Educating your local community about coworking

Cat Johnson

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Sep 7, 2016, 3:40:09 PM9/7/16

to Coworking

Hi everyone

I'm working on a blog post to help coworking space operators educate their extended communities about coworking. While not all spaces struggle with lack of awareness around the industry, for some, it's a big issue.

Do you have a tip to share? Something that has worked well for you?

Just a sentence or two will do and I'll link to your space in the post.

Thanks!

Cat

ch...@thecoworkconsultant.com

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Sep 8, 2016, 7:34:00 AM9/8/16

to Coworking

Hi Cat,

I've been part of launching a couple coworks in small/rural cities and have found the best way to spread awareness is to;

1) educate a team of people/supporters by getting them all in a room together and making sure they are talking to community members using a VERY consistent message

2) go on as many local media outlets as possible - radio, paper, and TV news

3) host an open house and give tours every 15 mins or so...

Please contact me directly (ch...@thecoworkconsultant.com) if you have any other questions and if you'd like to add a link to my info in the article please use www.thecoworkconsultant.com

Thanks and be great!:)
Chris

ch...@thecoworkconsultant.com

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Sep 8, 2016, 7:34:01 AM9/8/16

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Bernie J Mitchell

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Sep 8, 2016, 4:56:15 PM9/8/16

to Coworking, Trevor Twining

I am rubbish it this but I bet Trevor from http://coworkniagara.com/ does ;-)

Have a remarkable day

Bernie J Mitchell
0777 204 2012

Do you use Trello?

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Trevor Twining

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Sep 9, 2016, 11:02:02 AM9/9/16

to Bernie J Mitchell, Coworking

First off, this might seem crass, but nobody cares about our industry, and they shouldn't have to. The stories that you need to tell are about what you do for your members. Who are your members? What do they do? How does belonging to your space improve that? Look for those stories.

We participate with our local Chamber of Commerce by advocating with them on issues that matter to freelancers and single-person businesses. We actively tell stories that resonate with the memberships of both groups.

Our local economic development officers understand the impact that our space has on the city and region/county, and are also starting to understand how important the indy workforce is to the economic health of our community. We built that understanding through stories.

We support the local tech, writing, and graphic design communities by hosting meetup events. Those people, who are not all members, see how we support and encourage their personal and professional passions. The story is found in our shared interests.

There's a bunch of other communities not mentioned here, but the approach is the same; we find stories that resonate with them, and then get involved where it makes sense. If it doesn't, then we just don't pay attention to them.

More than a couple sentences, I know. But there you have it :D

TT

-------------------

Trevor Twining

Cat Johnson

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Sep 9, 2016, 1:09:21 PM9/9/16

to Coworking

Thanks for the contributions! I appreciate you guys taking the time ;)

Cheers,

Cat

j...@meshworkapp.com

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Sep 9, 2016, 3:52:41 PM9/9/16

to Coworking

Cat,

A few things I did that helped:

Go to near by apartment buildings, befriend the manager, then ask to host a lunch for the tenants. Hang flyers a few days before to make tenants aware and then provide them with lunch, you get to meet people who are working from home, tell them about your space/coworking in general and invite them to come in to try it out.

Get people in your space: Anyway you can. Once people are in and they see the space they will be curious and want to know more. I have done Art Openings, Live Music showcases, hosted parties for companies (outside of my members), I offered free yoga classes to the surrounding community...again any way to get people in the space, even if they didn't need coworking, most of the time they knew someone who would be interested!

Grass Roots marketing, going out and getting into the community and letting them know. Going to relevant Meet-Up groups and letting them know who you are. I went to flea markets, festivals, music and just talked to as many people as I could.

Hope some of that helps!

and Good Luck!

Jen

Cat Johnson

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Sep 9, 2016, 8:45:50 PM9/9/16

to Coworking

Thanks, Jen! Love the apartment idea ;)

Cat

Bernie J Mitchell

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Sep 10, 2016, 3:12:05 AM9/10/16

to Coworking

Cat!

Jen reminded me that we are working on this http://www.atworkhubs.co.uk/coworking-food-sharing-like/

We have a food sharing fridge which we are trying to connect with the very local area.

We need to put more work into with both our members and the shops and restaurants nearby to make it work - but it is a good exercise.

Have a remarkable day

Bernie J Mitchell
0777 204 2012

Do you use Trello?

Sent from my mobile device

*Unless we agree otherwise, this email conversation is confidential.

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Matija Raos

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Sep 12, 2016, 3:15:53 AM9/12/16

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Good morning everybody :)

I’m really excited to share with you passion project we have been dreaming for couple of years and which is now becoming a reality - European Freelancers Week!

EFW is a new initiative which will annually connect Freelancers’ and Coworking Movements via Week of events dedicated to Freelancers and mainly held at Coworking spaces.

Using a crowdsourced and distributed event format, the first ever European Freelancers Week will take place in multiple cities across Europe on October 17 – 23, 2016.

The objectives of EFW are to facilitate freelance community building in Coworking spaces, empower freelancers to join forces, and improve conditions of independent working through learning, sharing, networking and policy action. The initiative should bring more recognition to the value freelancers and coworking communities bring to the European economy.

European freelancers, digital nomads, and Coworking spaces are invited to engage in #EFW16. Events can be submitted till October 3, 2016 through the open web platform www.freelancersweek.org, where they will be published in the joint event map calendar.

Suggested event formats include meetups, workshops, consultations, solution and matchmaking sessions, pop-up art, conferences and hackathons.

#EFW16 is realized on a voluntary basis and coordinated by a coalition of 8 national freelancers’ associations in different European countries. By now it has been endorsed by more than 30 organizations, including European Coworking Conference, European Coworking Assembly, Seats2meet, Copass and Smart EU.

We accept both in-kind and financial donations and sponsorship.

I would like to invite you all, coworking spaces from Europe, to become our Ambassador and promote the initiative via its network and social media and it would make us happy if some of you would like to organize events dedicated to Freelancers.

Looking forward to your feedback :)

Cheers from Croatia,

Matija Raos

MATIJA RAOS, NGO President & Program Coordinator
matij...@hdnp.hr | +385 (0)97 793 2853 | www.hdnp.hr

Check out our projects: #CoworkingHR | #FreelanceHR | #BehanceReviews | #KIKI | #DIDI

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Bernie

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Sep 12, 2016, 7:01:28 AM9/12/16

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I'm in!

I'll chat with Phil from @Work Hubs and run this past the OuiShare Crew ;-)

---

Have a remarkable day

Bernie J Mitchell
0777 204 2012

www.engaging-people.com

This was sent from my mobile device (sorry for any typos) Urgent? Get me here - http://awayfind.com/berniejmitchell

-----Original Message-----

[Coworking] European Freelancers Week - You're invited!

From: Matija Raos <matij...@gmail.com>
To: cowo...@googlegroups.com
Cc:

Monday, September 12, 2016 at 8:14AM