Thanks for your insight Will, it is very helpful and puts things in perspective.
I have signed up to coworking without borders, as I agree it compliments the coworking visa very well. I recommend all other spaces to join this program even if you are not part of coworking visa, as it is a smaller community and you can have more direct access to other coworking spaces. Regards, Faraz On Wednesday, 10 December 2014 21:54:28 UTC+6, Will Bennis, Locus Workspace wrote: > > Hi All, > > A group of us in Prague created a kind of complement to the Coworking Visa > to halp account for things the visa doesn't do well partly because of its > greatest asset: it's simplicity. I'd love it if spaces would add themselves > to coworkingwithoutborders.com. I think the Coworking Visa is great in > many ways--primarily for its simplicity and the number of spaces using it. > My coworking space is a member of the Visa program and we have not > considered leaving it. That said, there are a few side effects of the > Visa's virture of simplicity that makes it less than complete from my > perspective: > > (1) It feels awkward for me and for many of my members to actually use the > Visa. I/they feel bad visiting a host space that we know has bills to pay > and is providing us a service for free that their own members are paying > for (even though they've agreed to it and we know we would be happy to host > their members). I love it when people use the visa to visit our space, but > when I've used it, I just felt awkward and at some point I decided I'd > rather just support the space I'm visiting and pay for the days I use. In > my experience, most of my members feel similarly. > > (2) A lot of the spaces listed in the visa program are in fact > "defectors." They put themselves there so their members can use the visa > program, but they don't even offer the default three days. More often than > not in my experience, the space managers don't know what it is when they're > contacted or don't honor it (I had this experience with now 5 of 6 spaces > my members contacted, and that I sent follow up--polite!--emails to, not > honoring the Visa). It's nice for us to host visitors from other spaces > even if the host space isn't on the visa program. But it's certainly not > how the program is meant to work. > > (3) The default time (3 days, which very few spaces go beyond and many > spaces go below) is so short it's generally not worth the trouble. If a > member only has three days in a city, they're usually not interested in > trying a coworking space (unless they're specifically into exploring the > world of coworking). > > Coworking Without Borders is not meant to be an alternative to the > Coworking Visa (rather a complement). I don't get anything out of spaces > joining it other than being a space listed there, and so benefitting from > there being more spaces in the network. It's free (like the Coworking Visa, > you just add your space to a list--by filling out a Google form--and select > certain terms you're agreeing to), there are no fees, there's no > intermediary, and there's nothing keeping you on the list if for some > reason you don't end up liking it. > > But to me and the other spaces in Prague that set it up, it provides great > potential added value to our members (with whom we created it based on > their ideas of what they would want) and solves almost all the issues > listed above:"Instead of putting the burden on the hosting space, visitors > must actually pay the hosting spaces. Since they pay directly to that space > for the time they use, there's no complexity with respect to currency > exchange, escrow, or conflicting pricing models. The hosting spaces benefit > and the visitors don't have to feel like they're taking something for > nothing. Home spaces have the option to offer *their members* those used > days to the length of their memberships free (what is being asked of the > "host space" with the Visa program), which if chosen allows for a truly > shared membership across spaces. Since it's restricted to full-time members > of a coworking space, it also provides an incentive for members on the > fence to get full-time membership. > > Anyway, I'd love to see broad sign up for this: I don't see any cost to > participating (other than the time taken to register your space). It adds > value to your members and has the potential to bring in revenue from > visiting members from other spaces. And it allows for a fully shared > membership, even across spaces in the same city. Right now it has very > little value, though, because there isn't a network of spaces signed up. > > Best, > Will > > On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 3:46:26 PM UTC+1, Jeannine wrote: >> >> Hi fellas! >> >> I would like to talk abotu this, becuse this wsa the original reason for >> the Coworking Visa of course. But the feedback I am getting is that the >> Visa is under-promoted and also that its usual terms are not really fitting >> with the needs of the coworkers. >> >> I am very much in favor of developing the Coworking Visa, and would be >> pleased to support any kind of partnership efforts any members of Open >> Coworking want to propose, The reasonw e don't just make it up and set it >> out there is simple: partnership programs are necessarily local and based >> on working traffic patterns (there is interest for instance in partnerships >> NL-Turkey and NL-Morrocco, not so much in NL-BE, because most people don't >> need that last even though you would think they would) >> >> So if you want support, or if you think this idea is worth workign on, >> send up a flare. :-) >> >> Cheers, >> >> Jeannine >> >> On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 9:27:57 AM UTC+1, Faraz Majidulla wrote: >>> >>> Hi all, >>> I was wondering if any of the coworking centers around the world would >>> like to enter a partnership scheme, this would be great for coworkers who >>> travel a lot for business. >>> Our coworking is located in Astana, Kazakhstan and is over 6500 sq m in >>> size. We have many different types of workstations, meeting rooms, >>> conference halls, and a recreational center. >>> One of our most attractive services for out of town visitors is our >>> concierge service, which will handle airline bookings, hotel bookings(at a >>> discounted rate), and all local transport needs. This service would be >>> available to any coworking center that is in partnership with us. We >>> already have a partnership with five coworking centers in Russia and one in >>> Kazakhstan, so joining us would help grow the network. If you would like >>> some more information on our operations please contact me or visit our >>> website: http://multispace.kz/en.html >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Faraz >>> >> -- 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]. 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