[Coworking] Re: Running Events vs. Memberships
On 30 Mar 2008, at 06:38, Tara Hunt wrote: At CS, we treat events as open houses, but sometimes put the 'cost' on the organizers (who can collect $$ if they want). We charge the organizers a convenience fee (ours is ridiculously low = $25)...if they want to recoup it, they can ask attendees. For community things we either are free or ask for a convenience donation. If it is a very occasional event that benefits the Werkers (anybody who has worked or coworked at the werks) then we don't tend to charge, but if we ask for a donation I tend to ask the organiser to donate what they thought the value was and will usually give a guideline of £10 ($20) per hour evenings £30-45 for a weekend day. If they are making money off using the space we ask more, but all things are negotiable, we just try to be fair and not make pricing a barrier. I tend to encourage our members to come along to events unless they are obviously closed sessions. I don't think of there being a distinction between being community based or being a membership business there is a virtuous circle by being both. The more community overlaps with the business the greater the opportunities for both. T On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 11:42 AM, Lisa Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Not being an owner YET these are instinctual thoughts, but I would think the event could also be a venue for getting more customers and limiting it to paid members would prevent that whole angle. On the other hand, if the event is rather expensive and you are seeking to reward your members and don't want freeloaders.. then you limit it. Just my .02.. Lisa On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Tony Bacigalupo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Coworking space owners! I was wondering how you handled running events vis a vis your membership systems. If you're running a lunchtime or evening event for a couple of hours, do attendees need to have paid memberships and/or pay for admission that day? It seems to me to be a bit of a tricky gray area between being an open community space versus being a membership-based business. Thoughts? Tips? Thanks! Tony CoworkingNY -- Lisa Thompson Media PA CoWorking Meetup http://socialnetwork.meetup.com/964/ Blog: http://theoffice.tumblr.com Tweeter: @lithompson friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/theoffice -- tara 'miss rogue' hunt coFounder Citizen Agency (www.citizenagency.com) blog: www.horsepigcow.com phone: 415-694-1951 fax: 415-727-5335 --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Running Events vs. Memberships
Hey Tony, At ON, we usually only offer up our space for events after our drop-in hours have ended. As we want members (both monthly and daily) to have priority over the entire space, we tend to not do events during the prime hours that they'd need them (so no lunchtime events for us...thus far). Monthly members always have priority on the space (they can reserve conference rooms as they need them), as they're able to be here 24/7. For events, we've teamed with Biznik (http://biznik.com) to offer up events - we have both free and paid events in our space and do charge a minimal fee for use of our main conference room (holds 20 people max). It's worked out really well so far and hasn't yet caused a conflict with the folks in our space. Although this method can mean that Jacob or I are at the space during several weekday evenings, it has meant that we can bring great education events into the space as well as to get new faces in the front door - all great things for us (and our members). I think there are ways in which you can run your events so you still feel like an open community space but don't feel like you're just doling out free coworking space to folks. Perhaps think about how frequently this issue is coming up for you - is it a huge [financial] risk to allow people who come to your own hosted events to stay for free if they'd like to hang around and work? We find our free first day is a great way to get people associated with our space and feel welcomed here. We tend to prioritize having people feel like they're welcomed into the space, and have not yet run into situations where we feel like we're being taken advantage of. Long story short, go with your gut. :) Good luck! S On Mar 29, 11:27 am, Tony Bacigalupo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Coworking space owners! I was wondering how you handled running events vis a vis your membership systems. If you're running a lunchtime or evening event for a couple of hours, do attendees need to have paid memberships and/or pay for admission that day? It seems to me to be a bit of a tricky gray area between being an open community space versus being a membership-based business. Thoughts? Tips? Thanks! Tony CoworkingNY --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Running Events vs. Memberships
So we've been hosting a few different types of events since our opening: 1) Our own programming (educational) 2) Our own programming (social) 3) Someone else's event (that is just getting started) 4) Someone else's event (that's been active for a while but desires a better venue, and is interested in us). For our own programming, to date, everything has been totally free for members and non members. Recently, our event schedule has gotten a bit busier, we've put some more of our resources into them, and have been thinking about charging. The decision was to use the donation methodology since most people that attend our events really seem to like them. Generally (this isn't a rule, just a trend), if someone likes the event they'd donate more than we'd ask in the first place. We're going to start accepting donations for our events (educational and social) to help cover ongoing costs of managing and running them. Larger events that take more planning, we may put a fixed door price on (with a reduced rate for members)...but that really is only if we have large materials costs to cover. I think of it this way: your events are marketing to get potential users. Making them cheap or free is advantageous because you get good turnouts (no barrier to entry, no excuses). Events are the only thing we've ever had in our marketing budget, and have had a good deal of success. Hosting someone else's event is where things get interesting and this one's up to your own philosophy. Since I'm not financially loaded, I don't have money to contribute to local groups that are doing things that we think are cool and align with our values. What we do have, is space and time (ok, we don't have time, but I'm getting good at faking it). So while I can't make a financial contribution to a new meetup/social group that I like, I can donate an evening to host their event while they get together some sponsorship money. If the event has been running for a while and simply wants to use our space regularly or from time to time, we deal with their financials on a case by case basis. Again, recently, we've had an influx of such events. We've spoken with the organizers and they've agreed to a similar model we have with our own events: it's free while you're getting started, but don't wear out your welcome...if you can pull together some $$ for us, we can be sure that you have this place to have your event for the long term. The organizers have been receptive and have been more than willing to pull together money by their second event, and in some cases, by their first. Also...don't be afraid to turn down events. If the event isn't something that you think is cool, you're going to be pretty bummed about hanging around late. Nothing is worse than resenting a group for keeping you late at the office. There's nothing wrong with saying no. The last thing I want to mention is that our methodologies are rooted in the fact that we wanted to foster community in Philadelphia, not just at IndyHall. -Alex, IndyHall, Philadelphia On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Tony Bacigalupo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Coworking space owners! I was wondering how you handled running events vis a vis your membership systems. If you're running a lunchtime or evening event for a couple of hours, do attendees need to have paid memberships and/or pay for admission that day? It seems to me to be a bit of a tricky gray area between being an open community space versus being a membership-based business. Thoughts? Tips? Thanks! Tony CoworkingNY -- -- - -- - Alex Hillman round(3)media new! ask me about it digital: [EMAIL PROTECTED] visual: www.round3media.com | www.dangerouslyawesome.com local: www.indyhall.org --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[Coworking] Re: Running Events vs. Memberships
Not being an owner YET these are instinctual thoughts, but I would think the event could also be a venue for getting more customers and limiting it to paid members would prevent that whole angle. On the other hand, if the event is rather expensive and you are seeking to reward your members and don't want freeloaders.. then you limit it. Just my .02.. Lisa On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 2:27 PM, Tony Bacigalupo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Coworking space owners! I was wondering how you handled running events vis a vis your membership systems. If you're running a lunchtime or evening event for a couple of hours, do attendees need to have paid memberships and/or pay for admission that day? It seems to me to be a bit of a tricky gray area between being an open community space versus being a membership-based business. Thoughts? Tips? Thanks! Tony CoworkingNY -- Lisa Thompson Media PA CoWorking Meetup http://socialnetwork.meetup.com/964/ Blog: http://theoffice.tumblr.com Tweeter: @lithompson friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/theoffice --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Coworking group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
