One of the measuring sticks I use more and more is related to defining "community" rather than coworking.
As I stated at the conference in Durham, community is more about being, than doing and fulfils needs beyond the practical. (space, tech, programs, etc) A real community meets our human needs. To BE loved to BElong To BE Unique To BE Safe Your space, programs, interactions, billing, events, etc need to be filtered through or based on one or all of these. When this becomes the foundation/filter, it's easy to walk into a space, interact a bit and know, "this is legit and I want to be here!" Then you can differentiate between the Mcky D's and The Ritz by food and decor and price. Both satisfy a need, but which one creates community? Coworking is like CHEERS. "where everybody knows your name." Chad Ballantyne 705.812.0689 [email protected] Barrie's Coworking Community Perfect for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. 12 Dunlop St E, Barrie Ontario, L4M 1A3 Memberships start at $25/mth www.thecreativespace.ca 705-812-0689 On Sep 11, 2014, at 12:48 PM, Alex Hillman <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm pretty sure that Emergent Research has a rubric they use for when they do > their research for their annual report, but I can't remember exactly what is > on it. Having some consistency with that would probably be helpful! > > I think it had some of the items you described, but it was a lot more > specific with many of the attributes. Hopefully Steve can chime in! > > I used to be more opinionated about self-describing as "coworking" and the > regular mis-use of the term, but I've become more and more comfortable with > the idea that the word coworking is as specific as the word "restaurant", > which doesn't really describe much on its own. I'd love to see more maps > (including the one you're putting together) display with more detail what > people can expect. It's more important that people find a place that makes > them happy and productive than anything else...and reducing that to > "coworking" is like reducing fine dining french restaurants and mcdonalds to > "restaurant". Technically accurate, but not really helpful. > > Related, this recent post caught my eye (I think Liz posted it from the GCUC > account): > http://www.cloudvirtualoffice.com/blog/a-coworking-safari/ > > I'm especially interested in the things vary widely, really impact the > experience, but are hardest to really quantify: things like "ambiance" and > noise level are such relative descriptions, so the source matters a lot, too! > Who's doing the describing: the owner? The members? Visitors? In a lot of > cases, their descriptions vary quite a bit. > > To that point, even "non-hostile & friendly" is relative. It's become a > common theme that I hear from coworkers who visit startup-centric coworking > spaces that the only time people talk to each other is when they're pitching > their startup. For some people, that's non-hostile and friends but for > others, it's their worst nightmare. > > -Alex > > > > On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 12:34 PM, Ramon Suarez <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > I'm working on a definition of Coworking to make it easier to choose who to > include in the map of coworking spaces in Belgium. I know it can be a > controversial subject and I don't want to start a flamewar, but I would like > to have your feedback on the basic elements to build this definition. I think > it could also be helpful to make it easier to explain to our potential > customers and journalists. > > In my definition a Coworking space : > Calls itself a coworking space. > Has a fully dedicated espace for cowoking (not just a few hours or a > cafeteria shared with patrons). > Treats coworkers as 1st class clients, not as a lesser kind to fill unused > space. > Has somebody dedicated to connect the members (a facilitator, not an > administrative asistant.) > Provides a non hostile and friendly environment that encourages collaboration > and interaction. > What do you think? > > > Ramon Suarez > Serendipity Accelerator, Betacowork > Author: http://coworkinghandbook.com > email & hangouts: [email protected] > Phone: +3227376769 > GSM: +32497556284 > Twitter:http://twitter.com/ramonsuarez > Skype: ramonsuarez > Try coworking: http://betacowork.com > > > -- > 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/d/optout. > > > -- > 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/d/optout. -- 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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