Week 34, 2021

This week we saw a monumental shift in how the US gov. procures coworking space, a humorous look at cliche coworking personalities, 2 views of how VC-backed co's are looking at office space, and more.Β 

πŸŽ‰ Coworking celebrations.

πŸ“š Coworking leader becomes a WELL AP.

Huge congrats to Amy King from Good Coworking (and TWIC community member) on smashing the certification exams and becoming an Accredited Professional, which denotes their expertise in the WELL Building Standard.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

Get future weekly summaries in your inbox.

πŸ“° Coworking updates.

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ The US government leans into coworking.

Last week the GSA (who handle procurement for US government agencies) announced that they’ve awarded a $50M contract to 5 companies to help some of the 2.1M federal employees access coworking spaces.

The five companies are: Expansive, WeWork, The Yard, Deskpass and LiquidSpace.

In this blog post I summarize what I could find out, some answers to the questions you posed when the news broke, and what it could all mean for coworking – both in the US and across the globe.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

🀚 5 of the personalities you’ll meet in a coworking space.

Iman Bashir had me at her first line “Let’s be honest: Working from home sucks”.

In this humorous article in Entrepreneur, readers are introduced to 5 personalities they may run into at their local coworking space.

I’ve definitely come across some of these in communities across different countries… heck I’ve probably been two of them at some point. (Thanks Amy King for sharing this link.)

πŸ‘‰ Read this

🧳 Are VC backed startups swapping offices for team trips?

Matthew Parsons shares an interesting look into data from Kruze Consulting who have been tracking the spending patterns of 400 startups since 2019.

Notably, the % of startups paying for rent dropped from 85 to 60. Interestingly though, a lot of that redirected spend is going to Airbnb as startups rent houses and arrange in-person off-sites instead of joining coworking spaces.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ’€ A comparison of a random Thursday: Home vs Coworking.

Richard Groß shares a comparison between a random Thursday in his life when he worked from a home office compared to after he joined a coworking space (and before he became a community manager at betahaus).

πŸ‘‰ Read this

🌀 Outdoor work and meeting spaces launched in downtown DC.

The DowntownDC BID has partnered up with WorkChew and Verizon to introduce outdoor workspaces called DC Wokeries which are open Monday – Friday from 11am to 5pm.

The BID is also offering 350 free memberships on a first-come, first-served basis.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ“ˆ Could automated check-ins boost coworking revenues?

Automated check-in can be a game-changer as you work to get your space back in the black. Satellite Deskworks share 4 ways to increase your revenue with automated check-in.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

Share This Week's Summary

πŸ’» Coworking technology.

πŸ€– Workspace tech automation platform announces pricing.

Although still in private beta, Syncaroo have introduced their freemium pricing model.

This piece dives into the decision-making behind the model, and why it is important to make the pricing for flex space automation accessible, sustainable and simple.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ“² On-demand booking app reaches emotional milestone.

Mathieu Schepard shares PopDesk‘s latest milestones (80 locations in 13 states) but also 6 reasons these milestones mean so much to him and his.

Always great to see the real emotions that exist behind the different tech platforms that enable more people to connect with flex workspaces.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦ Canadian workspace booking app launches in Ottawa.

Justin Raymond shares that Flexday is now live in his hometown of Ottawa, featuring flagship partners Staples Studio, iQ Offices and TCC Canada.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ–– New ‘flex-in-a-box’ software option announced.

Ben Silver shares how 3DEN are making the tech they use to power and automate their flex workspaces available to retail, multi-family and commercial landlords who’d like to turn some of their space into flex space.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ“ˆ Coworking data & trends.

πŸ‡¦πŸ‡Ί Flex space transactions up over 100% in suburban Australia.

According to Flexible Workspace Australia and The Instant Group‘s 2021 market report, suburban flex workspaces saw an average rise in transactions of 100+ percent from 2019 to 2020.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ’Έ A VC polled their portfolio about office utilization.

Fred Wilson, a NYC based investor, polled the portfolio of companies they’ve invested in about their office space usage.

One of the questions was about employee-to-desk ratios, and of the 56 responding companies 11 (or 19.6%) would have 1 desk for every employee and just over 10% (6 companies) would leverage coworking passes for their employees, whilst 8 (or ~14%) wouldn’t offer any physical workspace to their team.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ“‰ Has Delta dented that flex space SPAC?

