How Patch took control of their tech & processes.
Patch is a fast growing network of neighbourhood community and work spaces. Getting their tech and processes to line up, and get out of their teams’ way, was critical to scaling faster.
In this report, we explore how the Patch team leveraged Syncaroo to streamline 3 core parts of their business.
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✊ Coworking impact.
🧘♀️ How coworking counters mental challenges of WFH #
Felena Hanson and Dr. Madeline Tyson share that there’s hope in the loneliness epidemic, and it’s called coworking in a video/blog post combo. They explore the hurdles of home-office setups and the social solution that is coworking
Coworking news & views.
🌱 Starting, growing and nurturing a coworking community (in 20 steps) #
Helga and the andcards team share a 20-step process to help coworking spaces create vibrant communities. They dig into onboarding, intros, events, brand stories, connecting people, building trust and more.
🤺 Operator warns landlords about big-name flex operators #
Mike Kriel shares why they believe landlords should avoid the risk of working with ‘big-name flex office operators’.
With the shifts and pressures happening in the market, this is def a conversation I’ve heard many times. But seeing it out on the internet in ‘black and white’ brings up the question – if landlords increasingly turn away from big brands, is this an opportunity or risk for your business?
📅 Event ideas shared at the last Coworking Convo #
Lauren Walker summarizes the last Coworking Convo on engaging coworking-space events.
✅ How we grew a vibrant community of 400+ members #
Scaling a community to success can be challenging, but Gerald Vanderpuye has managed to make an impressive impact in Brixton and beyond. Here are five key takeaways from our conversation with Gerald on how to build a collaborative and inspiring community.
📦 Is now the right time for operators to explore new products? #
Sofia Stolberg penned an (lovingly-cheeky) open letter to David Tolley about a Hail Mary play that could help WeWork monetize their existing locations.
Of course this isn’t an exclusive opportunity for them, you could and should also be exploring alternative, secondary and auxiliiary revenue opportunities.
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💻 Coworking technology.
🗽 Coworking-alternative platform hits 400k sqft listed in NYC #
David Menaged shares that TROT (which touts users to ‘ditch coworking’) have surpassed 400,000 feet of of listed flex space on their platform. The number comes from 250+ spaces offered by landlords directly on flexible terms.
It’s a big number, but keep in mind that there’s massive quantities of available office space in Manhattan right now. But, it’s still an interesting space to watch as some landlords shift towards operator-partnerships, others build their own brands and evidently some list directly on platforms like these.
🇳🇿 NZ booking platform hits 13k milestone. #
Matt Knight shared another SharedSpace.co.nz milestone, this time surpassing the 13k mark. ICYMI, they hit 12k back in week 39, 2022. This could also be decent indicator of supply growth in the region.
🤖 Human Connections + AI + Flex #
Caleb Parker (BOLD), Mary Hanula (Eulerity), and Andrea Pirrotti-Dranchak (NewFlex) riff on the power of conversational marketing, human connections, and AI. Check out the article to spark ideas for making more powerful connections and a greater ROI.
Coworking data.
💰 Coworking more affordable than leasing across US #
CoworkingCafe delved into a detailed comparison between the prices of traditional office leases and coworking space subscriptions in 146 U.S. cities, both projected over a one-year period.
Using a baseline of a 10-person team, they compared dedicated desks vs a 2k sqft leased office. In 96% of the ciities coworking was more affordable. Greater LA led the pack with the most attractive coworking offers. Santa Monica coworking spaces offered a $75k annual saving over leasing. Kansas City, MO however only had a 1% difference. On the flipside, office leases in Cincinnati, OH were 11% cheaper than the average coworking membership.
🌊 Similar patterns in desk level occupancy #
Sandra Panara shares an interesting view of the desk level occupancy data captured by Relogix sensors. Ignoring the numbers when comparing 2023 and 2022 levels, a clear pattern highlights that even though usage is up, there isn’t actually a month-over-month increase.
🇫🇷 Who stands to lose out if WeWork in France goes under? #
Romain Vergnault shares data around who has backed WeWork in France, and who stands to lose out if the firm closes down or restructures through a bankruptcy.
