I haven't heard the words "social capital" on this list in a long time, it's good to have them back. One of my favorite topics, with a big hat tip to Tara Hunt & Chris Messina for my introduction to this in the olden days of coworking.
I love Trek's simple equation, it's one I personally live by as well and has done well for me. In coworking, it manifests in lots of other ways, too. One thing we actively work on at Indy Hall is making sure it's a place to DO work, not a place to GET work. Not to say that people can't find or get work within a coworking space - in fact we all know it happens and happens a lot. But members who show up with the express desire, or worse, the express NEED for work, tend to find less of what they want. It's like trying to withdraw from a new bank account that you haven't made a deposit into yet. It's the people who contribute before they take (make a deposit before a withdrawl) that get the most. Teach a skill. Share a lunch conversation. Recommend a book or article. Simple stuff pays back 10-fold. This is the kind of stuff that Angel mentions, and why it's not only so much more fun but why it makes a richer experience. All of that said, within social capital, there are also two kinds to consider and balance: *bridging* capital and *bonding* capital. Bridging social capital is accumulated between heterogeneous groups, and bonding social capital is accumulated between homogeneous groups. There *are* negative consequences of *too* much *bonding* capital: - exclusion of outsiders - burdons imposed on group members - increased pressure to "fit in" - a trend towards lowest common denominator social norms Basically? Cool kids clubs are their own worst enemies, and many coworking spaces have the same problem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBWpWSKjTbU Luckily the antidote is simple: balance bonding capital with bridging capital. Think of it like diversifying investments. You (and your members) want to diversify your social capital across the coworking space and it's members - but actively encouraging people to invest their social capital in other neighboring groups as well is often overlooked. Protip: this practice can start long before you open a coworking space - and if put into practice on this list by more people, would make it a better place for everyone!. :) -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 9:47 AM, Tom Brandt <twbra...@gmail.com> wrote: > At Workantile it took us a while to get what we say during tours > perfected, but we have learned to tell people right off the bat that we are > membership organization of independent and remote workers, and then go on > to explain the social and community aspects of Workantile. if someone says > the word "rent", we cut them off almost immediately because that word is a > clue that the don't quite get what it is. Our retention rate has improved > significantly since we started explaining what Workantile is correctly > right off the bat, because people looking for something else don't join. > > One of the concepts my colleague Trek Glowacki emphasizes is "social > capital" and "social debt". You accumulate social capital by contributing > to the community and social debt by detracting from it. If your social debt > exceeds your social capital, you are probably not worth retaining as a > member. Most of our members have built up huge amounts of social capital, > so we are in a good place there. > > On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 6:26 PM, Angel Kwiatkowski > <fccowork...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> I'm such a huge fan of letting members do the implementing when they >> have ideas that go beyond basic infrastructure. Here are some recent >> things they've asked me and my responses... >> "we want to do a swap meet at Cohere, is that okay with you?" >> ----"yes, I love it, just reserve the conference room for the date/ >> time you want to do it" >> "we think it would be neat to have 4 community bikes that people could >> check out"----"me too, go for it!" >> "I really want a towel rack in the new bathroom"----"I will install >> that today" >> >> :) >> >> On Jan 26, 4:07 pm, Susan Evans <su...@officenomads.com> wrote: >> > That guy sounds like he'd make an *awesome* community cultivator at the >> > coworking space he opens up. I hope he gets inspired to build something >> > better!* >> > >> > *that is my favorite part about the simplicity and fluidity of >> coworking. >> > Can't find a space that suits you? Create your own, or get yer Jelly on! >> > __ >> > Office Nomads >> > officenomads.com >> > 206-484-5859 >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > On Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 3:00 PM, Tony Bacigalupo <t...@nwc.co> wrote: >> > > > Which will be fine, because for every person with a "how can you >> serve >> > > me?" >> > > > mentality who leaves, we usually get two with a mindset of "what >> can I >> > > > do for the community?" >> > >> > > [Tiny Tower analogy redacted] >> > >> > > Bingo, the challenge is how to set expectations differently for the >> next >> > > people who walk in the door. Is it a matter of some people just being >> a bad >> > > fit, or an opportunity to improve the onboarding process? >> > >> > > > -- >> > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> > > Groups "Coworking" group. >> > > > To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. >> > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> > > coworking+unsubscr...@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 coworking@googlegroups.com. >> > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> > > coworking+unsubscr...@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 coworking@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> >> > > > -- > twb > member, Workantile Exchange <http://workantileexchange.com/> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > coworking+unsubscr...@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. 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