I’m also a big fan of offline, low-tech solutions…especially within the space itself. Photos of members’ experiences - things that show off life in and outside of the coworking space - sound awesome.
But we also ran into the problem with analog photos (using the Instax camera) getting dreadfully out of date…or running out of film…
And really, it wasn't as useful as we’d hoped. The goal of having photos is to help people learn (or remember) names along with faces since that’s easily one of the hardest parts about joining. And for a long time, I was really really resistant to an online directory/bios, especially ones that focus on their skills. The big reason for THAT is because we want people to connect and have conversations about things other than what they
do (see:
http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2014/08/conversation-therapy/)
But our community doesn’t just “happen" inside the coworking space. In fact, some of you have heard me say this year that 70% of our members use a desk less than once a month…but they’re still active in our online discussion community spaces between coworking days and events. Those members don’t get to see the analog photo wall when realistically they’re the ones who would benefit from it the most.
It’s NOT online bios…just photos and names, and really nice photos! We currently only have around 20% of our community on here and it’s a slow process to add people, but it’s been worth it because these photos can live in lots of places.
Most recently, we brought the online photo wall back offline by connecting it to our Lounge TV via a Chromecast. It rotates through member photos with their names, and current events/announcements/reminders. Looks like this:
Still a work in progress, but it’s been working :)
-Alex