Hi Michael, YES! Lots of ways to integrate Slack (keeping this on the main thread as I think it could be useful to others). Namely, by watching what *doesn't* work - we've all been part of those FB and Slack groups that are just...crickets. Or worse, they're overly promotional.
In order to avoid that, here's what I did: (1) *Limit Channels: *This gives people direction and a "beautiful constraint." When you have 600 channels you get decision fatigue. Limit your channels (5-10 max) (2) *Give your channels VERY OBVIOUS names*. If people dont know what the channel is for, they won't use it. I have fun with naming but it's still clear what its' for (like #treatyoself is a channel, that's where we talk about self care) (3) *Tag people*: Don't awkwardly ambush people, but if someone asks a question about instagram and you know one of your members knows instagram, tag them in the thread like this, "@jon do you know anything about this?" or "@jon might be able to help, he's way better than me at instagram" <--- You want to be careful not to obligate them, just engage them. (4) *Set Rules for Engagement: *You dont have to state them explicitly, but you do have to enforce them publically. For example, if you post "Hey guys! I just published this would be great if you shared!" I will shame you bc that is a terrible and self-serving post. You have to lead by example and teach people how you want them to engage AND show them it's safe to be real. The example above is when your communication is transactional and not real. (5) *Moderate: *I will comment directly on threads and say, "Give us context, WHY do you want us to read this?" My tribe feels protected, like someone is looking out for them. Because I am. I want the conversation to have depth. There's a place to recommend your stuff but we have a thread for that. So you need to moderate until people understand what the rules are for engagement. (6) *Most activity happens in the DMs*. At least, that's been our experience, which is *great* news. It's annoying bc sometimes main channels can be quiet and you freak out that no one is getting value - but slack will send you activity data each week so you'll see if people are DMing (it's great news because that means your members are connecting!) Curious to know what others have done that's worked. - Margo On Thu, Oct 25, 2018 at 3:38 PM Michael Jon <mike.woppe...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Margo, > > I have my first get together coming up and I would like to introduce Slack > as a tool we can use to compliment our ongoing coworking get togethers. > How would you suggest implementing this virtual coworking space/slack to a > small group of people new to coworking? What can I do to get people > interested in joining and staying active? Are there some virtual exercises > that you have found successful? > > Thank you! > > On Monday, October 1, 2018 at 1:41:56 PM UTC-4, Margo Aaron wrote: >> >> Hey Michael, >> >> My coworking space is completely virtual, so we're almost *entirely* >> community. >> >> What's worked: >> >> - Personal introductions and taking the time to get to know everyone >> in the space >> - Exclusivity: stressing this is for "people like us" and having some >> common thread that connects your members. In my case, it's solopreneurs >> with online businesses. For other coworking spaces, it could be that you >> all live in XYZ city or are trying to raise venture capital. >> - Having a forum for members to meet each other >> >> What hasn't worked: >> >> - Oversharing articles or business opportunities - There is NOTHING >> that will kill community quicker than interactions like, "Hey Guys! Will >> you share this post I wrote! Thanks!!!" You want to push for substantive >> conversations that build relationships instead of creating transactional >> ones. >> >> That's not to say our members don't do business with one another, they >> do. But it comes up organically. And it's sprinkled in between adding >> genuine value to each other. >> >> We use slack for most of this. And Zoom. >> >> Hope this helps! >> >> - M >> >> On Mon, Oct 1, 2018 at 12:14 PM Angel Kwiatkowski <fccow...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> I wrote a step by step book on how to do this. Find it at >>> https://diycoworking.com. >>> >>> Angel >>> >>> On Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 2:17:47 PM UTC-6, Michael Jon wrote: >>>> >>>> Hello, all! I've recently begun the journey to open up a coworking >>>> space in my city. After reading through various postings, books, websites >>>> etc...it seems that many owners stress the importance of building a >>>> coworking community BEFORE opening a space. What are some key >>>> recommendations on how to build this community. Very curious to hear what >>>> worked/didn't work. >>>> >>>> Thank you! >>>> >>> -- >>> 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. >>> >> >> >> -- >> Margo Aaron >> That Seems Important <http://www.thatseemsimportant.com/> >> >> Want smart people to bounce ideas off of? I have some. >> <https://www.arenavirtualcoworking.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. > -- Margo Aaron That Seems Important <http://www.thatseemsimportant.com/> Want smart people to bounce ideas off of? I have some. <https://www.arenavirtualcoworking.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.
