🗞 The Video Summary
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🎉 Coworking celebrations.
🏆 CoWrks wins “Coworking Space Design of the Year”.
Nihareeka Rode shares that CoWrks were bestowed this award by Realty+.
Coworking news & views.
📈 Demand for flex space will soon exceed supply says analysis.
GlobeSt reports on CBRE‘s recent analysis of flex offices in 49 North American markets.
They found that 15 markets recorded a net expansion of flex square footage, with the biggest expansions being in secondary and satellite markets.
Alongside commentary leaders from CBRE, JLL Flex, Avison Young and others, the article goes on to highlight that the popularity of flex office is growing faster than some users and landlords realize.
🖖 “Its about belonging”
Those McKinsey folks hit it out of the park again with this piece. Although not specifically coworking-related, they highlight that in order to retain employees organizations need to evolve their approach to building community, cohesion and sense of belonging at work.
Know what coworking spaces and operators are great at doing? Building community, cohesion and a sense of belonging.
I know I’m not the only one thinking of the opportunities opening up here. Right!?
💙 Why remote workers love coworking.
Katharine Chestnut shares 10 reasons why remote workers love coworking from Alkaloid Networks.
Content like this makes it easier for remote workers who haven’t been given a coworking stipend make the case for why there’s a fantastic third option between working-from-home and the office.
🗞 Local coverage helps explain coworking.
The Pearl Works were recently covered by their local paper.
Whilst this is great for them, and their local community, I’d like raise two great takeaways from this story.
1. The article explains coworking to a new audience who may not have heard of it, or maybe only heard of it in a negative light on a documentary. The more people learning about coworking the better, in my books.
2. There’s almost always a local story to tell. Reach out to your local papers, invite journalists to spend an afternoon a week working from a hotdesk, connect them with your story, the stories of your members, and they may become powerful allies in amplifying the impact you’re making.
📆 A few notes on planning an inclusive marketing calendar.
The February challenge from the Coworking IDEA Project, facilitated by Sonia Thompson, is to plan an inclusive marketing calendar for your coworking community.
Increasingly brands are focusing their energy on finding ways to make the communities their customers are a part of feel seen and like they belong.
A big part of doing that is by celebrating and acknowledging special days and months that have meaning for a particular community. Whether it is Black History Month, Pride Month, or Ramadan, it is smart practice to think about if and how your brand will engage in these established observances of the different communities you serve.
🇧🇪 Belgium approves four-day week & right to disconnect.
Euronews reports that Belgium’s coalition government have agreed on a labor market reform package that includes giving employees the right to request four-day weeks for up to six months, and to ignore work-related messages after hours, without fear of reprisal.
The package also contains more protection for gig-economy workers, and follows similar moves by governments who are looking to support and protect employees rights about how, where and when they work.
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💻 Coworking technology.
🙈 They made the mistake of asking me about coworking automations.
Helga Moreno from andcards invited me to answer a few questions about where coworking technology and automations were headed.
I tried to answer as short-form as possible. I tried, but failed.
We discussed how coworking spaces are (or should) plan their automations and workflows around the core of coworking – hospitality.
🤓 Sensor co launches ‘operating system for physical spaces’.
Jakub Krzych shares that after 10 years of research & development, Estimote, Inc have released SpaceTimeOS – what they call ‘a new operating system for the physical world’.
The example they share is that by putting their new sensors in the corners of a room, it will create a digital ‘copy’ (called a digital twin) of the space with real-time positions of all objects within it. This copy can then have code or apps added to it, so that certain actions or movements in the real space can trigger pre-programmed actions.
As a workspace tech geek, I’m so so so excited by tech like this, especially when married with a powerful Operation Stack and smart automations.
🚀 Workspace operator launches hybrid work operating system.
Daan van Rossum from Dreamplex quietly added a new additional role over the weekend. He’s now the CEO at FlexOS, a platform for companies who have their own spaces to launch and run hybrid workplaces.
