Thanks for the feedback, Jerome. It's nice to hear that felt like a special event from others who have been around for a while. Definitely did for me, but I don't make it to a lot of coworking owner/manager events.
I like the idea of a 10+ year event, but you'll have to give me 2+ years. :) On Monday, February 12, 2018 at 6:02:05 PM UTC+1, Jerome wrote: > > Hi all. > > I recall that Oct 2011 gathering at my space. It was truly collaborative, > and a milestone in my eyes of coworking history. I never thought of the > other participants as competitors as no one was even in the same geography, > and even if so, the industry was growing so quickly. > > Thank you Will for your honest revelation about closing your first > location. I did the same last month after 10 years in our original Wilshire > location, which I believe was the first in the SoCal/Southwestern US area. > I agree that it’s hard to let go of the original, which I consider a > prototype. Nonetheless, the memories of how we started, and how the photos > were used in a lot of PR/press...are now just photos of memories. > > I would say that closing that location didn’t exactly get me to work “on > my business,” but I really don’t miss having either that location, or a 4th > - not sure yet. That said, I’m a glutton for punishment and plan to open a > downtown Long Beach location this Spring. Yikes. :-/ > > Maybe it’s time for another gathering of folks, not with 1 year > experience, but 10+? :-) > > Jerome, founder & architect > www.BLANKSPACES.com > > On Feb 11, 2018, at 11:36 PM, Will Bennis, Locus Workspace < > wi...@locusworkspace.com <javascript:>> wrote: > > Thank you so much for this feedback, Steve. Really cool to hear about your > influences and experiences with my father's writing. He was actually > sitting in the back of the room at a long-ago small coworking conference > that you were at, I think the only time I met you in person (a meeting at > Blankspaces in Santa Monica for coworking space owners who had been in > business for a year or more, maybe in 2012 or so). He kind of just wanted > to sneak in and see what his son was working on, but was truly inspired by > the optimism and willingness to openly collaborate among a roomful of > competitors. I know you're in most many ways the same kind of observer, but > thought you'd be interested to know. > > On Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 6:38:59 PM UTC+1, Steve King wrote: >> >> Will: Excellent essay that I enjoyed on several levels. First, your >> father's work had a major impact on my career. I was slugging it out >> climbing the corporate ladder in the late 80's and 90's. On Becoming a >> Leader and his other work greatly helped me shift from being a front line >> manager to an exec. In particular, his work made me understands the >> importance of developing and communicating what George Bush senior called >> "the vision thing". I was also fortunate enough to hear your father speak >> several times. He was very inspiring. >> >> Second, in our work advising startups we often find startup CEO's and >> other execs struggle making the shift from working for the company to on >> the company. This is a very hard transition - especially for founders - and >> many fail because of their inability to do so. >> >> And I also agree with your points on the importance of environment and >> its importance to independent workers. >> >> Good luck with the new location. >> >> Steve >> >> >> On Saturday, February 10, 2018 at 5:42:37 AM UTC-8, Will Bennis, Locus >> Workspace wrote: >>> >>> Finally finished the final post >>> <http://blog.locusworkspace.cz/2018/02/rip-locusmuzeum-part-iiioptimism.html> >>> >>> in a long promised three part series about closing a branch of my coworking >>> space. >>> >>> It's about the *optimism *that can come from scaling down, about >>> overcoming the entrepreneur's central challenge of transitioning from >>> "working for your company to working on your company" (from *maintaining >>> *your business *to developing *it), about the role of external context >>> in work success, and a tribute to my father (who was a pioneer in >>> leadership studies and who passed away in 2014). >>> >>> Would love to hear others' thoughts, as I think it has a lot to do with >>> common challenges we all face, and not much to do with my particular >>> coworking space! >>> >>> On Tuesday, August 1, 2017 at 6:10:23 PM UTC+2, Alex Hillman wrote: >>>> >>>> Thanks for sharing this, Will. Part two, about relief >>>> <http://blog.locusworkspace.cz/2017/07/rip-locus-muzeum-part-ii-relief.html>, >>>> was >>>> especially resonant for me! >>>> >>>> Seems bittersweet - excited to read part three about optimism :) >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------ >>>> *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* >>>> Better Coworkers: http://indyhall.org >>>> Weekly Coworking Tips: http://coworkingweekly.com >>>> My Audiobook: https://theindyhallway.com/ten >>>> >>>> On Sun, Jul 30, 2017 at 7:54 AM, Will Bennis, Locus Workspace < >>>> wi...@locusworkspace.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> Just adding to this thread to announce another coworking space closing >>>>> (Locus Workspace's first location in Prague, Czech Republic). We're not >>>>> out >>>>> of business, just consolidating from two to one space. And ultimately it >>>>> was a great thing. But it was our first location and really a difficult >>>>> choice to make. Anyway, here's a blog post about the sadness that >>>>> came with closing the space >>>>> <http://blog.locusworkspace.cz/2017/07/rip-locus-muzeum-part-i-sadness.html>. >>>>> >>>>> Running that space was a really important part of my life, and much of it >>>>> would not have been possible without the inspiration, ideas, and general >>>>> good will that came from this group. >>>>> >>>>> Best, >>>>> Will >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Monday, February 9, 2015 at 8:32:37 AM UTC+1, OphelieR wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks Andy for