As I leave them to unpack, I’m greeted by one of our members who excitedly announces she’ll be hosting a lunchtime tasting for our members in the lounge that day. A few times a month her company arranges catering for DC-area businesses, but before they decide to promote a caterer they have our members test out the products and give them feedback and approval. Free food? Yes, please! What more could we ask for?
Building management comes down to look over building plans for our second floor. “March will be here so soon!” I think, with visions of game rooms and spiral staircases and extra conference space dancing in my head. Excited by the conversation, I take a little aside to research artwork, signage and You walk in and it just feels productive.
other space enhancements while I wait for a prospective member to show up for their tour.
A few other people stop by my office while I wait. They ask for help with printer problems, how to book a conference room, how to connect to the Internet. Then my showing arrives. As we walk around, I point out our Banksy art and purposely stripped, exposed, unfinished concrete floors and open, exposed ceilings. I tell them about how we hand deliver mail, offer unlimited coffee, and host monthly community events for our members to get to know each other. They’re pumped about our lounge, and I have them try out the couches while they look through what super Nintendo games we have in stock.
After the tour, a group who’s trying to host a meetup in our space comes through. They take pictures and look around, and we talk through their event details and publicity. When we’re done, a couple members ask what the tour was for, and we chat about ideas for how to make the event better.