Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Alex Linsker]

Trevor, how would you rate your co-op on each of the 7 cooperative 
principles? What works great? What could work even better? 

Other questions (answers to any of them would be great) :

Are there any cooperative principles that don't match up exactly with what 
members want? Are there any cooperative principles that members 
super-value? How are people on the board perceived as different from 
members not on the board? What do you do for non-board members to feel they 
own the organization? Do you have a period of time or criteria when someone 
joins, before they become a member-owner, or are members, as soon as they 
join, instantly equal in terms of your goals for their cooperative 
decision-making? 

If you wanted more capital, such as to expand, how would you see that most 
likely working within your members' values (would it be pre-sales, a bank 
loan/loan from outside organizations, or a few members with more money 
individually buying a building or receiving an interest rate higher than 8% 
per year, or all or most members contributing equally into a capital fund 
and not receiving a return higher than 8% per year)? Do you have financial 
reserves, and why or why not? How do various members think about the future?

I'm interested in the principle of subsidiarity/federation/localism for 
opening additional locations; is that something you've thought about, and 
if so, how would new locations interact with the current location?

Alex Linsker, Collective Agency, Portland Oregon, 
http://collectiveagency.co/

On Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 10:55:31 AM UTC-8, Trevor Twining wrote:
>
> Here’s a link to the Ontario Co-operative Association, whose resources and 
> advice were particularly valuable when we set up. If you’re in Ontario, 
> they’re more than happy to offer some initial assistance. If you’re 
> outside, they’re happy to refer you to the group in your area who can help. 
> We’ve become quite involved in the Niagara Regional Co-op Network which is 
> closely connected with On Co-Op.
>
> http://www.ontario.coop/programs_services/coop_development/starting_a_coop
>
> It’s a rich resource, but there’s still a lot of jargon. I’ll try to break 
> our experience down in plain language.
>
> 1. We were already meeting as a jelly group for 18 months before we 
> started with our space, so we had a core community from which to build.
> 2. As we were talking about the mutually-invested community we wanted to 
> build, someone who was already working on a food co-op in our city asked if 
> we had considered the model.
> 3. We looked at the resources at the link above and enough connected that 
> we decided this was the model for us.
> 4. We filled out the incorporation forms ourselves. It took a couple of 
> hours. (I can walk you through if you get to this stage)
> 5. The membership fees from the founding members gave us the capital we 
> needed to create the corporation and get the initial paperwork filed.
> 6. Members pre-paid first, last and as many months as they could up-front 
> so that we could build a nest egg. Some members provided member loans.
> 7. Our membership model also encourages participation that doesn’t 
> directly involve the space, so we have a larger group of members than space 
> users. (our current membership is 70, but less than 30 use the space 
> 1d/week or more)
> 8. With that money in the bank, we were able to sign our lease, get our 
> utilities set up, and hang our sign on the door.
> 9. We have a board of 8 directors, and they help guide the long term 
> direction of the group. I’m still chief resident volunteer 
> cat-herder/tummler, and we’re working on expanding our service offering so 
> we can pay someone to be in this role.
> 10. Annually we have a meeting to review finances, vote on key changes in 
> direction, and when we get to the point where we’re managing a surplus, the 
> group will decide how that’s allocated.
>
> Next coworking meetup-type thing we do, I’d be happy to present this as a 
> talk in more detail.
>
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> http://coworkniagara.com
> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2016, at 12:00 PM, Trevor Twining  > wrote:
>
> Thanks all, for your feedback so far.
>
> Sounds like I need a (few?) follow up post(s). I’ll also post some links 
> shortly to resources we used. In Canada, most co-ops are provincially 
> incorporated, so I assume that in the US each state will have its own co-op 
> legislation.
>
> I’ll share what we did here in Ontario, and you should be able to figure 
> out how that works in your province/state.
>
> I’m not sure how this works in other countries, but the co-op movement in 
> Europe generally is huge, so there should be some good resources on that 
> side of the Atlantic.
>
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> 

Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Alex Linsker]

Hi Trevor, I'm glad you like the concept. Here's some models of how I think 
about workplace democracy, and how it works. If you're into metaphors, 
there are two brand metaphors that work well for us: if it isn't like a 
cozy fireplace, we don't do it (although recently, community workplace has 
become more relevant), and if it isn't what we ideally want for a small 
city or village, we don't do it (I think that is similar to community 
workplace).

