You’ve seen them here and there, but do you know what you’re looking at? Coworks talked to FireWorks Coworking, The Shop Workspace, Pursuit Coworking, and Burbity to find out how they use their digital signs, and what you need to know before you invest.

The Global Workspace Association annual conference will award the winner of Coworks‘ 2025 Community Manager of the Year Award, but ahead of the prize giving Lauren Walker highlights the 3 semi-finalists and shares their stories.

They are: Audrey McKnight @ Venture X San Antonio Northwest, Brooke Dempster at HAYVN Coworking and Kathrin Louis at Carr Workplaces in Downtown LA.

Wildfires! Drunk members! Cancer fundraising! Oh and all their usual duties as well. They are the superheroes of this industry!

Lauren Walker, CMO of Coworks conducted an accidental secret shopper experience at an unnamed coworking space, revealing significant operational failures in the day pass process which included inquiry forms, 2 days of no responses, "buy when you get here", pricing/detail opacity and that was all before even arriving at the space. What followed was even worse.

The actual visit only lasted 35 minutes before she left, highlighting how operational oversights can drive away warm leads and revenue. But you’ve already solved these obvious day pass operational issues? Right?

We are all trying to do more with less, and that is where AI shines. DeShawn Brown of Coworks and David Walker of Coworking Consulting put ChatGPT to the test in real time.

And the results were pretty great. But only with input and guidance.

Coworks published guidance on creating impact reports to help coworking operators demonstrate value to members, communities, and local economies beyond basic metrics like member counts and events held. The software platform emphasizes that impact reports should showcase tangible outcomes including job placements, business launches, local spending generation, and member collaboration rates, along with community value through nonprofit support and affordable tech access.

These reports can serve multiple purposes including grant renewals, public funding applications, board advocacy, local partnerships, and investor pitches, with their software offering helping operators pull member usage stats, space booking data, revenue breakdowns, and community event metrics.