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Carlos Almansa Community Wednesday, May 27, 2015

#Coworking nom noms!

#Coworking nom noms!

Photo source: Todd Quackenbush

Food brings people together. When there's delicious grub on the table, it doesn't really matter if the diners didn't know each other before, if they come from different cultures or speak different languages. The food always ends up doing the talking. Eating doesn't only satisfy a physiological need, it's also a social and cultural phenomenon. In coworking spaces, "collisions" between coworkers happen on a daily basis and food can often be a means or an excuse for such. Examples are biscuits baked by a coworker, a birthday cake, sweets brought back from a trip. They're all excuses for bringing people to share something together, strengthening community links and generating interaction.

Photo source: Twitter @nexudus @ramonsuarez

Many coworking spaces include gastronomy-related events on their calendar, which add a touch of flavour to their day to day goings-on. A coworking space's day-to-day could be broken down by its eating times:

 

  • Good morning! A good coffee is the perfect way to start the day with energy and enthusiasm. What's more, if you are also being introduced to a new member of the community, watching the presentation for a new product being developed in the space or using it as an excuse to have a chat with the coworker that sits in front of you, all the better. Coworking spaces often offer tea, coffee, croissants, etc., for free, and as coworkers, we are grateful for it! This type of experience can be found at Impact Hub Seattle's "Coffee Collider", Kicks on 66's HUMP day coffee & Learn or "coSféric" breakfasts at coSfera.
  • Lunch time: Without needing a nudge or booking a slot on Google Calendar, many coworkers congregate around the table to eat lunch. Some coworking spaces make it a regular event, like Goworking's pizza Wednesdays. Others, like Betacowork, are especially involved when it comes to getting their coworkers to meet around the dinner table.
  • Tea break: Any time's a good time to take a well-deserved rest during an intense working day in a coworking office. You can enjoy a tea or coffee while catching up with other coworkers. In places like The Working Capitol, this moment can be the perfect excuse for discovering new flavours. 
  • Happy hour: At many coworking spaces, events often take place out of office hours. Event formats such as Hack&Beers, Ecomm&Beers, Betabeers, etc. often attract people from outside the community. Spaces like WeWork boast to have served 90,000 glasses of beer last month, helping people "socialise". Remember kids, cowork till your heart's content, but drink in moderation ;)
 
Food can be a great way to ignite the “spark” to create these collisions between members of the community. Getting coworkers involved by asking them to prepare and share food is also another fun activity. For spaces like Mess Hall, which supports culinary entrepreneurs, it is probably a lot easier for them to introduce food into the community's day-to-day, but who knows... the cobbler's children always go unshod! ;)

 

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