Cat Johnson not super concerned with your member who just wants to rent a desk or office from you and be done with it.

She is, however, deeply concerned about the member who was dying a slow, boring death working in isolation each day and joined your space to make some new friends and boost their quality of life.

If you want to truly make an impact on your neighborhood, town, and region, the more you can position your coworking space as a third place, the better off you’ll be. Cat Johnson shares that this will also help attract people who are looking for connection, engagement, and opportunities to collaborate.

There’s a lot of overlap between making places that contribute to thriving cities, and making coworking spaces that contribute to thriving communities.

Cat Johnson shares 11 Placemaking Principles and explores how they relate to coworking.

When Cat Johnson advises people about starting a community, whether virtual or in-person, the first thing she tells them is to seed their community with the people they want to be in the community… their ideal members.

These people should be community-minded, generous, and collaborative because they will set the tone for the entire community. This is your minimum viable community.