On the edge of your seat All the ins & outs of Seats2meet 1
Contents (S2M Network)
Experience Economy The way in which an experience enriches and transforms you.
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The start of S2M A new way of coworking and a new society’s playground.
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Erm.. how does S2M earn money? The business model and the added value.
Products & Services
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What we offer to the world.
A playground for innovators
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Dream & vision.
Society 3.0
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An experience worth sharing
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Experience economy & hospitality-tech.
Social capital: that will enrich you!
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We’re not just about money, but about seats.
Well, isn’t that a coincidence!
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Serendipity, an unexpected but relevant encounter.
Third spaces and Third places
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Meeting online and offline in a third dimension.
Hub & Spoke
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Your location is bigger than just 4 walls!
S2M Network
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How does the algorithm work and why do I fill in tags?
Online safely
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Both corona proof and GDPR proof. Privacy first.
Data & insight
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How do we as S2M learn and grow?
Numbers & facts
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Social capital: that will enrich you! In the cowork lounge you pay with your knowledge, talent and experience, not with money. That’s why the atmosphere is buzzing with inspiration and conversation!
What do we have in abundance can we share that?
The power of meeting
In 2007, the first Seats2meet. com location opened its doors. A new way of coworking started: meeting is the core.
What if you would somehow, unexpectedly, meet exactly the right people and ideas? That is the vision of Seats2meet. com. We enable surprising connections between people, companies and networks. By combining coworking with meeting spaces. And by smart technology. In this magazine we take you back to the start of Seats2meet, we explain difficult concepts and you will read why it is smart for locations to join.
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A place between the kitchen table and the office A place between the kitchen table and the office Third places are Powered by S2M locations, spread throughout the country. Perfect to serve as a place between the kitchen table and the office!
Seats2meet.com: connect, collaborate, grow!
Useful links S2M Stories https://www.seats2meet.com/en/ stories S2M Network https://www.seats2meet.com/en/ network Contact details & booking locations https://www.seats2meet.com/en/ locations Event calendar https://www.seats2meet.com/en/ events Questions & Answers https://www.seats2meet.com/en/ network/questions Privacy agreements https://gdpr.seats2meet.com/
Hey Seatser, good to have you here!
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Back to the start... Let’s take you back to 2007. The idea for Seats2meet (S2M) arose from the need to move along with the dynamic world of work. The amount of freelancers was increasing rapidly, but coworkplaces didn’t exist yet. Ronald & Mariëlle (the S2M founders) started the first location: S2M Utrecht CS. People could cowork there ánd book meeting spaces. A surprising, new concept was born…
Flexibility and moving along with the new time were the priority. That’s why it was decided to offer meeting chairs with a dynamic price instead of meeting spaces per day or half a day. The cowork lounge was and is freely accessible. S2M launches the principle of paying with ‘social capital’. Users do not pay with euros, but with sharing knowledge. These two factors are nowadays S2M’s most unique aspects. Social Capital is based on the principle
of ‘sharing in abundance’ and the willingness of the visitors to share their knowledge with others. This creates a special and open atmosphere in which new initiatives, collaborations and even entire companies arise. And those companies? In the end, they need places for their team to meet: our meeting spaces, which are paid for with euros. More on that later...
More encounters, dynamics, innovation and growth arise by coworking. 7
Coworking is an ‘enabler’ for us. It offers opportunities to people, ideas and organisations. That’s the higher goal, according to us. And not directly an earntransaction model, like often used in the coworking world. The principle of S2M, the spaces that offer themselves in abundance as coworking places in exchange for social capital, is now being used at all locations (as many as 200!). Part of this is 'official' S2M location. Another part has their own identity and business and uses the Seats2meet.com platform.
These are called ‘Powered by S2M’. For example libraries, schools, hotels, restaurants, cafes, city halls and offices. Some of those places also offer meeting spaces.
Why do locations join S2M? To… • increase dynamics • fill your location off peak as well (restaurants & hotels) • put your staff or students in touch with a bigger network • put your location on the map and enrich your business • enable innovation • (for example as a municipality) better connect with your city’s or village’s inhabitants. Then you know what’s going on and what people are working on
Explained Centraal Beheer Achmea owns ‘Lab55’ (a Powered by S2M location) and uses coworking as a means to increase innovation. Step 1: let coworkers enter the organisation. Achmea opened the ground floor in the entrance hall for this purpose. Step 2: let your staff get in touch with the coworkers (ZP’ers, freelancers, entrepreneurs & students). Achmea obliged their communication & marketing employees to work at Lab55 1 day a week.
This created the interdisciplinary sharing of knowledge. Step 3: give coworkers a stage. For example by organising pitch events. Achmea organises those within themes which are interesting for her market. Step 4: create partnerships and grow together. Achmea started 50 innovation trajectories in partnership with coworkers, within one year. Result: 6 new services have been launched successfully. Isn’t that a win-win situation?
