Discover essential USPS insights with PilotoMail’s Compliance Library, a key resource for coworking spaces navigating the 2023 USPS updates. 📬
Dive into the latest on USPS regulations, updated Form PS 1583, and the shift to digital compliance with PilotoMail’s expert guidance.
Get future weekly summaries in your inbox.
Coworking news & views.
🎁 Holiday Pop-up Markets are great for community-driven spaces #
Christy Alexander shares info about WorksSmart’s holiday market, which features locally rooted artisans and vendors, which makes it easier to grab great gifts and support local businesses.
Do you run seasonal markets? Why not?
👉 Read this.
💡 Why that big bankruptcy might actually be a good thing. #
Gerald Vanderpuye, from Impact Brixton, shares how WeWork’s current situation may actually highlight that for "landlords, it’s time to recognise that times have changed" and that "negotiating for the largest rent prices and the longest leases and doing minimal building maintenance is no longer the best to work the assets".
Could the silver lining of this whole situation be more and better management agreements?
👉 Read this.
😳 Colleen’s remarkable coworking story, summarized in an AMA #
The GWA recently hosted an AMA with Colleen Moselle who’s coworking story spans serving in the Navy, selling medical supplies, and running a construction company before engaging Kyle from Coco for a workspace design consultancy.
Now, Colleen is the CEO at Coco and led the firm through rebranding, changing ops structures, ramping up domain authority, evolving to meet hybrid needs and building engagement and appreciation for her team members.
👉 Read this.
👏 How some coworking spaces are not only surviving, but thriving. #
GeekWire digs into how coworking is poised to survive and thrive, and features insights from members and leaders from The Cloud Room and The Pioneer Collective, as well as insights from folks at VTS and CBRE.
👉 Read this.
🔭 How to predict which booking platforms to bet on #
This week we saw Desana sponsor/power a RunningRemote session delving into distributed workplaces, targeted at remote-first or increasingly-remote companies.
I often get asked which booking platforms workspaces should invest their time, energy and commissions to create and manage listings on. My best piece of advice is to look for the platforms who are growing the reach of flex space, and therefor your listings and business.
👉 Read this.
Share This Week's Summary
💻 Coworking technology.
👩💻 Raise launches occupancy and utilization visualization tool #
Jeff Gagnon shares that Raise have launched Workplace Analytics to help companies "visualize occupancy and utilization data across locations and teams".
When will such tech/insights be pluggable into coworking and flex space management systems? I’ve asked. I’ll update you when I learn more.
👉 Read this.
📲 See? TikTok IS a coworking search engine. #
Rose Rivera shares proof that people can, and ARE, searching for and creating coworking-related content on TikTok.
The only real question is… are you ready/interested in reaching Gen Z through new platforms?
👉 Read this.
🤖 Ready for the onslaught of flex GPTs? #
Anthony Slumbers shared a custom GPT called Flex Office Pro, which promises to be an "AI guide to ‘The Skills to be a Great Operator’".
Whilst I can’t talk to the data this custom GPT is built on, or the kinds of insights/data it would have access to about your actual business, I can guarantee with 110% certainty that we’re going to see a WHOLE LOT of custom GPTs released for the flex space industry.
As always, experiment with AI tools and capabilities often, but don’t ever forget about the AI Elephant sitting in your boardroom. Also Anthony’s next cohort of his Gen AI course for RE people starts in Jan.
👉 Read this.
📆 DeskNow upgrades booking experience #
Pavel Schwindt shares 8 updates the DeskNow team have made to their booking experience including floorplan views, promo codes and membership creation.
From what I’m seeing, expect a tonne more upgrades to all booking interfaces going into 2024, as the speed (or hurdles) of making a booking increasingly effects conversion rates from far more consumer-like workspace customers.
👉 Read this.
Coworking data.
💼 Two in five consider switching jobs in 2024, driven by demand for flex working #
New data from workspace provider beyond reveals that two in five (39%) UK employees are weighing up moving jobs in the coming year, with half (47%) saying that wanting a better hybrid/flexible working policy is a factor in doing so.
👉 Read this.
🥰 What sets the right coworking “vibes”? #
Researchers Dr. Louise Suckley, Dr. Alexandra Bernhardt, Dr. Barry Haynes and Dr. Abbas Sheih conducted a survey of 150 coworking members on what creates the ‘right’ atmosphere in their spaces.
They found that when it came to physical attributes natural light and communal areas were important attributes, whilst background noise and music were far less important. On a social level, being able to have conversations and the sense of community topped the chart; where events and regular flow of new people bottomed out the chart.
👉 Read this.
😫 What is keeping North American flex space operators up at night? #
According to The Instant Group, flex space operators are more concerned about a number of things, than they were pre-covid. Bobby Sodeiri shares that many operators are worried about the growing cost of doing business, competition, existing/new customer expectations, demand and profitability.
👉 Read this.
🤔 Where are the other 97% of bookings going? #
Nick Bloom digs into some data from Gable that shares that only 3% of bookings on their platform are for private offices (87% are for common spaces and 10% for meeting rooms). He wonders if other platforms are also seeing utilization and booking tied to in-person collaboration vs more solo deep work time.
