Hello Glen, I would work with the hotel to try to retain participants before/after their conventions (more nights for the hotel, more transient members for the coworking space). I'd offer organizers of conventions to introduce the town and local community in Frederick and direct participants to Cowork Frederik just across the street to learn more. I'd make Frederick the easiest interface for visitors staying at the Mariott to get in touch with local professionals, businesses, etc. (would involve cityhall if they show interest?).
In those deals, Cowork Frederick are those most knowledgeable about the local market / opportunities / conditions. By the way, I read this post because we have this sort of similar "great opportunity or a terrible threat" thing over here in Tbilisi, Georgia (the country). A large group is renovating a factory not far from us to create a budget hotel/hostel (400 beds). The project includes shops, cafés, art galleries & workshops, etc. and a 300 square meters coworking space. We could bid to set-up & run that space (assuming we can fund this) or see it opened by someone else (... knowing that nobody has yet demonstrated the viability of coworking in this country - we're first to try). In any case: good luck! Rémi. http://cospot.ge Le mercredi 4 février 2015 00:10:28 UTC+4, Glen Ferguson a écrit : > > I have either a great opportunity or a terrible threat coming my way. I > see it as an opportunity, and I want to get ideas from you to see how you'd > take advantage of this situation. > > Quick background set up: We're located in a 70,000 person city and in the > main part of the historic district downtown. Lacking in downtown for over a > decade is any hotel. We do have a couple bed and breakfasts though. The > city has been exploring the idea of putting a convention center and hotel > in the downtown. Not huge, around 200 rooms and 14,000 sq ft > meeting/convention space. The studies have been conducted, recommendations > made and the project was awarded to the local Marriott franchise. > > Here's where I come in: The spot they chose for this project is across the > street from Cowork Frederick. > > I had a brief meeting with the Marriott owner, explained what Cowork > Frederick is, and welcomed him to the neighborhood with hopes that our > businesses will compliment each other. > > My question to you is: what ideas do you have for creating a win-win > relationship with my new neighbors? I'm exploring the somewhat obvious > ideas of day passes, perhaps at a discount, or rental of our meeting > spaces. I think I'm too close to the situation, so I'd like to know what > you'd do or if any of you had similar experiences? > > Thanks, > > --- > Glen Ferguson > Cowork Frederick > 122 E Patrick St > Frederick, MD 21701-5630 > +1 (301) 732-5165 > www.coworkfrederick.com > @CoworkFrederick <http://twitter.com/CoworkFrederick> > -- 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. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