At Collective Agency we are a workplace democracy. For our sister 
companies, check out 

I. Values. If we were a country, we would be rated around 90 out of 100 for 
democracy. We no longer have voting for individuals, but we have voting on 
issues that affect everybody, and we are a participatory (action-packed) 
democracy (rather than a deliberative (talky/debatey) democracy). We are a 
business democracy, in the sense that we are results-focused 
(policy-focused). Members value that we're a place for productive work 
(which includes all aspects of democracy here), cozy workplace, openness, 
people doing a variety of work, each with individual goals, appreciative, 
cooperative, etc.

II. It might help to think of 4 models of decision-making. 
1) Authority; picture a top-down decision-tree. 
2) Anarchy; picture lots of free-floating circles of various sizes without 
overlap.
3) Democracy; picture a Venn diagram, with a dotted-line circle a short 
distance from the three circles.
4) Open-source; picture chairs in a circle facing inwards to a dot at the 
center, with a solid-line circle a short distance around the chairs. 

People generally are drawn to one of these especially, and then to a 
secondary model. For me, it's democracy, then authority (I'm open to 
calling it different names). For most people in open-source kernels, it's 
open-source. 

III. For the democracy model, in the place itself, there are 4 principles 
for vibrancy (these are by Jane Jacobs, for cities):
1) Density (enough people for interactions).
2) Frequent and easy pathways (enough overlap for interactions).
3) Mixed-use (people there for various reasons; for variety throughout the 
day. Like-minded is not a goal in democracy, only in the open-source and 
authority models. Like-valued is a thing).
4) Mixed-cost (people at various stages of life and income can overlap in 
ways that grow their quality of life).

Recently we had less of all of these, and the solution for all 4 symptoms 
was that we had closed off our borders; the dotted line around our Venn 
diagram had become a solid line. And so now we are becoming more open to 
the public again, within limits. There is more serendipity, more smiles, 
more people, more conversations, more marketing, more joy, more stone-soup 
contributions.

IV. I think of there as being 3 goals that are aligned. Each of these goals 
is supported and grown by each decision, or we don't do it:
1. Revenue model.
2. Community model.
3. Personal property model.

V. Here's how "anyone can make decisions" (yes, within limits) at 
Collective Agency in our democracy model. 

For structure of decision-making, we have text:
1. Community Guidelines (bill of rights and responsibilities): 
http://collectiveagency.co/community-guidelines/ This is the core of the 
terms of service and is binding on me as business owner, as well as on 
members and meetings as clients, and any visitor who enters the place or 
participates in forums online. I interpret it on the deepest level 
possible. There is a preface of principles which is important, and 9 
generative (broad, rather than specfiic/prescriptive) rules. The 
guidelines' preface is modified from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and the 
rules are modified from Souk LLC's Community Guidelines. 
2. Terms of Service. http://collectiveagency.co/terms-of-service/ This sets 
some specific limits for ways people can be here.
3. Quiz. http://collectiveagency,co/quiz/ After four and a half years, and 
a lot of data from a lot of interactions, we are trying this quiz and it's 
going great. People who score very low aren't responsible for their actions 
and complain more and generally don't acknowledge the Community Guidelines 
are important. People who score too low are too often abrasive to other 
people. People who score high enough are more positive-focused and view 
themselves as having more influence and ability and expectation to make 
happen what they want, which is my main goal for democracy. We started with 
a qualifying score of 20 or more (1 in 4 people) and recently lowered it to 
17 or more (1 in 2 people). The feedback has been very positive.
4. Transparency. There are various documents that help transparency. The 
other pages on the website show people what to expect (and could be even 
better). We are bringing back open-book management. The homepage will 
change soon to become much more open and it will score much higher on the 
quiz.
5. Community Mission Statement. We started with a council, and the council 
came 

Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Trevor Twining]

Alex, this is fascinating. I want to make sure I understand: are you saying 
that anyone can walk in off the street and have no financial stake in your 
organization, but still participate in making decisions?


Trevor Twining
trevortwin...@gmail.com
416-201-2254
twitter/skype/linkedin: trevortwining

> On Mar 29, 2016, at 8:38 , Alex Linsker  wrote:
> 
> This is a great thread. I'm interested in talking with everyone who has a 
> co-op or workplace democracy and is interested in sharing more best 
> practices. 
> 
> Collective Agency started very similarly, out of Jellies, then we did 
> presales. Members have not wanted to be a legal co-op and have not wanted a 
> board, and voting rights are without needing buy-in, like voting in a city or 
> village. We went too far in the direction of members-only, and lost some 
> serendipity, but instantly got that back recently at open events. We are a 
> workplace democracy, and have been described as a "hybrid model" between 
> being a workers coop and a buyers/members coop. We are a member organization 
> of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives; sister companies in Portland 
> include Equal Exchange, People's Food Coop, and CityBikes. We were a member 
> of WorldBlu and won awards in 2013.
> 
> Alex Linsker, Collective Agency, Portland Oregon http://collectiveagency.co
> 
> -- 
> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
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Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Alex Linsker]

This is a great thread. I'm interested in talking with everyone who has a co-op 
or workplace democracy and is interested in sharing more best practices. 