Are you?
👉 Read this.
Coworking market moves.
🇿🇦 AfricaWorks introduces NOVA mobile office in Cape Town #
Gregoire Schwebig shared the launch of "NOVA by AfricaWorks", a new way for firms to host meetings, retreats, or seminars in their bookable mobile office pod.
The trailer-based workspace comfortably sits 6-8 and is equipped with wifi, electricity, a coffee machine, running water and more.
👉 Read this.
🎙️ Will we start seeing more coworking + media partnerships? #
Adam Nickson shares how Fora (prev The Office Group) are partnering up with the High Performance Podcast to reach and "help people be better, to elevate not only themselves but also the people and businesses around them".
Not sure I’ve seen many coworking spaces go directly to the market through sponsorships or partnerships with business podcasts. So excited to see how this plays out, given that podcasts are still growing rapidly in popularity.
👉 Read this.
👩⚖️ Bond Collective files for bankruptcy at two NYC locations #
According to Crain’s (paywalled) two LLCs owned by Bond Collective have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in NY for the workspaces at 55 Broadway (FiDI/Manhattan) and 68 Third St (Gowanus/Brooklyn) cover 80k of sqft.
Interestingly though, the bankruptcies were filed to ensure continued use of the space, and to be able to keep serving their existing members (spaces have over 85% occupancy) amidst lots of drama between the landlord, an ex-employee and new workspace brand. Definitely a developing story.
👉 Read this.
🧟♀️ New operator targets ‘zombie buildings’ in smaller US markets #
CoStart reports that via a partnership between Koelbel & Co. and Mark Hemmeter (who started Office Evolution), Work Simple has plans to "acquire and revitalize older office buildings in smaller and more suburban office markets across the United States."
An interesting move, given that very few networks fully own their buildings. Off the top of my head, I can only think of EXPANSIVE. Any others?
👉 Read this.
🏀 Workbox doubles down on The Loop #
Workbox announced their 5th Chicago location (8th nationally) will be a 29k+ sqft location in the historic National Building.
👉 Read this.
💭 A dig into the idea behind fractional-office startup #
Rafi Sands shares the inspiration and reasoning behind Tandem, a startup to let companies share office space.
If you’ve been following along over the last few months, you’re already seeing the growing undercurrent trend in fractional office platforms, services and technology. Whilst the trend could represent an opportunity for flex spaces to explore new ways of sharing space between members, it could also be a threat with the huge troves of vacant office space needing to be filled.
👉 Read this.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Ian Minor joins Liz Elam on the GCUC Coworking podcast to discuss how his foray into social members clubs took an unexpected turn when he stumbled upon coworking in 2015 through NeueHouse, igniting a passion that eventually led him to collaborate with Ennismore on the development of the Hoxton coworking brand.
Trevor Schmidt hosts Alison Rogers (Blush Cowork), Carl Webb (Provident1898), and Tim Scales (American Underground) in a discussion about whether the space you work in shapes the success of your venture on the Founder Shares podcast.
Alex Lieberman shares a productivity "tool" that made him 95% more productive on the Founders Journal podcast. The tool? Virtual coworking worksprints.
Natasha Guerra (Runway East) and Simon Rowley (Great Portland Estates) joins Cal Lee (Workthere) to discuss the outlook for the flex space industry, the impact of recent news and the wider dynamic at play within the sector on the Savills Real Estate Insights Podcast.
Lauren Hamilton chats with Maureen Farrell (NYT/Cult of WeWork), Eliot Brown (WSJ/Cult of WeWork), and Emma Goldberg (NYT) about what WeWork’s bankruptcy means for the future of coworking spaces. A number of operators did ask why no flex space operators or their members were invited to share their opinions.
Jace Rasche digs into his coworking + coffee shop business model with Jamie Russo on the Everything Coworking podcast.
Aden Alfia joins Jamie and Gio on the Flex Uncensored podcast to share his story, how/why they built a platform to enable real-time feedback and how to start taking action before guests and customers take their frustration to online reviews or rating systems.
Stefanie Mayr explores the blend of community, tech, and hospitality with Urban Garden as it helps organic connections that shape collaborative coworking environments on the Coworking Values podcast.
📆 Coworking events.
🗽 Proptech + flex space roundtable in NYC #
Dec 15: We’ll be sharing the location for our fully-booked roundtable meetup for technology and coworking space leaders shortly. RSVP today if you’d like to get on the waitlist and be the first to get an invite to join us.
👉 Read this.
📨 CMRA changes, form 1583, and more #
Dec 12: Join William Edmundson (SVP, workspace channel), Barry Gesserman (EVP, B2B Marketing) and Angelica Ventura (iPostal1 Project Manager and dubbed resident expert on all things 1583 by Clayton Gerber from the USPS Inspection Service) at 12:00 pm ET for a free webinar about what you need to know and do, Form 1583, best practices, and more.
👉 Read this.
