Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Alex Hillman]

>
> My challenge is to define my target member and understand what I could
> offer them that is unique as an experience.  Any suggestions?


What communities do you already belong to? Start there :)

If you're not already involved in the kinds of communities where people
work from home, cafes, etc.now's a great time to start getting to know
people.

Do I need to already have members enrolled to start lease a space?


Signing a lease is the easy part - you've gotta find members either way!
Waiting until after you have a lease just means that you've got a ticking
clock and rent to pay while you're building that community. You can't avoid
the community building part, and it's 1x easier to do it without the
burden of rent to pay or the feeling of "this space is empty!"

--
*The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten


On Mon, Oct 1, 2018 at 5:01 PM  wrote:

> Hi Alex,
>
> Just joining the group and found lots of interesting information.  I am
> considering opening a coworking space and love the ideia o creating o
> community.  My challenge is to define my target member and understand what
> I could offer them that is unique as an experience.  Any suggestions?
> also, how to start a community from zero?  Do I need to already have
> members enrolled to start lease a space? as you can see lots of questions!
>
> Em terça-feira, 4 de setembro de 2018 12:30:39 UTC-3, Alex Hillman
> escreveu:
>>
>> *How did you market to begin growing your community?*
>>>
>>
>> Your best "marketing" will be direct invitations, in two forms.
>>
>> 1 - you reaching out to specific people and inviting them to come, and
>> 2 - you encouraging your existing members to do the same!
>>
>> Also, don't feel like everything needs to be run by you. Are there other
>> things that are going on that your community could attend/participate in
>> together?
>>
>> *How did you keep the community engaged? *
>>>
>>
>> Engagement is a lousy metric IMO. It tends to lead to all kinds of stuff
>> designed to distract and demand attention, and inevitably burn people out
>> (including yourself).
>>
>> Instead, the one main metric I focus on is that people feel connected.
>> - What "onramps" to interacting with other members do you have? Are they
>> tied directly to things that your members already do, or want to do?
>> - Are your "onramps" accessible? To who? Who are you leaving out,
>> intentionally or accidentally? (Not saying you have to include EVERYBODY at
>> once - but I've learned to recognize my blind spots for people who'd love
>> to participate but, for instance, don't like going to bars.)
>> - Is it easy for new members to connect with existing members, even in
>> small group and 1-1 settings?
>> - Is there some regular rhythm of support and encouragement for these
>> kinds of interactions? i.e. if people miss one opportunity, is there
>> another one coming up again soon?
>>
>> Any advice on events I should host in order to keep momentum?
>>>
>>
>> Consistency.
>>
>>
>>> Is it too early to look for a space?
>>>
>>
>> Are your members ready to put their money where their mouth is? How many?
>> Would they write a check for 1-3 months of membership today?
>>
>> If so, then maybe...but don't forget to do it WITH them.
>>
>> If not, then yeah it's too early.
>>
>>
>>> Funding? Sponsors?
>>>
>>
>> For what?
>>
>>
>>> What did you do for social media outreach?
>>>
>>
>> Talk to people like a person. :)
>>
>> -Alex
>>
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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Jesse Flores]

Well not sure what to do. Seems like my co-working evenings are losing momentum 
and even my regulars seem to start losing interest since there isn't any new 
connections coming in. I host weekly co-working nights and hosting a networking 
night next week. I even attend other meetups in the city but I guess maybe my 
target audience is too broad or specific? Maybe the name of the Meetup? Anyone 
else run into a wall?

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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Alex Hillman]

>
> Reached out the regulars and they all responded the reason they enjoy our
> meetups is meeting working professionals at our networking events.


Sounds like what you're doing is working! Keep it up, and keep that
feedback loop open with your members :)



--
*The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten


On Fri, Sep 21, 2018 at 12:21 AM Jesse Flores 
wrote:

> Wanted to follow up on an update. Reached out the regulars and they all
> responded the reason they enjoy our meetups is meeting working
> professionals at our networking events. Did I accidentally start an event
> planning company? I notice most active members have day gigs outside art
> and come to our co-working night to focus on their work to break into the
> art industry. There is something there I can work with right? It's evolving
> into something interesting.
>
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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Margo Aaron]

Ha that is awesome Jesse! My guess is that your people are hungry for
community. It's not the events, per se, it's connection to people like
them.