Collective Agency started very similarly, out of Jellies, then we did presales. 
Members have not wanted to be a legal co-op and have not wanted a board, and 
voting rights are without needing buy-in, like voting in a city or village. We 
went too far in the direction of members-only, and lost some serendipity, but 
instantly got that back recently at open events. We are a workplace democracy, 
and have been described as a "hybrid model" between being a workers coop and a 
buyers/members coop. We are a member organization of the US Federation of 
Worker Cooperatives; sister companies in Portland include Equal Exchange, 
People's Food Coop, and CityBikes. We were a member of WorldBlu and won awards 
in 2013.

Alex Linsker, Collective Agency, Portland Oregon http://collectiveagency.co

-- 
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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
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Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Trevor Twining]

Alex, I think I’ve mentioned before how much IndyHall has influenced the 
creation of our space. Without you sharing what y'all put together there I’d 
probably still be waiting for someone else to have built a space. You should 
come hang out for a bit with Jay Tennier and me and I’ll show you around :D. 
You’re a good bit younger than I am, but I consider you a mentor when it comes 
to what we’re collectively building. :D

We are classified as a member or service co-op; our members have organized this 
business for the purpose of providing a specific range of services to its 
membership. We have a couple more co-ops in the works, and some of those are 
worker co-ops, some of them are marketing co-ops, and one of them is 
potentially a credit union).

When we get to profitability (we’re six months now at break-even, and slowly 
growing), we will decide as a group how to use the money: to reduce monthly 
subscriptions, invest in new gear, stockpile it to purchase our own property, 
or give a rebate at the end of the year. Whatever we do, it’s democratic: every 
member has one vote, no matter how much they invest or how much business they 
do with us. So in that sense, every member is already a partner.

We’re planning to open more spaces throughout the region: when we get there, we 
might offer member shares to raise the capital. These would be preferred 
shares, and so dividends would be paid out on those before the regular member 
shares. But they’d be non-voting.

Keep the questions coming! They’re useful for the next post :D


Trevor Twining
Cowork Niagara
http://coworkniagara.com 
Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining




> On Feb 18, 2016, at 3:15 PM, Alex Hillman  
> wrote:
> 
> Man, I love seeing the Indy Hall playbook in action like this <3 <3
> 
> Echoing lots of what's been said here - I look forward to a more detailed 
> follow up post :)
> 
> We have a few members that are VERY active in the co-op world and we often 
> get together to talk about how much co-op DNA Indy Hall has. 
> 
> I've also learned a lot about the different kinds of co-ops, including member 
> co-ops, employee co-ops, etc. Is there a specific kind of co-op you chose? 
> Are there any financial benefits to a member-owner, like dividends or 
> discounts? Are new members given opportunities to become member-partners now 
> that you're up and running?
> 
> -Alex
> 
> 
> --
> 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 
> 
> On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 1:55 PM, Trevor Twining  > wrote:
> Here’s a link to the Ontario Co-operative Association, whose resources and 
> advice were particularly valuable when we set up. If you’re in Ontario, 
> they’re more than happy to offer some initial assistance. If you’re outside, 
> they’re happy to refer you to the group in your area who can help. We’ve 
> become quite involved in the Niagara Regional Co-op Network which is closely 
> connected with On Co-Op.
> 
> http://www.ontario.coop/programs_services/coop_development/starting_a_coop 
> 
> 
> It’s a rich resource, but there’s still a lot of jargon. I’ll try to break 
> our experience down in plain language.
> 
> 1. We were already meeting as a jelly group for 18 months before we started 
> with our space, so we had a core community from which to build.
> 2. As we were talking about the mutually-invested community we wanted to 
> build, someone who was already working on a food co-op in our city asked if 
> we had considered the model.
> 3. We looked at the resources at the link above and enough connected that we 
> decided this was the model for us.
> 4. We filled out the incorporation forms ourselves. It took a couple of 
> hours. (I can walk you through if you get to this stage)
> 5. The membership fees from the founding members gave us the capital we 
> needed to create the corporation and get the initial paperwork filed.
> 6. Members pre-paid first, last and as many months as they could up-front so 
> that we could build a nest egg. Some members provided member loans.
> 7. Our membership model also encourages participation that doesn’t directly 
> involve the space, so we have a larger group of members than space users. 
> (our current membership is 70, but less than 30 use the space 1d/week or more)
> 8. With that money in the bank, we were able to sign our lease, get our 
> utilities set up, and hang our sign on the door.
> 9. We have a board of 8 directors, and they help guide the long term 
> direction of the group. I’m still chief resident volunteer 
> 

Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Trevor Twining]

Hey Tony, happy to clear up #7.

