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The main workspace at S2M HQ in Utrecht.

CASE STUDY 6 Seats2meet.Com

Learning to share withDutch-style co-workingNew type of Co-working Space

Leveraging its free co-working space principle, S2M has expanded to 77 locations across the Netherlands.Among users, knowledge is the currency of choice.

Less than eight years after it was set up, co-working space Seats2meet.com (S2M) has 77 locations across the Netherlands, and 6 countries abroad. The secret to such rapid growth lies in the fact that the service is provided to individuals free of charge. Or rather, it doesn’t cost them any money. S2M has come up with an innovative system that leverages individual users’ social capital in the form of knowledge, skills and networks, rather than actual cash. Let’s start by taking a look around.

We were given a tour of three separate locations, each differently designed but all run on the same business model. The Amsterdam location has cor-porate tenants alongside its co-work-ing spaces. Built in 1911 as a stock exchange, the building has an interest-ing history. It was designed by Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage. “Over 100 year ago, Berlage wrote his brother a letter while building the Beurs van Berlage. Berlage was a socialist and wrote: I realise this will

become the most capitalistic build-ing in Amsterdam, but as soon as the economy crashes this will become a pallazo pubblico. A place where meeting others, sharing knowledge and working together will be the central themes'. It took 100 years, but thanks to this letter the vision of the Beurs and Seats2meet.com are now perfectly aligned,” explains duty manager/user, Simina Jonker. S2M themselves sees this as a special, symbolic location. Next, we visited Almere, a com-

muter town outside Amsterdam. In an example of the S2M concept being successfully incorporated into a public space, there is an exclusive 20-desk S2M area inside the library. Unlike S2M in Amsterdam, there is no com-mercial element; this is a cooperative space rooted in the community. Our final visit was to S2M head-quarters, which is directly connected to Utrecht station. Co-owner Ronald van den Hoff describes the design concept as “a space that builds cre-ative tension.” The interior features a

multitude of colours and materials; it’s the opposite of minimalist decor. Corridors are curved, and ceilings and floors don’t necessarily run parallel. All of this is designed to create tension in the space and stimulate thought. Each location is bookable online, and users are asked to provide details of their knowledge, skills and expertise at the time of booking. This information is displayed on ‘Serendipity Machines’ at each of S2M’s locations for anyone to use. One can tell at a glance the social capital of everyone using S2M at any time. This is the basic system which makes the free co-working spaces possible. “In my case,” says Yonker, “I’ve put ‘Amsterdam based PR and event manager…’ If anyone seeing that wants to ask me a question, or wants to talk about something, I’ll help them out. For example, if they’re organizing an event and ask me if I know a good catering company, I’ll be able to tell them the name of one. I’m sharing my social capital. That’s how you pay at S2M. But it’s not a chore. You just have to talk to people normally and exchange information, that’s all.” The Serendipity Machine functions as a help desk, sales team and even an advertising department. Users connected via the network volunteer to take on these roles as necessary, resulting in huge cost savings. But if co-working spaces are free to use, how does S2M make money? The answer lies in the meeting rooms it also provides. Charges are on a per-seat basis, and are higher at busy times. But there is another unusual part to the business model. In Amsterdam, for example, lunch is provided between 12 and 2pm, and costs five Euros. What’s surprising is that everything else is free. Coffee is free. Soft drinks and snacks have no set prices, but users put what they think is a fair amount into a bottle that’s left there for the purpose. This unique system was the brain-child of co-owners Marielle Sijgers and Ronald van den Hoff. Ten years ago, they ran a rental meeting room busi-ness, but “it was a really old-fashioned industry,” says Sijgers. “We wanted to start something new.” It was then that

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Seats2meet.Com [Amsterdam, Utrecht]

Established: 2006Employees: 10Locations: 77 locations, 11 overseas

★Seats2meet.Com

1/ Each S2M co-working space is designed differently, with the aim of building creative tension. 2/ A blue-toned open space where workers make use of the S2M concept to connect as they work. 3/ This meeting room makes ample use of natural light.4/ Meetings scheduled for the day are stuck up on the wall. If you like the look of something, you’re welcome to join in.

