Hosting a free Coworking Day is a fantastic way to activate your local remote work, digital nomad, expat and freelance community.
I've organized them in Lisbon, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The first coworking day I organized was in Gran Canaria in 2017. A new coworking space had just opened its doors and I emailed them asking if they would be open to hosting an event.
Being an organizer of a coworking day is a great opportunity to connect with the local community. I found it as a fantastic “hack” when you move to a new city and want to quickly create connections with like-minded people.
Sometimes these events can require a bit of effort to explain the benefits to operators of coworking spaces and promoting the event to enough people can be a challenge at first, but I promise you the results are worth it.
I'm going to share with you some tips and tricks I’ve discovered that help make the process easy.
At Surf Office, we’ve used coworking days many times to test new coworking spaces before becoming their partner in organizing our remote work retreats for clients.
New coworking spaces usually don't have a lot of experience hosting large groups and after hosting a coworking day they can learn what processes need to still be adjusted and what issues need to be fixed (internet bandwidth for instance).
For some, testing the infrastructure on customers that aren’t paying to access the space is a +1 benefit.
Organizing a coworking day in a coworking space makes a lot of sense and it's easy to pitch it to the owner. However, you can organize an event like this basically anywhere if you have access to some desks and an internet connection.
1. Café or restaurant ☕
Busy cafés and restaurants hate “laptop people” but those that are not so busy actually appreciate that there are some people there and the venue doesn't look empty.
Also, most of these places have rush hours. If you can bring in some remote workers that order a few coffees and avocado toast during sleepy hours, the owners might be quite open to hosting. Search for places that are already recommended by remote workers, like this list of coworking cafés in Lisbon.
2. Park 🌳
It sounds crazy but why not? Many parks have seating areas available in the shade. Consider taking advantage of them for a day!
3. Hotel or hostel 🏨
Spaces in hotels and hostels are under utilized most of the time and for their operators hosting a coworking day is an an easy way to promote the venue.
I Iiked the creative approach of this hostel in Lisbon that used its terrace to host a coworking day.
4. Startup office 💻
If you know about a company or startup that has an unused office area, you can propose hosting a coworking day to them. Think about their motivation and what would benefit their company with an event like this.
An ideal scenario would be a company with a product that targets a similar audience and may be able to use the event as a promotional opportunity and great content for their social media.
One more tip: Try to run these events on a regular basis - weekly, every first Friday of the month, once a month, etc. With consistency you will build a great relationship with local venues and have the chance to make deeper connections with the people in your community.
Did this post inspire you to organize a coworking day?
Let me know on Twitter or Linkedin, or even better, share some of your pictures with me!
If you are trying to build the next Marriott, this newsletter is probably NOT for you.
But you will love it if you are acquiring land for glamping, bootstrapping a coliving space, buying a small hotel, building a cabin, hustling with Airbnb apartments, launching a niche marketplace, renting on Hipcamp... or you just like exploring new hospitality trends and building stuff.
Don't expect any online courses or similar bs. This newsletter is my personal hack to attract people who are into these topics, brainstorm ideas and then maybe do something together.
I share my stories of building a portfolio of hospitality business and running tons of experiments.
"Hi Peter, I have subscribed to your newsletter for a while now and am loving it. The hospitality industry fascinates me and your newsletter always gets my brain to go prrrrrr brainstorming ideas."
- Dário
"Really cool newsletter. Thanks for sharing. Too many interesting ideas to work on."
- Johannes
"Hey Peter, just wanted to reach out to tell you how much i love your posts here. I found out about you through a recent Jakob Greenfeld newsletter, and when i did, i spent hours to read through your previous posts/tweets."
- Cziri
"Just to say that your newsletter is my favorite of all time. I always get so inspired and want to have as many cool projects as you do."
- Margarida
"Very comprehensive. Not working directly on the space anymore, but following your content closely as it is so engaging actionable and without noise 🙏"
- Nico
"Lovely newsletter again Peter! I’m a fan of your ideas and how your brain works.Always sees opportunities ad niche business. Keep up the good work!"
- Sjoerd
"Love your newsletter! The posts are very inspiring and I love how well you break down the business side of it."
- Martin