GCUC Chicago 2023 Recap
From insightful panel discussions to engaging workshops, this year’s GCUC Chicago was chock-full of valuable information and new ideas on all things flex spaces. We were fortunate enough to attend and, we must say, it was an incredibly enriching experience.
- By Rose Rivera
- April 26, 2023
As always, GCUC was packed with incredibly useful and inspiring information, from Hub Australia’s B corp status and carbon neutrality (YAY!! A win for the planet is a win for all of us) to Sneh Kadaki’s approach to community spaces. We had the time of our lives connecting with so many innovators and industry leaders.
Here are our top takeaways from GCUC Chicago:
✨ Giving back is not an excuse to have a ***** product.
As Brad Krauskopf, CEO and Founder of Hub Australia, the country’s largest privately owned flex-space and a pioneer in the industry so well put it, having a business that consciously gives back to the community and the planet is not an excuse to NOT have a good product.
Hub Australia has been carbon neutral for over two years, a feat that only pushes the boundaries of what we recognize as flex work and inspires us to make more sustainable changes within our spaces.
Olivia Chatten’s focus within Incendium is sustainability, and Clark Reinhart has made it a point to donate 2% of monthly profits to NGOs. Now more than ever, and with business practices such as these, we see how coworking operators continue to push the boundaries of what we recognize as progress and redefine what it means to collaborate and cowork.
💥 If your space lacks life, energy, and engagement, your members are not thriving.
As always, our partner and great collaborator, Cat Johnson, delivered an incredible talk about branding and community, something we all strive to cultivate in our spaces. Marketing your spaces in a natural and organic way can be daunting, which is why Cat focuses on building and aligning your brand with the community you want to grow within your spaces.
If you’re not a coworking industry veteran and want to learn more about what things you can add to your tech stack to get the ball rolling, Barbara Sprenger, Founder and CEO of Deskworks, delivered a talk about how implementing automations is important. If we’re honest, realistically, we do not have time for everything, veteran or not. Having a good setup that helps automate your coworking operations can be incredibly beneficial to your community managers and the community that has already turned your location their home. Our two cents? PilotoMail is a great addition to that tech stack… 
. As Cat said, “All coworking spaces are not the same. No matter how fabulous your space might look, if it’s lacking life, energy, and engagement, your members are not thriving-whether they say so or not.”
⏰ The Time is NOW
Sneh Kadaki, founder and CEO of from HERE, said, “The time is now”. The time is now to build, grow, connect, and create a community that thrives. A common theme throughout GCUC has been how to provide lasting and impactful services. Michael Caracciolo, head of Asset Management for Tishman Speyer, mentioned that there is a range of flexibility on what we, as coworking operators, offer our clients — from day passes to dedicated desks. In the business of building community and hospitality, we create space for more than what has been traditionally presented as the go-to business model of workspaces.
Many incredible things were constantly happening at this year’s GCUC. From the great mastermind panels, incredible Fundamentals of Flex talks, and the conversations that were happening in between booths and the lunch room, the sentiment stays the same: flex-work is here now, and it is here to stay. Brian Chen, CEO y Co-Founder of ROOM put it beautifully when he said there is infinite demand for flexibility. Only one question remains: ‘What are you doing today to build the workplace of tomorrow?’
About PilotoMail
PilotoMail is a mail management platform that creates recurring revenue streams for mailrooms through postal mail handling automation, and virtual mailboxes for the remote workforce. Property managers, coworking spaces, mail centers & registered agents can handle large volumes of mail efficiently, comply with all postal regulations, and increase revenue from their existing footprint effortlessly.