Cat Johnson

  • About
  • Lab
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • Contact
  • About
  • Lab
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Community
  • An Open Letter to Community Managers

Community

09 Aug

An Open Letter to Community Managers

  • In Community, Coworking, Just for Fun
  • 3 comments
coworking-community-manager

Maya, me and Jennifer. I’m so lucky to be in a community run by these amazing women! Huge props to NextSpace Santa Cruz OG community managers Iris Kavanagh and Grace Gamboa, who set the tone early for what a coworking community could be. Photo: Jules Holdsworth


Dear community managers,

In case no one has told you in a while, you are the BEST!

Without you, this whole coworking thing would fall apart.

You freaking rule!

When I was a guest on a big webinar and was having trouble with the internet, who was there troubleshooting the ethernet connection and keeping me calm? You were, my friend!

And what about those happy hours we all roll into without much thought. Who organizes them and feeds and waters us week after week, year after year? You do, love!

You handle messes with smarts and humor.

And don’t even get me started on all the finesse you regularly have to muster to deal with the more challenging members of the coworking world.

I know it can be frustrating, and sometimes boring, and sometimes infuriating. So much of what you do goes unnoticed. If all is well in the space, and us members are just happily doing what we need to do, that’s because of you!

The fact that the fridge always has my favorite soy creamer? You make that happen.

The clever, somewhat snarky signage reminding us to wash our damn dishes? Your creativity shines like a thousand suns.

Those weekly whiteboard questions that usually provide a quick laugh (or sometimes sweet tear) and help us get to know one another? All you, mate.

You balance badass, cruise director, networker extraordinaire and all around kind/thoughtful/fun person, and you do it with style and flair.

Your knack for connecting people has led to more collaborations and friendships than we could ever count.

When everyone panics about the wifi going down, you handle that shit and get us back up, stat!

Your cool under pressure is a sight to behold.

You make tours—which you’ve done 500 times—fresh and fun every damn time. It’s grace in action!

That art you gave me? I’ll treasure it forever.

We never run out of toilet paper, or coffee, or bandaids, or aspirin, or laughs.

And sometimes you bake us cookies! OMG! Who are you?

Seriously, I marvel at your awesomeness every single day.

The way you rock the moment, whether it’s a memorial for one of our beloved members, a group bike ride, a lunch and learn, or one of our off-the-hook holiday parties, is awe-inspiring.

That chat last week when we got vulnerable and talked about what was really going on in our lives? Pure gold.

I probably don’t tell you enough, but I’m so grateful for you!

So, so, so, SO grateful for you.

I’ve worked in spaces where the community manager is little more than a statue at the front desk and, I can tell you, the space suffers because of it.

There are plenty of spaces where the community manager game is weak, and turnover is high.

I get that we’re among the lucky ones to have engaged, awesome humans running our space.

You are the face and maestro of our community. You handle all the todos and todon’ts so we can handle our businesses.

Seriously, I appreciate you every day and, on behalf of the global coworking movement, thank you soooo much!

All my love,
Cat


Coworking space operators: Every Thursday I send out the Coworking Out Loud Newsletter, with industry insights, interesting articles and content tips for coworking spaces. Join the community!

Tags:community managerscoworkingCoworking DayNextSpace
  • Share:
Cat Johnson
I help coworking space operators streamline and level-up their marketing. I'm a writer, content strategist and brand community builder based in Santa Cruz, California. Current projects include: Coworking Convos and the Coworking Content Lab workspace marketing club.

You may also like

making-marketing-community

Making, Marketing and Community-building During a Pandemic

  • January 5, 2021
  • by Cat Johnson
  • in Community
What a time to be a business owner, eh? We’re going to have stories for...
storytelling-tips-coworking-space
5 Storytelling Tips for Coworking Space Teams
December 1, 2020
community-impact
How to Measure the Community Impact of Coworking
November 17, 2020
coworking-convos-one
Celebrating One Year of Coworking Convos
October 26, 2020

    Comments

  1. Iris Kavanagh
    August 9, 2018

    Love this, Cat. So well said! <3 Hearts to all the community managers out there making coworking happen every day.

    Reply
  2. Regil Cadavos
    August 9, 2018

    This is beautiful! Love your content, Cat! Hope you can visit us in this side of the world someday. Hugs from Cebu, Philippines X

    Reply
  3. Maya Delano
    August 15, 2018

    Er ma gawd! Cat, you are the best. You make our day every time you set foot in the space. xoxox, Maya B

    Reply

Leave A Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Each week I send content tips, info and curated articles to 2,342 coworking space operators. Want in?
"Cat Johnson is the marketing maven of the coworking world. She delivers content that is real, actionable and on-point. If you want to learn how to ignite your marketing and storytelling, you found the person. Enjoy the journey."
Liz Elam
Executive Producer, GCUC
"Working with Cat is like a breath of fresh air. She knows the coworking industry inside and out, and her understanding of what makes great content is second to none. And if that weren’t enough, she’s organized, thorough, and simply a delight to work with."
Susan Dorsch
Cofounder, Office Nomads
"Cat is the go-to when it comes to content strategy for the shared workspace industry. Not only is she an expert but she is immersed in coworking. She really gets it. Her newsletter is one of the few in my inbox that gets opened every week."
Jamie Russo
Everything Coworking Podcast, GWA
"Cat is a unique and powerful voice in the coworking movement. She’s dedicated to learning about what’s happening from every possible angle, analyzing what she finds, and sharing everything so we can all benefit. Coworking is better because Cat is part of it."
Tony Bacigalupo
Founder, New Work Cities

© Cat Johnson

COWORKING · CONTENT · COMMUNITY

Each week I send content tips, info and curated articles to 2,342 coworking space operators. Want in?