Get future weekly summaries in your inbox.
✊ Coworking impact.
Coworking news & views.
😖 Is flex in a state of flux? #
David M. Levitt asks if recent closures expose weaknesses of flex office space busieness models. The article (behind a soft paywall hones in on the struggles of daybase and comments from their CEO Joel Steinhaus; WeWork (v1 and v2); and a landlord running flex space as a loss-leader.
In counter-arguments there are some positive snippets though from industrious’ Jamie Hodari, Convene’s Ryan Simonetti, and WeWork’s Annabelle Davis.
My thoughts? This year’s going to get bumpy for flex. Will this create opportunities for some operators? Abso-fudging-lutely.
👉 Read this.
Share This Week's Summary
💻 Coworking technology.
👓 Trend: changing interfaces and flex space bookings #
As you may know, I’ve been tracking changes at the intersection of where tech and processes (aka interfaces) enable more people to find, book and access flex spaces for some time now.
In this post I look at changes to different kinds of interfaces (namely AI + APIs, Remote Work apps, and.. eek… Web3) and how they could create opportunities for flex space operators.
👉 Read this.
Coworking data.
🏙️ Business Districts with the Most Coworking Spaces #
Researchers at CoworkingCafe put together the top 20 U.S. cities with the highest number of coworking spaces in their central business districts (CBDs).
Key takeaways: Half of US coworking spaces in CBDs are concentrated in just five major cities: New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Philadelphia. NYC leads the pack with 180 flex spaces across Midtown and the Financial District. Oakland, CA; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, PA and Chicago, IL have more than 2/3 of their coworking spaces concentrated in the CBDs. Houston, Austin, Dallas, TX and Denver, CO made the top 20 despite having more than 80% of their flex spaces outside the CBD.
👉 Read this.
🤔 Some other things that World Economic Forum’s report tells us #
Sharon O’Dea shares key takeaways from the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report. As noted, a lot of the media coverage of the report focussed on how “technology will be a net negative on jobs growth” in the short-term, but there’s more to take away from what the 800 business leaders shared.
In short: the importance of reskilling/upskilling; combo of soft + tech skills more critical; diversity, equity and inclusion are ethical and smart strategies; a growing focus on climate change & sustainability and “the need for stakeholders from government, business, education, and civil society to collaborate and co-create solutions for the future of work”.
👉 Read this.
Coworking market moves.
⏲ Manchester gets hint of new pay-per-minute hub #
Rachael Mcvey shares that after 4 months of work, they’ll be introducing a new coworking concept in Manchester. Whilst the page is a coming soon placeholder, and the post mentions luxury offices, the metadata does hint towards a possible pay-per-minute model. Curious to see what oppidan offers.
Interestingly, the first pay-per-minute space I ever tried was actually an anti-cafe (that I believe have now closed) called Ziferblat in Manchester, UK.
👉 Read this.
🎓 Another uni + coworking partnership launches innovation lab #
Gabriela Hersham shares the launch of Huckletree Innovation Lab at Regent’s University to foster the next generation of ambitious entrepreneurs.
👉 Read this.
🚀 Further growth for in Columbus #
Matthew Davis shares that COhatch are opening 2 more locations in Columbus.
👉 Read this.
💰 Coworking space for the 0.1% sets launch date #
allwork shares that Colette Club (who you may remember from week 31/22) have set a launch date for April 2023.
According to the piece the initial buy-in has come down (from $165k to just $125k) but the annual dues has gone up $1k to a fascinating $36k.
👉 Read this.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Jamie Russo dives into some experiments around more work-club-y third spaces on the Everything Coworking podcast.
📆 Coworking events.
👋 Continent-wide coworking member networking event #
10 May: TownSq are taking advantage of European Coworking Day to highlight the opportunities that can come from being part of a coworking community through a digital networking event that will connect our hubs and members with spaces across the continent. The event will take place at 8am UK time (9am CEST) on Wednesday 10 May and is open to anyone. TownSq will offer free coworking from our spaces for anyone who signs up and other hubs are encouraged to do the same.
I love this idea of creating an opportunity for businesses and individuals to make international connections, learn best practice and explore trade opportunities.
👉 Read this.
💓 Why coworking spaces are the beating heart of your local economy #
May 10: For European Coworking Day, we want to celebrate how coworking spaces add to the communities they are in, not just as a hub but economically, socially and culturally. We’ll be streaming this event live with the help of technologywithin and Lenta Space Spitalfields, and have invited three people with a deep and diverse understanding of what “local” and “coworking” means. Karen West-Whylie from Barking Enterprise Centre, Vibushan Thirukumar from Oru Space and Dale Thomson from The Granville, South Kilburn Trust. The event will be hosted by the awesome Caterina Maiolini.
👉 Read this.
🏙 GWA’s Immersive 2023: Changing models for changing times #
May 23-24: The GWA Board of Directors is excited to host the 2023 Immersive event in Houston, Texas about adapting to the hybrid world of work. Attendees will get a behind-the-scenes opportunity to experience and engage with key players offering best-in-class hospitality in the flex space industry.
👉 Read this.