Getting people to come to your events can be challenging.
Your members like the idea of having events and programming, but they may not show up for them.
If this is resonating with you, you’re not alone. This is a common concern among coworking space operators. And, it’s important to find ways to engage your members. So, here are five ideas to better activate your community with events.
1. Try different times. Your members may not want an afterhours workshop, but they may love an early bird coffee club.
2. Involve your members. Ask your members what they’re working on and plan events around common challenges and interests. The more closely aligned your events are with your members’ actual interests (including non-work-related interests), the more compelling they will be.
3. Empower your members. Ask your members to teach a workshop, lead a discussion, bring their famous cookies, etc. The best way to give someone ownership of a coworking space and community is to ask them to contribute to it.
4. Experiment with micro-events. Have a bag of fresh peaches? Drop it in the Slack and invite members to come try them. Got a new coffee maker? Perfect time to do an informal coffee chat. Is there a local art installation? Invite members to go on a field trip. Do you have a new member of your team? Do a fun intro session so members can get to know them—and vice versa. Events don’t have to be big productions. As community builder extraordinaire Anne Kirby from The Candy Factory says, events are touchpoints for your members to connect.
5. Try different formats. If lunch and learns aren’t catching the attention of your members, try a member lunch where you go to a neighboring restaurant; If hour-long workshops aren’t working, try a 15-minute standup where members talk about what they’re working on; If your members need to leave in the afternoon to go pick up kids, try a pre-work get together to help members connect.
Remember: Members not coming to events doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to come to events. It may be that they haven’t found the ones that work for them.
And, if you take anything from this, ask your members to run an event. It’s a gamechanger for them … and you.
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