Open Shed helps you bridge the friendship gap: Laure’s story
When Laure turned up to a collaborative consumption workshop presented by the City of Sydney, she discovered Open Shed for the very first time. So inspired by founder and CEO Lisa Fox’s presentation, Laure listed the first of many items the very next day.
This is Laure’s story on why she uses Open Shed and supports collaborative consumption.
Sharing to Laure seems “useful” and “easy”. She’s an avid fan of not just Open Shed but also Go Catch taxi App and AirBnB, both of which she has used on a regular basis. She’s also listed herself as a dog sitter on a pet friendly collaborative consumption site, though is yet to have her first four pawed visitor. Open Shed posed a unique set of considerations for Laure.
“The first item I listed was my snowboard. It was a little difficult for me as I love my snowboard; it’s such a personal item. However I trust the process and have faith that the sorts of people who use Open Shed are the sort of people who respect other people’s belongings,” she explained.
The snowboard may not have gone on its first Open Shed adventure just yet, but Laure has had many a successful rental with other Open Shed members. The people are helpful, the process is simple and there is even friendship to be had.
The best example of this was the rental of a bicycle from Open Shed. Laure wanted to try triathlon for the first time, but didn’t want to spend the money on the equipment prior to seeing just how far her commitment to triathlon would go. She also didn’t want to be in a position where her bicycle made the already gruelling first attempt difficult through not having the proper equipment for the task at hand.
Laure turned to Open Shed and found not only a bicycle of high enough standard to assist her competitive aims, but also that the owner of the bicycle had a mother who was willing to share her knowledge as an experienced tri-athlete with Laure if she continued with the sport.
Her own interest in collaborative consumption also saw her combining her love of cuisine and creating Chefspotting, a web portal that makes sharing meals with others possible. Laure freely admits that it can be tricky to get two parties to participate on the idea of people power driving sharing, whether that’s items, meals or otherwise. However, her belief in the process of collaborative consumption is strong.
“Collaborative consumption brings you together on common ground. It brings your community together so you can discover new ideas and to discover new people and insights. I think too that even if you don’t know your neighbour it bridges the help gap. It gives you an excuse to get to know them and to build more of a community through very simple actions,” Laure said.
Laure is also intrigued by the application of collaborative consumption to almost any part of the economy. The food industry and the discovery of new dining experiences, cuisines, sharing meals and exploring the local food scene as a traveller are the sorts of things that make for an interesting idea.
As a French women living in Australia, she also sees the potential for car-sharing and ride sharing to have a very positive impact on common problems such as pollution, traffic and congestion, and to potentially bridge the gap between public transport and single person car usage in Sydney.
Of Open Shed, Laure had this to say “The drill and hole analogy is the best way to sum up collaborative consumption. What you need is the hole, not the drill. Open Shed can give you that hole. It’s all about trust and making sure everything goes well through the bond and insurance (the Open Shed guarantee). The people in the community are like minded and care as much as you do. You can see this via the feedback system.”
If you are in Sydney and looking for everything from snow gear to a fryer, Laure can help. Check out Laure’s listings- maybe you could be the person to take her snowboard for its very first Open Shed adventure. She’s also keen on trying Google Glass, so if you can help, that’d be a listing Laure would love to see.
