The health of your community (part 2)
In my last blog post, I wrote about the health of our coworking community (link). For a new community manager, one of the largest hurdles to overcome is how to get your community engaged not only with you but with one another. They say character is who you are as a person when nobody is watching. What happens when the community manager isn’t around? Does the community thrive or does it falter? What makes it do these things? What keeps the web connected?
The role cannot solely rely on you to take care of things. You can’t make two people like each other, but you can introduce them! Start there.
Nothing warms my heart more than when these relationships blossom. I enjoy hearing of occasions when members gather together outside of our four walls. It really shows how impactful coworking can be not only for networking and work connections but also for personal sustainability, especially for younger members and those who have recently moved to the area.
Getting together outside of work for fun:
There is a group of women who get together once a month for a rotating dinner and craft night. There are a couple of people who get together for dinner to talk about upskilling every once in awhile - CTO to CTO. There are a couple of guys who get together for game nights. Another couple of people enjoy inviting each other to play golf at their country club. Heck, some of us have even watched eachother’s cats while they’ve gone on vacation.
I say all this not to discount when people begin working together. That is a truly special moment that I’ve been proud to witness time and time again. Of course, it’s one of the larger reasons why people decide to join coworking communities in the first place. Lke forming friendships, forming business relationships takes trust.
Eventually working together:
Tyler Wiewiora of Westbound Productions shot a commercial for Nick Mortimer’s Raw Wood Shades IndieGoGo campaign. Shortly after starting her own marketing consulting business, Megan Huxhold has begun contracting work for Biddy Murphy. When Rapid Development Group became overwhelmed with work, they reached out to Joel Bouwkamp, who had recently transitioned into a freelance developer, for help with a client project. After Ellen Doornbos finished up her Programming bootcamp with General Assembly, she was hired as a junior developer with Rapid Development Group. Stuart Pearman volunteered his time to work on an animation for Kendell Joseph’s Art Prize project. Carrie McCulloch has worked with Brian Szubinski to take care of some marketing swag for her events. Marta Johnson has helped Martelle Esposito through the launch of her non-profit, Mothership. Both Kelly Bedore and Amelie Watt have hired Paige Leyh to create custom art pieces for their homes. Kristen Rampe’s accountant has helped the Pelham Weavers transition their business into an s-corp. The list goes on; these are only things that I can recap over the past couple of months.
The community we build and the culture we create is a testament that you don’t join The Factory when you’ve made it. You join The Factory to make it. You join to get work, to make friends, to show up, and to be authentic. We ask for help and give it. You don’t have to take my word for it, though. The health of a coworking space doesn’t have anything to do with your chairs or your shit. It has everything to do with the people and how they contribute to each other’s successes. If you were to stop by and #askamember, we’re confident that they’d agree.
~amelie, community manager