sharing these data. In our coworking the trend is a >>>>>> bit different. >>>>>> >>>>>> The average churn rate is 5% on all our memberships except the full >>>>>> time coworking (different from resident/dedicated desk) which has a >>>>>> churn >>>>>> rate of 8%. We don't have data around the main reason for living, it's >>>>>> something we're putting in place at the moment but basically if someone >>>>>> cancel from full time coworking it doesn't necessarily mean they will >>>>>> upgrade to resident desk or downgrade to part time. >>>>>> >>>>>> Moreover, the number of full time coworker is much lower compare to >>>>>> our resident members or part time coworkers. I was discussing this with >>>>>> another coworking space owner at the GCUC in Bali last week and they had >>>>>> a >>>>>> similar issues. >>>>>> >>>>>> Is it something other coworking spaces are experiencing with full >>>>>> time coworker ? Does anyone have any explanation for this ? >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 10:14:37 AM UTC+8, Alex Hillman >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I'm sure I'm not the only person on this group who has google alerts >>>>>>> set up for the words "coworking" and, sigh, "co-working". >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Between the number of new space announcements that show up in those >>>>>>> alerts, Deskmag's reporting on coworking growth trends, and many >>>>>>> amazing >>>>>>> success stories that we've all been privy to seeing unfold, there's no >>>>>>> doubt in any of our minds that coworking isn't disappearing any time >>>>>>> soon. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> But speckled in the success stories are sadder ones. Coworking >>>>>>> spaces who struggled and failed. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Another one hit my Google Reader tonight, in St Louis. Hence this >>>>>>> email and this project being spurred right now. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On one hand, the *business of coworking *is susceptible to all of >>>>>>> the rules of starting a new business - there's going to be a failure >>>>>>> rate. >>>>>>> Not every business is meant to be. The rate at which I hear about >>>>>>> closings >>>>>>> is increasing, but it's hard to tell if it's growing in or out of >>>>>>> proportion of openings. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Between coworking spaces that struggle to keep the lights on and >>>>>>> coworking spaces that have closed (for good or bad reasons), there's >>>>>>> patterns in closures that I personally find very interesting, far more >>>>>>> interesting in "new hotness variations" on the coworking models. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> The pattern-watcher that I am, I see *some *things, but I need more >>>>>>> information to start building a hypothesis that can be proven or >>>>>>> disproven. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I can't do this alone. If you've started and closed a coworking >>>>>>> space, been a member of a coworking space that struggled and failed, or >>>>>>> are >>>>>>> simply a passionate observer who saw an unfortunate closing, please >>>>>>> take a >>>>>>> few minutes to help fill out this survey: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> https://indyhall.wufoo.com/forms/coworking-space-closings/ >>>>>>> >>>>>>> This information is personal and potentially sensitive. I don't >>>>>>> expect all of the replies to include names or all of the details. Many >>>>>>> people on this list have shared their personal stories before, and we >>>>>>> should all be thankful for that. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> The best solution I could come up with is to choose how anonymous >>>>>>> you would like to be. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> *1) The name and email address fields are optional and will ONLY be >>>>>>> used to reconnect with the submitter for more information.* >>>>>>> *2) The final required question asks for your consent to share the >>>>>>> data you enter, beside the optional name/email fields which are >>>>>>> anonymous >>>>>>> by default. In case you have an alternate preference, you can specify >>>>>>> it in >>>>>>> "other".* >>>>>>> >>>>>>> There's researchers on the list, so if there's other fields that you >>>>>>> think I should include (or better ways to collect the same data), I'm >>>>>>> all >>>>>>> ears. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> *Even if you're not aware of closings you can share about, I >>>>>>> need help getting the word out about this project. *I'm hoping for >>>>>>> some assistance from Steve King & Team Deskmag since I know this stuff >>>>>>> is >>>>>>> already on their radar. If there's anyone else already studying this >>>>>>> (all >>>>>>> of the quiet grad students on this list, I'm looking at you), I'd love >>>>>>> to >>>>>>> share work reciprocally. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> My goal is to organize this information and share some hypothesis >>>>>>> that we all study together and share back again, overall helping the >>>>>>> ecosystem not just learn from successes but also avoid repeating >>>>>>> historic >>>>>>> failure patterns. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> My hope is to be buried under a mountain of responses and have to >>>>>>> recruit some of you to help me dig myself out :) >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Thanks y'all. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -Alex >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> /ah >>>>>>> indyhall.org >>>>>>> coworking in philadelphia >>>>>>> build amazing communities: masterclass.indyhall.org >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>> 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+...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- > 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+...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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