It's great to see you're considering coworking with your local space owners and managers, Jonathan.
It starts with friendly outreach. Have an idea of what you want your local organisation/collective/association to be like, and share that vision with the others. Let them know that you want to discard competition in favour of collaboration, illustrate some examples of other groups (Seattle, Denver, Toronto, etc) and what they've done, and then set a date and time to get together for a beer to discuss it. You can make it as formal or casual as you want. That's what we did for CoworkingToronto and CoworkingOntario. We've learned a lot over time, but it still comes down to a person talking to another person - which we're used to in our own coworking spaces! You'll get resistance from some, but unbridled buy-in from others. And over time you can grow that group, strengthening your local coworking community. r. *____________________rachel young*[email protected] *We're located at 2241 Dundas St W, 3rd floor* *(between Bloor and Roncesvalles)* *Chat with me *via 10KCoffees <http://www.TenThousandCoffees.com/profile/rachel-young> *Find us online:* Website/blog <http://camaraderie.ca> and Newsletter <http://bit.ly/camaraderienewsletter>, Twitter <http://twitter.com/camaraderie>, Facebook <http://bit.ly/9zv3Fx>, Google+ <http://bit.ly/CamaraderiePlus>, Yelp <http://bit.ly/CamaraderieYelp>, 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 8 October 2014 06:43, Jonathan Markwell <[email protected]> wrote: > Aaron - that's a good point. I think the numbers are very similar in most > cities. > > I'm not sure what critical mass is but after 6 years and around a dozen > coworking spaces created in Brighton I'm still regularly meet people who > have never heard of coworking. > > > Ashely - I've been wondering if it might be worth pooling resources here > and trying local advertising to spread the word. Can you share more about > what worked for you on that front and what didn't. How much time and money > did you all spend on it? > > On 8 October 2014 00:27, Ashley Proctor <[email protected]> wrote: > >> When we launched our first spaces, there were few others in the market. >> We spent the majority of our time explaining the concept, a lot of effort >> on education and outreach. >> As more and more spaces launched in our city, we definitely all began to >> benefit from the mainstream recognition, as well as the new opportunity to >> collaborate with each other. >> >> You have a choice to 'compete' or to 'collaborate'. >> I feel our unique coworking communities in Toronto have a lot in common, >> and a lot to offer each other in terms of support, advice and experience. >> I believe our Coworking Toronto <http://coworkingtoronto.ca> and Coworking >> Ontario <http://coworkingontario.ca> collectives are similar to this >> google group - we genuinely like each other and want each other to succeed. >> >> We are all fiercely independent, but I think we all gravitated towards >> participating in a regional collective because were all facing similar >> challenges, and were looking for other like-mided friends, mentors and >> colleagues to connect with in Toronto. The same way our members want to >> connect. >> We can also benefit from collective advertising (the concept rather than >> the space) and our members benefit when we leverage collective bargaining >> power to create programs like COHIP <http://coworkingontario.ca/COHIP>. >> We might have different missions and mandates and markets, but we can >> agree that we all want our members to be happy and healthy and productive. >> >> Since coworking spaces in Toronto and Ontario began collaborating, we've >> seen a steady increase in coworking awareness, and community participation >> in our events. >> Since launching a collective website, we've seen more traffic, more >> tours, more media attention and more members. >> Our spaces are all better spaces and our communities are all stronger >> communities because we share best practices. >> >> And yes, the market is growing along with the number of active spaces. >> It's a beautiful cycle of supply and demand. >> If coworking is truly the future of work as we claim, I can't see a >> saturation point here anytime soon... >> >> Choose to be a champion and a collaborator rather than a competitor when >> you arrive, and introduce yourself as such. >> Then start to imagine what's possible if you work together. >> >> Ashley >> >> >> Ashley Proctor >> >> Creative Blueprint & Foundery >> www.creativeblueprint.ca >> www.foundery.is >> >> The Foundery Buildings >> 376 Bathurst Street >> Toronto, Ontario, Canada >> >> >> >> On 2014-10-07, at 6:50 PM, Aaron Cruikshank wrote: >> >> One perspective to consider is what is the total addressable market? >> Vancouver has many coworking spaces and I get asked often by the media if I >> think the coworking market in Vancouver is saturated. >> >> By my math, if you consider every micro entrepreneur as a potential user, >> Vancouver is addressing around 1.5% of the total addressable market. Far >> from saturated, surely. >> >> Yet some of these spaces are struggling to fill desks. The problem isn't >> the size of the market - it's lack of knowledge in the potential market >> about coworking. >> >> More spaces = more potential awareness. There must be some critical mass >> in a city or region that pushes coworking from obscurity to mainstream >> recognition. >> >> Thoughts? >> >> _______________ >> Aaron Cruikshank >> Principal, CRUIKSHANK >> Phone: 778.908.4560 >> email: [email protected] >> web: cruikshank.me >> twitter: @cruikshank >> book a meeting: doodle.com/cruikshank >> linkedin: linkedin.com/in/cruikshank >> On Oct 7, 2014 3:25 PM, "Jonathan Markwell" <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> This has been a common question over the years in my relatively small >>> city (Brighton, England population 273,400). I've just written about it >>> and created a checklist for future community founders to consider here: >>> >>> http://jonathanmarkwell.com/2014/10/06/multiple-coworking-spaces/ >>> >>> On 3 March 2013 18:20, Cameron Goldsmith <[email protected] >>> > wrote: >>> >>>> Curious how everyone feels about cities that have multiple coworking >>>> spots.... Do you think this is generally a good idea? I know competition is >>>> supposed to be good for the market, but what if the city is small?? >>>> >>>> Im asking because I'm looking to relocate soon. The city Im interested >>>> in, St. Louis, already has a coworking spot. Ive been looking and >>>> researching to open one for awhile now, but am now hesitant after finding >>>> out StL has a fairly large spot already. >>>> >>>> Do you think this is something that is sustainable, or do you feel like >>>> I would be stepping on the toes of a community catalyst by opening a new >>>> business doing a very similar thing? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> 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. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Jonathan Markwell >>> >>> Follow my adventures in space, time and code: >>> http://jot.is/sustainablyindy >>> >>> The Skiff: Brighton Coworking Community http://jot.is/sharing-space >>> Coder Founders: Digital Product Consultancy http://jot.is/investing-time >>> CoGrid: Meeting Room Booking Software http://jot.is/writing-code >>> >>> +44 (0)7766 021 485 >>> skype: jlmarkwell | twitter: http://twitter.com/jot >>> >>> -- >>> 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. >> 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. >> > > > > -- > Jonathan Markwell > > Follow my adventures in space, time and code: > http://jot.is/sustainablyindy > > The Skiff: Brighton Coworking Community http://jot.is/sharing-space > Coder Founders: Digital Product Consultancy http://jot.is/investing-time > CoGrid: Meeting Room Booking Software http://jot.is/writing-code > > +44 (0)7766 021 485 > skype: jlmarkwell | twitter: http://twitter.com/jot > > -- > 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.
