoworkingToronto marketing budget, so when a space sold one, they handed over the funds to the collective.
The promotion itself wasn’t meant to be a money maker for the individual spaces, but rather a convenient and sorta fun way to to generate awareness about our coworking spaces.
r.
···
____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca
We’re now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor
(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)
Toronto, ON M6R 1X6
See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.
Find us online:
Website/blog and Newsletter
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
We’re a proud member of
CoworkingToronto, CoworkingOntario,
and CoworkingCanada!
On 19 August 2013 17:10, Alex Hillman [email protected] wrote:
Rachel,
So does the space that sells the pass retain the revenue, or distribute it as they’re used at other participating spaces?
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:08 PM, rachel young [email protected] wrote:
For the CoworkingToronto one it was sold at participating spaces, but also online. We didn’t think it was necessary to involve a 3rd party for the first trial.
I love seeing variations of this kind of promotion. Craig, I love how you’ve tied in businesses and corporations too.
r.
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca
We’re now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor
(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)
Toronto, ON M6R 1X6
See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.
Find us online:
Website/blog and Newsletter
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
We’re a proud member of
CoworkingToronto, CoworkingOntario,
and CoworkingCanada!
On 19 August 2013 17:05, Alex Hillman [email protected] wrote:
Craig (and others):
On the logistics side of things, the passports are being sold by the participating spaces or by a 3rd party entity?
-Alex
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:00 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:
Denver Coworks, our local coworking alliance, is looking into a regional passport as well. Compared to the Toronto one that Rachel described ours is different in that it will focus on being a pass to all the spaces so companies can purchase multiple memberships and then the individuals find the best spot for them. Toronto’s passport is for promotional purposes and to encourage individuals to find a space while ours is to create an easy system for bulk sales while still letting people select the best community for them.
I am leading this project and it will also be a business for me with financial benefits for everyone.
Here is the basic structure:
Find spaces that are willing to participate and agree to a pre-determined day rate. Ours will be around $15 to each space per day.
Sell passports to companies that will distribute them to their employees. Passports will sell for $350 to $400 for unlimited days at any space.
The workers can choose any space on the passport or follow company’s code.
Passport holders check in to track attendance. This may be done with a simple sign in form or a app on a tablet or ipod at the front of the space.
Passport holders hopefully continue to work at the space that works best for them and will be important parts of the community.
DeskTime and Liquidspace are somewhat trying to do something similar but we are focusing on a local market for smaller companies.
Craig
–
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Craig, have you decided if you’ll have a physical passport or an app? And if a physical passport, is it a cardstock like what we had or a refillable card? or something else?
And will your spaces get a payment for redemptions? If so, how do you plan to do that?
r.
···
____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca
We’re now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor
(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)
Toronto, ON M6R 1X6
See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.
Find us online:
Website/blog and Newsletter
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
We’re a proud member of
CoworkingToronto, CoworkingOntario,
and CoworkingCanada!
On 19 August 2013 17:00, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:
Denver Coworks, our local coworking alliance, is looking into a regional passport as well. Compared to the Toronto one that Rachel described ours is different in that it will focus on being a pass to all the spaces so companies can purchase multiple memberships and then the individuals find the best spot for them. Toronto’s passport is for promotional purposes and to encourage individuals to find a space while ours is to create an easy system for bulk sales while still letting people select the best community for them.
I am leading this project and it will also be a business for me with financial benefits for everyone.
Here is the basic structure:
Find spaces that are willing to participate and agree to a pre-determined day rate. Ours will be around $15 to each space per day.
Sell passports to companies that will distribute them to their employees. Passports will sell for $350 to $400 for unlimited days at any space.
The workers can choose any space on the passport or follow company’s code.
Passport holders check in to track attendance. This may be done with a simple sign in form or a app on a tablet or ipod at the front of the space.
Passport holders hopefully continue to work at the space that works best for them and will be important parts of the community.
DeskTime and Liquidspace are somewhat trying to do something similar but we are focusing on a local market for smaller companies.
Craig
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
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Ah ha! Clever collaborative fundraising.
I dig it.
···
–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:15 PM, rachel young [email protected] wrote:
None of our spaces got any money for selling the passports or for redeeming days. All of the funds went into the bank for the CoworkingToronto marketing budget, so when a space sold one, they handed over the funds to the collective.
