Posts like this one make me so proud to be a part of THIS community. Thanks, Joel.
We just had our year-end town hall this past week and ran it decidedly different than before. In the past it's been more of a "state of the union", with open floor discussion tacked on. This time we flipped it around to put the emphasis on the discussion. It was harder to get the conversation moving, since it was more open ended than in the past. We still ended up covering a lot of ground and had a ton of great contributions from members. Given that our last year has been so much about growing, our present is showing stress fractures around communication, so that's looking to be one of our major themes for the next year. But something else interesting happened. Since town hall, the entire community seems to have been sparked into being the best version of itself we've ever seen. People are seeing the bigger context of their participation in Indy Hall, and have started coming to me with what THEY see as the opportunity to make a difference and how THEY want to lead the effort. It's been amazing and inspiring, and reminds me why we build community the way we do. It lets me play the role of enabler, making sure that our community members have what they need to become community leaders, even if its just for a seemingly small, simple initiative. Because all of those little things add up in a big way. -Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia Got Community? http://masterclass.indyhall.org On Dec 19, 2012, at 10:17 AM, "Joel Bennett - Veel Hoeden" <[email protected]> wrote: > I was recently in discussion with a friend about how you measure the > effectiveness of a church. He mentioned he uses a simple set of question to > get at a qualitative measurement of how a church is doing. > > "If your church closed down tomorrow, would the people of your area miss you? > Would they even notice? What wouldn't be getting done because you were > gone?" > > When I returned to Veel Hoeden it struck me that these could be the same > questions by which we measure our coworking communities. > > There has been a lot of recent (and important) discussion out here on whether > coworking is a fad (IMO it is not), whether coworking facilities are closing > at an accelerated pace (IMO no faster than other startup businesses, 75% of > which fail), and why they are leaving the marketplace. All good questions. > But I'm wondering if a better question should be, when they leave, does > anyone outside the members notice? > > [A quick sidenote. I'm expecting there are a number of you out here who have > lead or been part of a space who closed. I am not trying to be critical of > your space, your circumstances, or place blame. Businesses fail. It's part > of life. But I think current spaces need to address their present to > determine what their future may hold.] > > We started Veel Hoeden because we felt there was a need being unmet. > Immediately upon opening we felt positive about what we had created because > everyone was happy. Sound familiar? > > Two years later it would be easy for me to rest on my laurels and cling to > the past. But the truth is, your relevance is always based in the present; > the past means nothing. > > This year we'll be offering local social entrepreneurs a chance to join our > space for a 6 month residency to help them get their cause off the ground. > Why? Because it matters in a time when those who are in need, need more, and > those who want to help them could use a little traction. I know other spaces > around the world have offered something similar. > > I've heard of coworking communities offering discounted/free passes to the > unemployed, or offering training to help them find jobs or launch a business. > Why? Because it matters in a time when unemployment is higher than it has > been in years. > > So that brings us back to a question. Beyond your members, if your space > closed tomorrow would anyone else in your community mourn? Is what you are > doing making an impact beyond offering space to work? > > I'd love to hear what other coworking communities are doing to matter. Send > me your thoughts. > > Thanks & God Bless, > > <image001.png> > > Joel Bennett > Chief Dreamchaser > <image004.jpg> > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
