I think an annual coworking conference is a great idea, something dedicated to coworking, not tacked on to another event. Something where we could focus on coworking and community issues, meet each other, see one another's cities and spaces. I'm in!
There would have to be a lot of value to it in order to bring these already busy and stretched folks our of their spaces for a few days, though, something that could leverage our buying power for, I dunno, office furniture or health care benefits or travel discounts or something. Something where we can not only have those providers/suppliers sponsor the event to offset costs, but to provide real value that would be worth traveling for. I've been involved in a few organisations that are spread across multiple timezones or parts of the world, and they have decided on location in similar fashions, which is basically that host cities post their proposals and the community votes on where it should be, perhaps one vote per coworking facility. We can build in assurance that it won't always be in the same cities or parts of the country all the time so that people in, say, the west coast don't alwyas have to travel to the east coast. (ie, establish general zones and ensure the annual event rotates between zones) Anyway, I think it is certainly worth exploring, and being an event planner I am all for it. I put your suggested starting topics onto a wiki page ( http://coworking.pbworks.com/Coworking-Conference), which I think would be better to collaborate from there. I do think that this would take some time to plan out properly (and give folks some time to save up some money), so if you were thinking of escaping the winter conditions in the next few months, then perhaps sxswi is your better option for this year. r. -- rachel young [email protected] (416) 801-0196 Find us in person: Camaraderie 102 Adelaide St E, 2nd Floor Find us online: camaraderie.ca/blog twitter.com/camaraderie <http://groups.google.com/group/coworking/t/85443a86ec7592c2> Woodie Neiss <[email protected]> Jan 30 09:49AM -0500 Anyone want to get together for the first International Coworking Community Annual Meeting in ummm let’s say a warm, sunny place like Miami? Sort of a one day event where we could discuss best practices, set some protocols for future coworking locations and formally organize ourselves so that we can leverage our combined power? Suggested topics to discuss (feel free to edit/add to/delete/etc) 1) Keys to success a. pricing b. Serivices to offer 2) Managing the bottom line a. Financing the start up b. Negotiating lease agreements c. Managing monthly expenses 3) Marketing & PR a. Building awareness b. How to generate more buzz c. The power of meet-ups d. Leveraging your chamber of commerce 4) Creative suggestions from some of our winning locations 5) How to formally organize ourselves into an International organization Perhaps we could all complete some surveys prior, and then present the results at the meeting as well? Regards, Woodie -- 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.
