I had the wonderful opportunity of being selected by the City of Glen Eira, my local council, to trial out a pop-up co-working space that they hosted at their premises in Caulfield.

A small group of 8 local consultants and business owners were invited to be part of this Connection Economy Pilot.  The council is currently researching and exploring what the community may look like 50 years from now as part of their ‘City Futures‘ program.

As a resident, someone who works from home, one of the greatest challenges I’ve had was that I felt disconnected from my local community after years of corporate work and commutes to the city.  I’ve written many posts in the past about my experience of co-working and the need for corporate workers (many of whom now work from home) have an opportunity to build networks into their local community and build networks that may help them support their own development or even be beneficial for their own work.

You never know who you may meet close to home that would help you solve that pesky problem you were having, connect you to a great contact to tap you into a new market or even find a client or customer for your business product and service.

The pilot program allows me to reconnect with others like me who are building their own business or consulting practices as well as get support and guidance from them on how I could best improve my own practices.

The council provided a wonderful light-filled and airy room with access to all amenities, tea and coffee making facilities as well as the wi-fi.

They also opened the opportunity for us all to meet with local councillors and staff to learn more about their work and the role of the council.

The council will be drawing upon our own experience of co-working and sharing our stories to their Connection Economy event on Monday night and I’m looking forward to meeting other people like me in the local area!