Welcome Speech and briefing of the conference

Jean-Yves Huwart, Coworking Europe

Keynote – Vienna is ranked as the city with the highest quality of living worldwide. How are developments like coworking offerings and soft mobilty solutions contributing? How can Vienna move further into this direction?

• Garbiele Tatzberger, Start-Up Services Director at the Vienna Business Agency

Collective talk with some of the representative of the Austrian and Viennese coworking scene.

• Anita Komarek, Hotel Schani (Vienna)
• Sandra Hemzova , Coworking Campus (Bratislava)

Keynote – The Global Coworking Survey is the world most comprehensive study on coworking. The latest outcome will be presented in Vienna.

Carsten Foertsch, Deskmag (Berlin)

Keynote – Latest international data and trends

James Rankin, The Instant Group (London)

Keynote – What corporates and SME’s are planning now and how operators should prepare for the increased demand for flex office solutions in the post-pandemic era.

• Thomas Schultz, AllOfficeCenters

The pandemic has frozen the activity of many flexible workspaces during months. As the vaccination campaign rolled out across Europe, was is the situation by the end of 2021. Are people back at full capacity? Most importantly, what are the changes flex operators are noticing in the demand from the tenants? Has the profile of the leads changes? Are new industries and new kind of organizations interested in the service that one didn’t see before? From those observations, what could be the next steps, role and innovation for the coworking offering in the near future?

• Lisa May, WeWork
• Raphael Jochmann, Talent Garden
• Alisa Kapic, IWG

Take a break and network!

To what extent are flexible and remote workplace options becoming important for recruitment and talent retention? How will the new flexible work have impact on the relationship between employer/employee & leadership also with a new focus on the whole employee journey (from brand building, recruitment, onboarding, learning & develop, happy exit, alumni & coming back?). The Covid-19 transformed the working model of modern societies. Forced or chosen home working changed companies’ cultures and and methods. Where will the commute-less society influences the coworking industry the most? Is there a room for third options between the home office and the company headquarter ? Are employers ready to pay for this new demand? A discussion with HR professional and Recruiters to get the pulse of the reflection as it is now in modern companies.

• Gitte Andersen, ISS Group (Copenhaguen)

The traditional office floor leasing model on which major Property companies have build their strength might not be dead. However, some of the most important Corporate Real Estate providers have chosen to develop their own flex workspace offering and office hospitality brands. Can any Office Building operator in the 21st century still propose workspace solutions to employers with some element of coworking and flexible service? A discussion with some of the most important Property owners and real estate professionals in Europe.

• Emma Swinnerton, Head of Flexible Workspace EMEA at Cushman & Wakefield
• Katrin Gögele-Celeda, country operations manager Immofinanz MyHive/Immofinnanz
• Alexander Rafajlovic, Head of Market Research at CA Immobilien
• Filip Valusiak, HB Reavis/HubHub

Eat something & network!

Panel – Discussion with the best providers of technologies to automate and optimizes the processes within coworking spaces operations. What are the new features and the new capabilities ? Review of the latest developments and promises.

• Adrian Palacios, Nexudus
• Robert Piporan, eZeep
• Andrew Debenham, essensys

The flexible workspace market is still growing apace, but it’s not just flexspace and co-working operators that are fuelling supply. Landlords and commercial property investment groups are also investing in flexspace brands, side-stepping partnerships with existing operators to take a DIY approach.

• Zoe Ellis-Moore, founder Spaces to Places

Panel – How to make everybody feel comfortable in your coworking community and create sense o belonging, regardless of gender, age or origin ? Inclusivity can become a revenue generator, through some tricks, spirit and communication items.

• Ashley Proctor, Creative Blueprint (Toronto, CA)
• Hector Kolonas, Syncaroo
• Shazia Mustafa, Third Door
• Cecilia Tham, Futurity Studio
• Carmen Lecuane, Nexudus

Panel – While VC and private equity money has been fueling the growth of some coworking operators in the North America, the UK or Asia, the last years, financial investors are still shy to fund the flex workspace industry on continental Europe. Why and how to fix it?

• Thom Wernke, founder StartDock (Amsterdam)
• Alexander Stampfer, Bellorophone Private Equite/Andy’s (Vienna)

Talk – During the first 4 years of existence in Aticco we focused on upgrading our coworker’s experience and opening new centers, we knew we wanted to become more than just.a traditional flexible workspace operator but it wasn’t until the pandemic hit us that we decided to really go into a transformation and become an Innovation Ecosystem and open new ventures such as a coliving division (Aticco Living) an accelerator and open innovation (AticcoLab) and the opening of Hubs of vertical communities.

• Frank Paredes, co-founder Aticco (Barcelona)

Take a break & network!

Panel – Bigger players, international operators, new providers profiles coming from other industries are entering the coworking playground. Have independent operators, active locally for some years, have an advantage? As the coworking demand is growing, is the tide rising all ships, bog or small? Or are there specific strategies and approaches to be put in place in order to create specificities? Is the futue for independent spaces local boutique offering and an even stronger effort to build community identities? Or can independent operators be as ambitious and anyone, locally or nationally?

• Gamedy Mbaye, Vibration Workshare (Fribourg, CH)
• Manuel Zea, Coworking Spain (Madrid)
• Stefan Yazzie Herbert, House of Bandits (Vienna)
• Claire Carpenter, The Melting Pot (Edinburgh)
• moderated by Candela Fonte (HappyWorkingLab)

Keynote + Panel – New models are on the rise to lower the financial burden of risk lease contracts going to a partnership model with the landlords.
​What are the differences between “Profit Sharing”, “Revenues sharing”, “Managed Services” contract and other partnership minded deals operators can strike with landlords?
​How to enter into a fruitful conversation and figure out how ready spirits are?
​How model out the right revenue streams ?
​Discussion with the best experts and practitioners.

