As a leader in Kansas City entrepreneurship, Think Big Partners likes to be at as many startup events as possible; from Big 5 meetings by the Kauffman Foundation, to Social Media Club of Kansas City breakfasts, from Entrepreneurs Unpluggd's first KC event to local startup launch parties. We love being active in Kansas City, and we couldn't be busier attending all of these entrepreneurial events in the area.
But this year, we're doing things a little different. We decided to broaden our horizons and make our way down to Austin, Texas as a sponsor for the 2012 Global Coworking Unconference Conference.
Four years ago, Anna Thomas of Loosecubes noticed that Austin needed a coworking conference. When entrepreneurs and freelancers began flocking to coworking MeetUps, the idea was confirmed. This year, Liz Elam, producer of GCUC, is planning an all-day event that will give coworking community
members an opportunity to engage with one another, share purpose and passion
and refresh energy in the process. GCUC
will host two tracks at once: an “unconference” track with peer-to-peer
breakouts for seasoned coworking space owners and a more structured conference
track for new coworking space owners.
"Coworking is on the cusp of becoming an actual trend," says Liz of the phenomenon. "Just look at the growth rate of coworking in Deskmag--it's unprecedented! We cannot build enough coworking spaces to keep up with the demand."
According to Liz, attendees of GCUC will leave the conference with three main things: inspiration, connections and knowledge that they are not alone.
"Entrepreneurs need a community, and coworking spaces provide that," she says. "You can go to as many networking events as you want, but coworking spaces are where you'll find a support system. It's crucial for entrepreneurs. They need someone to believe in them."
Our own meeting planner and manager of bizperc, Sarah Snyder, will be attending GCUC on March 8th and is looking forward to the networking and the potential of bringing her new coworking knowledge to Kansas City.
“We were trying to find a way to connect with coworking
spaces from across the country and stumbled upon GCUC,” said Sarah Snyder,
meeting planner for Think Big Partners and manager of the bizperc coworking
space. “This was the perfect event for
us to attend. Sponsorship was just
another way to support the great things they’re doing.”
According to Deskmag, a coworking magazine, the coworking
movement has roughly doubled in size each year since 2006. This means that GCUC is expecting a packed
house at the AT&T Conference Center in the heart of Austin, Texas. The all-day conference aims to build upon the
visions of each community and provide one-of-a-kind opportunities for coworking
peers from around the globe.
“I look forward to meeting other coworking space managers,
sharing best practices and bringing a fresh perspective of the industry back to
Kansas City,” said Snyder.
To purchase your GCUC ticket or to learn more about the event, be sure to visit http://www.austingcuc.com/.
Follow GCUC! @AustinGCUC #GCUC
Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig
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