This is an awesome story to hear, Frank! It sounds like you've taken a lot of time to look, listen, and find people who don't just have similar needs, but a shared desire to contribute to building the community.
> The size of the space, location, amenities, budget, and expectations are > completely different than what I envisioned when we started the conversation. This CANNOT be overstated! Congrats on not only seeing it, but recognizing it enough to say it out loud. This isn't said often enough, I think because it takes some humility and honesty that people aren't prepared for. Good for you :) Happy New Year, and best of luck in 2013! -Alex -- /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Dec 27, 2012, at 3:58 PM, Frank DePalma <tot...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Brian, > > We are about to open The CoLab in Port Townsend WA (pop. 9,000) in February, > so I don't have any operational knowledge yet. But I can share with you, our > strategy for building a coworking community in our small town. The pros and > cons of rural coworking will depend on the individual place. One positive for > us is that the lack of big employers means we have a lot of home-based > businesses. These (usually young) entrepreneurs often feel a lack of > community support in our town of mostly retirees. This small-but-growing > demographic of young entrepreneurs welcomed a peer group that valued their > contributions. The biggest con is that our small town has fewer potential > members that can afford a coworking membership compared to more populated > markets. > > My partner and I both have been volunteering on boards of directors for local > organizations that have "economic development" as part of their mission. This > helps us stay aware of what entrepreneurs and home-based businesses need. It > is no surprise that the value of coworking is collaboration and socialization > to combat the feeling of isolation. Buzzwords like "project-based economy, > collaboration, and coopitition" have become part of the local conversation > and the coworking movement became the physical representation for "the new > economy." Soon like-minded people wanted to be involved in the conversation, > and regular meetings in coffee shops evolved into "jellies." > > The biggest lesson I've learned so far is "Don't rush it!" - Several of our > core group have been meeting weekly for about 18 months to discuss and > promote the concept of coworking in our town. The size of the space, > location, amenities, budget, and expectations are completely different than > what I envisioned when we started the conversation. > > We started with a simple survey (http://survey.ptcolab.com) that both helped > us gather useful data, and introduced the coworking concept to our community. > We joined the local chamber of commerce (even though we weren't really a > business yet) and we volunteered to speak at weekly luncheons (they often > need guest speakers) and any event that would have us. The local economic > development counsel gave us free access to their meeting space for free > coworking sessions one day per week, which got the attention of the local > newspaper. That snowballed into the local state park and library wanting us > to use their space for our weekly "jellies" - which helped promote their > meeting spaces and small business resources to our small-but-growing group of > participating businesses. We gladly promote other local resources via our > Facebook page which has itself become a source of useful information. > > Finally we decided to do a one-day "small business symposium" > (http://www.ptcolab.com/small-business-symposium). Guest speakers volunteered > their time (in exchange for free publicity), and anyone in the community was > free to attend a workshop and spend the day networking and coworking. The > event concluded with the monthly social event for the local Young > Professionals Network. The success of this event proved to us that our small > community was ready to embrace collaboration over competition, and helped > solidify our place as a physical manifestation of a small-business resource > center for our potential members. > > I believe that coworking is the single biggest game-changer for rural > economics. As more of us choose small-town life and move out of the city, the > need for a world-class facility to work, meet, and collaborate grows every > day. > > Best of luck to you! > > ~ Frank DePalma > http://ptcolab.com > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
