🎧 Listen to TWIC recaps.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been experimenting with audio-versions of This Week In Coworking.
Last week I changed it up a bit, focussing on just a few key stories and what they could mean for the industry, your business and our world.
This week’s audio recap should drop on Friday across Spotify, and both Apple + Google podcasts apps.
Let me know what you think?
Get future weekly summaries in your inbox.
✊ Coworking impact.
✋ Demanding Diversity in Coworking Conferences #
May’s IDEA Challenge is facilitated by Jerome Chang and Ashley Proctor.
The coworking industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, with conferences and events serving as key opportunities for professionals in the field to connect, learn, and collaborate. However, a persistent issue remains: the lack of diversity in coworking conferences.
👉 Read this.
Coworking news & views.
🧮 Guide: Building a business plan for a coworking space #
Asen Stoyanchev shares a guide on building a winning business plan for a coworking space.
Although most of you may be a few steps past the business plan phase, but this resource may be helpful for those starting out as it looks over target market, product mixes, extra rev. generators, marketing/sales, and expenses.
👉 Read this.
🙀 Is cat-friendly a new niche for coworking spaces? #
David Walker shares news from Singapore about Meownistry of Meow (yes, seriously that’s what they’re called) that “lets you play with cats while you work”.
The space is part working lounge and part temporary foster home for cats. Another interesting amenity? A rentable karaoke room. Love this!
👉 Read this.
🕺 How one coworking space evolved into a gathering hub #
Adam Goldstein’s SWAY gets featured in this piece as they shift from a ‘traditional’ coworking space to support companies needing space to gather, hosting social events and other celebrations.
👉 Read this.
🏠 How a small town is reimagining their town center #
The FT highlights how Stevenage in the UK is reimagining their town center.
One of the firms supporting the shift away from retail to creating jobs and homes is Co-Space (led by William Stokes) who now occupies a recently closed retail space off the town’s main square.
👉 Read this.
📼 Lovely flashback video #
Loren Bartley shares a lovely short flashback video about how Business Addicts coworking space came together.
I love this kind of content, and it resonates well for community-focussed spaces. If you’re building a new space, or expanding, or refurnishing, or just running a superb space, capture video that captures your story and culture – and think about resharing them often.
👉 Read this.
🏬 Commercial developer shares why they partnered to offer flex #
Barry Greenfield shares why Manzo Freeman Development partnered up with LocalWorks to run their flex space in Lawrence Massachusetts.
In short? The goal was to support and nurture local business, hoping they’ll graduate to larger spaces in the rest of the building. Great to see more landlords partnering up to nurture their local communities.
👉 Read this.
🥒 Coworking for… pickeball players? #
With the blurring between coworking and members club in recent newsletters, a few folks sent me this link regarding a members club/lounge for Pickleboard players.
Whilst I’m not sure how much work can be done here, if business can be done on golfcourses, maybe it’s a good meeting spot?! Also, I know that a few spaces are exploring adding pickleball courts as an amenity.
Note: Just learned this week that pickleball and paddle board are not the same thing. 🤦♂️
👉 Read this.
💡 Are “coplaces” inevitable? #
Vanessa Sans shares how there may be an inevitable merger between coliving and coworking.
“As remote working is becoming the norm, the concepts of coliving and coworking are merging, resulting in the hybridisation of both to meet the new needs of today’s society.”
👉 Read this.
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💻 Coworking technology.
🤯 AI + Photoshop blew my mind #
Martin Harbech shares a quick video of how Adobe is merging Firefly (their generative AI engine) into Photoshop. In the video, ‘generative fill’ takes selected space and turns them into beautiful renderings.
What has this got to do with coworking? Well that’s where your imagination comes in. And it’s not just Photoshop who are pulling in generative AI. There’s a lot of moves being made by Canva, Elementor and others who may be more impactful to coworking in the coming months.
👉 Read this.
📦 Booking app co launch cowarehouse offering for landlords #
Kyle Muir shares two interesting tidbits. First, in 2023, PowerBx launched their own cowarehouse/cowork space in downtown Salt Lake City. But now they’re also releasing a landlord solution to help commercial property owners also launch their own such spaces.
👉 Read this.
💼 M&A continues in the space management sector #
Marley Fabisiewicz shares that spaceOS workspace management company has been acquired by Equiem, an office-building tenant experience company.
The combined workspace and tenant experience company will serve 850 buildings, hosting 15k companies and 300k users. Worth keeping an eye on, especially as there will be more and more M&A around building and coworking-specific tech solutions. #callingit
👉 Read this.
Coworking data.
📃 Paper: how leasing changes are being led by employee habit shifts #
Kurt Patrick shares an interesting paper from Annie Draper and the Hines team on the changing nature of office leases – driven by shifts in employee work habits.
““We’re working on a new corporate leasing model – one that is responsive to our tenant-customers’ goals and complements our conventional leasing. We are adding flexible product offerings and terms, network ecosystems across our geographic footprint, defining each assets’ ESG mission, and expanding our customer/people-centric value proposition.”
👉 Read this.
🇮🇳 Flex in India is here to stay #
CBRE report digs into the shifts around flex space in India.
Interesting takeaway is that corporate flex demand is increasing with ‘using flex spaces for variable demand’ being selected by 27% of survey respondents when asked bout their CRE plans for the next two years.
👉 Read this.
Coworking market moves.
🇲🇾 APAC network prepares for Nasdaq listing #
Emissary Capital shares that Common Ground is exploring an IPO on the Nasdaq as part of The Flexi Group.
Great to also get some insights from Erman Akinci and Juhn Teo about their journey building one of the largest coworking businesses in Asia.
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 Fast-growing network closes funding round to expand #
Marc Brough shares that Cubo Work have closed an investment deal with Literacy Capital plc.
The details, as I can see them: the investment was 8 figures, and is to fuel growth into all commercial regions in the UK and expanding internationally.
👉 Read this.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Jamie Russo chats with Jerry Alexander about emerging trends and a pragmatic perspective on coworking on the Commercial Property Investors podcast.
Brian Watson and Dennis Lankes of ALT Space chat with Liz Elam about the launch a new AI focused startup for the coworking world on the GCUC Coworking podcast.
📆 Coworking events.
😎 Attracting different generations to your coworking space #
May 26: How can you market your space and create a sense of community that appeals to different age groups? Let’s chat about it.
Join us for a free, informal, community conversation with fellow workspace operators and coworking pros. The Convo will be moderated by content strategist and creator Cat Johnson.
👉 Read this.
💡 Coworking IDEA Conversation #
May 31: Join the free, monthly, international IDEA Conversation. Co-hosts Jerome Chang, Shervonne Cherry, and Ashley Proctor discuss “Disrupting the Status Quo: Demanding Diversity in Coworking Conferences”. All are welcome!
👉 Read this.