In our 2016 conversation, Wendy Spreenberg answered what someone should understand before starting a coworking space. She talked about a passion for community, a hospitality mindset, and a wider set of operating responsibilities. Then she drew the line clearly: “it's not a hobby but a true business.”
The desk was part of the offer. The operator's daily work determined what happened around it.
Community is an operating role
Wendy Spreenberg described the operator as a community leader beyond the workspace's four walls. She included nearby businesses in that responsibility because members also moved through and depended on the surrounding neighborhood.
Those relationships could work in both directions. A local business might provide something useful to members, while the workspace could introduce members to that business and bring attention back to the neighborhood.
Services should answer a member need
Wendy Spreenberg said reliable internet, a place to work, and basic hospitality supported the main workday. She connected retention with additional services and events, but she did not recommend adding them from a standard perk list.
The member's interests were supposed to inform the choice. Wendy said operators should keep asking what was missing from the member's current experience. Wendy added, “it isn't always about beer and ping pong.”
Choose one service or event the workspace currently offers. Ask members which part of their workday it helps and what they would miss if it disappeared. Let that answer guide whether to keep, change, or remove it.
A personal introduction can do work an email cannot
Wendy Spreenberg preferred a live, face-to-face introduction over relying only on a welcome email. She described the community leader walking a new member to someone else and explaining the connection.
That was a small but specific operating practice. Technology could announce that someone had joined. The operator supplied the judgment about who might benefit from meeting and the care required to make the introduction feel personal.
The business is the environment people experience each day
Wendy Spreenberg's 2016 examples included coffee, charging, events, neighborhood partners, and other daily services. None of those items defined community by itself.
Community leadership showed up in the choices around them: learning what members needed, deciding which relationship could help, and making introductions that might not happen on their own. The workspace became more than a seat when someone accepted responsibility for that work.