Chris Bryant dives into the numbers in this Bloomberg Opinion piece on whether WeWork‘s SPAC (via BowX Acquisition Corp) has lost momentum due to worries around the Delta variant.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

🀝 Coworking market moves.

πŸ”₯ 3 red-hot emerging sectors in office technology.

AshkΓ‘n Zandieh looks at 3 sectors of office technology that are heating up based on market trends and venture activity.

Whilst the article is insightful the 3 areas of rapid growth are “Flexibility and the Future of the Office” (including coworking), “Tech-Enabled Commercial Real Estate” and “Software and the Future of the Office”.

Another interesting side note is that since 2010, $5.7 billion has been invested in office technology companies.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ’° Workspace operator brings in new COO as they eye IPO.

Industrious have appointed Liz Simon (prev. General Assembly) as their new COO as prepare for an Initial Public Offering.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ€Έβ€β™€οΈ The remarkable journey behind this mega PropTech merger.

Phil Kirschner shares the almost dizzying path iOffice and SpaceIQ have been on before their merger.

They’ve gone through acquisitions, rebrands, re-acquisitions, so it’s def been a journey culminating in a whole new merger this week.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

✌️ Multi-national operator changes up membership offerings.

Olly Olsen shares just how fishing proud he is of The Office Group‘s new coworking memberships.

The UK flex space operator (with locations in Germany too) has switched up their offerings adding Roam or Home tiers.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸŽ™ Coworking conversations.

Caleb Parker chats with Michael CockburnΒ from Desana about the changing nature of knowledge work, and the office’s place in the platform of work.Β 

🎧 Listen to this

Bernie Mitchell and Sarah Colwell chat about her recent conference talk titled “A Dysfunctional Year Researched by The Instant Group”.

🎧 Listen to this

Jamie Russo caught up with Mark GilbreathΒ about the GSA contract and how it works.Β 

🎧 Listen to this

πŸ“† Coworking events.

πŸ—Ί Free GMB event for coworking spaces.

At this free event, hosted by the London Coworking Assembly, digital marketing strategist Sonya Whittam will share her top tips for perfecting your coworking space’s Google My Business profile, at a time when it’s more important to do so than ever.

πŸ‘‰ Read this

πŸ’Ό Coworking jobs.

Find or post coworking jobs for free here.

About This.

ThisWeekInCoworking.com is a weekly newsletter summarizing the coworking celebrations, stories, market moves, tech updates, and discussions you may have missed.

Jump to section

Want the free email versions?

πŸ’« Who's hiring?

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ COhatch are hiring a Community Manager in Beachweood, Ohio

πŸ‘‰ See Info

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Thinkspace are hiring a Location Manager in Seattle, Washington

πŸ‘‰ See Info

🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Clockwise are hiring a Community Coordinator in Glasgow, Scotland.

πŸ‘‰ See Info

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Lucid Private Offices are hiring a Community Coordinator in Southlake, Texas.

πŸ‘‰ See Info

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Lucid Private Offices are hiring a Community Coordinator in Dallas, Texas.

πŸ‘‰ See Info

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Lucid Private Offices are hiring a Community Coordinator in Sugar Land, Texas.

πŸ‘‰ See Info

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Lucid Private Offices are hiring a Community Coordinator in Scottsdale, Arizona.

πŸ‘‰ See Info

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Lucid Private Offices are hiring a Community Coordinator in The Woodlands, Texas.

πŸ‘‰ See Info

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Lucid Private Offices are hiring a Community Coordinator in Forth Worth, Texas.

πŸ‘‰ See Info

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Lucid Private Offices are hiring a Community Coordinator in Alpharetta, Georgia.

πŸ‘‰ See Info

Share This.

Share on LinkedIn
Tweet this summary
Share via email
Share on Facebook
Send via WhatsApp
Share on Telegram

Other Summaries.

Week 16, 2025

This week we explore if coworking has crossed the chasm, creating a content distribution strategy, premium brands, adaptive childcare plans, Japanese regeneration, APAC desk rates, tech updates and more.

πŸ‘‰ Read this.

Week 14, 2025

This week we explore if coworking’s been reinvented, what PCEs are, a coworking bus, a 3750-pod partnership, which Spanish operator hit 14M in rev, and more.

πŸ‘‰ Read this.

Week 13, 2025

This week we explore two GSA flex space pilots, a report on the state of coworking e-commerce, Spain’s new coworking capital, if libraries are competition (again), 3 market moves, and more.

πŸ‘‰ Read this.