Will: We're using self-identification as coworking spaces for several reasons. First, it greatly simplifies our work finding facilities. Our first cut method for finding facilities are a set of search terms and search criteria. These search algorithms go beyond just searching on the term "coworking", but coworking is a key term.
The bigger reason is we've found that a focus on building and nurturing community - which we think is a key component of being a coworking facility - it tightly correlated with the use of the term coworking. This is for office facilities - the hackerspaces and artisan oriented facilities tend to use other language. But having said that, we've found several facilities that we include in our count that don't explicitly self-describe using the term coworking. But because their language is close and their facilities fit the rest of our criteria, we include them. We've excluded most writers and artist spaces mostly because many are effectively private/semi-private clubs with closed, invitation only or limited memberships and/or membership options. This isn't in any way a bad thing; we simply consider them to be in a different market segment. We originally were planning on doing a global count. We decided to start with the US and add other parts of the world later. Given the complexities we've encountered with the US count, we're unlikely to do a full, world count. But we're still planning on doing some work in Europe. BTW one of the reasons the count is complex is the number of coworking facilities that aren't engaged with the broader community or marketing themselves beyond their local area. Your Czech experience is a good example of this. This makes finding and identifying them surprisingly hard. Steve On Jul 20, 2:00 am, "Will Bennis, Locus Workspace" <[email protected]> wrote: > One last comment about counting coworking spaces that I think is > interesting. I see now that you're limiting the catalog to facilities > in the U.S., so this is really not directly for you but just about the > problem of estimating spaces on a global scale. Here in the Czech > Republic there are perhaps 7 spaces open (depending on what counts as > a coworking space) and at least 2 more trying to open. What's > interesting is that until a couple of weeks ago when a couple of us > added most of those spaces to the wiki, you'd have no way to know > there were more than 2 spaces in the Czech Republic by looking at the > wiki. Apparently, there's one space that's completely full that all > but one of us (coworking space owners or jelly organizers) didn't know > existed and that isn't marketing itself anywhere (it's full and in a > small town where word of mouth is enough apparently). Most of these > spaces even have coworking in their names, they're simply not engaged > with the international coworking community. If the Czech Republic is > any model of what's going on around the world, the majority of > coworking spaces around the world might simply be off the > international grid. > > Maybe that's even a healthy sign that the world of coworking is > maturing? If coworking spaces are eventually like cafes, with one on > every corner catering to distinct niches and neighborhoods, I guess > we'd all expect many of them to be off the radar and essentially > uncountable. > > Will > > On Jul 15, 8:58 pm, "[email protected]" > > > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Our research assistants have been working away developing a count of > > the number of coworking facilities in the US. While we are not done, > > it looks like our estimate will be in 250 range. Our estimate last > > december came to about 215-220. > > > Several interesting things about the count: > > > 1. It is getting harder to do this. The main reason is coworking is > > evolving, blurring, hybridizing and shifting. For example, incubators > > are becoming coworking facilities, coworking facilities are becoming > > incubators and lots of facilities of various types are adding (or at > > least claiming to add) coworking features. Many of these "semi- > > coworking" facilities share some or many of the attributes of a > > traditional coworking space, but in other ways aren't coworking as we > > tend to think of it. > > > While I think the evolution of coworking and the growth of hybrids is > > a good thing, it makes it much harder to decide whether or not a > > specific facility should be counted as a coworking facility. It also > > challenges our ability to do a consistent count over time. There is > > already a risk our we are counting apples and oranges instead of just > > apples. > > > We will post our facilities list once it has been cleaned up a bit. > > > 2. There is a fair amount of facility churn. About 10-15% of > > facilities on our list in December have fallen off our current list > > due to closure or shifts in direction. There are, obviously, a lot of > > new facilities on our list. Some are green field and others are > > existing spaces that have added and/or shifted to a coworking model. > > > While we aren't focused on coworking business models at this time, it > > does appear to be an area ripe for research:). > > > 3. Coworking has moved beyond the major cities and is spreading > > rapidly in mid-sized cities and smaller towns. > > > 4. The number of niche or targeted coworking facilities (aimed at > > writers, or telecommuters, or social entrepreneurs, or makers, etc.) > > is growing. It is a logical extension of the "like minded people" > > phrase we so often hear and use when discussing coworking. > > > 5. There are lots of facilities under development with plans to open > > in the next 6-12 months. It appears to us that the facility growth > > rate is accelerating due to the addition of new facilities and re- > > purposing of existing non-coworking facilities. > > > Given how few facilities there are relative to the potential > > addressable market, an accelerating growth rate is not surprising. > > > Steve- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- 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.
