Dear family and friends,
Over the past week we have been asking ourselves a lot of questions about what the future of work will look like, particularly as we prepare for our coworking event that will take place on July 21.
The purpose of the event is to explore how we can support the recovery of the coworking sector, which has been turned on its head with restrictions put in place to protect public health
With the future of work shaping up for a big move to remote work, it looks like our coworking spaces will be a big part of more peopleâs lives.
Some early indications from some of our speakers already show this. Erin Westover is the European market lead at proptech company Upflex, which has seen an uptick in inquiries since Covid-19 hit as organisations have decided to make a move toward distributed work.
Upflex works with established companies that have staff working remotely and allows employees to see which co-working spaces near their homes are free. Westover said before the crisis she needed to explain the technology and its importance to clients but now people are aware of its merits and asking questions.
The fact that the companyâs technology allows its users to enter and exit co-working space using their phone as a key, is really relevant at a time when public health is a priority and contact free ways of doing things are encouraged
Similarly, Jonny Cosgrove, the founder of meetingRoom.io, which provides virtual reality meeting room software that focuses on collaboration for smaller groups of three to 20 people, has seen an increased number of sign-ups during the crisis and a lot of interest from coworking spaces who are sensing the change.
As many workers have become âZoomed-outâ in recent months, Cosgrove offers a solution that seems more human and focuses less on oral communication and encompasses gestures and space.
It wouldnât be an Edgerydersâ summit wthour plenty of questions - we will be exploring further how we can retain the connectedness we have built during Covid -19 going forward.
Gary OâMeara who is the chairman of the National Association of Community Enterprise Centres, co-working spaces in Ireland, and one of our speakers at the event has made the point that Covid has helped us become more connected: âHow can we build on that?â
Maybe the answe lies inFaye Alundâs thoughts that the power of community to âactivate initiatives and make them more successfulâ should be utilised in coworking spaces.
Faye is the president of Coworking Indonesia, a community-focused coworking space of entrepreneurs and social activists, and will be one of our speakers at the event.
Mayur Sontakke is an owner of a coworking space in Goa, India. Like Faye, he is of the opinion that co-working spaces need to focus on community to prosper. Within his space, he focuses on community, customer services and building relationships.
Another coworking owner will also be speaking at the event - Nacho Rodriquez, based in the Canary Islands, Spain. For him coworking spaces can do more than just bring a community together, they can also bring affluence to certain areas that may not have attracted industry. With his long term plan is to extend his offerings to more rural locations.
Join our summit on July 21, by signing up here.
For more information on our speakers read this thread.