Coworking events can be an important part of running a successful coworking space. From small happy hours for your members, to lunch and learns, meetups, networking events, presentations, workshops, large events for your extended community and everything in-between, coworking events can serve numerous important purposes, including: Providing added value for members Bringing new people into […]
Instagram is constantly rolling out updates which can feel overwhelming. Do you feel like you can’t keep up with all the latest and greatest new features? You’re not alone. In this post, we’ll highlight three IG features that you may have missed so you can add these tools to your social media marketing kit and […]
The pandemic has changed expectations when it comes to what people crave from a digital experience, including the way we consume emails. However, the basic concept behind email marketing is to send the right message to the right people at the right time. How do we accomplish this as coworking space operators? Start by taking […]
The holidays are a great opportunity to highlight your flex office space. Seasonal marketing campaigns are a chance to educate people about coworking, increase engagement, and bring in new members. To help you capitalize on the season, here are a few promotion ideas to consider for your holiday marketing strategy. Offer A Killer Discount Consumers […]
Yes, it’s possible to grow your coworking business! Scott Chambers, COO of Pacific Workplaces and CloudVO, sat down with Jamie Russo on the Everything Coworking Podcast to share his experiences on how to grow a team that supports expansion while maintaining profitability. Scott has been in the flex workspace industry for over 20 years and […]
Your coworking space tour is typically the first time a prospect has the chance to see and experience what your flex office space has to offer. There are many ways to prepare for a workspace tour, but one of the keys to success involves the ability to understand different personality types. Earlier this year, our […]
Customer Reviews Matter Online customer reviews serve as social proof and shape how people perceive your flexible office space brand. CloudVO actively monitors your customer satisfaction performance with our own customer surveys using Trustpilot, but also by collecting and publishing customer ratings collected by Yelp and especially Google. Watch the short video from Amanda Leffew, […]
In this article, we share lead generation sources that we found worth our time and effort, as from our own experience with our sister company Pacific Workplaces, providing flexible offices and coworking places in 18 locations throughout California and Nevada. We will review how some of these lead generation sources have changed over time. In […]
Collaboration (aka ‘Collab’), is such a buzzword, but perhaps for good reason. Time and again we see great outcomes when people come together to share perspectives and ideas, so why should social media be any different? Enter Instagram Collabs that allows you to invite other creators and businesses to co-author posts and reels. Instagram Collab […]
Creating a Google Business Profile for your coworking space is an extremely important aspect of having an online presence, but now what? Just because your listing is up doesn’t mean you can wash your hands of this task. Much like you would continue to post content on Instagram or Facebook, your Google profile needs constant […]
Coworking events can be an important part of running a successful coworking space. From small happy hours for your members, to lunch and learns, meetups, networking events, presentations, workshops, large events for your extended community and everything in-between, coworking events can serve numerous important purposes, including:
Events are an absolutely essential marketing tool and retention tool. Whether members take advantage of events or not, they want to know they have the option of participating in them.
The flip side, however, is that events can be exhausting and overwhelming for space operators and teams that are already stretched thin with to-dos. Events are time consuming, they take a lot of energy, they require big picture planning and strategizing, as well as detail work down to the level of napkins and name tags. Here are 9 tips to prevent event burnout in your coworking space.
“Don’t set yourself up to fail by hosting events that are too large, too detailed, too expensive or too frequent,” says Delano. “Be clear with yourself, your team and any collaborators about what is realistic.”
Partnering with your local SBDC should definitely be part of your PR and marketing toolkit. This way, you have two organizations putting their time and resources into one event each month. Doing that has taken a lot of pressure off of both of the organizations, and it’s increased our reach and attendance.
When you work a full day of coworking and then you have to go into a 6-9 p.m. evening event, you have just pushed yourself too hard. After the event you have clean up and the next thing you know, you’re not getting home until 11 p.m. Then you’re turning around and you have to be back in the space—with a smile—at 9 a.m.
Put your focus into daytime and lunchtime events, and leave the evening networking events to other people. That way, events fall within the time and structure of the work day. Reserve evening events for very special occasions such as holiday parties, or perhaps an event that takes place outside the space, but definitely limit events after hours. They need to be very strategic.
Many of our partner locations like NextSpace Santa Cruz does a second Tuesday of the month event, a Friday at 3:58 happy hour, and a quarterly breakfast on a Tuesday at 10 a.m.
By having this structure, you can avoid overbooking yourself with numerous events in one week. Signature events in your space help everyone get on the same page and lets everyone structure their time accordingly.
You can’t do everything, so plan your ideal situation. If you’re just starting out, try one event per month, or one event per quarter. Events can be overwhelming if you don’t have an event planning background so ask for help and allow other people to show you the ropes, especially in the beginning.
In-house events, such as a Wednesday Walkabout lunch, are not about retention and sales. They’re simply about connecting with members and helping them connect with each other. Let the members tell people how great your coworking space is. That way you can leverage word-of-mouth.
Sit down and look at the entire year, one quarter at a time. Look at all the things going on and make sure each quarter’s event schedule is realistic. Don’t forget to take things like billing and other operational procedures into account when planning your event schedule.
You have to do events that you like. After all, you’re the one bringing in the trendy, interesting, fun factor. If it’s not interesting to you, don’t do it. As a coworking space manager, take feedback and suggestions from members, but your events need to reflect you and, in turn, your community.
Our NextSpace partner location has become the clubhouse for women in tech in Santa Cruz. Therefore, many of their events are about supporting the women in the space and more generally, women in business. Addressing the needs of your community should be at the top of the list in order to get the most out of your events.
Coming up with event ideas and their realization takes time and effort, and can leave many coworking space operators feeling overwhelmed. We hope these tips can help get you on the right path.
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