Post Author: anthony thompson.
Say it with me, “Fit – Space – Don’t Sell It.”
I’m still not a fan of pop up ads (although millions of blogs inundate you with them to sign up for their damn newsletter) but if I knew what would be better I’d invent it. For now, we deal with banner ads and clicking out of them as fast as we can.
I would argue I’m one of the fastest pop up destroyers in my small town of Rouse Hill, a suburb north west of Sydney. I destroy those things like it’s my passion. In fact, it is my passion. Maybe my next book will be 38 ways to destroy pop up ads.
Pop up ads in a coworking space can be just as annoying and the Australian startup Posse sheds some light on why.
When Posse signed into the space they were pitched an offer for a select group of small business services at ‘mates rates’. Seems like a good idea from the business. They work at a hipster, cool coworking space and receive mate rate business services.
Posse eluded that this early pitch could be felt as a pop up ad instead of a human connection. They also quickly discovered that coworking spaces when full can be loud.
Let’s look into what Posse really needed in a coworking space.
They were building software and were used to a certain environment. Loud chatterboxes on mobile phones would eventually break their focus and it did. This also falls into my category of pop up ads. Loud, obnoxious mobile phone users are distracting and = pop up ads.
In light of this information, I’ve written a few questions that you can use when engaging prospective new coworking members. Or, you can use a version of these questions when seeking out the perfect coworking spot for you or your business.
What type of environment do you get the most work accomplished?
Provide in detail what that looks like for you and why?
Can you explain a work environment that you hate and why?
I’m not a rocket scientist (I have fired bottle rockets) but I truly believe if the space curator was more interested in the benefits of the coworking member – a Posse scenario like this could be avoided.
This is not to throw dirt on any one individual but instead to come together as a whole and say – let’s do better.
The story continues as Posse experienced more pop up ads from members in the space interested in their success. They accrued a bit of press which becomes like light to moths. And, the moths came fluttering.
Some would pop over and pitch ideas, others would cozy up in an attempt to use their information for their good.
More pop up ads continued when space sponsors provided swag to space members. The free gifts ranged from pizza to massages but instead of it feeling like a benefit, it once again became a pop up ad to the Posse team.
Another distraction, loss of focus, loss of time and more importantly, loss of energy.
The Posse team finally gave up on coworking after a competitor in the space approached one of their engineers and offered them a more lucrative offer to join them.
This is a sad, sad story for coworking. It breaks my heart to hear of instances like these but we should be forever grateful to the Posse team for sharing them.
They are giving us insights into what not to do and that is sometimes more important than what to do.
I work out of Space&co in Rouse Hill, NSW. It’s a magnificent space with a sister location in Melbourne which is pretty cool as well.
Nice article, plenty of things to think about when entering the co working space. Thanks for the read, we will definitely think about these things for our own co working space in Marrickville!