Re: [Coworking] How would you improve coworking software?

[Alanna Imbach]

What you're describing sounds remarkably like Razor's Edge, which is what 
folks in the nonprofit fundraising world use to build, manage and 
'cultivate' relationships with donors. The biggest difference would surely 
be on the side of the members' usability (non-existent for donors in RE).

I'm fairly new to the coworking world and gearing up towards building a new 
coworking community in my area, but would love to stay in the loop with any 
conversations about collaborating on Nadine or Razor's Edge-similiar. 

Alanna
alanna.imb...@gmail.com



On Monday, April 11, 2016 at 5:01:18 PM UTC-4, Jacob Sayles wrote:
>
> This is how we do things in Nadine here at Office Nomads.  It's really 
> easy to automate things but from the very beginning we specifically pointed 
> all automations at staff so that we can connect with members personally.  
> Nadine sends us reminders when there are tasks that need to be done like 
> take a member's photo, or take their photo down from the wall when they 
> leave.  It also reminds us on member's anniversary and other "special days" 
> so we can celebrate with them the next time we see them in the space.  On 
> the member side it's pretty simple but it does allow for member to post a 
> little about themselves and check out what is going on.  
>
> All of Nadine is open source and I've love to build out the development 
> and user communities if anyone is up for collaborating.  To date I've spent 
> more time referring people to Nexudus and Cobot then I have recruiting 
> people to use nadine but if people are really interested in developing an 
> open source tool, this is a great place to start.  
>
> Jacob
>
> On Mon, Apr 11, 2016 at 1:02 PM, Alex Hillman  > wrote:
>
>> I'm extremely skeptical of the leap to automation, especially when it's 
>> paired with the idea of "matching." 
>>
>> If relationships came down to a simple has/needs equation, maybe. But 
>> it's much more nuanced than that. Dating sites have proven this for years. 
>> And I say this as someone who met his partner on a dating site. 
>>
>> There is an insane amount of low hanging fruit before we need anything 
>> that looks like automated matching. 
>>
>> Community Building isn't a game of matching, it's a game of trust 
>> building. The best way to build (and maintain!) trust at scale is to be 
>> looking for excuses for conversations, and keep track of what you learn 
>> over time. This helps individuals stay on top of things and teams "call the 
>> ball" before something happens, good or bad. It's these conversations 
>> that help members feel felt, appreciated, heard, and understood. 
>>
>> - "it's been 2 weeks since Mary joined. Have you checked in with her to 
>> see how she's doing?"
>> - "if you checked in with Mary, reply with a couple of notes about your 
>> convo so the rest of your team knows how she's doing too."
>> - "have you talked to any members this week who is having a tough time? 
>> Is there anything your team should know about that could make their lives 
>> easier, or conversation topics that might be worth avoiding?"
>> - "next week is John's three year anniversary anniversary of being a 
>> member. Let's plan something special for him!"
>> - "has anybody heard from George? It's been 2 months since I saw any 
>> notes on his account. He might be looking to cancel soon if we lose touch."
>> - "these 25 people mentioned you on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram recently. 
>> Some might be members - remember to say thanks!"
>> - "your event calendar is looking pretty empty next week. Maybe a good 
>> time to suggest a happy hour?"
>>
>> Basically, I want a robot assistant that reminds me and my team to be an 
>> awesome human with our members and friends in the ecosystem. Light 
>> automation on top of data that a membership platform should have on hand. 
>>
>> We've barley started to cobble these kinds of reminders together along 
>> with our operational processes (
>> http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2015/01/6-automated-workflows-that-make-our-coworking-space-better-every-day/)
>>  and 
>> it makes a HUGE difference for the team and their ability to support the 
>> community in ways that I know create MUCH more lasting, scalable value than 
>> a matching engine ever could hope to. 
>>
>> You're right - it's silly to expect that people keep this stuff in their 
>> head. But "matching" isn't even on the list of tasks for our community team 
>> - that's an outcome of doing the other stuff right. 
>>
>> -Alex
>>
>> On Monday, April 11, 2016, Brian Crotty  
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello Alex,
>>>
>>> This was one of the topics that came up at our bi-annual Cobot 
>>>  retreat too.  We have always had the tagline "*More 
>>> Time for your Coworkers*" - because we feel that the primary way to 
>>> build community is getting out there face to face and building community.  
>>> But over the years, we have the feeling too that it is time to be more 

Re: [Coworking] Design for Coworking

[Jerome Chang]

Hi Selim.