The promotion itself wasn’t meant to be a money maker for the individual spaces, but rather a convenient and sorta fun way to to generate awareness about our coworking spaces.
r.
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca
We’re now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor
(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)
Toronto, ON M6R 1X6
See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.
Find us online:
Website/blog and Newsletter
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
We’re a proud member of
CoworkingToronto, CoworkingOntario,
and CoworkingCanada!
On 19 August 2013 17:10, Alex Hillman [email protected] wrote:
Rachel,
So does the space that sells the pass retain the revenue, or distribute it as they’re used at other participating spaces?
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:08 PM, rachel young [email protected] wrote:
For the CoworkingToronto one it was sold at participating spaces, but also online. We didn’t think it was necessary to involve a 3rd party for the first trial.
I love seeing variations of this kind of promotion. Craig, I love how you’ve tied in businesses and corporations too.
r.
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
____________________
rachel youngrac…@camaraderie.ca
We’re now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor
(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)
Toronto, ON M6R 1X6
See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.
Find us online:
Website/blog and Newsletter
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
We’re a proud member of
CoworkingToronto, CoworkingOntario,
and CoworkingCanada!
On 19 August 2013 17:05, Alex Hillman [email protected] wrote:
Craig (and others):
On the logistics side of things, the passports are being sold by the participating spaces or by a 3rd party entity?
-Alex
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
–
/ah
indyhall.org
coworking in philadelphia
On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:00 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking [email protected] wrote:
Denver Coworks, our local coworking alliance, is looking into a regional passport as well. Compared to the Toronto one that Rachel described ours is different in that it will focus on being a pass to all the spaces so companies can purchase multiple memberships and then the individuals find the best spot for them. Toronto’s passport is for promotional purposes and to encourage individuals to find a space while ours is to create an easy system for bulk sales while still letting people select the best community for them.
I am leading this project and it will also be a business for me with financial benefits for everyone.
Here is the basic structure:
Find spaces that are willing to participate and agree to a pre-determined day rate. Ours will be around $15 to each space per day.
Sell passports to companies that will distribute them to their employees. Passports will sell for $350 to $400 for unlimited days at any space.
The workers can choose any space on the passport or follow company’s code.
Passport holders check in to track attendance. This may be done with a simple sign in form or a app on a tablet or ipod at the front of the space.
Passport holders hopefully continue to work at the space that works best for them and will be important parts of the community.
DeskTime and Liquidspace are somewhat trying to do something similar but we are focusing on a local market for smaller companies.
Craig
–
Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
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Hi guys ! It's really interesting to read this discussion and to have some feedbacks on the different local initiatives that have been done here and there.
We've been working a lot on the topic and are now close to releasing Copass. We wanted to tackle the issue of going from one space to another both locally and globally and to facilitate the connections between the different communities. So here is our take on this.
Copass is a platform that will offer two types of memberships. The free membership is basically an enhanced version of the coworking visa. Spaces when they join can choose if they want to offer between 0 and 3 free trial days for Copass members. the explorer memberships will cost around 65$ . Explorers can then buy some credit on their account. Whenever they go to a space of the network, they just have to tell their card number. The space just has to type the code and check the guy in. The members credit is then actualized and the space will receive the amount corresponding to the daily price he entered. We ask spaces of the network to reduce their daily price from 20% to have something affordable for members. Explorers can even form teams and share some credit. So for instance , a startup or a creative company can buy some credits for its teammates and allow them to work from wherever they want .
This is for the technical side . But we also build some social features. For instance , when you meet awesome folks in a space, you can add them to your friends and receive some notifications whenever they check in in the same city or in a space you recommended. This allow copassers to easily keep in touch and meet in real life.
Finally we want to improve the experience of finding a space with a recommendation system. Copassers can recommend spaces and their friends an the community will then be able to identify spaces that match their expectations.
Copass works both locally and globally. We already have more than 100 spaces that joined the network before we launched and we are very excited on the new lifestyle this kind of system could enable. Copass is not limited to coworking spaces. We also have some Fablabs , hacker spaces or bio hacker spaces in the network and we think this is extremely cool.
You can find a little more Infos on Copass.org but the website is outdated as we are now focusing on coding and designing the platform to have a beta version by the end of September . Don't hesitate to ask me questions if you d like. You can also email me at [email protected] if you prefer.
We can't wait to start and have your feedbacks.
