Jennifer was one of our awesome volunteers for the GCUCALL conference in May. She helped out tremendously and not only got to experience GCUC for the first time as an attendee but worked behind the scenes as well. We are so grateful to have had her on board. Check out her experience below!
GCUC:
It was kind of crazy….I found myself in Downtown Los Angeles for my first ever coworking conference, a night of delayed flights, slow Uber drivers and finally I had made it (bright and early) to the doors of GCUC. Feeling a little rushed and flustered I hear my name “Jen?” and in front of me stood one of my old members from Denver! (I manage the coworking space Thrive in Denver, CO). Not just any member but one who happened to be from close to my home town in upstate NY. That moment I knew this week, this conference was going to be different. I immediately relaxed into the feeling that this was going to be a week of friends (one old) and a bunch new. I was right!
I found myself at GCUC after reaching to Liz and Stormy asking if there was any way I could help out. My background being in events has lead me to always loving seeing the “behind the scenes”. I met Stormy, got my shirt and was whisked backstage to be the right hand (wo)man to Liz. Upon meeting everyone involved in the creation and implementation of GCUC I was impressed. Their passion, drive and love for coworking was so apparent and I felt ready to be a part of this team. They welcomed me in and I realized I was part of the team! The next two days went by quickly….speakers, mingling, information, new thoughts I had never had for my space kept popping up, more mingling and new friends to be had everywhere.
I manage the space in Denver alone and sometimes get lost in the day to day. Trying to keep everything running smoothly, members happy, events fun…It was so wonderful to be around people who got me, got my struggle, understood the joys and hardships and most importantly, had advice to give. They opened my eyes to new ideas, better ways of working and much more. All while I had a blast! The conference was so informative for me and meeting so many people passionate and committed to the coworking movement energized me. I found myself so pumped to get back to Denver to implement what I learned.
My experience helping Liz was a whole other wonderful element to the conference. Kind, caring, impassioned with an earnest kindness towards others is how I would describe her. My time helping her was fun and enhanced my experience getting to watch her interact with so many close friends and learn more about how she has built her co-working empire. To see the friendships that she has built over her years coworking was truly a joy to see, and isn’t human collaboration really what this is all about?
My first experience at GCUC was full of juicy magic. I have already made a number of changes to my space, how we work, what we are doing for the members and I am refocused on what is really important. If you are reading this and have never been to GCUC-GO! Just do it, make it happen, it really changed my perspective on coworking, what it means, what it is and where it is going…I loved it! Every minute of gcuc magic….
Jennifer Anderson