Creating Events that Drive Community Engagement in Coworking Spaces
Community is everything in coworking, but a genuine sense of connection between members doesn’t magically happen overnight or by chance. Often, meaningful relationships take intentionality, effort, and time to build, with events being an effective vehicle for bringing people together around shared interests, goals, and experiences, creating opportunities for collaboration, and a thriving coworking culture. This article looks at creating events that drive community engagement in coworking spaces.
Tapping into community skills
Your coworking space comprises a group of talented individuals with extraordinary skills that others could benefit from. This is particularly relevant if your coworking community mainly consists of freelancers, self-employed, and small business owners who would benefit from development opportunities. Equally, corporate and remote workers typically making up today’s flexible workspace communities may also seek new learning experiences that elevate their careers.
This year, finder.com discovered that 43% of Brits have a side hustle, with more than two-thirds of those being Generation Z (68%). Most side hustles are related to the creator economy, with popular pursuits including social media influencers, bloggers, and podcasters. Considering your community demographic, think about hosting workshops, panel discussions, and networking sessions to facilitate your community’s cross-pollination of knowledge.
For instance, invite your resident podcaster to teach valuable lessons about their journey of starting a podcast in a workshop or one-to-one capacity. These events forge relationships by facilitating peer learning.
Supporting your community
Hosting podcast workshops would not only improve the accessibility of side hustles and freelance culture but could also support underrepresented people in the sector. In 2022, research gathered by the Podcast Host found that only 29% of US podcasters were female, with 2% being non-binary.
The Hearth in Finsbury Park is a women’s space that ‘supports women on their personal journeys,’ featuring a regular event programme ‘helping women grow in every part of their lives – mind, body, and spirit.’ Its events aren’t just career-focussed, although sessions like entrepreneur circles do feature. They’ve hosted events that cover astronomy for greater alignment and energy, and in December, organised a coffee morning for women affected by cancer.
Creating events for your coworking community that go beyond career development and touch every aspect of their lives can bring people together to connect over shared experiences. Making a safe space to support community members more widely can help them feel truly rooted in your community.
Becoming a hub for the local community
By the same token, your events can specifically focus on supporting the needs of your target audience. For instance, if you run a neighbourhood workspace, your local community might benefit from events connecting them to their neighbours, strengthening a sense of belonging in your local area.
Events like weekend farmer’s markets and craft fairs can support local business owners and bring your community into your space beyond the 9 to 5. Opening doors to a wider audience will also increase your space’s brand awareness, becoming a lead-generation strategy to bring more customers into your coworking community.
Many workspaces do the odd open day, but supporting local businesses or artists is a far greater pull for attendance. For example, Patch neighbourhood workspaces operate as a community hub, hosting pop-up events with local business owners, including bakers and florists, and hiring out its cafes and event areas for children’s parties and workshops.
Think of it like a village or town hall – your coworking space can have much more meaning in people’s lives than just being a place to come for work, especially when new connections and friendships form there, some that might last a lifetime.
Marking a special milestone
Your coworking business owes a great deal to your community, who support you in various ways. When a special birthday comes along, or you’ve launched a new space, why not mark that milestone with a party or celebration that brings everyone together?
Brighton’s Platf9rm coworking space recently celebrated its eighth birthday with a special event for the community, complete with a bespoke cake and live band. The team even decorated the workspace in brand attire. You can do something like this too – along with your current community members and team, consider inviting your wider community who have connected with you right from the start, including employees who’ve moved on, suppliers, and partnering businesses.
See this as a way for your community to get together, especially if you have several coworking spaces across your portfolio. New connections will form over an evening complete with delicious food and drink, and your community will forever talk about your co-founder’s hilarious dance moves!
Tips for creating engaging events
To make your coworking events as engaging as possible, follow these tips:
- Communication and marketing – ensure your community is fully aware of the events you’re facilitating in your space, and avoid disappointment if people miss out on the fun. Market your events through digital and physical means, such as putting up some posters around your space (including the bathrooms), and including relevant event details in your newsletters and across communication channels.
- Place and location – of course, not everyone can join your thriving event programme in person. Consider creating hybrid events that engage with your virtual community, especially if you offer virtual memberships. You could host monthly connection sessions or fun events like online quizzes.
- Timing – host events at an appropriate time to achieve maximum attendance. Include complimentary coffee and food to encourage attendance at breakfast time, or organise a lunchtime power hour for your corporate demographic. Parents might struggle to attend events beyond 9-5, so an evening event may not be popular with your community. To understand their schedules, ask your community which timings work best for them.
- Gathering feedback – to truly empower your community, ensure all your events support their needs. You can create a feedback loop to send out to attendees immediately after the event, however, gathering feedback more authentically involves sitting down and spending time with your community one-on-one.
These events can be easily managed using the NexEvents app, designed specifically to help coworking operators streamline event planning and coordination.
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