Membership in the Co-op is a pre-requisite to using our space, but many members 
join our co-op without using the space. If I were to compare it to other 
spaces, I’d say our base membership is similar to the community membership 
offered by IndyHall, except we don’t run an online commmunity (although we’re 
strongly considering it).

A membership is $125 CDN annually. $250 if you’re an organization. All members 
get 1 day/month in the space. If you want to use the coworking space, you 
purchase a monthly subscription on top of your membership. 

We have 70 members in our co-operative. Just under 30 also have subscriptions.

I will gladly take you up on that beer at the next opportunity!


Trevor Twining
Cowork Niagara
http://coworkniagara.com 
Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining




> On Feb 18, 2016, at 2:38 PM, Tony Bacigalupo  wrote:
> 
> Trevor, you're quickly becoming my new favorite person. Thank you for sharing 
> all of this! 
> 
> Regarding Step 1... Bravo!!! My heart sings when I see this.
> 
> Regarding Step 7... "Our membership model also encourages participation that 
> doesn’t directly involve the space, so we have a larger group of members than 
> space users."
> 
> ... is there any chance you could elaborate on this as well?
> 
> I'll gladly buy you a beer or beverage of your choice next time we're in the 
> same place. Thank you for being an inspiration!
> 
> Tony
> ---
> Projects: New Work Cities  • Open Coworking 
>  • Cotivation 
> eBook:No More Sink Full of Mugs 
> Connect:  Personal site  • Twitter 
>  • Facebook 
> 
> New: Preorder the Ultimate Coworking Toolkit 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 11:55 AM, Trevor Twining  > wrote:
> Here’s a link to the Ontario Co-operative Association, whose resources and 
> advice were particularly valuable when we set up. If you’re in Ontario, 
> they’re more than happy to offer some initial assistance. If you’re outside, 
> they’re happy to refer you to the group in your area who can help. We’ve 
> become quite involved in the Niagara Regional Co-op Network which is closely 
> connected with On Co-Op.
> 
> http://www.ontario.coop/programs_services/coop_development/starting_a_coop 
> 
> 
> It’s a rich resource, but there’s still a lot of jargon. I’ll try to break 
> our experience down in plain language.
> 
> 1. We were already meeting as a jelly group for 18 months before we started 
> with our space, so we had a core community from which to build.
> 2. As we were talking about the mutually-invested community we wanted to 
> build, someone who was already working on a food co-op in our city asked if 
> we had considered the model.
> 3. We looked at the resources at the link above and enough connected that we 
> decided this was the model for us.
> 4. We filled out the incorporation forms ourselves. It took a couple of 
> hours. (I can walk you through if you get to this stage)
> 5. The membership fees from the founding members gave us the capital we 
> needed to create the corporation and get the initial paperwork filed.
> 6. Members pre-paid first, last and as many months as they could up-front so 
> that we could build a nest egg. Some members provided member loans.
> 7. Our membership model also encourages participation that doesn’t directly 
> involve the space, so we have a larger group of members than space users. 
> (our current membership is 70, but less than 30 use the space 1d/week or more)
> 8. With that money in the bank, we were able to sign our lease, get our 
> utilities set up, and hang our sign on the door.
> 9. We have a board of 8 directors, and they help guide the long term 
> direction of the group. I’m still chief resident volunteer 
> cat-herder/tummler, and we’re working on expanding our service offering so we 
> can pay someone to be in this role.
> 10. Annually we have a meeting to review finances, vote on key changes in 
> direction, and when we get to the point where we’re managing a surplus, the 
> group will decide how that’s allocated.
> 
> Next coworking meetup-type thing we do, I’d be happy to present this as a 
> talk in more detail.
> 
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> http://coworkniagara.com 
> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Feb 18, 2016, at 12:00 PM, Trevor Twining > > wrote:
>> 

Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Alex Hillman]

Man, I love seeing the Indy Hall playbook in action like this <3 <3

Echoing lots of what's been said here - I look forward to a more detailed
follow up post :)

We have a few members that are VERY active in the co-op world and we often
get together to talk about how much co-op DNA Indy Hall has.

I've also learned a lot about the different *kinds* of co-ops, including
member co-ops, employee co-ops, etc. Is there a specific kind of co-op you
chose? Are there any financial benefits to a member-owner, like dividends
or discounts? Are new members given opportunities to become member-partners
now that you're up and running?