Thank you for a great great post, and to clearly outline a more thoughtful 
approach to design a client’s space.
As a fellow architect, I can totally see how intentional your firm’s design 
approach is.
As a owner/operator of coworking spaces, I would recommend that architects try 
to better understand and even appreciate the economics behind the space, aside 
from “the budget”. In the most basic difference, these shared spaces are 
essentially using office space as the revenue generator, as opposed to what 
99.99% of other office spaces - as a necessary evil, in terms of overhead 
expense.
and yes yes, coworking is about developing communities, but at some 
point, whether you’re striving to drive 2 memberships per seat or 10 
memberships, that # of seats directly drives the revenue.

btw, I plan to discuss this balance at the upcoming GCUC.co gathering, from 
Tues May 3 - Fri May 6. My topic I’ll discuss on day 1 will be “Design by 
Numbers,” which will be exactly that: designing by [economic] numbers.

I encourage all of you to attend, as there is no single other larger, in-person 
gathering of expertise, and shared coworking ideals in one place!

JEROME CHANG

www.BLANKSPACES.com

On Apr 7, 2016, at 2:56 AM, Selim Ozadar  wrote:

> Hello Everybody,
> 
> At the moment I am working at an architecture company located within a 
> coworking space in Amsterdam. We have a user-centric approach to architecture 
> with a focus on fostering human interactions, thus we design collaborative 
> office spaces. One of our projects is Impact Hub Amsterdam and I wrote a 
> story on Medium explaining the design process with examples:
> https://medium.com/akka-architects/design-thinking-in-architecture-db83284cde97
> 
> I wanted to share our journey for those who are interested in architectural 
> aspect of coworking spaces and how it effects the productivity. Feel free to 
> contact me if you have any questions.
> 
> Best,
> Selim Ozadar
> 
> -- 
> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
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[Coworking] Re: Creating Coworking Space in Sugar Land TX.

[Angel Kwiatkowski]

Hi Christina!
I can help you!

My first space was a tiny 1,000 ft2 of which maybe 500 of it was actual 
coworking space. I have loads and loads of experience laying out "tiny" 
coworking spaces. If you send me your floor plan or pics, I can give you 
some quick and dirty recommendations on furniture and layouts. Cohere is 
currently housed in what used to be group housing so our building is extra 
unique and home-like. Email me at fccoworking at gmail.com.

As for borrowing stuff: most everyone is keen to share just ask for 
permission.

Angel

On Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 10:35:37 AM UTC-6, hawk wrote:
>
> Hello all.
>
> I've been a bit of a lurker on this forum for a year watching and reading 
> the forum and questions and answers. It's a really great group!
>
> I am in the beginning stages of starting a coworking space in Sugar Land, 
> TX. I am just now starting to formalize things with a website, FB page, and 
> a community event. I've been talking it up this past year and all feedback 
> has been positive. My intention is to do a formal survey and the community 
> event to get a real sense of interest. 
>
> I am active in the community, Board Member at the Chamber, Meetups, and 
> other networking groups so I plan to make a bigger splash with them by 
> being more intentional about what I am doing.
>
> I've been doing a lot of planning and have a historic house in the middle 
> of the city that we are in contract to purchase. It is a block away from an 
> new citycenter where Sugar Land is expanding shopping, office space, 
> dining, etc. Here is the planned growth: 
> http://communityimpact.com/houston/development-construction/2015/08/05/developer-unveils-renovation-plans-for-historic-imperial-sugar-refinery/.
>  
> Since we are not urban, I needed a place that was convenient for anyone to 
> get to but still be near an urban-type setting.
>
> The space is small at 1,600 sq feet. My company (http://www.globalspex.com) 
> will office out of the space while we build a community. It is a historic 
> home with the trappings of that kind of space (2 BR, 2 Bath, kitchen). My 
> plan is to tear down 2 walls to open it up and remove one of the bathrooms. 
> There is an exterior garage that posed to be additional space. Parking is 
> decent but could be improved.
>
> My plan is to visit other local spaces in Austin, San Antonio, and 
> Dallas.  I'd like to spend time and tour their space. I've reached out but 
> not had luck with responses. Hate to fill out their 'Tour Requests' since I 
> won't be a member but more of an intruder.
>
>
> *Couple of questions:*
>
>1. Can I 'borrow' this groups surveys and documents (with permission 
>of course). Just hate to spin my wheels and create from scratch. I found a 
>place with contracts that I'll use and give to my lawyer. Someone had a 
>great Google Coworking survey that I'd like to borrow, okay, well, steal.
>2. Is 1600sqft too small for coworking?
>3. Where can I get space planning for a small space?
>
> Any advice would be great. Mentoring? Even better.
>
> Thank you all, 
> Christina
>

