Recap of #ZukunftCoworking2024: Key Insights and Highlights
Cobot | Coworking Software
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Yesterday (30.10.2024), the Bundesverband Coworking Spaces Deutschland e. V. held its annual #zukunftcoworking conference in KOMED, Cologne. As usual, Cobot was a proud sponsor and participant of Germany’s largest coworking event.
During the day, we connected with more than 200 coworking professionals, discussed the future, and explored potential new partnerships in coworking! Here’s a quick recap of what happened:
Meeting the Cobot Community
We were thrilled to see a strong presence of Cobot customers, both among the speakers and attendees. We met old friends and long-term colleagues and discussed future partnerships with new spaces. Some of the most exciting topics were potential integrations with our existing product and collaborations with franchising spaces (more on that in a bit).
Laura Tump (Head of Support @ Cobot) participated in a panel discussion featuring Christian Schmitz from Salto and Florian Kappes from technologywithin to discuss the role of?digital tools, automation, and digitalization in coworking.
Digital tools enhance, rather than replace, the human-centered approach to community building
This was the main takeaway from the discussion. You can learn more about it in our in-depth blog article about the event.
Coworking Continues to Innovate
The day began with?Tobias?Kollewe?addressing the challenges coworking spaces face. Despite the closure of over 200 spaces last year, more and more innovative and resilient spaces are opening up, each with their own unique model and space identity.
Highlights included talks by?Dr. Maximilian Kutzner?from?(Co-Karl Fulda,?Cobot customer) who transformed an old Kaufhaus into a coworking space, and?Priscilla-Georgia Matei?from?Tink Tank Spaces, sharing the value of community-building and her engagement with her customers. The growth of rural coworking and small-town spaces also took the spotlight (Ellen Kimmel?and?Christa Hünting).
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Franchising in Coworking
The afternoon was focused on discussing franchising – a distribution form that becomes increasingly relevant in the coworking sector, as spaces merge and the market consolidates.
Alexander Mehnert?(vice-president of the Bundesverband coworking) gave a very in-depth and helpful overview of what franchising is, while the following panel discussion (by Katja Pfennig, Alexander Mehnert, Claire Meyerratken and Bernd Rützel) expanded on how franchising can be a chance for coworking spaces to scale while reducing risks and bundling resources and knowledge, similar to other industries.
“Franchising is an opportunity to minimize the entrepreneurial risk for new founders” -?Katja Pfennig, IWG Head of Partner Performance
German Coworking Award
One of the most important messages from the event was: “To support the longevity and prosperity of the coworking sector, we need to be more united and louder than ever.” As part of this commitment, BVCS announced the?German Coworking Award?to recognize the most innovative coworking spaces in Germany.
We’re excited to share that our own?Kristina Schneider will serve as a jury member for this award, with winners announced in Cobot's founding city of Berlin on May 15, 2025.?
Curious to learn more about what happened at #zukunftcoworking2024? Dive into our in-depth blog article about the event!
Bonus: It's time for another round of the Coworking Trends Survey by Deskmag & Coworking Europe.
Click here to participate! The questionnaire takes around 7 minutes to complete, and the results will be published for free on Deskmag.