Sounds like a great value proposition for your space could be connection.
"Meet people like you"

On Fri, Sep 21, 2018 at 12:21 AM Jesse Flores 
wrote:

> Wanted to follow up on an update. Reached out the regulars and they all
> responded the reason they enjoy our meetups is meeting working
> professionals at our networking events. Did I accidentally start an event
> planning company? I notice most active members have day gigs outside art
> and come to our co-working night to focus on their work to break into the
> art industry. There is something there I can work with right? It's evolving
> into something interesting.
>
> --
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> "Coworking" group.
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>


-- 
Margo Aaron
That Seems Important 

Want smart people to bounce ideas off of? I have some.


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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Jesse Flores]

Wanted to follow up on an update. Reached out the regulars and they all 
responded the reason they enjoy our meetups is meeting working professionals at 
our networking events. Did I accidentally start an event planning company? I 
notice most active members have day gigs outside art and come to our co-working 
night to focus on their work to break into the art industry. There is something 
there I can work with right? It's evolving into something interesting.

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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Alex Hillman]

>
> The repeats have been really awesome and want to work together and maybe I
> should focus on them and find out what gauges their interest rather than
> focusing so much on looking for more people.


I'd bet that the folks who come back also have had opportunities to meet
other people within the group and felt connected, while people who aren't
coming back didn't feel the click. That's okay!

Not everyone's going to click just because they do similar work (in fact,
it's a pretty lousy leading indicator). Shared worldview, goals, and even
interests other than "the work" are where most of the real bonding happens.
Focus there.

-Alex

--
*The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.*
Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org
Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com
My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten


On Thu, Sep 13, 2018 at 1:25 PM Jesse Flores 
wrote:

> Thanks to everyone for their responses! I just bought my copy of the
> Coworking handbook, should arrive today! I am doing a weekly event now
> however I don't think it's consistent enough and I feel I have a lot of new
> people everytime but not a lot of repeats. I am jumping between different
> venues and probably should stick to one and have it more regularly. The
> repeats have been really awesome and want to work together and maybe I
> should focus on them and find out what gauges their interest rather than
> focusing so much on looking for more people. I re-read all your responses
> probably twice a day, I know I can build this. Thanks again!
>
>
>
>
> On Friday, September 7, 2018 at 10:47:40 AM UTC-7, Alex Hillman wrote:
>>
>> I'm trying my best to figure out that my "onramps" are as accessible as
>>> possible but I feel that it isn't. Maybe it relies too much on when I can
>>> host an event and people might lose interest. I have a coworking meetup
>>> tonight at wework and hopefully if all goes well I can have someone host
>>> another sooner than next time I originally wanted to host (scheduling
>>> conflicts).
>>>
>>
>> Consistency is a LOT more important than how often.
>>
>> Doing small, low-impact gatherings (happy hours & pot luck dinners, demo
>> nights & casual coworking sessions) more often is ultimately more valuable
>> than big, complex events that have lots of dependencies (special event
>> spaces, speakers/presenters, etc).
>>
>> Deep connections are more valuable at this stage than a large audience.
>>
>>
>>> The connecting members is another one, maybe I should have people offer
>>> if they'd like to post their personal portfolio being we are mainly
>>> artists, I do sometimes get the "how can I keep in touch with everyone that
>>> came?" chat.
>>>
>>
>> That's a good sign! Give people a place to connect online in between
>> events. I strongly prefer email discussion lists over social media
>> platforms, but anything is better than nothing. Encouraging people to have
>> discussions that are productive and valuable, e.g. asking for
>> help/recommendations on how to solve a problem, or sharing/celebrating each
>> others' work.
>>
>> The continuity of online interaction between offline events is a HUGE
>> part of how we got started, and our online community is still larger than
>> our active day-to-day coworking by more than double. This episode has a
>> bunch of examples of how we use Slack
>> , but they could easily be
>> applied to any platform and should inspire more that are relevant to you
>> and your community.
>>
>> I definitely think it's way too early to open a space and the
>>> funding/sponsors question is mainly for networking events I throw and
>>> hopefully I can generate interest from nearby companies/organizations
>>> (autodesk, adobe, wacom, ves society) to help with cost / promotion of the
>>> event, this being a digital artist networking event. Is this too much of a
>>> reach? haha. I been to successful events in NYC and LA where I've seen this
>>> happen, why not here?!
>>>
>>
>> It can never hurt to ask (and I know personally that Adobe is generally
>> interested in supporting local community efforts). My only advice here is
>> to make sure you don't get sucked into serving sponsors more than the
>> members. It's not hard to make an event that benefits a sponsor and the
>> community without it becoming an advertisement. It just means keeping your
>> members first, *always*, and showing sponsors how to "show up" in ways
>> they aren't always used to 
>> .
>>
>> -Alex
>>
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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Jesse Flores]

