Robert, I'm going to use the term "genuine coworking space" in a few parts of this reply. I've been using this term lately to distinguish between the kind of spaces that I know you and I have vs when a space that calls themselves coworking (especially now that the word is gaining traction and it's hip/cool/marketable), but they are really an executive suite, business centre, or touchdown space that doesn't foster a community or encourage collaboration.
So, how would you feel if there were suddenly 700 more genuine coworking spaces opened in the USA? That would be cool, wouldn't it? Globally we've been growing at a pretty fast rate. And how would you feel if there were another 10 genuine coworking spaces that suddenly opened in your city? To me that would be cool too, but then again I am a huge advocate for the power of working collectively with other coworking spaces to raise the profile of coworking across a region (city, province/state, country, etc), and more spaces means more options for freelancers, since every space is unique. If they are simply slapping on the term coworking or rebranding as a coworking space without exhibiting the core values of coworking, then they simply aren't a coworking space and their new name or branding won't make them so. If someone is looking for a genuine coworking space and goes to one of these 700 spaces that are essentially a wolf in sheep's clothing, then either they'll think that's coworking and that's it, or they'll move on to try another space, and that's up to the individual to interpret what they do/need/want. Yeah, it irks me that there are spaces that call themselves coworking and aren't genuine coworking spaces. We've got some heavy hitters here in Toronto who do that. They aren't going to change, though. It's a great marketing opportunity for them, and some of them have seemingly unlimited funds to throw at it. In the end that will probably benefit those of us who are genuine coworking spaces, and certainly for those who are looking to work from genuine coworking spaces. That said, many incubators and accelerators are VC funded, and if their model simply isn't working, then they are more likely to pay out the lease or negotiate an early end and close their doors rather than waste money to change models to a different industry. That's a business decision, not a community decision. As for the event you listed, I would contact them and offer your speaking services to join the panel discussion. We had that here, where the business incubators meetup was having a discussion about the best practices for coworking, and one of my fellow coworking space owners was invited to the event. She asked who from the coworking community was on the panel, and the organiser said there wasn't anyone. She laughed and said "how can you have a discussion about coworking best practices if you don't have anyone from the coworking community on the panel?" Shortly thereafter, I was invited to sit on the panel, as the sole genuine coworking space owner/operator. I say we should crash those parties and talks and meetups and networking events, and always be the voice to clearly define what a coworking space is and how it differs from other kinds of spaces. Tell them, right there at their own event, and then ask how you can help and offer collaboration so that everyone has a chance at success in the end. If they see you're willing to collaborate, maybe they'll be more inclined to as well. r. *____________________ rachel young *[email protected] *We're now at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor* *(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)* *Toronto, ON M6R 1X6* *See details at http://bit.ly/MovingToRoncy.* *Find us online:* Website/blog <http://camaraderie.ca> and Newsletter<http://bit.ly/camaraderienewsletter> Google+ <http://bit.ly/CamaraderiePlus>, Twitter<http://twitter.com/camaraderie> , Facebook <http://bit.ly/9zv3Fx>, and LinkedIn<http://bit.ly/CamaraderieGroup> We're a proud member of CoworkingToronto <http://www.coworkingtoronto.ca/>, CoworkingOntario<http://coworkingontario.ca/> , and CoworkingCanada <http://www.coworkingcanada.ca/>! On 28 August 2013 23:54, Robert Petrusz <[email protected]>wrote: > > http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-14/waiting-for-the-accelerator-bubble-to-pop > > At the upcoming "Triangle Entrepreneurship Week" there is a panel > presentation on "Co-working in the Triangle". The panelists are all > accelerators or incubators. None of the local coworking spaces are invited > to participate. > > Here is something I apparently worry about more than other coworking space > owners: last I heard there were almost 700 incubators in America. > "Incubators" are now not so cool anymore, so lots of folks seem to be > switching to an "acclerator model". Its not clear that they will do any > better than incubators that failed. > > Is anyone else worried that SEVEN HUNDRED incubators & accelerators in > america could suddenly decide that they need to become coworking spaces?! > There are also about 700 coworking spaces in america. Imagine a world where > every single coworking space was suddenly competing with an > incubator/accelerator that was funded by the local city/chamber of > commerce/university/VC community. > > These new entrants can cause lots of trouble, especially in small markets > where they can outspend a small coworking space by a factor of 10, easily. > > Anyone else pondering these types of issues? > > Robert > Bull City Coworking > > -- > 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. > -- 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. 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