Eric from Mutinerie, coworking space in Paris and Copass
Hi All,
I didn’t want to announce this yet because I’m not crazy about the wording on the home page and this is an Open Coworking project that I wanted to wait to announce until that was coordinated. Just haven’t found the time to do those things and too much time has passed already. But as this conversation is active and our system is in place and works, it doesn’t make sense not to announce it here.
A small group of coworking spaces in Prague, Czech Republic came to an agreement to share our memberships that is simple and, like the Coworking Visa, requires no administration or intermediary (besides a list of participants and what they’re agreeing to). It will clearly work best with international participation (like the Coworking Visa or the fax, strength is in the number of participants :). Here’s our shared website for the project: www.coworkingwithoutborders.com. There are no fees or legal contracts or money handling between spaces (or with “Coworking Without Borders”!). That’s it. It’s more complicated than the Visa but it also facilitates essentially unlimited membership exchange across full-time members of participating spaces. It’s not meant to replace the Visa (all of our spaces participate in both), but it allows for much more.
We’d love to have more participating spaces, so have a look and add your space to the list (click the “Regiter your space” link and fill out the Google form). If you have any full-time members who want to use one of the participating spaces, add them using the “Register a member” link.
This is a work in progress, so we’d love to have your feedback.
Best,
Will
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On Monday, August 19, 2013 12:47:14 PM UTC-7, Liz Tracy wrote:
We are looking to link some of the local coworking spaces together under one passport. We are already a member of the Coworking Visa for national use, but wanted to start something locally as well for spaces that our members would use more frequently. Does anyone have suggestions of models that have worked? We are looking at the amount to charge, hours allowed in those spaces, how to verify membership, etc.
Alex and Rachel,
We haven’t decided to go virtual or physical yet. The plan is start with a simple sign in sheet after they have been in the space the first time. A low tech way is sometimes the simplest way. They will have a physical to identify themselves as a member. I don’t want the person to have to check in with a person because all of the spaces are staffed 100% of the time, like Creative Density. I am here 80% of the time but am out for a meeting or running an errand once or twice during the day.
I am looking for a simple check in service similar to the reward programs like Spot On that are popping in retailers. Passport holders will simply swipe a card or type in a pin at an iPad or something up front. If we find something in the next two months then we will just launch with that. This will track everything and provide some data about time, how frequent someone uses a space, which space, etc.
The purpose to make it easy for companies to buy multiple memberships and allow workers to find the best community for the individual. It makes things simple for everyone. $15 for each day pass to the space owner, $350 to $400 for a passport.
This is not designed to be a project to scale to huge numbers, really over 150 passport holders or so, because we want it to the be local. Once we let it get too big then we have to worry about member distribution, passport holders taking over too many spaces, and the logistics and policies that came with a larger program. This is a local venture to support remote workers and help Denver coworking spaces meet their financial obligations.
As for fundraising for Denver Coworks we seeked sponsors for Denver Coworking week and raised around $1500. This money went to t-shirts, bbqs, and left a bit in the pot for the group’s future activities. We are debating whether new members should pay a joiners fee of $100 to $200 to contribute to the pot but we don’t want to shut new spaces from joining the group knowing that money is an issue. We also are getting request from real estate groups and businesses that want to speak to the group and we will charge them a fee to do so. We are also debating an annual fee for being part of the group, sponsors for events and the entire group. We don’t have many financial obligations but a small pot of money would give us the freedom to raise awareness together with a campaign.
Hello Everyone,
In St. Louis, we formed a St. Louis League of Independent Workspaces between 5 Coworking spaces that were individually owned and funded, to share and collaborate on resources to build value to our memberships and educate the community on the benefits of Coworking. We have developed a passport program between us. Four are within the city limits and myself is the only one in the St. Louis Metro area. We have found many benefits of forming this League and joining together, one is offering health insurance. There is no extra cost to participate in the League passport, just value to all. We are currently looking into turning it into an legal association.
Cheryl Jaycox
The HIVE44 Coworking Business Center
St. Louis Missouri
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On Monday, August 19, 2013 at 12:47:14 PM UTC-7, Liz Tracy wrote:
We are looking to link some of the local coworking spaces together under one passport. We are already a member of the Coworking Visa for national use, but wanted to start something locally as well for spaces that our members would use more frequently. Does anyone have suggestions of models that have worked? We are looking at the amount to charge, hours allowed in those spaces, how to verify membership, etc.