We wanted to do something special for TWIC readers. What would make attending GCUC UK, an event packed with the UK’s best flex space business leaders, even more awesome?
A juicy 10% discount? Done!
(Use TWIC10 at checkout)
A valuable prize draw? Done!
Discounted tickets enter a draw to win a POWER HOUR with Hector Kolonas and Emilie Lashmar.
🎉 Coworking celebrations.
🎂 BLOK O. turned 5! #
Congrats to Maria Borrasch and Kathleen Strobach and the community!
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 Mixed-use community hub hits 100% of their crowdfund. #
Vibushan Thirukumar shares that Oru hit 98.5% of their £450,000 crowdfunding round. (At time of curation, that number is now ~~99.63%~~ 100%!).
👉 Read this.
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✊ Coworking impact.
🇮🇱 Coworking space steps in to provide space for free #
Yoav Rimon shares that after the devastating attacks in south Israel over the weekend, Mindspace is offering all their office spaces to any group, organization, or team of any kind who need someone to congregate, plan and provide assistance to those affected.
👉 Read this.
Coworking news & views.
🍫 An example of the magic of a great community #
Nella Pang shares how Friday was a hard day for her, putting out fires non stop. But, Glen Crump, a fellow member of Old Bond Store knew she was having a bad day, even though he wasn’t in the space that day – and pinged Nerelle Plenty who runs Ops at OBS to drop some much needed chocolate on to Nella’s desk.
When you build a strong community, they’ll not only look out for each other, but will also help your team create moments of delight for members (and some superb marketing if they then tell people about it).
👉 Read this.
🤔 WTF is an ‘indie’ coworking space anyways? #
There’s a lot of terminology flying around the coworking and flex space sector all the time. One such term is "indie coworking", which raises questions often from both industry newcomers and the most experienced community leaders.
Cat Johnson gets asked about it often too, and so penned down what "being an indie really mean(s)". The working definition starts "An indie coworking space is a human-first workspace community and local hub…"
👉 Read this.
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💻 Coworking technology.
🤖 Reimagining how using offices could feel with AI #
Marley Fabisiewicz shares an interesting look at what a workday with a future Workplace AI assistant could feel like. Using an imaginary ‘good morning’ notification, we look at what an AI engine may one day (soon?) be able to do for some office-based workers. Moving meeting locations based on traffic, reserving desks based on projects, helping avoid commutes or other bottlenecks, the list goes on and on.
Yes, Marley does mention that some may find this kind of tech intrusive, but I think with the right security and settings in place that’s not the big thing holding back this kind of tech from becoming a reality faster. IMHO this this reverse salient is, as the "AI" would need a way to trigger actions across often disconnected tech, which may be managed by completely different companies.
👉 Read this.
🚀 PowerBx exec launches CRE activation tech #
Kyle Muir, who led the team at enterprise worktech co PowerBX, announced his new venture SpaceAgent to help landlords "showcase and feature commercial property" and that can "activate any space in as little as 2 weeks to quickly enable a host of economic opportunities centered on culture and community".
We all know the broker-space-operator relationship needs an upgrade, so maybe this is it? What’s even more interesting is this tech was built for running and filling their own shared cowarehouse space. When will it be available to coworking operators? Let’s see.
👉 Read this.
Coworking data.
🇺🇸 5 US office market insights #
Andrew Rebennack at Avison Young shared a summary of their Q3 office market insights report. Whilst not strictly coworking-related, knowing what’s impacting landlords and direct renters, is just good information for you to know.
To summarize a summary: the tide is changing on who has leverage in the job market, landlords are offering record-breaking concession packages, "survive till ’25" is a prominent theme with $45B+ of fixed-rate loans maturing through 2025, investor interest is being diverted from office to multifamily and industrial assets and 35% of SF office space is available.
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 Where WeWork is seeing growing demand in London #
The Evening Standard shares that WeWork have reported "a big jump in demand for space in London in September".