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Re: [Coworking] How would you improve coworking software?

[Jacob Sayles]

This is how we do things in Nadine here at Office Nomads.  It's really easy
to automate things but from the very beginning we specifically pointed all
automations at staff so that we can connect with members personally.
Nadine sends us reminders when there are tasks that need to be done like
take a member's photo, or take their photo down from the wall when they
leave.  It also reminds us on member's anniversary and other "special days"
so we can celebrate with them the next time we see them in the space.  On
the member side it's pretty simple but it does allow for member to post a
little about themselves and check out what is going on.

All of Nadine is open source and I've love to build out the development and
user communities if anyone is up for collaborating.  To date I've spent
more time referring people to Nexudus and Cobot then I have recruiting
people to use nadine but if people are really interested in developing an
open source tool, this is a great place to start.

Jacob

On Mon, Apr 11, 2016 at 1:02 PM, Alex Hillman 
wrote:

> I'm extremely skeptical of the leap to automation, especially when it's
> paired with the idea of "matching."
>
> If relationships came down to a simple has/needs equation, maybe. But it's
> much more nuanced than that. Dating sites have proven this for years. And I
> say this as someone who met his partner on a dating site.
>
> There is an insane amount of low hanging fruit before we need anything
> that looks like automated matching.
>
> Community Building isn't a game of matching, it's a game of trust
> building. The best way to build (and maintain!) trust at scale is to be
> looking for excuses for conversations, and keep track of what you learn
> over time. This helps individuals stay on top of things and teams "call the
> ball" before something happens, good or bad. It's these conversations
> that help members feel felt, appreciated, heard, and understood.
>
> - "it's been 2 weeks since Mary joined. Have you checked in with her to
> see how she's doing?"
> - "if you checked in with Mary, reply with a couple of notes about your
> convo so the rest of your team knows how she's doing too."
> - "have you talked to any members this week who is having a tough time? Is
> there anything your team should know about that could make their lives
> easier, or conversation topics that might be worth avoiding?"
> - "next week is John's three year anniversary anniversary of being a
> member. Let's plan something special for him!"
> - "has anybody heard from George? It's been 2 months since I saw any notes
> on his account. He might be looking to cancel soon if we lose touch."
> - "these 25 people mentioned you on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram recently.
> Some might be members - remember to say thanks!"
> - "your event calendar is looking pretty empty next week. Maybe a good
> time to suggest a happy hour?"
>
> Basically, I want a robot assistant that reminds me and my team to be an
> awesome human with our members and friends in the ecosystem. Light
> automation on top of data that a membership platform should have on hand.
>
> We've barley started to cobble these kinds of reminders together along
> with our operational processes (
> http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2015/01/6-automated-workflows-that-make-our-coworking-space-better-every-day/)
>  and
> it makes a HUGE difference for the team and their ability to support the
> community in ways that I know create MUCH more lasting, scalable value than
> a matching engine ever could hope to.
>
> You're right - it's silly to expect that people keep this stuff in their
> head. But "matching" isn't even on the list of tasks for our community team
> - that's an outcome of doing the other stuff right.
>
> -Alex
>
> On Monday, April 11, 2016, Brian Crotty  wrote:
>
>> Hello Alex,
>>
>> This was one of the topics that came up at our bi-annual Cobot
>>  retreat too.  We have always had the tagline "*More
>> Time for your Coworkers*" - because we feel that the primary way to
>> build community is getting out there face to face and building community.
>> But over the years, we have the feeling too that it is time to be more
>> active on adding the community building and personal matching tools right
>> into Cobot (coming soon to a software near you).
>>
>> But that being said, I think that there are also a lot of ways to built
>> it within the space with events and the matchmaking that comes through with
>> it. That is also one of the keys of co-up , our own
>> space.  We have been hosting meet-ups, especially programming oriented
>> meetups and don't charge room rent as long as they don't collect fees from
>> the attendees.  For us it has been perfect because we are know throughout
>> the community for being the host, and for being a space where people can
>> run into each other. We know who to refer questions too and there is
>> something for everyone (who programms). 

