Celebrating 3 Years of Coworking Convos

It’s weird how a pandemic warps time.

The beta Coworking Convo in 2019 feels like several lifetimes ago. But at the same time, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we’re three years in and have already had more than 30 Convos.

I mean … that’s a lot of Convos!

So, first things first, thank you to all of you who have participated in Convos, sponsored Convos, helped me promote, run and co-host Convos, helped us get the word out about Convos and played an active role in turning an idea for a community conversation into a thriving resource and connection hub for the coworking world.

Y’all are the best.

Convos Roots

When we launched Coworking Convos, we wondered if this idea would hold up and scale.

Turns out, yes. It will.

Over the last three years, we’ve had 5,418 Convos participants and heard from hundreds of guests from within the coworking world and beyond.

We’ve also collaborated with a collection of handpicked sponsors who are all-in on coworking and supporting you.

Moving into 2023 we’re covering community building, marketing automations, hospitality in coworking and much more. And we’re excited to keep building and evolving Convos with you.

Convos High Fives

From the start, Liz and Stormy from GCUC, and Hector from Syncaroo, were all-in on Convos. They saw what we saw: that Coworking Convos had the potential to bring space operators together to learn, share and connect … at scale. I’ll forever be grateful to Liz and Stormy for sharing what they know and being steady partners and friends for many years. And Hector is my go-to tech mastermind, friend and a coworking force (be sure to subscribe to This Week in Coworking). As you audit your systems and how data moves between them, reach out to the team at Syncaroo for help.

In 2021 we met our now-friends and Convos partners at PilotoMail. Since then, it has been an absolute pleasure to watch them do their thing. Sofia and co have created one of the strongest, most recognizable brands in coworking. And they have a top tier product to help you generate revenue from your mail and virtual offerings. As Sofia always says, mail is not your problem, it’s your opportunity.

Last September at GCUC Seattle, I connected with the team from Coworks for the first time. From our introductory conversation, it was clear that our vision, values and mission are aligned. From the team’s hyper-focus on supporting coworking communities with their mobile-first member-driven software to their A+ content game, our now-partners at Coworks have been an outstanding addition to the Convos sponsor community.

Another early sponsor and supporter of Convos was Barbara Sprenger from Deskworks. Barbara has been a supporter of all things Cat Johnson Co for years, is a quiet force in our industry and is one of the smartest business people I know—and it shows in her Deskworks software. Don’t miss her Notes from the CEO.

Our newest Convos supporter is Isofy. You know how wifi and network problems are the bane of your (and your members’) existence? Well Zach and the team at Isofy have that problem solved for you. And they have real live people to answer your customer support questions when you call. And, seriously, they could not be nicer. Aaaaand, they’re running a first month free promo if you sign in December. We’re stoked to have them on-board.

If you follow Allwork.Space, you’ve watched the publication grow into a leading voice around workspace wellness, the future of work, coworking, remote work, hybrid work, workplace trends and more. Their social game is on fire (hat tip to Daniel) and the team consistently leads the conversation around important topics as we move into a new era of work.

Sneak peek: I’m excited to tell you that Vari is coming on as a Convos supporter for 2023. Once known for desks, Vari has expanded to be a one-stop shop for outfitting your space. They’re a great fit for Convos and the team is one of the standouts in the industry.

2023 Convos Goals

As Convos continues to grow and evolve along with the coworking industry, here are a few of the goals we have for 2023:

1. Connect with more operators around the world. An estimated 80% of Convos participants are from North America. But we all know coworking is a global phenomenon and I’d like to have more guests and participants represent their home regions and countries, and to share what they’re learning along the way.
2. Continue to improve my hosting skills and elevate the entire Convos experience for guests, participants and sponsors. I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished and I know that the sky’s the limit. So our job is to keep tweaking and tightening up Convos as we grow and evolve.
3. Bring in more guests from outside of coworking. I think bringing in fresh perspectives and expertise will enrich Convos. I’ve been increasingly bringing in topic experts and the feedback has been great. So we’ll do more of that in the coming months.
4. Streamline our event registration system. Eventbrite has been clunky lately so we’re testing some new options to give you a smoother and cleaner registration experience. LMK if you have an events tool you love.

Your Turn

How are Convos going for you?

What topic would you like to have a Convo on?

What would make Coworking Convos 10% better?

Drop me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you.

Further together,
Cat