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Ronald van den HoffCo-founder

Marielle SijgersCo-founder and Director

5/ S2M in Amsterdam was originally built in 1911 as a stock exchange and features these distinctive original bricks.6/ One corner of this uniquely designed public library in commuter town Almere houses a S2M space.7/ Each meeting room has a different theme. The words on this room’s red wall are “Some Like it Hot,” from the Marilyn Monroe film. Perfect for inspiring heated debate or scorch-ing-hot ideas! 8/ In contrast, this meeting room’s pure white walls feature the message “Ssssshhhh.” A room for getting on with things in silence.9/ The cafeteria at S2M in Utrecht.10/ Here, S2M is set in a library with lots of non-business users, and has a modern yet relaxed living room atmosphere different to Amsterdam and Utrecht.

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they noticed a change in the market. “With companies getting smaller and business stagnating because of the economic crisis, entrepreneurs started leaping into action. Advance-ments in technology made it easy for individuals to carry out transactions directly, one-to-one. But marketing is harder for individuals than it is for corporations. That’s when we came up with the idea of opening up and sharing knowledge. That way, indi-viduals would be able to find people who have need of their social capital,” says van den Hoff. S2M also turned out to be an excellent research opportunity for

companies. Companies looking to hire creative individuals with innova-tive ideas need look no further than S2M. This suits the freelancers, too, enabling them to forge connections with companies without any marketing effort, and potentially leading to new business opportunities. And when companies and individuals start to connect, there are profits to be had for S2M, too. Workers who previously only used the free co-working spaces might now have more cause to pay to use the meeting rooms. The business model manages to benefit individu-als, companies and S2M, all the while keeping the free co-working spaces

at its core. A survey of S2M users carried out by Rotterdam School of Business drew comments such as: “I’d started a new project within two weeks,” and “I’m getting more freelance work.” Eight years after opening it has 77 lo-cations. Now S2M is apparently known as the place to go to meet talented people.

I set up a company to help start-ups, creating online platforms like web-sites and programs. I also support a network that connects entrepreneurs. A lot of people work for themselves, myself included, so it’s really important to create opportunities for them to meet other people and share knowl-edge and skills. I provide computer-re-lated solutions. Previously, I worked for ten years for an IT communications company. It didn’t suit me. I’m the type of person who wants to take responsibility for my own work and do things my own way. Sometimes at work I would come up with a good idea but my manager would take credit for it. And working nine till five was so restrictive. So I decided to start my own business. I wanted to do IT, which I enjoy, but in my own way.

When I’m not meeting clients, I’m often working at home by myself. I do go to clients’ premises to fix their computers, but basically I can work anywhere as long as I have the in-ternet and a laptop. So it’s not like I need to come to S2M for my work. But I can meet people here, invite my clients along, even have a meal. It has everything an entrepreneur needs. Places like this are invaluable. I tried quite a lot of other co-work-ing spaces before I hit on S2M. But S2M is very professional; the staff, the network, and the people that use it are all high calibre. There are rooms I can use for workshops and training sessions; it has all the facilities I could want. It also helps a lot that this is the closest place to where I live! I’m lazy, you see.

It has everythingan entrepreneur needs

Maurits Riton LogtenbergLOGINC Engineer / Founder

I work in different places for different projects, so you could say my Mac is my office! I probably come to S2M between three and five days a month at the moment. I set up my own business in 2010 after working for Mitsubishi Motors’ European HQ for ten years. I didn’t leave because I didn’t like the company; I actually really liked Mitsub-ishi. I’m still in touch with my former colleagues on Facebook and talk to them about the best sushi restaurants and things like that. But Mitsubishi underwent restruc-turing and the European HQ was going to move 200km away. The company said they wanted me to go with them, but we weren’t able to move because of my girlfriend’s work, so the only thing for it was for me to leave the company. So 2010 was a difficult year for me. I’d suddenly gone from having 200 col-leagues to having none at all. I started

coming to S2M to learn how to set up a company. Now I work creating videos for live streaming. I want to provide high quality information through the medium of video. For example, you all have iPhones, right? With these, you could connect Tokyo and this place and start a live streaming event. I use this infra-structure to distribute programs I’ve created. Next week I’m planning to broadcast a ‘sharing week’ event live around the world. We’ll be live stream-ing an event where lots of people are interacting, creating added value for the event. That’s what my company does. It fits in with S2M’s philosophy, too. The added value you get from meeting people comes in the form of knowl-edge, content ideas, and expertise. What’s important isn’t just the space and the food and drink, it’s that it’s a place to find content and knowledge. I provide video streaming equipment.

