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Angela Howard – Culture Expert
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Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
- August 9th marks the anniversary of the modern coworking movement, which began on August 9th, 2005.
- The idea to celebrate International Coworking Day came from Cadu de Castro Alves, a coworking space owner from Rio de Janeiro.
- Coworking spaces across the globe will celebrate the occasion with free coworking, special events, ice cream parties, and more.
Happy International Coworking Day!
Today, coworking spaces around the world unite to celebrate the anniversary of the coworking movement. It marks the day when, on August 9th 2005, software engineer Brad Neuberg blogged about an idea to “come together in community” and cowork together.
Suggested Reading: International Coworking Day 101: Everything You Need to Know About 9th August
Thanks to that blog post, 9th August has become recognised as the day that “coworking” was born, both as a term and a movement. The idea came from Cadu de Castro Alves, a coworking space owner from BeesOffice in Rio de Janeiro, and some other members of a Coworking Google Group forum, who decided to mark August 9th as International Coworking Day.
How Are Spaces Celebrating?
For coworking operators around the world, it’s an opportunity to throw open their doors and raise awareness of the benefits of coworking to their local communities.
With the help of Liz Elam from GCUC, and Cat Johnson from the Coworking Content Alliance, Allwork.Space reached out to workspace owners to find out how they’re marking this year’s coworking anniversary.
Groundwork
In New Bedford, MA, Groundwork is celebrating by offering free coworking all day to the public along with refreshments, ice cream sundaes and chair massages courtesy of a new local cafe, which partnered with Groundwork to create a coffee pop-up stall for the day.
“We also asked members to tell us their favorite tunes, so that we can create a member faves playlist to play throughout the day,” said Groundwork’s Caitlin Joseph.
CoCo.Haus
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, CoCo.Haus is running a full day event starting with a round table breakfast served by a barista, followed by a talk on productivity and a sprint work session, then a lunch and learn entrepreneurship panel where 5 of members talk about their stories and industries.
“We’re finishing with a big happy hour with other members of the larger community at a nearby gastropark,” said founder, Mariangie Rosas.
Novel Coworking
Novel Coworking will be offering a free day of coworking nationwide in celebration of International Coworking Day, as well as hosting in-center community events with food, beverages, and networking.
EnerSpace Palo Alto
At EnerSpace, the team are doing an “Around the World” happy hour and a free coworking day.
Canoe Coworking
In Winnipeg, Canada, Canoe Coworking’s Tara Everett says:
“Three spaces are collaborating at one (one is open, and the other two are in development) with a lunch and a panel to build awareness, community and education about coworking and its amazing benefits.”
PC Executive Services
In Oklahoma, business center brand PC Executive Services is offering free coworking day passes, coffee, donuts, and a giveaway for private day office passes at both of its Oklahoma City and Edmond locations.
Ministry of New
In Mumbai, India, the Ministry of New is celebrating its members by treating them to lunch. Naturally, it’s a chance for members to collaborate, and they’ll be seated at a 50ft long communal table in the courtyard.
“This year’s theme at Ministry Of New is ‘Connecting the Dots’,” says Marlies Bloemendaal. “During lunch we will introduce our next ‘mastermind sessions’, where we tap into our collective experience and networks to tackle certain issues in our city, which may be environmental, social, or any other good causes.”
Society1
In Preston, UK, Society1 is offering a day of free coworking to local business owners who haven’t tried it before, because “sitting at home on your own is boring.”
Factory Coworking
Allison Blevins of FACTORY explains how they’re using International Coworking Day to work together with other spaces in the Grane Valley and inspire a little exploration:
“We’ve teamed up with other coworking spaces in our valley to create the Grand Valley Progressive Workday. We had a map designed and we are encouraging workers to visit each space throughout the day. The first person to visit all five spaces will win three months of coworking!”
FACTORY is also adding a bit of fun by offering a prize draw entry to members who complete their profiles. There will also be an ice cream top-it party during the afternoon and a happy hour at the end of the day. “A little something for everyone!”
WorkSuites
The team at WorkSuites is giving away 19 one-month coworking memberships for their newly expanded Uptown Cole space and The Woodlands in Houston.
“We have 19 locations so that is why we chose 19 memberships. We will also have ‘Kolaches and Coworking’ at each of our locations on Friday morning.”
Coworkly
Canadian brand Coworkly is offering free coworking for the day and is also setting up an outdoor pop-up space by placing desks on the main street outside the building.
Central Business Associates
In Brisbane, Australia, Central Business Associates is welcoming new, previous and existing coworking members to come along and be a part of their flexible workspace community for the day. Coworking first-timers can enjoy a free trial in the space, while former and current members receive discounted rates for the day.
hygge
hygge coworking in Charlotte, NC, is laying on breakfast and spending the day showing appreciation for the community that they’ve built within their walls.
“Zero Day is our monthly community event which will be held this Friday, and focuses on taking a moment away from work to be open to meeting someone new, or hearing something new. It’s collaborative and many new connections are formed — which only help in growing the event and the bond within the hygge walls.”
Spaces Working Together to Celebrate International Coworking Day
In addition to independent events, a number of coworking spaces are hosting coordinated events. Among them, several members of New Work Cities are hosting coordinated Work Sprints, while the Kansas City Coworking Alliance has planned an afternoon of games and refreshments with friends and family members of the KC Coworking Alliance member spaces.
The Atlanta Coworking Alliance is enjoying an extra celebration, as the city has proclaimed August 9th ‘Atlanta Coworking Day’.
This effort, led by the newly formed Atlanta Coworking Alliance, is described as “a huge win for our independent coworking communities” with spaces coming together to host various public and member activities throughout the week.
The Women Who Cowork alliance, founded by Iris Kavanagh and Laura Shook Guzman, is taking the opportunity to encourage people to go out and support their local women owned coworking communities, which they are coordinating via social media.
Iris adds, “Women Who Cowork is celebrating our 3rd anniversary and taking this week to focus on the question ‘Why are we doing this now? Why the coworking model? Why are we called to do this work now?’” – which includes a Facebook live discussion between Iris and a number of coworking members on Friday.
Both Laura and Iris are also hosting events at their own spaces. At Laura’s space, Soma Vida in Austin, TX, there will be a free day of wellness coworking “to support a day of work/life balance” complete with a free Yoga Nidra class and chair massage.
What are you doing to celebrate International Coworking Day? Let us know by tagging Allwork.Space in your updates and photos on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or Instagram.
