Re: "clients" vs. "members".
I would definitely agree on the philosophical distinction.
Essentially,it's trying to tease out whether the space exists to build a
community ("members") or to earn a margin on real estate ("clients"). This
is an important dichotomy, but it's also strictly false as we all exist on
a sliding scale between these two extremes.
I don't think we want to start to see "client" as a dirty word...at a nice
restaurant the clients will be on a first-name basis with staff, have a
special table, regular meal selections, and even Christmas cards in the
mail (and may even be called "patrons" to distinguish the relationship),
while at McDonald's "clients" are a mass of impersonal and transactional
relationships.
I find myself slipping interchangeably between terms when talking about The
Office <http://theoffice.rw>, because as a coworking space manager and
business manager I have to think both in terms of building and
strengthening our community ("membership") and in terms of making the
numbers work and communicating with potential partners and investors
("clients"). When I'm thinking in terms of investment and expansion, I
intellectual categorize "members" as "clients"...this is often
sub-conscious and I used to even feel ashamed when I realized that I had
done it, but I wonder if this is really such a horrible thing. Because,
when I think about why I do what I do and the people I work with and for, I
think of "friends" and "members"...
What do you think?
- Jon
On Friday, 12 September 2014 13:15:23 UTC+2, Alex Hillman wrote:
>
>
>
> In my opinion a coworking space -- being a *community* of coworkers --
>> always calls and treats its coworkers *members*.
>>
>
> I like this one a lot!!
>
> -Alex
>
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