Why this matters? The article gives an insight into where the firm is seeing a surge in demand in the UK, namely all-access (up 16.9%), drop-in (up 33.6%) and conference room (up 10%) bookings. If I were running a space in London, I’d explore what you’re offering around these products/solutions and any opportunities that you may be able to seize.
👉 Read this.
Coworking market moves.
🇬🇧 WeWork gets negative coverage for closing space in London #
allwork shares a report from The Daily Mail about how WeWork gave tenants of their 133 Houndsditch location 30 days notice to leave, or move to another building. It’s no surprise that the firm is trying to close spaces and exit leases as it works towards some form of stability, what is interesting is how it’s being positioned as an "eviction" even though assistance is being provided for members to move to other nearby locations.
Why this matters? Well narratives count, and if some business had to consider flex space "like WeWork" or a traditional lease, and this is the last thing they associate with the industry, which route do you think they’ll take?
👉 Read this.
🇦🇺 Booking platform and mobile payment co launch WFHospo week #
Third Place (a booking platform for working from hospitality locations like cafés, restaurants and hotels) and me&u (a mobile ordering and payment platform) are running a "WFHospo" week between 16th and 20th of October 2023 to help employees experience working remotely from hospitality venues nearby.
Why this matters? There’s a number of platforms and companies helping turn retail and hospitality spaces into bookable workspaces. This shouldn’t compete with coworking offerings, but it’s worth keeping an eye on for possible opportunities and avoidable risks.
👉 Read this.
🇵🇱 Telecom firm launches second 5G lab in Cracow #
Axel Menneking shares that Deutsche Telekom have launched a new 5G Lab at the hubaum campus in Cracow allowing developers, startups and enthusiasts to test APIs and build next-gen tech.
👉 Read this.
😳 Quick snapshots of 2 ‘brandlord’ expansion plans #
Zoe Ellis-Moore shared the graph from Catleforge from Week 38 showing the decline in office tenant lengths, but adds insights into what some office landlords are planning.
In short: GPE announced they plan to grow flex portfolio to 1M+ sqft, Landsec plan to accelerate growth of Myo, their flex space business and triple space provided by 2025.
👉 Read this.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Kevin Whelan and Cat Johnson dig into content strategies for coworking spaces on the Coworking Out Loud podcast.
Jamie Russo shares how coworking businesses can align their space size with their goals by digging into understanding business models, goal consideration and diversified income sources on the Everything Coworking podcast.
Justin Segal from Boxer Properties dives into their vertically integrated approach to flex office space with Jamie and Gio on the Flex Uncensored podcast.
Caleb Parker is back with season 10 of WorkBold podcast. In this podcast he sits down and chats with Lee Odess about how access control can be unlocked to turn ‘utilities into seamless experiences’.
Bernie Mitchell annd Catherine Nina Park explore the significance of diversity, representation, and inclusivity, particularly in the realms of tech and coworking spaces on the Coworking Values Podcast.
📆 Coworking events.
🇨🇦 Coworking Canada #
Oct 10-15: The 9th annual Coworking Canada Unconference is underway in Calgary, October 10th-12th, with a leadership retreat in Banff, October 12th-15th, 2023. It’s a coworking community favorite! Scholarship tickets available.
Use the code "TWIC2023′ for $50.00 OFF any ticket.
👉 Read this.
🙋♀️ Convo: Attract and keep great community managers #
Oct 27: Community managers are the heart of any coworking space. But finding one who truly gets coworking and community building can be challenging. So how do you attract and keep a great community manager?
Let’s chat about it.
👉 Read this.
👩💻 FlexWorld 2023 #
Nov 1: OfficeRnD’s event series returns with a virtual event designed for attendees to discover innovative approaches, harness cutting-edge technologies, and gain unparalleled insights.
(f/d: I’m speaking on the panel re: tech-powered strategies for maximizing ROI and rev generation)
👉 Read this.