Wow! Thanks everybody. Great comments, and it all makes sense to me. I especially like Susan's point that even though Starbucks is all over the place, it hasn't eliminated the ability to run local coffee shops (so long as they have a character that stands in contrast to the dominant players).
I also found the comments from Bill about interest from the Chamber of Commerce. I had wondered about reaching out to the Chamber, at least for promotional purposes, but possibly more. I suspect the Ann Arbor Chamber is a lot more progressive than my local chapter in Anchorage! Great conversation everyone! I'm learning so much so fast. And I'm getting more excited about coworking with each passing day. --John On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Wendy S. <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > [1] Are you concerned about copycat corporate businesses popping up? > [2] Has this already started happening in some areas? > [3] Could a "corporate" version of coworking even survive? > > John, > as someone who has managed the "corporate" shared office (years ago > now) I can share a quick history of how this group looks at coworking. > > HQ and Regus were the 2 "big guns" in this shared office/executive > suite niche. Still only accounting for 4% of the global total > (approximately 4,000 executive suite locations in North America > alone) They mutually declared bankruptcy somewhere in 2001/2002, then > officially merged in 2003/2004 migrating eventually to the Regus name. > (I left in early 2000) > > The former CEO of HQ then went to Kinko's as CEO (Gary Kusin) and > floated the idea of providing a couple of cubes and conference spaces > in each Kinko's. The one I use in Chicago is a horrible fit for that > concept. First impression is the office supplies everywhere and > having to walk through the store to get to the conference room for a > meeting? Tacky in my 'hood. I don't go to Kinko's (now FedEX/ > Kinko's) for that purpose. I believe Gary Kusin is no longer with > FedEx/Kinko's. > > so my response to [1] and [2] is - Unless and until FedEx/Kinko's can > provide a separate entrance/vibe for this purpose, I don't think it > will be huge for them. Regus actually owns the Laptop Lanes at the > airports so they see a viability for this concept on some level. They > are less nimble, however. There are a few franchises out there in the > executive suite world - including The Intelligent Office as Trevor > mentioned earlier. Intelligent Office uses a smaller model (7,500 > s.f.) vs. a typical size of 15,000 s.f.+ . There are a lot of > developers throughout the country looking to start-up suites in this > economy. In their case, their competitive advantage is that they own > the real estate. This can make a substantial difference to their > future. > > [3] the "corporate" version? As others have so aptly put it - we are > developing a community, not just providing office space. Creatives > and younger folks really gravitate to our message. (I'm an older > folk) I also think that once you initiate the community, it will take > on a life of its own. How do you franchise that? There is still a > sense of isolation and "working with the door closed" approach in the > corporate shared spaces. Very few of them provide cubes or open work > areas. The majority of the space is divided into offices. > > As I see it, the future of the workplace is open plan, communal, > transient - whether you're working for a Fortune 1,000 or in start- > up. As Baby Boomers migrate out of the workforce they are being > replaced by a workforce with a new dynamic and philosophy. (based on > the current economic scenario, I think that's still 15 years away) > > my 2 cents > Wendy > SITE REsolutions real estate > Chicago > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
