Hey there,
Georgi from Cobot here!
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A big part of Toolbox's success is their incredible community and a big part of their incredible community are their events.
Let's not waste any time and hear what Stefania has to tell us about organizing successful events, because it's a lot!
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"A thriving coworking environment is not created using a fixed format or calculated using data and numbers. You cannot simply find the winning formula in an Excel sheet and keep using it.
Coworking is about humans and to build a great community you need to be able to speak to people, hear them and understand them. That's why coworking spaces and events must remain flexible, adapting to evolving needs and creating an environment that fosters both inspiration and professional growth."
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Let's dive deeper into what Stefania told me:
The format kills the event
"Our philosophy at Toolbox is simple…," Stefania says, “don't repeat events and come up with something special and new every time” (with a small exception we will mention later).
This way you keep your community engaged. Variety creates excitement.
Another bonus of never repeating events is that your staff will also be more engaged and give 110% when coming up with ideas, planning, and executing the parties!
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A recent event Toolbox event, featuring local musicians.
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TIP: How do you lift the mood of a party if it's not going great?
"You can't magically lift everyone's mood, especially at big events. If things are going slow, the worst thing you can do is become a clown who tries to entertain everyone.
Feel the mood, maybe try playing different music or introducing the highlight of the event a bit sooner and even ending earlier."
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Do-it-yourself culture
Another secret that makes Toolbox's events great is their culture of involving the participants. It's a very simple and actionable ideology:
Instead of hiring a catering firm to serve the food, why not let the participants do it themselves? You don't need a barman to mix the cocktails for everyone - create the right environment, give them the right tools and people will do it themselves!
Not only does this make the event more resourceful and engaging, by involving the members you also create the communal environment that makes coworking spaces amazing. The participants feel more like they are in a group of friends that are organizing a party together, rather than attending an event from their office.
“People don't come to our coworking space only because they need a desk. People come because they want to be part of a community and contribute to it. Being part of Toolbox makes people proud, because they mostly create the environment themselves, and a big part of that is our events", says Stefania.
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People pouring beer and making hotdogs themselves at one of Toolbox's events.
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TIP: How to evaluate what works and what doesn't?
Stefania says don't use data. You can count the people and maybe write down how much of the food and drinks were eaten during the event in order to prepare better for the next one, but you can't track the success of a gathering with numbers and graphs. You have to be part of the crowd, speak with the people and feel their mood. This is how you evaluate if your event was successful or not.
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Mix it up: The Toolbox Pitch
The events at Toolbox historically tend to be more informal in order to break out of the working environment and help people socialize. The big exception here is “The Toolbox Pitch”
The Toolbox Pitch is a quarterly event, which introduces 15-20 members from the coworking space. They each present their companies, projects or ideas they are working on in front of the entire community, usually followed by a coffee break for networking.
This event works in multiple dimensions:
• The presenters get valuable experience by talking on stage, and receiving questions. They also often get approached by other members with new thoughts or collaboration ideas.
• The audience not only hears exciting entrepreneurial journeys and opportunities to collaborate, they also understand what incredible projects are being worked on around them, in the same coworking space that they are part of.
The Toolbox members feel proud and excited to be part of this community. Hey, that's what coworking is all about!!
Stefania told me that this is the only event that is being repeated at Toolbox. The variety here comes from the different presenters and their stories. Each event is completely different from the last because the format is not the main part of the event, the people are.
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A shot from a recent Toolbox Pitch event
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Extra knowledge
⚡️ Blitz Q&A with Stefania
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How often do you make events?
“We've found that once per month is the silver lining between having something to look forward to and not overwhelming the audience.”
How do you introduce new members at events?
“If I see that someone is lonely at an event I take them with me and try to introduce them to a group. Afterwards I silently disappear, because I am working and have things to do. 😄"
How do you adapt to unexpected situations?
“Unexpected situations almost never happen at our events. We put a lot of effort in preparing and organizing the most important parts of our events, so we ensure nothing is missing or goes wrong in the last minute. If something does, our community trusts us, and knows that we've done everything we can.”
How long in advance do you plan for the event?
“Usually a week is enough, unless we are inviting external performers or artists."
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That's it for this week! The biggest thanks to Stefania for the time she took and the insights she gave us!
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The topic for next week is:
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Reply to this email if you have any questions, disagree with something I said or have a suggestion for a collaboration/future topic. I'm always happy to stay in touch!
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Harzer Str. 39
Berlin, 12059, Germany
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