Thanks Tony, I think you're definitely on the right track. When I look critically at where we are I can see we have one foot on each side of the fence you describe... Looking at previous conversations and agreements with various organizations (Small Business BC, Futurprenuer, the City of Penticton etc) I can definitely see a common theme of "get past talking about coworking and tell me what the real value is". And when we do that, when we talk about the support of the new workforce (although in different words) success happens.
This is a very timely kick in the right direction, thank you. And it's wonderfully typical of this community too that you should be the one who chimes in with good advice at this stage in our growth, since it was you that Jen and I visited three years ago, green as could be shortly after we opened. You had great advice then too I'm sure :) Cheers, Nicholas On Monday, 30 May 2016 20:14:12 UTC-7, Tony Bacigalupo wrote: > > I think the trick is to shift from thinking of yourself as a coworking > space and towards thinking of yourself as an organization that supports > members of the new workforce in a variety of ways. > > A lot of otherwise terrific and passionate organizers are being held back > by the illusion that they're in the business of managing space. It's > something I'm working to shift with my clients and friends. > > Look at the difference between mentalities: > > *Coworking space* > > - *Success metric:* Get enough members to cover costs and turn a > profit. Then maintain status quo. Then fall into a rut. Then struggle. > (Can > you tell I'm not a fan?) > - *Alignment with government and any other entities:* Minimal > > *Organization to support the new workforce* > > - *Success metric:* Number of people thriving working for themselves > and building businesses > - *Alignment with government and other entities:* Total! > > If you think of the coworking space as the home base of an operation that > has a mission that transcends the facility, you're on a track that I expect > would be easier to garner more substantial collaboration from government > and various other organizations. > > People can be members of that without needing to rent space. Your > community can live in places, online and offline, other than the facilities > you manage. > > You're diversified, less exposed to landlords, and always focused on the > mission. > > And you can avoid the coworking rut :-) > > Am I on the right track? > > Tony > *---* > *New Work Cities <http://nwc.co/consulting> - Helping people build better > coworking cultures.* > *Open Coworking <http://opencoworking.org/> - Championing the global > coworking movement.* > *Latest projects: Impact Coworking Program > <http://nwc.co/3/impact-coworking-program> and the Ultimate Coworking > Toolkit <http://nwc.co/toolkit>* > *New: Support the free resources of coworking.org <http://coworking.org> > for only $9/mo. Learn more! > <http://opencoworking.org/news/support-open-coworking/>* > > [image: Inline image 8] <http://tonybacigalupo.com/>[image: > http://twitter.com/tonybgoode] <http://twitter.com/tonybgoode>[image: > http://facebook.com/tonybacigalupo] > <http://facebook.com/tonybacigalupo>[image: > http://linkedin.com/in/tonybacigalupo] > <http://linkedin.com/in/tonybacigalupo> > > > > > On Mon, May 30, 2016 at 4:19 PM, Nicholas Vincent < > [email protected] <javascript:>> wrote: > >> Hi All, >> >> I run Cowork Penticton in BC, Canada and have a very solid relationship >> with our community and our municipal government. I'm looking at >> strengthening our ties with our Economic Development Office (EDO) and would >> like to know if anyone else has worked through a similar challenge as below: >> >> - Our coworking facility is seen as a valuable community resource and >> amongst other things, we feature in the City's marketing and new business >> attraction material. It's a great relationship this way, however due to >> restrictions on municipal spending that is seen to benefit a for profit >> business that is really where the relationship ends. There are many >> acknowledged opportunities for working together, however I'm struggling >> to >> find a models that fits the red tape. >> >> Am I potentially looking at this from the wrong angle? >> >> Reading a post >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msg/coworking/jzfFfLDIKg8/D6VJet0CsS8J> >> from Derek Neighbors back in 2011 on how a traditional coworking space may >> be viewed certainly rings true and I'd love to hear more viewpoints on >> structuring a sustainable working relationship with an EDO at a >> Municipal Government. >> >> To be clear, I am *not* talking about asking for funding from our local >> government. I am looking to find a way to position coworking such that >> partnering with an EDO is financially beneficial and enhances their >> information and development value to the City, given the unique environment >> that coworking generates. >> >> Cheers, >> Nicholas >> Co-Founder - Cowork Penticton >> [email protected] <javascript:> >> >> -- >> 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] <javascript:>. >> 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]. 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