Thanks to everyone for their responses! I just bought my copy of the 
Coworking handbook, should arrive today! I am doing a weekly event now 
however I don't think it's consistent enough and I feel I have a lot of new 
people everytime but not a lot of repeats. I am jumping between different 
venues and probably should stick to one and have it more regularly. The 
repeats have been really awesome and want to work together and maybe I 
should focus on them and find out what gauges their interest rather than 
focusing so much on looking for more people. I re-read all your responses 
probably twice a day, I know I can build this. Thanks again! 




On Friday, September 7, 2018 at 10:47:40 AM UTC-7, Alex Hillman wrote:
>
> I'm trying my best to figure out that my "onramps" are as accessible as 
>> possible but I feel that it isn't. Maybe it relies too much on when I can 
>> host an event and people might lose interest. I have a coworking meetup 
>> tonight at wework and hopefully if all goes well I can have someone host 
>> another sooner than next time I originally wanted to host (scheduling 
>> conflicts). 
>>
>
> Consistency is a LOT more important than how often. 
>
> Doing small, low-impact gatherings (happy hours & pot luck dinners, demo 
> nights & casual coworking sessions) more often is ultimately more valuable 
> than big, complex events that have lots of dependencies (special event 
> spaces, speakers/presenters, etc). 
>
> Deep connections are more valuable at this stage than a large audience. 
>  
>
>> The connecting members is another one, maybe I should have people offer 
>> if they'd like to post their personal portfolio being we are mainly 
>> artists, I do sometimes get the "how can I keep in touch with everyone that 
>> came?" chat.
>>
>
> That's a good sign! Give people a place to connect online in between 
> events. I strongly prefer email discussion lists over social media 
> platforms, but anything is better than nothing. Encouraging people to have 
> discussions that are productive and valuable, e.g. asking for 
> help/recommendations on how to solve a problem, or sharing/celebrating each 
> others' work. 
>
> The continuity of online interaction between offline events is a HUGE part 
> of how we got started, and our online community is still larger than our 
> active day-to-day coworking by more than double. This episode has a bunch 
> of examples of how we use Slack 
> , but they could easily be 
> applied to any platform and should inspire more that are relevant to you 
> and your community. 
>
> I definitely think it's way too early to open a space and the 
>> funding/sponsors question is mainly for networking events I throw and 
>> hopefully I can generate interest from nearby companies/organizations 
>> (autodesk, adobe, wacom, ves society) to help with cost / promotion of the 
>> event, this being a digital artist networking event. Is this too much of a 
>> reach? haha. I been to successful events in NYC and LA where I've seen this 
>> happen, why not here?! 
>>
>
> It can never hurt to ask (and I know personally that Adobe is generally 
> interested in supporting local community efforts). My only advice here is 
> to make sure you don't get sucked into serving sponsors more than the 
> members. It's not hard to make an event that benefits a sponsor and the 
> community without it becoming an advertisement. It just means keeping your 
> members first, *always*, and showing sponsors how to "show up" in ways 
> they aren't always used to . 
>
> -Alex
>

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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Alex Hillman]

>
> I'm trying my best to figure out that my "onramps" are as accessible as
> possible but I feel that it isn't. Maybe it relies too much on when I can
> host an event and people might lose interest. I have a coworking meetup
> tonight at wework and hopefully if all goes well I can have someone host
> another sooner than next time I originally wanted to host (scheduling
> conflicts).
>

Consistency is a LOT more important than how often.

