Your Coworking Space Is a Conversation, Not an Office
LinkedIn Show Notes #51 from the Coworking Values Podcast Bullpen. 🎙️ Listen to these stories and hundreds of others on the Coworking Values Podcast Hannah Mojica's train was cancelled on the way to a fireside chat she was supposed to be leading — on member retention. Standing on the platform, she bumped into Mike Lawrence, a FOUNDRY member. They ended up in a coffee shop and just talked. Operations, the CEO role, what it actually takes to build a team that can run without you. Hannah calle
The Golden Thread: Why Unreasonable Hospitality Needs a Story First with Sonya & Julie
Why your coworking space needs a Story before it can practise hospitality "Marketing makes these promises and service delivers that. So for us, StoryBrand and unreasonable hospitality, really work together hand in glove. And StoryBrand is really about thinking about how you communicate that you care to your customers. And the unreasonable hospitality side of things is how you prove it." — Sonya Whittam Sonya Whittam and Julie Firth run Story22, a customer-centric marketing agency base
Start With the Building, Miss the Person — It Happened Again This Week
I spent this week watching the same argument break out in different places, with different people, in completely different conversations. None of them planned it. * Caleb Parker published a manifesto for high street coworking. * Suzanne Murdock sent her monthly newsletter from The Hub Newry. * Parisa Wright kept resharing her Hope Hub episode. And * Ann-Marie Kinlock and Anna Chuicharoen finally opened KindHaus in Hackney after three years of hurdles, setbacks, and proving that a space wher
You're not in the property business. Five of us said it this week — nobody planned it.
I spent this week reading what people in our community have been writing. Karen Tait had a terrible Tuesday at The Residence in Bishop's Stortford. Stacey Sheppard's space was on BBC Spotlight. Felicia Fai and Philip Tomlinson's report on the value of local growth hubs. James Panepinto wrote about weaponising community. Bernie (that me!) published LinkedIn Show Notes#55. They weren't in the same room. They weren't on the same call. They are all pointing at the same thing. Karen Tait had
Loneliness Awareness Week. Four perspectives the main coworking conversation skips past.
Thor. Sangeeta. Amy. Lisa. Four people I know. All of them walked into rooms that weren't built for them. ✅ Become a Founding Coworking Community Builder Back the work Before I started freelancing, I'd always worked in hospitality. Kitchens, bars, clubs. From five-star hotels in Mayfair to Pizza Hut in Lakeside Shopping Centre — I did it all. There was formal training, of course, but where you actually learned was side by side with other people. You'd overhear how someone
Coworking said out loud at Prime Minister's Questions
In this week's news: * Coworking gets raised at PMQs * Have your MP visit your space * Loneliness Awareness Week * Back the work as a Coworking Community Builder Coworking gets raised at PMQs This week at Prime Minister's Questions, Lauren Edwards MP made the case for coworking. She told the Chamber that flexible and coworking spaces regenerate town centres like hers in Rochester and Strood, bring people onto the high street, and support local economies. Then she put the Valuation Offi
Your coworking space is mental health infrastructure
In this week's news: * What came up at the Coworking Alliance Summit * Coworking as mental health infrastructure * Loneliness, housing and place * Portugal, Ireland, London - same fight * Fixing the front door (member joining journey) * What's on over in London * 🌈 Pride * Back the work as a Coworking Community Builder What came up at the Summit We ran the Coworking Alliance Summit this week. 50-odd operators from all over, online for a few hours. Two things came up in the breakout
Two things from the London Coworking Assembly
Happy Friday London Coworking Community Builders! The real magic in this industry happens when we join the dots between operators, researchers, and local authorities. We've been rebuilding the London Coworking Assembly from the ground up to do exactly that - the Coworking Values Podcast, the Unreasonable Connection in-person events, and how this community connects. Something has become very clear along the way. The companies that enable people to take part in our Unreasonable Connection evenExplore More Content
Patagonia vests, kombucha, and a punch in the throat.
Happy Friday London Coworking Community Builders! What happened at Space4 On Tuesday at Space4, I watched people's shoulders drop. Nobody had to explain what their job title meant. Nobody had to justify why they care so much about a building full of people who aren't even their employees. You sat down, looked at the person next to you, and started untangling the actual friction of running a workspace. All enabled by PONT, Nexudus, Coworks, Baseworx, Spacebring Welcome Gateand Cobot | Cowor
They Come for the Promise. They Stay for the Hospitality. with Dr. JJ Peterson
"They come for the promise. They stay for the hospitality." — Dr. JJ Peterson Episode Summary JJ Peterson has spent eleven years inside the StoryBrand universe. He co-authored Marketing Made Simple with Donald Miller. He helped Will Guidara write the certification for Unreasonable Hospitality. He hosts the Badass Softie podcast — for leaders who are unapologetically driven but want to lead with their hearts. He is flying to London in June to teach at the first workshop in the world to b
You know you do this work. You just can't prove it in a council meeting.
I recorded a podcast today with Felicia Fai. A lot of you will have met her at Blue Garage during the last Unreasonable Connection. Felicia is an academic at the University of Bath, and the research she recently co-authored adds the economic scaffolding to what we do. Her team studied 161 spaces across 74 regions of the UK to prove what you already know. Local authorities look at your coworking space and see office space. Desks. Square footage. Revenue per desk. Occupancy rates. That is the e
Your Coworking Space Is a Conversation, Not an Office
LinkedIn Show Notes #51 from the Coworking Values Podcast Bullpen. 🎙️ Listen to these stories and hundreds of others on the Coworking Values Podcast Hannah Mojica's train was cancelled on the way to a fireside chat she was supposed to be leading — on member retention. Standing on the platform, she bumped into Mike Lawrence, a FOUNDRY member. They ended up in a coffee shop and just talked. Operations, the CEO role, what it actually takes to build a team that can run without you. Hannah calle
Why AI Can't Feel the Room: Practical Operations with Carlos Almansa
"The AI cannot feel the space. It can't feel the dynamics or the vibe. But it can free up time for you to talk to your members, to have a coffee with them, to understand and to read people." — Carlos Almansa Ballesteros Episode Summary Most conversations about AI in coworking are either evangelical or dismissive. Carlos Almansa Ballesteros, co-founder of Nexudus and author of the Coworkings AI newsletter, isn't interested in either. He's been building software for this industry for 13