-Alex


--
*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

On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 1:55 PM, Trevor Twining 
wrote:

> Here’s a link to the Ontario Co-operative Association, whose resources and
> advice were particularly valuable when we set up. If you’re in Ontario,
> they’re more than happy to offer some initial assistance. If you’re
> outside, they’re happy to refer you to the group in your area who can help.
> We’ve become quite involved in the Niagara Regional Co-op Network which is
> closely connected with On Co-Op.
>
> http://www.ontario.coop/programs_services/coop_development/starting_a_coop
>
> It’s a rich resource, but there’s still a lot of jargon. I’ll try to break
> our experience down in plain language.
>
> 1. We were already meeting as a jelly group for 18 months before we
> started with our space, so we had a core community from which to build.
> 2. As we were talking about the mutually-invested community we wanted to
> build, someone who was already working on a food co-op in our city asked if
> we had considered the model.
> 3. We looked at the resources at the link above and enough connected that
> we decided this was the model for us.
> 4. We filled out the incorporation forms ourselves. It took a couple of
> hours. (I can walk you through if you get to this stage)
> 5. The membership fees from the founding members gave us the capital we
> needed to create the corporation and get the initial paperwork filed.
> 6. Members pre-paid first, last and as many months as they could up-front
> so that we could build a nest egg. Some members provided member loans.
> 7. Our membership model also encourages participation that doesn’t
> directly involve the space, so we have a larger group of members than space
> users. (our current membership is 70, but less than 30 use the space
> 1d/week or more)
> 8. With that money in the bank, we were able to sign our lease, get our
> utilities set up, and hang our sign on the door.
> 9. We have a board of 8 directors, and they help guide the long term
> direction of the group. I’m still chief resident volunteer
> cat-herder/tummler, and we’re working on expanding our service offering so
> we can pay someone to be in this role.
> 10. Annually we have a meeting to review finances, vote on key changes in
> direction, and when we get to the point where we’re managing a surplus, the
> group will decide how that’s allocated.
>
> Next coworking meetup-type thing we do, I’d be happy to present this as a
> talk in more detail.
>
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> http://coworkniagara.com
> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2016, at 12:00 PM, Trevor Twining 
> wrote:
>
> Thanks all, for your feedback so far.
>
> Sounds like I need a (few?) follow up post(s). I’ll also post some links
> shortly to resources we used. In Canada, most co-ops are provincially
> incorporated, so I assume that in the US each state will have its own co-op
> legislation.
>
> I’ll share what we did here in Ontario, and you should be able to figure
> out how that works in your province/state.
>
> I’m not sure how this works in other countries, but the co-op movement in
> Europe generally is huge, so there should be some good resources on that
> side of the Atlantic.
>
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> http://coworkniagara.com
> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2016, at 11:28 AM, Tony Bacigalupo 
> wrote:
>
> Trevor, I think a lot of us are excited to learn more about how you pulled
> this off!
>
> I encountered early thoughts on this topic as well, but found it difficult
> to get a clear sense of how to go about in a way that would be viable. I
> think any more details you can provide on that would be helpful to others
> considering similar structures.
>
> Thanks!
> Tony
> *---*
> *Projects: New Work Cities  • Open Coworking
>  • Cotivation *
> *eBook:No More 

Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Trevor, you're quickly becoming my new favorite person. Thank you for
sharing all of this!

*Regarding Step 1...* Bravo!!! My heart sings when I see this.

*Regarding Step 7...* "Our membership model also encourages participation
that doesn’t directly involve the space, so we have a larger group of
members than space users."

... is there any chance you could elaborate on this as well?

I'll gladly buy you a beer or beverage of your choice next time we're in
the same place. Thank you for being an inspiration!

Tony
*---*
*Projects: New Work Cities  • Open Coworking
 • Cotivation *
*eBook:No More Sink Full of Mugs *
*Connect:  Personal site  • Twitter
 • Facebook
*
*New: Preorder the Ultimate Coworking Toolkit
*


On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 11:55 AM, Trevor Twining 
wrote:

