Spooky season is upon us, and somehow we’ve gone from sweating through the summer heatwaves to talking about GCUC London, which is just a few days away.
Oh yes, GCUC London is back on Thursday 8th and Friday 9th October at a brand new venue: Together, an event space built around a sense of belonging.
GCUC Director Emilie Lashmar joined the Together team last year as Creative Director, so it’ll be exciting to see how that collaboration comes together for this year’s event.
I won’t be attending GCUC London next week as I’m currently on maternity leave and spending time with my two-month old. But if you’re still on the fence about attending, I’m offering you 10% off tickets with the code: INCLUSIVE10.
Let’s see what this year’s juicy lineup looks like.
Epic panels on the coworking movement
The GCUC panel discussions are worth paying attention to. They bring together people working across the coworking and flex space industry, and offer an early glimpse of the shifts impacting the market in the months ahead.
Koral Ibrahim’s talk was an absolute standout last year, and attendees didn’t stop talking about it for a long time after. Speaking about building future-ready flex brands, Koral’s work focusses on how spaces can create a sense of belonging by engaging with the communities around them.
At New Acres in Wandsworth, for example, the team used local data to identify potential collaborators and align with its target audience. This turned the space into something that could play a role in the wider neighbourhood.
This time around, the following talks look particularly interesting:
Places People Thrive In | 10.30am
A conversation about what makes people want to spend time in a space, and the partnerships that help bring those spaces to life. The session explores what good design and collaboration look like in practice.
Same Playbook, Different Space: Membership, Flexibility and Community Beyond Coworking | 1.50pm
What happens when the ideas behind coworking are applied somewhere completely different? This session brings together three business owners who took very different approaches to shared space and membership, niching down on wellbeing, music production, and coworking with childcare.
One of the speakers is Shazia Mustafa, award-winning founder of Third Door — a family-friendly coworking space with an onsite Ofsted registered nursery.
Think Tank | 3.30pm
A more interactive session built around discussion rather than presentation. Participants explore a single topic together, and the contributions are captured and then worked through using The Beautiful Truth’s frameworks.
Emilie Lashmar and Claire Carpenter will host this session. Claire has been at the heart of the coworking movement for over two decades, launching The Melting Pot, one of Europe’s first coworking hubs, in Edinburgh back in 2005.
Make the most of networking
One of the things I like most about GCUC is how easy it is to meet people. For instance, I got chatting to two workspace managers from a regional flexible workspace up north a couple of years ago. We had a great conversation during one of the breaks, then ended up on the coworking tours together the following day. I’ve loved reconnecting with them at GCUC ever since.
That’s what I think makes GCUC particularly enjoyable. You never quite know who you’ll end up talking to, or where that conversation might lead.
This year looks particularly exciting as coworking celeb Cat Johnson is coming to town. She’s organising a Coworking Creators London Meetup on Wednesday 7th with Caleb Parker. Afterwards, there’s the option to go on to the FLOC (Future Leaders of Coworking) party. These are two unmissable events to get you hyped before the event officially begins.
Don’t skip the after-party
GCUC isn’t all panels, note-taking and talking about the future of flex. The after-party is a chance to put the business cards away for a bit, catch up with people you’ve met during the day and see a coworking space in a completely different light.
In June 2024, technologywithin organised an unforgettable after-party at Clockwise Manchester — aka FlexFest. The theme was a 90s festival, complete with fancy dress, face painting and, even silver bunnies roaming the dance floor.
This year, technologywithin is bringing everyone together again at Clays in Soho for an evening of games, food, drinks and a little friendly competition. It’s a chance to relax after a full day of talks, catch up with familiar faces and meet a few new ones outside the conference setting.
See the spaces for yourself
The second day of GCUC takes the conversation out of the conference room and into the spaces themselves, with a morning of coworking tours.
After spending the first day hearing about the ideas, trends and projects shaping the industry, the tours are a chance to see how some of those ideas translate into real spaces. They’re useful whether you’re looking for inspiration or curious about the city’s coworking scene.
Two years ago, I joined the GCUC tours around Canary Wharf. We started at Type SQB in South Quays, where the community team welcomed us with coffee and pastries before showing us around the workspace.
From there, we walked to One Canada Square, taking the lift right to the top of the building for a tour of L39 — a workspace focused specifically on technology startups and SMEs. Our final stop was FORA in One Canada Square. I loved the interiors, particularly the earthy tones and mid-century-inspired design.
A few of us stayed afterwards to continue our conversations and ended up spending some time coworking at FORA. It was a fitting way to finish the tour.
Thinking of going to GCUC London?
There’s a lot more to GCUC than sitting through a day of panels. Between the discussions, roundtables, networking breaks, coworking tours and after-party, there are plenty of opportunities to meet people and get a feel for what’s happening across the industry.
If you’re going this year, my advice is to get involved. Ask questions, strike up conversations, take the tours and make the most of the time between sessions. Some of the most memorable parts of GCUC for me have happened outside the main programme.
If you haven’t got your ticket yet, you can use my 10% discount code: INCLUSIVE10. Grab yours here.
If you’re going, I hope you have a brilliant time. I’d love to hear what you thought of it afterwards.
Until next time,
Lucy