Coworking is the future way of working that is spreading all across the globe. In fact, more and more people are choosing to work out of coworking spaces rather than the traditional office space because they offer open concepts, networking, amenities, and so much more. After spending my week in Washington, D.C. at the Global Workspace Association (GWA) Conference learning all the ins and outs of a coworking space, I feel more passionate and knowledgeable about coworking than ever.
The conference was held at the MGM National Harbor, and the community manager track was an all day event on Wednesday. I sat at a table with several people from all over the world- Puerto Rico, Boston, Mexico, Florida, and North Carolina- and we were able to talk and get to know each other and learn what each others’ spaces were like. The track started with a presentation about how to make your space stand out in a crowded market. I really enjoyed hearing different marketing tactics to set your coworking space apart from the competition. The second speaker spoke about making each person who comes into your space feel important and crucial to the community. Next, we broke out into smaller groups and the community managers got to share their best practices. I loved getting to hear what other CM’s are doing and getting to share all the fun things we do at FUSE.
We broke for lunch and I got to make even stronger connections with the other community managers. We exchanged business cards and made plans to keep in touch to continue to help each other and share best practices.
After lunch, we learned about how to automate your work in order to free up time in a community manager’s busy schedule, as well as how to build a community that people want to be a part of.
My favorite part of the conference was making meaningful connections with people who work in similar positions as me. It was reassuring to know that I have a supportive and helpful community of “coworkers”.
This conference was extremely beneficial and I now have more knowledge about coworking that I can implement at FUSE. I can’t wait to put everything I learned into action!
