Daily Co by Cat Johnson
In my own investigations of "what is coworking?" (which was summed up here: [2]), I found Sensei Cat Johnson is one of the people with her head screwed on right.
In my book asked, "What is coworking?"
In three words, my answer is: "community, community, community".
So says Cat Johnson, and so say I.
Over the years, Johnson has been deeply concerned with how to create and sustain a coworkiing community. As she puts it,
"Remember, you're not renting offices, desks and wifi.
You're giving people a place to belong…" ([1], p. 21)
In recent years, Johnson has had a lot so say about "branding", "purpose", community leadership and the future of coworking. Some of this material isn't deeply interesting to me (because I don't run, lead, or even go to a coworking space). But I pay close attention to Sensei Cat anyway, because I learn stuff.
Sensei Cat does a lot of communicating all the time, but I was surprised to see that 'Daily Co' is her first book. As a long time fan, I had little option but to pick up a copy as soon as I could.
As the book cover makes clear, this is a book of days: a collection of 366 snips of wisdom about leading a coworking community.
What you will find here are words to inspire and provoke thought, aimed mostly at "community builders everywhere" (per back cover of [1])
If you need this book, you'll know it.
I'm reading it as designed, one day at a time. I haven't had my copy for a whole year, so it will be a while before I finish it. : - )
To be honest, I think this material would be more effective as a 'thought of the day' email subscription or something like that. Get one of these bits in your inbox first thing every day. Something like that.
But I'm glad to have this collection now, whether I actually need it or not.
My advice is to buy it. Read it. And follow Sensei Cat, to learn important things.
- Cat Johnson, Daily Co: 366 Days of Coworking & Community, Boulder, Cat Johnson Co, 2024. https://catjohnson.co/dailyco/
- Robert E. McGrath, What is Coworking? A look at the multifaceted places where the gig economy happens and workers are happy to find community. 2018, Robert E. McGrath: Urbana. https://books.google.com/books/about/What_Is_Coworking.html?id=S74wtwEACAAJ
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