Re: [Coworking] How would you improve coworking software?

[Alex Hillman]

I'm extremely skeptical of the leap to automation, especially when it's
paired with the idea of "matching."

If relationships came down to a simple has/needs equation, maybe. But it's
much more nuanced than that. Dating sites have proven this for years. And I
say this as someone who met his partner on a dating site.

There is an insane amount of low hanging fruit before we need anything that
looks like automated matching.

Community Building isn't a game of matching, it's a game of trust building.
The best way to build (and maintain!) trust at scale is to be looking for
excuses for conversations, and keep track of what you learn over time. This
helps individuals stay on top of things and teams "call the ball" before
something happens, good or bad. It's these conversations that help members
feel felt, appreciated, heard, and understood.

- "it's been 2 weeks since Mary joined. Have you checked in with her to see
how she's doing?"
- "if you checked in with Mary, reply with a couple of notes about your
convo so the rest of your team knows how she's doing too."
- "have you talked to any members this week who is having a tough time? Is
there anything your team should know about that could make their lives
easier, or conversation topics that might be worth avoiding?"
- "next week is John's three year anniversary anniversary of being a
member. Let's plan something special for him!"
- "has anybody heard from George? It's been 2 months since I saw any notes
on his account. He might be looking to cancel soon if we lose touch."
- "these 25 people mentioned you on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram recently.
Some might be members - remember to say thanks!"
- "your event calendar is looking pretty empty next week. Maybe a good time
to suggest a happy hour?"

Basically, I want a robot assistant that reminds me and my team to be an
awesome human with our members and friends in the ecosystem. Light
automation on top of data that a membership platform should have on hand.

We've barley started to cobble these kinds of reminders together along with
our operational processes (
http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2015/01/6-automated-workflows-that-make-our-coworking-space-better-every-day/)
and
it makes a HUGE difference for the team and their ability to support the
community in ways that I know create MUCH more lasting, scalable value than
a matching engine ever could hope to.

You're right - it's silly to expect that people keep this stuff in their
head. But "matching" isn't even on the list of tasks for our community team
- that's an outcome of doing the other stuff right.

-Alex

On Monday, April 11, 2016, Brian Crotty  wrote:

> Hello Alex,
>
> This was one of the topics that came up at our bi-annual Cobot
>  retreat too.  We have always had the tagline "*More
> Time for your Coworkers*" - because we feel that the primary way to build
> community is getting out there face to face and building community.  But
> over the years, we have the feeling too that it is time to be more active
> on adding the community building and personal matching tools right into
> Cobot (coming soon to a software near you).
>
> But that being said, I think that there are also a lot of ways to built it
> within the space with events and the matchmaking that comes through with
> it. That is also one of the keys of co-up , our own
> space.  We have been hosting meet-ups, especially programming oriented
> meetups and don't charge room rent as long as they don't collect fees from
> the attendees.  For us it has been perfect because we are know throughout
> the community for being the host, and for being a space where people can
> run into each other. We know who to refer questions too and there is
> something for everyone (who programms). It becomes the identity of the
> space.
>
> *But how can that be automated? *
> You need to open the space, coordinate meetings, find willing
> coordinators. be available. Sure the scheduling can be automated, but that
> is a small piece of the pie...
>
> *Where does software come into the picture then...*
> We are putting our bet on "intelligent matching". Increasing serendipity.
> Right now the referrals, are coming through our staff, but we want someone
> in the Rails Girls group to be able to meetup with someone from the Coding
> Amigos if they are both currently working on a front-end web project. And
> to encourage people to contact people who arrive on other nights.
>
> Some of this is done through our Slack channel / integration. But *a
> social platform that helps with matching* is really the key.
> No space manager, no matter how good they are can keep the individual
> quirks of 100+ members in their head, especially when people are coming for
> extra events as well!
>
> *Increasing the Building of Community is the Holy Grail of Coworking!*
> And it is what will always set independent spaces apart from the big
> "coworking" operations.
>
> Maybe we can push it further 

