Dina, An interesting article, I had read a similar one earlier in the week as well.
The research from Deskmag suggests that only 4% of current coworkers are "reformed coffee shop" workers, which blew my mind, as that was our original target market for my team's "build a better coffee shop" concept when we began this journey years ago. But that research also suggests two other things to me. First, the profile of a coffee shop worker may be different from a coworker, which on paper may not make sense, but which the numbers suggest is the case. The demographics may also suggest this, as many coffee shop workers are liable to be the workers who may not be able to spend the money on a coworking memberships, students in particular come to mind. The second point is the lack of education of coffee shop workers on the fact that the concept of coworking exists at all. I just spent 30 mins this morning educating my brother on coworking as he saw the facebook group we set up (sameless plug here: www.facebook.com/coworkingcolorado) and had no idea what it was. All of this notwithstanding, coffee shops operate on a separate model than coworking, and these actions may drive some of their clients away, but not necessarily into the waiting arms of coworking facilities, but just to the cafe down the street. This is especially true if the demographic information pans out as I mentioned above. If they start driving their clients away, the double edge sword they may land on is their shop sitting empty because their cliental opted to seek alternatives, and I tend to be suspicious when I walk into an empty coffee shop. Were I in an area of town where a coffee shop was doing something like this, I would camp out in the shop and chat with the people working there, see what they think and casually drop the idea of coworking to them. Plant that idea and see where it goes from there. Prove the value of community and you will likely be able to convert them whether the coffee shop is charging by the table or not. My two cents. Be well. Rob C. On Saturday, August 17, 2013 11:47:59 AM UTC-6, Dina Lynch Eisenberg wrote: > > Coffee shops are fighting back against squatters to reclaim their space. > This article raised a question for me. Initially I was thrilled, another > tool to educate with, however I realized the dish is only as good as the > ingredients. Will these 'default' coworkers embrace the values or simply > dissipate them? > > Big question so I thought we could discuss it. I know many times folks > catch the fever after experiencing coworking so maybe there won't be much > change. What do you think? > > > http://eater.com/archives/2013/08/15/newest-shots-fired-against-laptop-squatters-timed-seats.php > > Warmly Dina > > Dina Eisenberg > SpeakupPowerfully.com > Beacon Coworking ( in development) > > -- 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. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
