So now, in addition to coworking and community building, there’s another thing that you have in common with me and the thousands of people who get my emails.

COVID19 is wreaking havoc on lives around the globe.

Even if you and I are fortunate enough to avoid catching this virus, in a super weird and kinda fucked up way, this global outbreak of this deadly and destructive virus shows how connected we all really are.

But I’m not here to wax poetic. I’m here because coworking spaces NEED to close in order to slow the spread or, as “flatten the curve” as they’re saying.

At the same time, I know that many people are concerned about losing members, losing revenue, going deep into debt, or never being able to re-open.

These fears are real. I don’t want to dismiss them.

But as one of my teammates said this week: “Lives can be rebuilt, but only if we save them first.”

Indy Hall has been closed since Monday of this week and moved 100% of our attention to supporting our community online. I’m aggressively urging every coworking space and flex space operator to take similar actions immediately.

We’re not doing this flippantly and I don’t expect you to either. Your execution needs to be strategic and carefully communicated. With the wrong frame of mind, you probably will go out of business.

But with the right strategy and mindset, you and I both stand a fair chance of opening our coworking spaces again in the future, and having enough members still alive to come back.

I’d even be willing to bet that it makes your community stronger along the way.

So…how did we do it?

Well, I don’t have all of the answers, but we have figured out a LOT in the last week since closing our doors, and I want to share what we’ve learned so you can use it.

In the next couple of days I’m going to host a live video event where I share:

• How we communicated the closure to our members, staff, and the public
• How we’re handling logistics (things like mail, members picking up their belongings to work from home)
• How we’ve started using online tools to facilitate coworking (yes, real coworking!), educational and social events, and more.
• How we’ve retained nearly 100% of our members, and even continued to sing up new ones.

Since timing is of the essence but I’m also very stretched for time, I haven’t figured out exactly when I can host this event. But it will likely be Sunday or Monday.

My request for you is three fold:

1. Plan to close your coworking space in the next few days, if you have not already.
2. RSVP for the event I described above:
   👉 https://page.dangerouslyawesome.com/covidclose​
3. Reach out to every coworking space in your region and invite them to the event. It’s 100% free (I can’t imagine charging for something like this) and all are welcome: founders, staff, and memebrs.

Every day is a bit like a moving target right now, so I will try to pin down these details ASAP. Either way, the event will be recorded and shared with everyone via the RSVP system.

😬

That emoji is how I feel right now. How do you feel? Hit me up on twitter