This may be the case if the business case solely relies on these facilities offered...
In my opinion (and my favorite topic) the true value is not created by the facility, the fax machine or the wifi connection... It's about the people in the coworking community, the value of being part of that community and what a Coworker together with bunch of smart people is capable of. The collborative environment with its facilities are mere enablers for good stuff to be able to happen. These facilities should be offered in a sustainable way and should be made scalable to grow (unlimited....) with the seize of the community. A coworking project should be able to prove that the true value comes from "working better, together" and the new social and business benefits Coworking brings. Also I believe there is no threat from public meetups, seminars etc... We've seen a huge difference between the value coming from and experiencing 'public' meetups versus knowledge sharing sessions among members of TheWorks community during Jellies. As members are getting to know eachother there are no or at least way less barriers for discussion, participation. I'd like to see these sessions organized for and by the TheWorks community as "mini barcamps on steroids" So... imho... there are no barriers for growth if you can scale the enabling facilities together with the growth of the community and are able to prove that the value is not delivered by the facilities but by the community and the opportunities that will arise by being part of that community... my 2 czech crowns TheWorks Dave Ruzius http://www.theworks.cz On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 1:21 AM, Kent Lockart <[email protected]> wrote: > I think one of the key barriers to coworking's growth in fee based sites is > being able to show added value for the price of membership/usage. > > WiFi, public desktops, and Meetups are free and abundant. I can locate > like-minded people (or help) geographically anywhere I am in real time with > my mobile. I don't print or fax. Clients are accepting of private > conversations in public spaces. > > These things make the business case harder but not impossible. After all, > vending machines selling bottled water still make money even when they are > located next to a free water fountain or sink-tap. > > Cheers, > > Kent > > PS - I'm assuming the next question is going to be how to overcome the > barriers.... I'm not sure but I believe it will need to be a blended > solution of many creative things. > > > > On Jul 9, 2010, at 3:50 PM, marileebowlescarey wrote: > >> What do people think are the key barriers to growth in coworking? >> >> Marilee >> >> -- >> 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. >> > > -- > 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. > > -- Dave Ruzius http://www.theworks.cz -- 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.
