Looking back vision is always 20/20. In developing OurSpace in Fort Wayne, here are the mistakes I have made: (I hope that my mistakes help those in coworking to not do the same.)
1. Fell into peer pressure and didn't build the community strong enough - Although I was building community and working hard to do so, I developed professional relations with 2 individuals that were looking at the coworking market in Fort Wayne. One individual was the head of the innovation center and one was a private investor, and both wanted to do their own thing, outside of OurSpace! So instead of working hard to build my community until the Spring or Summer of 2010, I quietly opened in 2010. While I have an amazingly good deal with the landlord, I very much wished I had open in the summer, as I have built a better community lately. 2 - Not hanging out in bars! Yes I do drink, but I did not frequent the bars like I should have done so. Some of my best conversations have been at pubs, even if it is talking about someone's favorite drink, business cards are usually traded at the end. I have seriously learned to bar hop this summer, and through that I have developed some amazing contacts! 3. I hung with wrong crowd! Being one with an education and nonprofit management ground, I didn't have experience with geeks! Although the geeks in my community were talking about coworking, and I wanted to join their conversations and help them out, they had a problem - I was a woman. In Fort Wayne, the community is VERY conservative (I am not so much!), and the majority of those in the tech community were men, under 35, and had wives at home raising children. Coming on the geek community as a single female really threatened them, and they were very much taken back by my ability to lead, thus they were and still are hesitant to join the community. I have had much more success with the general business community and those who are freelancers and etc. I am still working hard to meet the right people who don't accept the glass ceiling!!! Good luck with your ventures, OurSpace, LLC seems to be obtaining some really good people and getting some great media buzz. It's taken some time to get where I am at, but through this journey I have seriously been able to impact local community development, obtained an awesome sales job and meet really, really dynamic people! I really grateful everyday that there the great people that have helped me - without the coworking community, I would never be where I am at now. Sincerely, Jodi Dean, Founder www.oursapcefw.com -- 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.