> Here’s a link to the Ontario Co-operative Association, whose resources and
> advice were particularly valuable when we set up. If you’re in Ontario,
> they’re more than happy to offer some initial assistance. If you’re
> outside, they’re happy to refer you to the group in your area who can help.
> We’ve become quite involved in the Niagara Regional Co-op Network which is
> closely connected with On Co-Op.
>
> http://www.ontario.coop/programs_services/coop_development/starting_a_coop
>
> It’s a rich resource, but there’s still a lot of jargon. I’ll try to break
> our experience down in plain language.
>
> 1. We were already meeting as a jelly group for 18 months before we
> started with our space, so we had a core community from which to build.
> 2. As we were talking about the mutually-invested community we wanted to
> build, someone who was already working on a food co-op in our city asked if
> we had considered the model.
> 3. We looked at the resources at the link above and enough connected that
> we decided this was the model for us.
> 4. We filled out the incorporation forms ourselves. It took a couple of
> hours. (I can walk you through if you get to this stage)
> 5. The membership fees from the founding members gave us the capital we
> needed to create the corporation and get the initial paperwork filed.
> 6. Members pre-paid first, last and as many months as they could up-front
> so that we could build a nest egg. Some members provided member loans.
> 7. Our membership model also encourages participation that doesn’t
> directly involve the space, so we have a larger group of members than space
> users. (our current membership is 70, but less than 30 use the space
> 1d/week or more)
> 8. With that money in the bank, we were able to sign our lease, get our
> utilities set up, and hang our sign on the door.
> 9. We have a board of 8 directors, and they help guide the long term
> direction of the group. I’m still chief resident volunteer
> cat-herder/tummler, and we’re working on expanding our service offering so
> we can pay someone to be in this role.
> 10. Annually we have a meeting to review finances, vote on key changes in
> direction, and when we get to the point where we’re managing a surplus, the
> group will decide how that’s allocated.
>
> Next coworking meetup-type thing we do, I’d be happy to present this as a
> talk in more detail.
>
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> http://coworkniagara.com
> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2016, at 12:00 PM, Trevor Twining 
> wrote:
>
> Thanks all, for your feedback so far.
>
> Sounds like I need a (few?) follow up post(s). I’ll also post some links
> shortly to resources we used. In Canada, most co-ops are provincially
> incorporated, so I assume that in the US each state will have its own co-op
> legislation.
>
> I’ll share what we did here in Ontario, and you should be able to figure
> out how that works in your province/state.
>
> I’m not sure how this works in other countries, but the co-op movement in
> Europe generally is huge, so there should be some good resources on that
> side of the Atlantic.
>
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> http://coworkniagara.com
> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2016, at 11:28 AM, Tony Bacigalupo 
> wrote:
>
> Trevor, I think a lot of us are excited to learn more about how you pulled
> this off!
>
> I encountered early thoughts on this topic as well, but found it difficult
> to get a clear sense of how to go about in a way that would be viable. I
> think any more details you can provide on that would be helpful to others
> considering similar structures.
>
> Thanks!
> Tony
> *---*
> *Projects: New Work Cities 

Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Trevor Twining]

Thanks all, for your feedback so far.

Sounds like I need a (few?) follow up post(s). I’ll also post some links 
shortly to resources we used. In Canada, most co-ops are provincially 
incorporated, so I assume that in the US each state will have its own co-op 
legislation.

I’ll share what we did here in Ontario, and you should be able to figure out 
how that works in your province/state.

I’m not sure how this works in other countries, but the co-op movement in 
Europe generally is huge, so there should be some good resources on that side 
of the Atlantic.


Trevor Twining
Cowork Niagara
http://coworkniagara.com 
Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining




> On Feb 18, 2016, at 11:28 AM, Tony Bacigalupo  
> wrote:
> 
> Trevor, I think a lot of us are excited to learn more about how you pulled 
> this off!
> 
> I encountered early thoughts on this topic as well, but found it difficult to 
> get a clear sense of how to go about in a way that would be viable. I think 
> any more details you can provide on that would be helpful to others 
> considering similar structures.
> 
> Thanks!
> Tony
> ---
> Projects: New Work Cities  • Open Coworking 
>  • Cotivation 
> eBook:No More Sink Full of Mugs 
> Connect:  Personal site  • Twitter 
>  • Facebook 
> 
> New: Preorder the Ultimate Coworking Toolkit 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 8:53 AM, Jenifer Ross  > wrote:
> Ditto. Can you provide more details on the financial structure?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Feb 18, 2016, at 10:40 AM, Jacob Sayles  > wrote:
> 
>> I'd love to know more about this. I'm certainly sold on the value alignment 
>> but I don't have a sense for how it works. 
>> 
>> On Thursday, February 18, 2016, Trevor Twining > > wrote:
>> Apologies. I used an internal link. 
>> 
>> Here’s the real link
>> 
>> http://coworkniagara.com/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>>  
>> 
>> 
>> Trevor Twining
>> trevortwin...@gmail.com <>
>> 416-201-2254 
>> twitter/skype/linkedin: trevortwining
>> 
>>> On Feb 18, 2016, at 9:40 AM, Trevor Twining > 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hey everyone,
>>> 
>>> When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, a 
>>> prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork Niagara up 
>>> as a co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we checked it out.
>>> 
>>> It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only co-operative 
>>> coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one other in Quebec). 
>>> I’m now convinced that if more spaces use this model it will help create 
>>> stronger, more resilient coworking communities. I’m sharing this in the 
>>> hopes that it piques your collective curiosity.
>>> 
>>> I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have any 
>>> questions about this, feel free to ask.
>>> 
>>> http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>>>  
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Trevor Twining
>>> Cowork Niagara
>>> http://coworkniagara.com 
>>> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
>>> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com 
>> 
>> --- 
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>> "Coworking" group.
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>> .
>> 
>> -- 
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>> 
>> --- 
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>> .
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>> .
> 
> 
> -- 
> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com 
> 

Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Tony Bacigalupo]

Trevor, I think a lot of us are excited to learn more about how you pulled
this off!

I encountered early thoughts on this topic as well, but found it difficult
to get a clear sense of how to go about in a way that would be viable. I
think any more details you can provide on that would be helpful to others
considering similar structures.

Thanks!
Tony
*---*
*Projects: New Work Cities  • Open Coworking
 • Cotivation *
*eBook:No More Sink Full of Mugs *
*Connect:  Personal site  • Twitter
 • Facebook
*
*New: Preorder the Ultimate Coworking Toolkit
*


On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 8:53 AM, Jenifer Ross 
wrote:

> Ditto. Can you provide more details on the financial structure?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Feb 18, 2016, at 10:40 AM, Jacob Sayles  wrote:
>
> I'd love to know more about this. I'm certainly sold on the value
> alignment but I don't have a sense for how it works.
>
> On Thursday, February 18, 2016, Trevor Twining 
> wrote:
>
>> Apologies. I used an internal link. 
>>
>> Here’s the real link
>>
>>
>> http://coworkniagara.com/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>>
>> Trevor Twining
>> trevortwin...@gmail.com
>> 416-201-2254
>> twitter/skype/linkedin: trevortwining
>>
>> On Feb 18, 2016, at 9:40 AM, Trevor Twining 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hey everyone,
>>
>> When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, a
>> prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork Niagara up
>> as a co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we checked it out.
>>
>> It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only
>> co-operative coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one other
>> in Quebec). I’m now convinced that if more spaces use this model it will
>> help create stronger, more resilient coworking communities. I’m sharing
>> this in the hopes that it piques your collective curiosity.
>>
>> I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have
>> any questions about this, feel free to ask.
>>
>>
>> http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>>
>> 
>> Trevor Twining
>> Cowork Niagara
>> http://coworkniagara.com
>> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
>> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>>
> --
> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
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Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Jenifer Ross]

Ditto. Can you provide more details on the financial structure?

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 18, 2016, at 10:40 AM, Jacob Sayles  wrote:
> 
> I'd love to know more about this. I'm certainly sold on the value alignment 
> but I don't have a sense for how it works. 
> 
>> On Thursday, February 18, 2016, Trevor Twining  
>> wrote:
>> Apologies. I used an internal link. 
>> 
>> Here’s the real link
>> 
>> http://coworkniagara.com/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>> 
>> Trevor Twining
>> trevortwin...@gmail.com
>> 416-201-2254
>> twitter/skype/linkedin: trevortwining
>> 
>>> On Feb 18, 2016, at 9:40 AM, Trevor Twining  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hey everyone,
>>> 
>>> When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, a 
>>> prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork Niagara up 
>>> as a co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we checked it out.
>>> 
>>> It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only co-operative 
>>> coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one other in Quebec). 
>>> I’m now convinced that if more spaces use this model it will help create 
>>> stronger, more resilient coworking communities. I’m sharing this in the 
>>> hopes that it piques your collective curiosity.
>>> 
>>> I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have any 
>>> questions about this, feel free to ask.
>>> 
>>> http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Trevor Twining
>>> Cowork Niagara
>>> http://coworkniagara.com
>>> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
>>> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>> 
>> -- 
>> 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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>> email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
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> -- 
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Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[ideasource]

Hi Trevor
 
Your link to the blog post isn't working. Tried it on 2 different 
browsers, thinking that might be an issue, but neither worked. 
 
I'm in Toronto, but followed Innovate Niagar for some time while I was 
self-employed so have some sense of trends in the Niagara Region and 
connections at Niagara College. 
 
So even though I'm employed full-time now  managing the Co-op function 
at George Brown College (student/co-op employment, in this case). 
 
I still am very interested in the coworking movement, entrepreneurship, 
the sharing economy, disruptive technology, the maker economy, 
city-building, sustainability, etc. etc. etc. 
 
