The concept of coworking spaces, though less known in rural areas, is growing in popularity as professionals working from home, wireless cafes, and locations on the road look for like-minded business people to collaborate and network with. Currently the only coworking space on Maryland’s Eastern Shore called hotDesks is located in Salisbury. However, the results of an upcoming meetup may determine if a new hotDesks opens its doors in downtown Easton.
The meetup will take place on Thursday, April 17 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at 5 Goldsborough Street, one of the storefronts that make up the former Red Hen Coffeehouse and Café. The storefront is being considered as a possible hotDesks location. The meetup will be hosted by the Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center (ESEC), the non-profit organization that opened the Salisbury co-working space. The event is free. Light refreshments will be available.
A coworking space is a physical, “wired” location where individuals with workspace flexibility collaborate, and often, develop new business ideas. According to Deskmag, the leading authority on coworking, 100,000 people are members of 2,490 coworking spaces around the world in 81 different countries. Of those 853 coworking spaces are located in the United States.
“In my work at ESEC it became obvious that entrepreneurs are working in all kinds of industries. Some work on their own out of their homes, some work in storefronts in our downtowns, and others in our business parks and commercial districts,” says Mike Thielke, executive director at ESEC. “For the most part they are working diligently in their chosen field, but are working very much under the radar and in many cases in isolation. Through ESEC I have been building an ecosystem to help support and advocate for them. Coworking spaces are just one part of that work,” he says.
The key characteristics of coworking spaces that differentiates them from more familiar business models like incubators is that it is all about community and collaboration. “Yes there are amenities in coworking spaces like wifi and video conferencing capabilities, but the real purpose is provide a community for entrepreneurs, creatives, freelancers, and others who are currently working in isolation,” he adds.
To RSVP for the meetup, search online “Easton TechConnect” and click on “join us.” For more information, call the ESEC at (410) 770-9330, [email protected] or connect at twitter.com/hotDesksMD.
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