This old saying describes very well the past three days at the European Coworking Conference last week in Lisboa, taking place from the 24th to the 26th of November. It was a great opportunity to join tons of inspiring discussions, workshops, and lectures, not only for us, but for all of the ±300 attendees from Japan, India, Bali, US, UK, and all over the world. We want to say many thanks to Jean-Yves Huwart and his team for making it possible!
Some central questions were what could be the best strategy to successfully run a coworking space, and how to get the community involved? On the first day of the conference, a few examples were given: for example, we learned from Sajid Islam (Hub Dhaka) that even an electrical generator might be an important USP if you are running a coworking space in Bangladesh, a city which faces blackouts every day.
On the second day, the unconference took place in the form of various panels.
The participants came together to share experiences in regard to even more detailed aspects of the main theme. So, just to present two of the speakers, Antoine Van den Broek from Mutinerie Village and Steve Monrue from the Hubud in Bali introduced the benefits of their travel-based coworking spaces and how coworking might be related to tourism.
In another panel our team member, Thilo, started a discussion about if and how management softwares like Cobot, Nexudus or WeTipp can simplify the organization of coworking spaces. During the discussion it was agreed that managing softwares are indeed very useful, but also how much the special needs of each coworking space differ, which is an important inspiration for us to work constantly on the expansion of Cobot.
Wednesday, the last day, started with the workshop of Alex Hillmann and Adam Teterus from Indy Hall. Both invited the audience to follow their promising thesis, that tummlers should be the ones who connect a coworking community and make them participate by just starting conversations between the coworkers about what they are interested in. If you missed their workshop, you will find their presentation here.
After lunch, we had the choice to take part in one of the six coworking space tours (see at Twitter: #copasstours), which brought conference participants to various Lisbon coworking spots.
We are very grateful, not only to the Copass Team for organizing, but also to the guides who, despite the rain, presented parts of the growing scene like Village Underground or LX Factory, just to name two of the nearly 30 coworking spaces or areas in Lisboa.
The bottom line is clear: get connected and take the chance to participate!
Platforms like the European Coworking Conference offer the opportunity to learn more about current topics and find ideas for your own work. Something coming up in the next months, for example, is Cowork2015, taking place at the end of March next year, in Stuttgart.
PS: By the way, we highly recommend Lisboa for a visit! It´s such a beautiful city. Enjoy Portuguese cooking in one of the amazing restaurants or make a visit to the Chapitó, where you can dive into the extraordinary culture of the capital. Afterwards, a long day of sightseeing can have a perfect end by watching the sun set behind the spectacular bridge, Porto de 25 April.