🇬🇧 A glance at how 100 flex space deals was split between 53 operators #
Michael Dubicki shares a graph highlighting how the last 100 deals closed in London’s Zone 1 were distributed across 53 coworking space operators. A great way to see the local competition and the variety of custom preferences.
Coworking market moves.
🏛️ Gov-run pilot coworking network already returning results #
Jamie Orr shares an update from John O’Duinn that looks into the results so far (the program is only a few months old) from the FedCowork network. Some of the results shared include saving taxpayer money, reducing paperwork, an ops continuity solution after a storm and strong net promoter scores.
Now this is NOT the GSA deal made to give coworking access to Federal employees through the 5 contract winners, but instead a network of 6 locations run exclusively for federal agencies.
🙏 Local brand partners with mentorship platform #
John Neilan shares that tuesday coworkiing and Mentor Lane have partnered up to give every coworking member a month’s free mentorship.
I love the reasoning, in that “a coworking space has curated programming and actively seeks out ways to facilitate the growth and wellbeing of its members and their businesses.” Yes. Added value. All day.
🇦🇺 TGR launches their first Australian space #
Marco Kalik shares that The Great Room by Industrious are launching their first Australian location in Sydney. The brand’s first location in the country is through a partnership with asset manager 151 Property.
ICYMI: TGR was founded in Singapore in 2016, and acquired by Industrious in 2022. This location/news was also teased back in Week 23 this year.
🇩🇪 State-owned housing co launches coworking space #
Coworking Europe shares that Berlin-based housing company GESOBAU AG is launching GESOWORX Coworking, a coworking initiative that will offer modern workspace in apartment buildings.
🇬🇧 Local operator bows out of Reading location #
Jamie Ellis shares that DeskLodge will be closing their Reading workspace on 31 August.
🇺🇸 Growing brand plants flag in Columbus, Ohio #
Workbox Company have announced their newest location will ben in Columbus, Ohio will open September 1st.
😍 Brand’s 4th location may lead to a little bit of design-envy #
DesignBoom shares some snaps of NeueHouse’s new Venice Beach location. The beautifully designed space (and the brand’s 4th) is quite an inspiring bit of creative restoration. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for some SoCal vibe inspiration.
🇨🇳 China sees ‘WeWork for events’ startup expansion #
Xinmei Shen shares that Shanghai-based White Space, which offers venues for events and meetings on demand, is looking to add more locations. The firm is co-founded by Barbara Ex back in 2018, has grown from 4 locations in 2019 to 12 this year.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Garrett Tichy chats all things Hygge and Cohatch with Cat Johnson on the Coworking Out Loud podcast.
Carly Nemtean chats with Liz Elam about her candid perspective and acknowledge the challenges of entrepreneurship and the need for constant adaptability on the GCUC Coworking Podcast.
Ali Parnan chats with Tankut Mulayimsi about coworking in Istanbul on the pilot episode of The Coworking Intern
📆 Coworking events.
👋 Ready for an IRL TWIC meetup? #
Next week’s email newsletter will have info about (possible) in-real-life TWIC meetups. Once again, this is for email subscribers only. So… if you’re not yet, this is the sign you need to subscribe today.
🇨🇦 GCUC Canada in Toronto #
Sept 12-13: GCUC returns to Canada for a 2-day event at The Vault.
🏛 GWA Flex in Washinton, DC #
Sep 19-23: a dynamic event spanning 3.5 days, filled to the brim with high-quality content. Every year, the GWA brings together numerous operators, landlords, occupiers, service providers & more.
🎯 Convo: Attract Perfect-Fit Members to Your Community #
Sept 29: How do you attract perfect-fit members to your community? Let’s chat about it.
🇨🇦 Coworking Canada Unconference & Retreat #
Oct 10-15: We are excited to finally return to our three-day, in-person format for our 9th annual Canadian Unconference, where we’ll gather on Treaty 7 territory, to spark new ideas and learn from each other, as well as our guest speakers and experts from across Turtle Island. Early bird combo tickets avail till Sept 2.