Alex, Thanks for your advice. I have been struggling with this same dilemma on brainstorming ways to grow. If a space has a lot of extra capacity how would you feel about a double incentive to help make the current members recruit individuals? I was thinking about a referral program where the new member gets the equivalent of one week free for their first month and the current member that recruited the individual will also get a one week equivalent discount.
I understand the greatest way to grow is build a strong community and provide a space for people to congregate and collaborate. But with the extra capacity it wouldn't be a cost to the company to add these incentives for a month or two, and would encourage individuals to recruit people they know. I believe this would help build a community with the current members since they ask individuals they are familiar with, and may be the right financial incentive for them to try something new. I think the financial incentive might be the nudge for an individual to try a new concept that they might be otherwise wary of. Craig On Aug 1, 2:40 pm, Alex Hillman <[email protected]> wrote: > Nepotism and it's cousin favoritism are a bit of a slippery slope, and one > we've worked carefully to avoid as part of the business relationship with > our members. I typically think of this in terms of Indy Hall getting in the > middle of the recruitment/hiring pipeline more than membership growth, > though. It's very easy to become a sherpa for companies looking for talent > at your coworking space. the thing to watch out for, though is always > sending them to favorites. It's not only risky for you, but it's damaging to > the overall ecosystem because non-favorites will become resentful. This is a > very common dynamic of typical (corporate) office leadership and something > I've thought a lot about how we can re-engineer with the blank canvas that > is Indy Hall. > > *But back to your question: * > If you're going to reward anything, I'd reward the development of *trust*. > You're likely to find that there are certain people in your community that > will be noisiest just to get a better rate. Others will work hard to build > yours - and other members - trust. That's worth rewarding, because it leads > to stable relationships, which leads to work exchange and collaboration, and > long term success of community members and the space they inhabit. > > As for how you reward...again, I'm hesitant to give *anyone a discount. Not > because I'm greedy (or because we run a low margin business), but because I > simply don't believe that financial motivators are good motivators. They're > extrinsic, which means that if they're taken away, the behavior they are > motivating is likely to go away. I'm much more interested in activating > intrinsic motivators - like supporting their passion projects, helping them > make connections, and simply helping them become a part of the bigger story > - has been a much more sustainable and valuable motivator for everyone > involved.* > > **-Alex > > /ah > indyhall.org > coworking in philadelphia > > > > On Sun, Aug 1, 2010 at 1:01 PM, Mindaugas <[email protected]> wrote: > > do you consider some of the coworkers more valuable than others in > > terms of attracting and keeping members? > > > do I need to give someone preferential treatment and lower or free > > lease because of the potential snow ball effect he or she can create? > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Coworking" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]<coworking%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups > > .com> > > . > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
