There’s no better time than now to plan your coworking space events.
Flexible space has grown by an average of 23% per year since 2010 and is expected to make up a third of all office space by 2030, according to real estate company JLL.
More people have come to rely on coworking spaces to carry out the demands of their jobs, especially in light of the pandemic, which has vastly accelerated the work-from-anywhere movement.
Make no mistake: coworking spaces are here to stay. But in order for coworking space owners to maximize revenue and thrive for years to come, it’s important to effectively diversify their revenue streams, wherein coworking memberships and day passes account for a part of — and not the whole — revenue strategy.
One of the best ways is to host events at your space that your members and prospective members care about. In fact, if you’re not currently holding events at your coworking space, there’s no better time to start.
Of course, there’s a lot that goes into planning and executing a successful event, from understanding the needs of your community, to nailing down the logistics, to setting up registration, and marketing and staffing your event. If you haven’t already, check out our Guide to Planning Events for Your Member Community.
To help you get in the event-planning mindset, we’ve drawn up a list of nine ideas for different types of coworking space events you can host in 2023. Take a look:
9 Coworking Space Events to Host in 2023
“All Hands”
The “all hands” meeting has become a staple of many early-stage startups, wherein the CEO will deliver company-wide announcements to everyone in the organization. Companies of all types in various sectors have adopted the format for their own communication needs. Consider doing the same for your coworking space.
If you like, entice your members to join your “all hands” meeting with a free breakfast or lunch to boost the turnout. Then, use the gathering as an opportunity to share important updates about the space. If you have new tenants or members, encourage your more tenured members to welcome them into the fold. If you have a new meeting room or coffee maker, for that matter, let your members know. They’ll appreciate being kept in the loop.
And most importantly, use the “all hands” to learn from your members about what’s working and what’s not. Perhaps noise has become more of an issue, and part of your space could benefit from some cheap, easy insulation upgrades. Invite your members to share their ideas, and implement their great feedback. This, in turn, will help them feel valued and included in the goings on of your space.
Speed Networking
Speed Networking, also known as “Business Speed Dating,” can be a time-saving and effective way of making a high volume of professional contacts in a short time. The purpose of speed networking is to encourage participants to make as many new connections as possible. This can be a great way to increase your network on your phone and on LinkedIn, but make sure you allow for quality connections, too.
One of the common complaints with speed networking events is that they don’t leave enough time to actually build rapport, so make sure you give each pairing sufficient time to connect — if only on a topical level — and exchange information.
Trivia Contest
This is another great way to get people who likely wouldn’t have otherwise found your space through the front door. As with the speaker series, make sure you know your audience. What types of topics and categories would interest them? You want to make sure the questions aren’t too obscure, but make sure they appeal well enough to the general crowd at your space.
And this goes without saying, but offer good prizes. Work with local businesses to help secure gift cards and swag to keep your members interested and motivated. When you’re marketing the trivia night, be sure to let everyone know what’s on the line. That way, you’ll attract more people to your coworking space event.
Game Night
Plenty of options here. And depending on the turnout, you can set up multiple tables with a different game at each one. Maybe you fancy the classic “Apples to Apples” or perhaps you’re partial to the more nascent “Poetry for Neanderthals.” Whichever game you choose, make sure it’s suitable for the audience and number of people in attendance. If you have a little more space, consider table top games such as ping pong or foosball. These are sure to draw a crowd. But again, don’t skimp on prizes.
Speaker Series
What are your members interested in? Which fields do they work in? Once you get some feedback, host a lecture or presentation from a thought leader from a top industry at your coworking space. This will create ample opportunities for mingling and it’ll help your members grow in their industry knowledge and motivate them to further educate themselves on their own time.
As with trivia night, speaking events are a perfect way to get people into your space who might not have otherwise known you existed.
Happy Hour
This coworking space event is one of the easiest, tried-and-true favorites at spaces across the country. Schedule a happy hour on a Thursday or Friday and start around 4 p.m. so your members who work standard office hours are more likely to be able to join. Design a clean, simple one-pager with the event details and send it out to your members via email or Slack. If you can, feature a local brewery or winery at the event to help make it more community-centric.
Movie Night
Have a projector and a big wall that could double as a screen? Then, you have the essential makings of a perfect venue for a movie night. It wouldn’t hurt to send out a quick survey to your members and see what types of films they’d be interested in watching. That way, you’ll maximize your turnout.
(Don’t forget snacks!)
Bring a Friend Day
Remote work is a beautiful thing. But just because you can work anywhere, that doesn’t mean you should work everywhere.
Think about which of your members might know someone who’s working remotely from home or a coffee shop. On the surface, they might be saving a little money, but they might actually be sacrificing their productivity by not working in an atmosphere cultivated specifically for work. A free day of coworking at your space might be exactly what they need to see just how focused and dialed in they really can be in the right space.
Morning Yoga
What better way to invite prospective members into your space than with a Saturday morning yoga session? Reach out to a local teacher or practitioner and see if they’d be willing to teach a class in exchange for free space. Or perhaps one of your existing members is already qualified to teach the class. Yoga is also an excellent way to showcase your space as a peaceful venue, that would also lend itself to a quiet, productive workday.
Plus, after class is the perfect time to engage in some casual networking with the other attendees. Consider this one of the best options for coworking space events.
Create and Manage Your Events in Proximity
Did you know you can create and manage all of your coworking space events right In the Proximity Platform? From the Dashboard, navigate to “Manage Events,” and take advantage of all of the event-planning features. You can even connect your Mailchimp account and grow your network!
Looking for coworking software that’s easy to use for both operators and members? Get the software that’s purpose-built for coworking by coworking space operators.