Written by The lack of street noise wakes me up. The city that doesn’t sleep does have its quiet moments and for the Lower East Side that appears to be 6 am. It is the morning of my first Twitterversity workshop on my world tour with Impact Hub coworking spaces. The first cab off the rank is New York.
Flash back to 6 months ago and I am sitting at my kitchen table in my home in Melbourne, Australia. I decided it was finally time to take a leap of faith and see what would happened if I undertook a journey of international coworking and presenting workshops. It was a calculated risk, but I knew the experience would unlock opportunities if I jumped.
In January this year I committed to making my dream of traveling the world while teaching storytelling and social media into a reality. I met with a friend of mine, Zahava Mandelbaum, from New York and asked for her recommendation on coworking spaces. She said anything at Impact Hub NYC would have her seal of approval. She explained the types of events hosted there were of a high quality and focus on positive social and environmental change.
I started my own research and discovered it would be the perfect space to support my plan. Impact Hub is an international network of awesomeness. “MissionHUB” owns and operates Impact Hub coworking campuses, in San Francisco, Berkeley, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., as well as the Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP) for impact investing.
There are also an international community of coworking Hubs around the world. I chose the triumvirate of cool, New York, London (Westminster) and Berlin. Side note, a childhood dream of mine has been to play Broadway. Guess where Impact Hub NYC is located? Mom is so proud, I’m on Broadway!
Through the magic of networking on LinkedIn I discovered a kindred spirit in broadcaster and eclectic creative Megan Spencer. We connected via our love of storytelling and Berlin. We decided we were fated to facilitate a storytelling workshop together. Long story short, it is happening July 18 and 19th at Impact Hub Berlin. It will focus on storytelling, design thinking and deep listening with the end result being a podcast each participant can take away from the workshop and I cannot wait!
Megan Spencer packed up her life and permanently relocated to Berlin in April this year. As soon as her jet lag wore off she met with Vishal the Community Manager at Impact Hub Berlin and explained we would love to use their space for our event. He agreed learning the art of storytelling was a great opportunity for his community and accepted our proposal. Vishal connected me via email to his international team of community managers in New York and London Westminster.
I was welcomed by each of the spaces with a resounding yes, what an amazing journey, we love what you are doing and we want to support you. Floree the Community Enabler from Impact Hub Westminster even rearranged their schedule to accommodate my workshop as their monthly Hub event. I was humbled and honored by that act of support.
I was blown away by how quickly it all came together. When you find your flock, everything takes wing! I am officially hosting a Twitterversity workshop at all locations as well as a joint storytelling workshop with Megan Spencer in Berlin.
Being an entrepreneur means being comfortable with the three C’s – change, chance and challenge. By embracing the three C’s and seeing where it takes you, doors do open. And when they do, it is fascinating to see who steps through. Create change, be open to chance opportunities and do not be afraid of challenges. They always pay off!
This is why I teach social media and Twitter in particular. The lack of controlling algorithms allows people to connect through wondrous acts of serendipitous discovery. Reaching out and connecting with like-minded individuals leads to possibilities you never could have imagined.
As of this writing I have just completed my first workshop in New York. The participants had a blast as they refined their messages and stories while harnessing the power of Twitter. Check out the stream under my hashtag #Twitterversity to see what we did.
The people I have met through Impact Hub NYC have been invaluable. I would also like to thank Jeremy from Firebrand Group and Kevin from ManageFlitter for your networking support in New York. I am also looking forward to collaborating Sharon from Freelancers Union to co-create content for an event in September! I will be back New York, I have met wonderful people and want to stay in touch.
My experience of coworking out of the space has also lead to great experiences. For example today there was a shared ‘Sexy Salad’ lunch. It operates in the true spirit of collaboration, Eva the Community Manager worked with work trade host Vania to prepare the food, while coworking members Michele Iadarola, from Especially Puglia provided gorgeous olive oil for the dressing and Radicle Farm provided the living greens foundation for all the sexy fixings heaped on top.
Stay tuned this journey has just begun…next stop London!
Photos curtesy of Vania, Michele from Especially Puglia, Mission Hub and Zahava
Storytelling Built For Innovation 
Sounds fantastic Megan! So much support and so many achievements – love it!
Thank you Kylie! Yes this journey has truly been amazing!