I know for a fact that there’s another co-founder, who’s previously built tech for coworking spaces, but I don’t think that’s been announced just yet. And no, it’s not me.
😮 Booking platform bets bookings on winning employers over.
Stephan Meijers shares a creative strategic move from localdesk, a booking platform in The Netherlands region. Essentially they’ll let employees book a workspace or meeting room for free, and they’ll then contact the employer to cover the cost.
As ‘corporate coworking’ heats up, this is a new method for trying to bring in new employer contracts. Just goes to show that platforms are getting really creative around how they grow demand for your workspaces.
☁️ Canadian flex operator upgrades their air monitors.
Kane Willmott shares that iQ Offices are the first flex operator to have rolled out the latest Poppy devices to continuously monitor the air in their spaces.
Fascinating that each unit can monitor 1.5M liters of air each week for 1,000+ people to detect viruses, bacteria and mold.
Coworking data.
🇬🇧 Desk prices see recovery as demand for flex up 82%.
Workthere shared recently that the average price for a private desk in the UK reached £443 (approx. $599) in 2021, up 14% from the year before, but still down 16% from the highs of 2019 (£529/$718).
They also share that regions outside London saw a quicker price recovery with a 30% increase to £304 ($411) per private desk, compared to a 2% rise in the capital.
Enquiries for flex space with the firm saw an increase of 82% from pre-pandemic levels, with demand being driven by occupiers who previously worked from home (up 170%) or who are seeking temporary space (up 117%). Interesting that 13% of the demand came from companies entering the UK market for the first time.
Coworking market moves.
🎾 New location announced in Wimbledon Village.
Spacemade have announced a new location they’re launching called Common Ground in Wimbledon Village in April.
This location is around 45 mins from Bank station, and about an hour from Old Street so this is definitely an offering for the 68,000-or-so folks who live there, and may not want to commute into the city center.
🚀 Operator expands in San Diego, Carlsbad and Pacific Beach.
David Adato shares the news that due to skyrocketing demand (and 2x-3x meeting room bookings) Downtown Works are expanding their flagship Downtown San Diego and Carlsbad locations and opening a new location in Pacific Beach.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Jamie Russo and I discuss why aggregators are increasingly important for coworking spaces, and what industry trends I’m most excited about on the Everything Coworking podcast.
Liz Elam chats with Justin Harley, from Yardi, about the application of technology and single source of the truth on the GCUC Coworking Podcast.
John Williams chats with Pauline Roussel about the world of coworking and their new “Around the World in 250 Coworking Spaces” book on The Instant Group’s podcast.
Mike LaRosa, Jerome Chang, Jen Luby, Katharine Chestnut, Lauren Walker, Iris Kavanagh, Shervonne Cherry, William Edmundson, Rubin Beckner and others discussed last week’s newsletter on Clubhouse.
Bernie Mitchell discusses a few things including how the biggest issue with coworking is that most people don’t even know what it is on the Coworking Values podcast.
📆 Coworking events.
👋 Discuss this newsletter.
Feb 18: Join other TWIC readers in discussing this week’s newsletter, the stories I shared and the trends they may represent.
🥃 PropTech LDN Happy Hour.
Feb 23: The next PropTech LDN meetup date is set, and open for all interested in technology for coworking, offices, retail, residential and everything in-between.
🗺 Convo: Get your website right.
Feb 25: The next Coworking Convo dives into getting your coworking website right.
✅ Coworking websites that convert.
Mar 1: Part webinar, part hot-seat. Taylor Mason will run over examples of website copy that converts into coworking clients, and offers live feedback on your website in this free webinar.
🤯 Technology. Behaviour. Data.
Mar 31: TBD ‘Espérance is focused on expectations of the future. Hear trends and get insights from The Economist, VCs, Founders, Neuroscientists, New York Times bestselling experts and more. Use coupon TWIC25 to get 25% off your virtual passes.
💼 Coworking jobs.
Find or post coworking jobs for free here.