Re: [Coworking] How would you improve coworking software?

[Brian Crotty]

Hello Alex,

This was one of the topics that came up at our bi-annual Cobot 
 retreat too.  We have always had the tagline "*More Time 
for your Coworkers*" - because we feel that the primary way to build 
community is getting out there face to face and building community.  But 
over the years, we have the feeling too that it is time to be more active 
on adding the community building and personal matching tools right into 
Cobot (coming soon to a software near you). 

But that being said, I think that there are also a lot of ways to built it 
within the space with events and the matchmaking that comes through with 
it. That is also one of the keys of co-up , our own space. 
 We have been hosting meet-ups, especially programming oriented meetups and 
don't charge room rent as long as they don't collect fees from the 
attendees.  For us it has been perfect because we are know throughout the 
community for being the host, and for being a space where people can run 
into each other. We know who to refer questions too and there is something 
for everyone (who programms). It becomes the identity of the space.

*But how can that be automated? *
You need to open the space, coordinate meetings, find willing coordinators. 
be available. Sure the scheduling can be automated, but that is a small 
piece of the pie...

*Where does software come into the picture then...*
We are putting our bet on "intelligent matching". Increasing serendipity. 
Right now the referrals, are coming through our staff, but we want someone 
in the Rails Girls group to be able to meetup with someone from the Coding 
Amigos if they are both currently working on a front-end web project. And 
to encourage people to contact people who arrive on other nights.

Some of this is done through our Slack channel / integration. But *a social 
platform that helps with matching* is really the key.
No space manager, no matter how good they are can keep the individual 
quirks of 100+ members in their head, especially when people are coming for 
extra events as well!

*Increasing the Building of Community is the Holy Grail of Coworking!*
And it is what will always set independent spaces apart from the big 
"coworking" operations.

Maybe we can push it further at GCUC in LA!



On Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 6:35:04 PM UTC+2, Alex Hillman wrote:
>
> There's a million ways to manage billing out there but nothing that 
> actually helps us be better at our jobs. I'd kill for tools that actually 
> helped with the community building process. 
>
> Every CRM-like tool is basically a "deal flow" manager or, at best, an 
> account manager. I'd love something that actually helped me and my 
> team build and cultivate stronger relationships with the people in my 
> community. Ideally, it's something that members get value from too, and not 
> just a "management" tool. 
>
> We've tried everything we can find and still get more mileage out of our 
> convoluted Frankenstein of spreadsheets, Trello, Wordpress, and custom 
> software. I would be thrilled to pay to outsource this to something 
> designed with community in mind. 
>
> -Alex
>
> On Thursday, April 7, 2016, Rob Landry  > wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone, 
>>
>> For those of you who manage coworking spaces, I'm wondering - what would 
>> you like to see to improve coworking apps and  make them more useful to you 
>> and your members?
>>
>> I'm familiar with apps like Cobot and Coworkify, among others.
>>
>> I started a coworking space a few years ago and built an app that works 
>> as a CMS for the website, handles billing of members, and a public member 
>> directory, among a few other things.  The app is now used by a number of 
>> spaces.  I'm ready to refine it 
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Rob
>> r...@pleinairinteractive.com
>>
>> -- 
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>>
>
>
> -- 
> --
> The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.
> Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com
> Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast
>

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