S2M’s added value lies in knowledge,content, and expertise

Bryan KragtwijkPOWERFIELD Media

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DIY mentality ‘The Netherlands’ means ‘the low lands’. The process of reclaiming this land over the last thousand years has been one of continuous flood control measures and battling against natural disasters. Creating communi-ties known as polders, and taking it upon themselves to keep danger at bay, has equipped the people of the Netherlands with a DIY mentality. The notion of taking the lead, of thinking and making decisions for oneself, is reflected in the education system and planted from a young age.

Culture of conversation With flood control systems, it only takes a single breach in a dyke for everything to be over. Consultation and systematic management are crucial from the outset. Nothing happens without stakeholder con-sensus. The country’s history of consensus-based control over nature has translated into a culture where trade, labour, drugs, euthanasia, immigration and other social issues are controlled using guidelines. The need for broad-minded, order-creating consensus has given rise to a culture of conversation. This has resulted in a rise in the social capital valued by knowledge economy-based societies, made companies more competitive, and helped in the management of highly diverse organisations. Future-oriented thinking A DIY mentality and culture of conver-sation are useful when trying to map out the future for oneself. Neverthe-

less, it remains difficult to come up with an agenda for an uncertain future when there is nothing on which to base ones decisions. As Mr Nagasaka points out in his interview, in the Neth-erlands civil society and the non-profit sector are very closely linked. The fact that children are brought up in a public sphere where they are trained to be sensitive to the needs of society from a young age is useful when trying to set those future agendas. With this in mind, let us divide our case studies into companies, the public realm, and infrastructure, and take a look at the characteristics of each.

Highly flexible working If any style of working can be said to represent the Netherlands, it is surely work sharing. This began during the economic slump of the 1980s as a way of protecting jobs by cutting hours and controlling wages, but later turned into “equal work for equal pay.” Part time workers were given the same rights to social security and pensions as their colleagues, and the distinction between full and part time practically disappeared. The system allowed a couple to work 1.5 people’s worth of hours, dedicating the rest of their time to enriching their lives. The flexibility of the labour market has allowed for a balance between work and other aspects of life such as marriage, child rearing, and retirement. In particular, if we think that in the future more and more people will have to work through-out their whole lives, this system has potential in terms of offering the op-

portunity for continuous acquisition of skills. By enabling more flexible working, Essent shows how much it respects individuality. This has helped it to attract outstanding individuals. The overall cost of operation has fallen, and productivity has increased. It has implemented an activity based working (ABW) system, reflecting the high degree of employee autonomy, whereby workers can choose where they work. It’s also important that people are using the same tools, but most important of all is trust-centred management. Generally speaking, it seems like a flawless system, but this level of flexibility brings its own problems. The increasing number of part-timers and those taking a weekly day off means weakening company loyalty, and makes it harder to train up skilled workers. Essent overcomes these problems by accompanying physical provisions with change management that aims to equip each employee with an entrepreneurial mindset. No doubt the provision of cafes and canteens where workers can forge emotional connections with each other also helps towards main-taining loyalty.

Scenario planning: learning from the futureAnother speciality of Dutch compa-nies is scenario planning, which helps with plotting the future of a business. This isn’t the same as predicting the future. It involves imagining a number of conceivable but highly uncertain future scenarios in an attempt to react flexibly when changes happen. Not only does Royal Dutch Shell carry out scenario planning, but it is swift to put ideas into practice, and has created

an environment of experimentation where small mistakes can be made as early in the development process as possible. Royal Dutch Shell is not the only company that uses scenario plan-ning. In fact, many Dutch companies use it as a competitive advantage, and Future Centers, in particular, support scenario planning activities. These centres originated in Scandinavia as places to tease out a future through conversations with stake holders. Here, clients, partners, and members of different internal divisions can think about their vision for the future, ways of solving problems, ideas and pro-cesses. But conventional ways of thinking don’t lead to answers. It’s vital that there is some sort of facilitation that encourages creativity, as well as surroundings that stimulate thought.1

