The Network

Effect of

CoWorking

by STEVE PALMER of Rock Candy, located at Pod 2

The most common description I hear from people trying to explain what coworking is to someone is “it is a place to rent a desk.”

Look, I get it, it can be a little tricky to explain this kind of community supported, shared workspace concept to someone. Most of us have always worked “at work”, maybe at home once in a while, but never voluntarily paid to work among strangers sitting elbow to elbow, in an open concept environment. But to be clear, it is not just a place to rent a desk.

The differentiator here is the network effect of community.

Take your local coffee shop where individuals gather, drink great coffee while working on their laptops, maybe meet a client or friend, then eventually pack up and head home.

Nothing wrong with this at all. However, this is the equivalent of renting a table (buying coffee), working heads-down minding your business, and then calling it a day.

Ever hear the saying “a rising tide lifts all boats?” Coworking is this, the network effect of community; it’s what makes you choose to leave the isolation of your home office!

Taking this a bit further, we need to understand what the network effect is. Essentially, this is the positive effect that an additional user of a good or service has on the value of that product to others (someone from Harvard said this according to Wikipedia, which you are never supposed to cite as a source, but I digress).

In a coworking community - or any community driven model - the members or participants, in numbers and contribution, increases the value of the community. For Rock Candy, each new member increase the network effect of the coworking community.

The network effect doesn’t happen on its own, however. Coworking is “community driven” and depends on members to contribute in a variety of ways. Sharing expertise, service bartering, collaboration in business, taking out the trash, member happy hours, movie nights, social impact activities, running the dishwasher, and more.

Everyone elevates the value by being active members in the community. Naturally, members rely on their new colleagues for services or referrals, businesses thrive through the relationships that have developed and, quite honestly, it can be life changing.

One would be hard-pressed to find a member who has not seen their business grow since becoming a member at Rock Candy.

The network effect doesn’t stop here though.

Community is all around us at Pod 2. It’s like a 250,000 square foot coworking space! Companies work together, plan events together, play ping pong together, rock and roll together, and ultimately increase the overall value of our Rock Lititz Community!

For all of these reasons and more, coworking as a concept is a true innovation for adding value to towns, cities, and the overall business community. It isn’t the first model to leverage the network effect, but it just might be the best!

Learn more at: www.candyissweet.com/building-community-resources-rock-lititz-introducing-rock-candy-coworking-lititz-pa-candy-factory-project/