When you can... 
 

Thanks
 
 
Michael
 
Michael Andich
Manager, Field Education and Partnerships
George Brown College, Centre for Business
mand...@georgebrown.ca
Office 416.415.5000 x 6158
FAX        416-415-2094
 
 

On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 09:40:58 -0500, Trevor Twining  wrote:

  Hey everyone, 
When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, 
a prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork 
Niagara up as a co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we 
checked it out. 
 
It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only 
co-operative coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one 
other in Quebec). I’m now convinced that if more spaces use this 
model it will help create stronger, more resilient coworking 
communities. I’m sharing this in the hopes that it piques your 
collective curiosity. 
 
I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have 
any questions about this, feel free to ask. 
 

http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/


Trevor Twining
Cowork Niagara
http://coworkniagara.com
Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
 
 
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Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Jacob Sayles]

I'd love to know more about this. I'm certainly sold on the value alignment
but I don't have a sense for how it works.

On Thursday, February 18, 2016, Trevor Twining 
wrote:

> Apologies. I used an internal link. 
>
> Here’s the real link
>
>
> http://coworkniagara.com/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>
> Trevor Twining
> trevortwin...@gmail.com
> 
> 416-201-2254
> twitter/skype/linkedin: trevortwining
>
> On Feb 18, 2016, at 9:40 AM, Trevor Twining  > wrote:
>
> Hey everyone,
>
> When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, a
> prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork Niagara up
> as a co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we checked it out.
>
> It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only co-operative
> coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one other in Quebec).
> I’m now convinced that if more spaces use this model it will help create
> stronger, more resilient coworking communities. I’m sharing this in the
> hopes that it piques your collective curiosity.
>
> I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have any
> questions about this, feel free to ask.
>
>
> http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> http://coworkniagara.com
> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
> 
> .
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>

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Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Jenifer Ross]

Here is a link taken from their website:

http://coworkniagara.com/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/

On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 9:46 AM, Alex Hillman 
wrote:

> Hey Trevor - thank link is broken! :( looking forward to reading this.
>
> -Alex
>
>
> On Thursday, February 18, 2016, Trevor Twining 
> wrote:
>
>> Hey everyone,
>>
>> When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, a
>> prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork Niagara up
>> as a co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we checked it out.
>>
>> It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only
>> co-operative coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one other
>> in Quebec). I’m now convinced that if more spaces use this model it will
>> help create stronger, more resilient coworking communities. I’m sharing
>> this in the hopes that it piques your collective curiosity.
>>
>> I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have
>> any questions about this, feel free to ask.
>>
>>
>> http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>>
>> 
>> Trevor Twining
>> Cowork Niagara
>> http://coworkniagara.com
>> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
>> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> 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 coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>>
>
>
> --
> --
> 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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W@tercooler
21 North Broadway | Tarrytown, NY 10591
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Re: [Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Alex Hillman]

Hey Trevor - thank link is broken! :( looking forward to reading this.

-Alex

On Thursday, February 18, 2016, Trevor Twining 
wrote:

> Hey everyone,
>
> When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, a
> prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork Niagara up
> as a co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we checked it out.
>
> It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only co-operative
> coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one other in Quebec).
> I’m now convinced that if more spaces use this model it will help create
> stronger, more resilient coworking communities. I’m sharing this in the
> hopes that it piques your collective curiosity.
>
> I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have any
> questions about this, feel free to ask.
>
>
> http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/
>
> 
> Trevor Twining
> Cowork Niagara
> http://coworkniagara.com
> Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
> twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining
>
>
>
>
> --
> 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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> email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com
> 
> .
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>


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[Coworking] Co-ops and Coworking: the best-kept secret in coworking.

[Trevor Twining]

Hey everyone,

When we were developing the business plan for our space two years ago, a 
prospective member asked us if we had considered setting Cowork Niagara up as a 
co-operative. We didn’t know what that was, so we checked it out.

It was the best thing that we could have done. We’re the only co-operative 
coworking space in english-speaking Canada (there’s one other in Quebec). I’m 
now convinced that if more spaces use this model it will help create stronger, 
more resilient coworking communities. I’m sharing this in the hopes that it 
piques your collective curiosity.

I wrote a post about it on our newly-launched blog. If any of you have any 
questions about this, feel free to ask.

http://cowork/blog/2016/02/10/why-co-operatives-and-coworking-go-hand-in-hand/


Trevor Twining
Cowork Niagara
http://coworkniagara.com 
Home of Niagara’s independent workforce
twitter: @coworkniagara, @trevortwining




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