Boundary-crossing open designBoth NDSM and Waag Society func-tion as means to increase public cre-ativity and create a new culture. The public realm is what has made the Netherlands into such fertile ground for open design, in particular. It produces an abundance of graphic, product, and architectural design, much of which is not restricted to one narrow field, but tries to be truly open by continually crossing boundaries into other areas. From the 90s onwards, in particular, the interaction between IT geeks and designers began to trigger change. Spaces such as Fablab were set up for experimental exchange, fusing the web and electronics world of geek culture with design culture, the strengths of which traditionally lay

S2M has a really nice atmosphere. Everyone who comes here is friendly and open. You get the feeling that everyone’s grateful for this place and that they respect it. You just know that everyone feels this is a good place. It’s not too quiet a space, maybe because there’s so much knowledge sharing and communication going on, but I find that stimulating. I like the decor as well. I’m a photographer specialising in wedding photography. I also do pho-tography for fashion magazines and write a fashion blog. I first heard about S2M four years ago when my assistant told me about this great workspace. I had just started trying to make a living from photography and was spending a lot of time at home. To be honest I was bored. I came along to S2M and met the right people, and ended up working as a member of S2M staff for three

years! I worked two days a week on re-ception, and also cleaned the lounge. I’ve also taken photographs for their brochure. Back then I was still finding it hard to make a living just from photography, but this place really helped by broad-ening my network. When my photogra-phy work picked up, I stopped working for S2M and focussed on that. Nowadays I come to S2M two or three days a week. I do everything apart from actually taking the photo-graphs here. For example, if I’m doing one shoot after another I get a backlog of emails, so I come here to answer them all in one go. I also research the location for my next shoot, and compile my photos. I do all my posting to social media and my blog here, too. Sometimes I talk to different people, sometimes I focus on my work. It’s different from day to day.

Everyone’s friendly and open. It’s stimulating and not too quiet.

Nienke van DenderenPhotographer

I used to be an architectural design-er, but when I got made redundant I used it as an opportunity to set up a platform to support people changing jobs. Specifically, I support their job hunt and organise 50 events a month on topics like how to make the most of LinkedIn, how to write a CV, and how to approach companies. My main aim is to create encounters that will inspire people. If you’ve lost your job and are sitting at home all day, you get more and more lonely, but if you come here, there are all kinds of people and all kinds of things going on. You’re bound to feel more motivated and inspired. Basically, S2M is a place where you can talk about all sorts of things over a coffee. I’ve left the world of architecture, but in a sense maybe I’m still doing the same thing because I’m creating a place for people to meet. My day starts with S2M. I work all over the Netherlands, so in the

afternoon I head out, but I’m always here in the mornings and evenings. On a typical day I’ll work for an hour or two at S2M in the morning, then head to a meeting in Amsterdam or Rotterdam. It’s handy being so close to Utrecht station. When I come back in the evening I’ll work here for another hour or two before heading home. I never spend a whole day here. The company I used to work for actually rented S2M meeting rooms regularly. So when I started my own company this place came to mind immediately. I’d always thought that working in the same place five days a week was boring. You can work in cafes, but ultimately you’re still by yourself, so it’s no different from working at home. At S2M you feel like part of a community. It’s socia-ble. There’s familiarity, but it’s not like being with friends; there’s an appropri-ate sense of distance that I appreciate.

Surrounding myself with potential encounters motivates me and gives me ideas

Pieter VermeerDEBROEKRIEN

DIY mentality, a culture ofconversation, and future-oriented thinking

The public realm: open design, self-efficacy

WRAP-UP

Creating the future, Dutch styleWhat supports life and work in the Netherlands? With the help of our case studies,we take a closer look at companies, the public realm, and infrastructureto see what might be applicable in Japan.Shotaro YamashitaEditor in Chief Workstyle Researcher

Companies: flexibility andscenario planning