Matt, This has been said before, but there's no harm in saying it again, and again... People need to feel like your space is more than the sum of its collective parts. Shared desk and coworking look very similar if you take all the people away.
---- We had a big "around the world" Epic Office Party at CoLab, and it really helped public perception. Everyone on the floor, building tenants, private suites, and the general population all took it upon themselves to create something for the party, and it really showed all those in attendance that there was a strong community on the 6th floor. http://colaborlando.com/events/337/get-to-know-colab-at-orlandos-epic-office-party/ http://colaborlando.com/events/353/epic-office-party-recap/ ---- Free Fridays have also driven attendance through the roof (one day a week), and it's helping with conversions. It doesn't even have to be free, just try to get a huge group coming one day a week, by whatever means will work. We had a year of one-day-a-week coworking in a coffee shop before our space came into its own, and it got people in the mindset of getting out of the house. We also have a once-monthly happy hour across the street. It's been 2 1/2 years in the exact same place, CoLab just happens to be across the street. With that event, the same time and place is very very important to getting good attendance. Sometimes an event doesn't need to be anything more than social. No demos, no talks, just hanging out. ---- Some members of the community (myself included) are starting to hold lunch-and-learn at the space, to try and get attendance during the day. This also tends to bring in people who may never need the space, because they have an office, but they can see CoLab at its peak. (most lunch and learns also happen on Free Friday). ---- I'll repeat Tony here: "Empower people to help." We had nothing of note until we felt like we had the control. Our building's owner had hired someone do do the job that we do now, and we didn't feel empowered. As soon as it was on our backs to make it all happen, we got organized and made the space awesome. ---- As Alex said, experiment with the price. This is a crummy year for adding new monthly expenses. I am trying to make some pricing changes with my personal business to keep up with the economy. CoLab is doing something similar. When the seats fill up, think about raising the price. Peace, Ryan Price Orlando, FL @liberatr On Jun 2, 2009, at 12:31 PM, Dave Troy wrote: > > Matthew, > > I would also submit that population density and potential population > near your space have a lot to do with participation and growth. > > Our experience in Baltimore has been that we have a consistent > population that shows up regularly. > > Baltimore City has about 637,000 people, and the surrounding counties > add another 1.3M people, for a total of about 2M in the immediate > metro area. > > Philadelphia, by contrast, has about 1.45M people in the city alone, > and its metropolitan area might be considered to be 3-6M people. New > York, of course, is both huge and dense, and has had a good experience > also. > > So, while I do think your low population density in Dallas is likely > an issue, I think you need to look at that as a factor to take into > consideration than as a reason why it can't work. > > As Alex and Tony have said, figure out who your constituency is and > then figure out how to love them. If they have special needs and/or > intrinsic motivators, find them and hammer on them. Things may go > slower for you there because of low population density, etc, but > that's not an excuse not to start on your growth trajectory. > > I like to imagine that we are on the same path as IndyHall and NWC > here at Beehive Baltimore, with the realization that a) it's a > different growth curve, due to the uniqueness of our location and > population, b) we got started later. That all said I feel that we are > 100% on track and what's most important is that we be the best space > we can be for *Baltimore* and not necessarily try to replicate exact > strategies that others have used elsewhere. > > The New York Times recently published an article by Steven Strogatz > that discusses city sizes and densities, and what effects variations > in these numbers mean for a variety of internal design factors -- I > found it fascinating: > http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/math-and-the-city/ > > Best, > Dave > > -- > Dave Troy > blog: www.davetroy.com (@davetroy) > community: www.beehivebaltimore.org (@bhivebmore) > investing: www.baltimoreangels.org (@baltimoreangels) > events: @barcampbmore, @socialdevcamp > projects: www.twittervision.com, www.flickrvision.com > Partner, Roundhouse Technologies > > On Jun 2, 12:18 pm, Tony Bacigalupo <[email protected]> wrote: >>> I thought it would be better to admit to what is probably a >>> consistent >>> problem (even for those well established places) and get some help >>> than to >>> remain stoic and let the problem continue without new eyes. >> >> +1 agreed. >> >> it seemed as if asking the question could be taken as a sign of >> weakness, >> >>> and that approaching people in such a direct manner might be >>> alienating. >>> Given that I'm already in a lack of people, that would be bad. >>> Then again, >>> it's not like it can hurt anything. >> >> Weakness = human = something people can connect with. >> >> Obviously you don't want to seem too needy; one thing you have to >> do as the >> leader of your space is to engage people well. You will have to >> find ways to >> get people psyched to help without it seeming like a charity case. >> >> Coworking naturally gets people fired up. Rely on that! Cubicles >> suck. >> Working in Starbucks sucks. Talking to your cat sucks. There must be >> something better! >> >>> The thing I'm having trouble is that there are more groups I've >>> talked to, >>> and plenty of people who want to use us as a free space for >>> meetings, but >>> after that initial "Hey, this would be a great idea" they go silent. >> >> If they need the space, they need the space. When someone does host >> an event >> at your space, don't be shy about telling people about your space and >> encouraging people to join. >> >> At this stage, your goals are actually pretty narrow: one person. >> One person >> who will totally get what you're doing and is insanely excited >> about it. >> That's all you're looking for right now, but to find them you have >> to really >> get to know people one at a time. When you find that one person, >> get them on >> board however appropriate. Then go from there. >> >>> I've been pushing hard to help promote not only my space, but the >>> events >>> and what not around here, but the reciprocation has not been >>> exactly what I >>> would like it to be. >>> Maybe I should be more hard nosed about that? >> >> I vote no on that. This is the tricky part about building your social >> capital... you make lots of deposits without necessarily being able >> to >> withdraw for a long time, and you can't necessarily force it. >> >> Just keep at it, and keep genuinely going good for people. It will >> come back >> around. >> >> T >> >> >> >> >> >>> Matthew > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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