Truths across the board, awesome post, & great examples in practice. Another advantage of an "incomplete" space is that it has what I like to think of as "rough edges" for members to play a part in completing. They can help scout furniture/decoration, assist in reconfiguration options that you hadn't considered, choose paint/art, even help determine & design for alternative uses.
Think of these kind of "space-completion" projects as opportunities to help your members bond and contribute, both increasing their sense of one another as well as the sense of ownership & pride of the space they share. This is easiest when a space is brand new yet most people overlook it, and Craig's approach supports this kind of participation over a longer time period in addition to the financial/social benefits. -Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Tuesday, August 14, 2012 at 2:32 PM, Craig Baute - Creative Density Coworking wrote: > When I first started Creative Density in Denver I rented out a 3500 sf space, > but only really wanted 2000 sf after a hard lesson learned when helping out a > space in Toronto that had 7500 sf and no members. In Toronto people would > join but spread way out because they could. New members naturally wanted to > give everyone enough space so they rarely naturally had a conversation or get > to know each other unless I, as a community manager played an active role, > which I did. It reminded that space design needed to play a more active role > in creating the culture I envisioned. > > Advice (for what's it worth): Force Density > This lesson reminded me about how Daniel Pink and Richard Florida described > how the close proximity of people in cities spurred innovation and > conversations. After all, this is what coworking is trying to do on a micro > level (hence the name Creative Density). I was inspired by this idea and > would use the 3500 sf I signed a lease for in a different way. > > First, when the space opened I only made around 1500 sf. available to the > members by furnishing a limited segment of the space and closing doors. This > allowed the space to have different rooms for different work styles (quiet > room, lounge, energy, and open floor desks) but people were forced to be > close enough to each other that they would they would have conversations more > frequently and get to know each other. This had a dramatic positive effect on > creating community compared to my experience in Toronto. As the membership > grew I slowly opened the doors up, furnished rooms, and included them in the > tour. At 40 members, we still have a large 600ish sf room that is not being > used very regularly so I have plenty of room to grow into. > > Second, I lived in 3 of the rooms taking up a quater of the building for the > first 11 months of operations. This is more of me being lean since the place > was zoned accordingly and knowing Creative Density didn't need 3500 sf at > launch. It worked out well but I couldn't allow Creative Density to be a 24/7 > space. > > Overall, it's okay as a new space owner to not furnish and open the entire > space for use at first, and can actually damage your culture that you are > trying to create. Don't be afraid to block some spots off and limit your > space to encourage conversations and community. > > Craig > Creative Density > Denver > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/-/fxM14k5ClnkJ. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > (mailto:[email protected]). > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > (mailto:[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.