Doing small, low-impact gatherings (happy hours & pot luck dinners, demo
nights & casual coworking sessions) more often is ultimately more valuable
than big, complex events that have lots of dependencies (special event
spaces, speakers/presenters, etc).

Deep connections are more valuable at this stage than a large audience.


> The connecting members is another one, maybe I should have people offer if
> they'd like to post their personal portfolio being we are mainly artists, I
> do sometimes get the "how can I keep in touch with everyone that came?"
> chat.
>

That's a good sign! Give people a place to connect online in between
events. I strongly prefer email discussion lists over social media
platforms, but anything is better than nothing. Encouraging people to have
discussions that are productive and valuable, e.g. asking for
help/recommendations on how to solve a problem, or sharing/celebrating each
others' work.

The continuity of online interaction between offline events is a HUGE part
of how we got started, and our online community is still larger than our
active day-to-day coworking by more than double. This episode has a bunch
of examples of how we use Slack
, but they could easily be
applied to any platform and should inspire more that are relevant to you
and your community.

I definitely think it's way too early to open a space and the
> funding/sponsors question is mainly for networking events I throw and
> hopefully I can generate interest from nearby companies/organizations
> (autodesk, adobe, wacom, ves society) to help with cost / promotion of the
> event, this being a digital artist networking event. Is this too much of a
> reach? haha. I been to successful events in NYC and LA where I've seen this
> happen, why not here?!
>

It can never hurt to ask (and I know personally that Adobe is generally
interested in supporting local community efforts). My only advice here is
to make sure you don't get sucked into serving sponsors more than the
members. It's not hard to make an event that benefits a sponsor and the
community without it becoming an advertisement. It just means keeping your
members first, *always*, and showing sponsors how to "show up" in ways they
aren't always used to .

-Alex

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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Jesse Flores]

Wow! thanks Alex this was very helpful. 

I'm trying my best to figure out that my "onramps" are as accessible as 
possible but I feel that it isn't. Maybe it relies too much on when I can 
host an event and people might lose interest. I have a coworking meetup 
tonight at wework and hopefully if all goes well I can have someone host 
another sooner than next time I originally wanted to host (scheduling 
conflicts). 
The connecting members is another one, maybe I should have people offer if 
they'd like to post their personal portfolio being we are mainly artists, I 
do sometimes get the "how can I keep in touch with everyone that came?" 
chat.

I definitely think it's way too early to open a space and the 
funding/sponsors question is mainly for networking events I throw and 
hopefully I can generate interest from nearby companies/organizations 
(autodesk, adobe, wacom, ves society) to help with cost / promotion of the 
event, this being a digital artist networking event. Is this too much of a 
reach? haha. I been to successful events in NYC and LA where I've seen this 
happen, why not here?! 







On Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 8:30:39 AM UTC-7, Alex Hillman wrote:
>
> *How did you market to begin growing your community?*
>>
>
> Your best "marketing" will be direct invitations, in two forms. 
>
> 1 - you reaching out to specific people and inviting them to come, and
> 2 - you encouraging your existing members to do the same!
>
> Also, don't feel like everything needs to be run by you. Are there other 
> things that are going on that your community could attend/participate in 
> together?
>
> *How did you keep the community engaged? *
>>
>
> Engagement is a lousy metric IMO. It tends to lead to all kinds of stuff 
> designed to distract and demand attention, and inevitably burn people out 
> (including yourself). 
>
> Instead, the one main metric I focus on is that people feel connected. 
> - What "onramps" to interacting with other members do you have? Are they 
> tied directly to things that your members already do, or want to do?
> - Are your "onramps" accessible? To who? Who are you leaving out, 
> intentionally or accidentally? (Not saying you have to include EVERYBODY at 
> once - but I've learned to recognize my blind spots for people who'd love 
> to participate but, for instance, don't like going to bars.)
> - Is it easy for new members to connect with existing members, even in 
> small group and 1-1 settings?
> - Is there some regular rhythm of support and encouragement for these 
> kinds of interactions? i.e. if people miss one opportunity, is there 
> another one coming up again soon?
>
> Any advice on events I should host in order to keep momentum?
>>
>
> Consistency. 
>  
>
>> Is it too early to look for a space?
>>
>
> Are your members ready to put their money where their mouth is? How many? 
> Would they write a check for 1-3 months of membership today?
>
> If so, then maybe...but don't forget to do it WITH them. 
>
> If not, then yeah it's too early. 
>  
>
>> Funding? Sponsors?
>>
>
> For what?
>  
>
>> What did you do for social media outreach?
>>
>
> Talk to people like a person. :)
>
> -Alex 
>

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Re: [Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Alex Hillman]

>
> *How did you market to begin growing your community?*
>

Your best "marketing" will be direct invitations, in two forms.

1 - you reaching out to specific people and inviting them to come, and
2 - you encouraging your existing members to do the same!

Also, don't feel like everything needs to be run by you. Are there other
things that are going on that your community could attend/participate in
together?

*How did you keep the community engaged? *
>

Engagement is a lousy metric IMO. It tends to lead to all kinds of stuff
designed to distract and demand attention, and inevitably burn people out
(including yourself).

Instead, the one main metric I focus on is that people feel connected.
- What "onramps" to interacting with other members do you have? Are they
tied directly to things that your members already do, or want to do?
- Are your "onramps" accessible? To who? Who are you leaving out,
intentionally or accidentally? (Not saying you have to include EVERYBODY at
once - but I've learned to recognize my blind spots for people who'd love
to participate but, for instance, don't like going to bars.)
- Is it easy for new members to connect with existing members, even in
small group and 1-1 settings?
- Is there some regular rhythm of support and encouragement for these kinds
of interactions? i.e. if people miss one opportunity, is there another one
coming up again soon?

Any advice on events I should host in order to keep momentum?
>

Consistency.


> Is it too early to look for a space?
>

Are your members ready to put their money where their mouth is? How many?
Would they write a check for 1-3 months of membership today?

If so, then maybe...but don't forget to do it WITH them.

If not, then yeah it's too early.


> Funding? Sponsors?
>

For what?


> What did you do for social media outreach?
>

Talk to people like a person. :)

-Alex

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[Coworking] Opening a Space, have many questions!

[Jesse Flores]

Hello everyone,

 After a long time of wanting to open up a coworking space I've finally 
gotten the initiative to begin building a community in one of the most 
competitive cities (San Francisco, California). How will I stand out from 
the rest? I am a professional Visual Effects artists and I've worked in 
some of the most prestigious commercial, film and tech companies in the 
United States and along with it came a great community of digital artists. 
Unlike New York City and Los Angeles that have a strong digital artist 
community, I find the bay area is more catered to the tech and medical 
industries however there is a market sitting there looking for a place to 
work. The digital artist nomads who design/ create and render those 
beautiful images of products / web / feature film and commercial work. The 
bay area is a hub for nomadic professionals and with this vfx networking I 
have I am trying to build a community here and targeting all the major art 
industries. I'm at the very beginning, rallying networking events at bars 
and began coworking nights using the help of meetup/ wework. I have a 
million questions and any feedback be great! I'm hungry and eager to open 
and do it correctly.

How did you market to begin growing your community?
How did you keep the community engaged? 
Any advice on events I should host in order to keep momentum?
Is it too early to look for a space?
Funding? Sponsors?
What did you do for social media outreach?

Thank you for your time. 

If interested in where I am, I have a meetup and a facebook group. 

https://www.meetup.com/Welcome-to-MyStudio/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/mystudioCommunity/


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