• Casey Goodwin, president Flexspace Advisors
• Elisabeth Jenauth, Head of Expansion at Andy’s
• Ashok Balabhaskarane, Chief Development Office at Wojo

Unconference explanation and presentation by Ben Tannebaum, from CoworkIntel.

This year, the experience will be fully online. Virtual delegates will join the virtual room. Physical delegate will be able to join as well from a dedicated room within the venue.

After having submitted topic suggestions the days before, the list will be curated together.

Panel – Community has long be said to be at the core of the coworking experience. Feeling part of a community come though through weak or strong links. Create the right atmosphere to sparks human contract is more an art than a science. What are the tricks and tips ? How to develop the right storyline to which members feel connected ? How to install a feeling of being surrounded with peers with whom it’s good to have fun and/or fruitful business conversations ?

• Zsofi Toth, Puzl Coworking (Budapest)
• Alessandro Braga (Talent Garden)
• Michala Hrnčiarová (Coworking Cvernovka)
• Vika Zhurbas (Co/Co Ukraine Coworking Association)
• moderated by Caterina Maiolini (Salto)

Talk –

New models allow to coworking operators to partner up with landlords and avoid to support alone the full financial risk of opening a coworking location. Franchise, Managed Services, Shared Profit,… An overview of the different options with JLL, followed by a conversation with IWG.

Unconference conversation led by Ben Tannebaum.

(pre-curated session).

With the support of CoworkIntell.

Virtual

Panel – Coworking Bansko believes that opening doors is only the most obvious use case for smartlocks and self-managed access systems. But there are many other processes that can be improved through integration with the access control system. Matthias will highlight some of these use cases and share his insights from his own operations. A lively panel discussion with experts from ISEO and Salto Systems will explore other advanced use cases in more detail.

• Matthias Zeitler, Bansko Coworking (BG)
• Christian Schmitz, Salto Systems (ES)
• Alessandro Nacci, ISEO (IT)

Panel -Tele-Working, Home Working, Nomad Working, Home-Working… The geography of working has dramatically change in the last few years, and especially in the last months.
How do you see the rise of the market for international remote work? Is it marginal or really a model of the 21st century, where holiday, culture and work merge… What percentage of home working can become remote work, and why do they need coworking spaces ? Is it just an opportunity for Southern countries or any city and region in Europe should develop a plan to appeal to remote workers ? According to which criteria? Can the back office be the same, between living services and cowokring ? Can the model fit any age, any family situation ? What are the limits ?

• Patricia Zück, Zoku Hotel
• Justina Kilinksi, Unicorn Workspaces (Portugal)
• Lenaic Bezin, Wojo
• moderated by Candela Fonte (HappyWorkingLab)

Unconference Topic & Format

With the support of CoworkIntel.

Virtual

Take a break & network!

Talk – Companies are rapidly embracing hybrid working models and reconsidering the office capacities they need. A growing number of them are turning to flex workspace operator to propose flexible solutions letting them optimize the management of square meters while proposing more activity based workplace solutions and comfort.

• Konrad Szaruga, CBRE
• Nir Kelner, Adgar/Brain Embassy

Talk – Hubert Abt is the CEO of New Work, a Budapest based network of flex workspaces spread in Central Eastern Europe. Synergies and efforts mutualization is key to optimize the service and economics of the coworking space. The talk will go between the different faced challenges and explore the opportunities to build back office collaboration between operators.

• Hubert Abt, CEO New Work (Budapest)

Unconference Topic & Format

With the support of CoworkIntel.

Virtual

Eat something & network!

Panel – According to cities and forecasts, 10 to 15% of traditional office buildings could remain vacant due to the rise of home and remote working. As environmental concerns grow, older infrastructures, in particular, could not ever find occupiers again. The opportunity for mixed projects, integrating co-living, student housing, retail, hospitality and coworking to be developed. How strong is this move going to be? Can coworking find a additional area of implementation and what could be the business model or market segment for it?

• Bonard (Intelligence and Avisory)

Panel – With the lockdown and the forced homeworking, workers figured out the value of working in the countryside. The geography is challenging, though. Smaller towns, villages allow less economies of scale. How to put in place the right positioning and address a more distributed workforce ? How different is the community and hospitality approach ? Is there a business case to connect those spaces ? How to fulfill the need for quality standards when the investment per square meter can’t necessarily match what one sees in city centers and big modern buildings ? How to address branding in the countryside and does it matter as much ? What can be the killing value proposition of third places, between the home office and the head office, either from the employer or from the employees perspective? How to communicate about it? Shall coworking in the countryside be presented as a mobility tool and be integrated in the mobility packages offered by companies ? Is it happening, and, if not, why ? What is missing ? Shall the pricing change according to the local people density ?

• Gregory von Abendroth (1000 Satellites Coworking)
• Ricki Dorman (LiquidSpace)
• Suzanne Murdock (Hub Newry)
• moderated by Candela Fonte (Happy Working Lab)

Unconference Topic & Format

With the support of CoworkIntell.

Virtual

Talk – Supported by MyHive (TBC)

Talk – Founded in 2010, LiquidSpace has raised over $ 26 millions in total over the last decade from investors such as Reid Hoffman, Linkedin’s founder, CBRE or Steelcase. It’s one of the most imporant meeting room and worskpace platform in the US. The San Francisco based company is now jumping over the Atlantic to build up further a presence on the European territory. Mark Gilbreath will provide with an overview of the flexible workplaces industry in the US and tell about the similarities and prospect he sees in Europe based on their analysis and observation.

• Mark Gilbreath, founder LiquidSpace

Unconference Topic & Format

With the support of CoworkIntel.

Virtual

Take a break & network!

Short presentation of the findings