This year, these two extremely intense days have passed in the blink of an eye! No wonder! Almost 150 participants from 7 different countries, 22 speakers from around the world came to Gdańsk – great people, in a great place! Coworking Now – that is the 3rd edition of the great coworking conference in Poland – ended with success, great acquaintances and a huge dose of knowledge!
From the very beginning of the Coworking Now conference, we have been following two objectives. The first are excellent speakers who share their experience. The second one is good conditions for networking and establishing contacts. This is how we can sum up this year’s conference! On our stage, we hosted over 22 world-class speakers, who know best coworking and building communities, and, above all, base their knowledge on many years of experience. According to our plan, the conference attracted not only coworking spaces, but also city councils, real estate agents, HR departments and freelancers from many different places throughout Poland. Thanks to this, in one coworking space, representatives of various industries, who surely have one thing in common – coworking – have had the opportunity to meet!
We had a great time, we met a lot of new friends, but first of all we learned a lot! In Poland, there is no other conference on coworking – and, despite appearances, it is present in many areas of business! The proof of this statement was the presence of representatives of various companies at the conference – not only those from typical coworking! Also people who are just thinking about opening a new coworking space were present, and it is precisely at Coworking Now that they learn what first steps to make in this business!
We focus on the contents, which is why it is worth quoting some of the most important conclusions that will accompany us in the life of our (and we hope – EVERYONE’S) coworking space!
Around the coworking world – 360 coworking spaces in 40 cities around the world!
Exactly as above – Pauline Roussel visited 360 coworking spaces in 40 cities around the world(!) – great experience, isn’t it?! She told us, among other things, about myths related to promoting the best coworking spaces. “Everyone has a different reason to be happy, we look for a place that will meet our specific expectations, and it is true that coworking is a business that is created by people, by the community. So it is difficult to compare coworking spaces, because each space is ideal for a specific group of people who function in this space. Which means that what’s best for me maybe isn’t necessarily best for you” – said Pauline.
Pyramid of coworker’s needs? Of course!
Eitan Singer, co-founder and CEO of spacing.com, raised topics related to trends and development of the coworking movement in the world. He also presented us with a pyramid of needs in co-working spaces, which showed what are the most important elements for the community functioning in a given place. He introduced the participants to what in particular is worth paying attention – starting from the basic elements, i.e. safety, trust among the community, to living in accordance with their own values, in a creative environment that helps improve the skills needed for business development, and the assistance in gaining clients.
Corporate coworking – treat an employee like a coworker!
Sebastian Osuch from Nowy Styl Group told us about how to transfer the advantages of coworking to a corporation. Employees are people who, like coworkers, need a sense of security, community, support, flexibility, diversity and nice and interesting work spaces. Thanks to taking care of such elements, we are able to make the employee happy, effective and creative, as well as improve communication between teams.
Fantastic coworkings and where to find them?
As O4 Coworking, we have prepared the second edition of the only report on coworking spaces in Poland. This year, we examined coworking spaces not only through the prism of their operators, but we also examined freelancers and their needs, coworkers and whether coworking really strengthens their business, and we also looked at large companies and corporations to check their possible correlations with coworking spaces. The results of the report, and more precisely one result really surprised us – it turned out that as many as 92% of Polish freelancers do not work in coworking and prefer to work from their home! What else? The fact that Polish coworking is a programmer! As much as 94% of coworking spaces in Poland serve mainly representatives of the IT industry. And every tenth coworking space has only programmers among its coworkers.
This is of course two of the many aspects mentioned in the report: “Coworking. I want it that way”, which we created together with infuture hatalska foresight institute – and, since we like to share our knowledge, it is ESSENTIAL that you download our report completely for free here (www.bit.ly/DrugiRaportOCoworkingach)
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We would like to thank the participants for the great energy and that among all the other activities that you could do at the beginning of April you have just chosen to come to our wonderful city of Gdańsk for Coworking Now! In addition to the fact that we like to share knowledge, we love to bring fantastic people to fantastic Gdańsk, so the more we are happy that you could explore this city, its climate and amazing history! See you soon!
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