You can’t cowork by yourself

One of the best parts of my job is meeting new people everyday.

Managing the Beehive Baltimore coworking space has allowed me to keep meeting new people from all over. Sometimes people are visiting other members or just dropping in to check it out. The ETC recently added Amanda Gosling as our Membership Coordinator to our team to help make our new members feel right at home. But what’s coworking and why do people give up their home offices and the coffee shop to join us?
Coworking is basically a large office space with people working on their own stuff in close proximity to other people working on their own stuff. Different companies, backgrounds, work styles, job titles, industries – you name it. It’s all happening in one spot.
The benefit? A community this close in proximity can build. Being able to bump into someone who knows someone or could use your help on a project is a great asset of working at a coworking space. At ETC, our members are great! People buy into the community aspect, and we meet with every member to ensure they will be a good fit with who’s already in the space.
The coworking industry is pretty cool. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting spaces and meeting their owners from all over the world. Being in the coworking biz is even bringing me to Dubai next month. There are conferences all over the globe, and different types of spaces with unique programs or focus areas exist everywhere.
But to bring it back to Baltimore, there has been a steady increase of coworking spaces all over the city since 2009. This year alone, Betamore has joined forces with City Garage to open a second location, Spark Baltimore has added additional private offices, and Johns Hopkins’ FastForward has launched another space in East Baltimore.

Hopkins officials mingle at the opening of FastForward East. 

• Beehive Baltimore (ETC’s coworking program) located in Highlandtown
• Betamore located at City Garage and Light Street in South Baltimore
• Brewers Hill Hub located in Canton
• bwtech@UMBC Cyber Incubator in Catonsville
• Spark Baltimore in Power Plant Live!
• Co_Lab  located in Old Goucher
• The Cube Cowork on York Road
• FastForward located in Remington
• HarborLaunch in the Inner Harbor
• Impact Hub in Station North
• The Startup Nest in Pigtown
• 716 Broadway in Fells Point
• Homebase located in the Inner Harbor

New to the whole coworking thing? You can check out this piece we did on the ETC blog and follow a few tips.

• If it’s your first time in the space, plan to spend 15-20 minutes taking a tour. Factor that into any calls or work you need to get done that day.
• Bring headphones. This can help if there’s a loud talker next to you or if you have a call, so you can be mindful of your own talking volume.
• Introduce yourself to who you’re sitting near! Don’t be afraid to say you’re the new gal checking it out; they might let you know where to find something you need in the space. Also, it’s a coworking space, so they should be open to engaging in a conversation.

Want to check out one (or more) of these spaces? Great news: thanks to Lyft in Baltimore, all of the coworking spaces are listed as locations to get a 50% discount for up to four rides during Baltimore Innovation Week. Use code BIW17.
You can sign up for Coffee and Coworking via our Google form, and someone from the space you will be visiting will get in touch with you with information, like who to ask for when you arrive, where to park and what to do! The basic guidelines are that the spaces are open for you to use from 9am-5pm and it’s free.
While you’re visiting a space, tweet or instagram about your visit and use #BmoreCoffeeCoworking to win a free ticket to the Innovation Celebration on Friday, October 6, 2017.