Our Business Model
The Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a model for strategic management and startups to create a new business model, or to map an existing one. Their definition of a business model is: ‘The rationale of how an organisation creates, delivers and maintains value’. In the first edition, Mariëlle is one of the faces of the ‘business model innovation’ with S2M. The model is often presented graphically. Because we at S2M are stubborn, we thought this model was too ‘plane’. It misses
the dynamics of our company. So we developed our own canvas, in which all components have been put (see image above). Meanwhile, you know you don’t have to pay for coworking at S2M. You pay with your ‘social capital’. But how does S2M earn money? Simply by renting meeting spaces. This applies to all ‘official’ S2M locations.
“Business Model Generation” Auteur Alexander Osterwalder.
Social capital makes us unique and strengthens our business.
The Powered by S2M locations have a different revenue model. The New Library of Centraal Beheer Achmea rents books and sells insurances. That’s their business. Coworking is applied as a tool to enrich that. Seats2meet’s BMC shows our vision on working from connected value networks. The outer circle symbolises different stakeholders that are directly interconnected and who feel involved in our activities, want to share our story and are part of all our services. We view suppliers and customers as equal partners and participants in the total experience. In the center of the model you see a stage on which people of our network can be who they are. We put all their special stories and talents in the spotlights. From there on, beautiful collaborations arise and people grow as an individual or the organisation which they are connected with. S2M is a real ‘fanchise-model’ (so without the ‘r’) in which people who share our vision on a changing society invest as a fan to spread S2M’s ideology even further.
Suppliers and customers are the co-creators of the total experience. Seats2meet International is S2M’s core team. This team further develops the concept with the input of the network of connected people (from the location teams, coworkers and recurring meeting space users). This team ensures new locations receive information and support at the start, that they receive website maintenance and that smart new technology is being developed. The development of technology is a collaboration with techpartner Cyberdigma: a hospitality-tech company. People and meeting each other are always central in the development of smart, new tools there. Seats2meet International earns money by selling licenses to Powered by S2M locations to become a successful coworking hotspot.
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Example A meeting space user makes use of social capital. Johanna has booked a meeting at S2M together with her colleagues. They come up with a fantastic new idea during a brainstorm which Sietske facilitates. They are eager to pitch this idea to a few creative people. Fortunately, the cowork lounge is packed with ZP’ers with all kinds of different backgrounds. They ask two people to listen for 15 minutes and to give feedback on their idea. One of the ZP’ers appears to be a designer who immediately has a good idea to make the pitch more attractive. A new collaboration is born.
Products and services You can guess that the products & services we offer are not fixed as a company which serves as a playground for innovators, entrepreneurs and explorers. We like to develop and are always in motion. As well a typical aspect of working with and at S2M. In this chapter we shortly highlight S2M’s most important products & services, to give specific insight into our offer. Coworking & Meetings
S2M Network
On every location affiliated with S2M, cowork places are offered. A few of those locations offer spaces for meetings, events and workshops. Both work and meeting possibilities can be booked at seats2meet.com or by using your personal S2M Network. Some Powered by S2M locations have an additional link on their own website through which you can directly book at that location.
This brings us to the next surprising product: the S2M Network! Thé place the coworking world of every user starts. A virtual spot where you find all your data, get answers to your questions and where you get in touch with people that fit your work and interests. You manage your bookings here and get in touch online with other relevant people. Do you have a question? Our AI algorithm matches you directly to experts who can help you (and vice versa). You share your knowledge and will ensure growth, both for yourself and another person.
Online Magazine In S2M’s Online Magazine, we share stories of coworkers, exciting serendipity moments and tips and tricks for entrepreneurs and innovators. It is an open magazine in which stories are shared for & by Seatsers. Every article is provided with at least 3 tags. These explain the topic of the article and ensure a match with users from our S2M Network who are working in that field.
Connecting Event Software Events unite people, online and offline. You can find those in the Connecting Event Software, an event calendar which is linked to the S2M Network. Hereby, every event can be matched to people, based on their activities (their work tasks that day, their location, or their field of interest
and expertise). They can easily register and directly see their matches at the event. As an organiser, you can exactly see who will attend and what they’re looking for. That’s useful! The system’s software is developed by Cyberdigma, S2M’s techpartner. Responsible for all the cool technical gadgets;-)
Innovators & entrepreneurs ask to change rapidly. CHP systeem
Work & Learn
The Powered by S2M locations use an extensive CHP (Cyberdigma Hospitality Platform) system that supports them to maintain and develop their location. They fill in their pricing, indicate the bookable spaces, the capacity and show the amount of booked lunches. In short: an extensive system to manage coworking and meetings!
Work & Learn is a career chance for venturous dreamers, curious questioners and social adventurers. The traineeship fits perfectly if you have a good sense of hospitality, are in between jobs, just started a company or are searching (for a job). While working at S2M, you follow a program set up by our network. After a year, you step outside the door totally inspired and ready for the next step on your path!
Digital Office Host The function of offices changes. But not overnight. Meanwhile, we partly go to the office. That’s nice! But how do we make sure it’s well-organised? The technology S2M has been using for years to manage coworking and meeting spaces is now also used to support companies to organise the return to the office well.
In short: • Cowork spaces • Spaces for meetings, events, workshops • Online magazine • Matching S2M Network • Connecting Event Software • Software to make locations bookable and manage them • Digital Office Host • Work & Learn traject
A playground for innovators Playground
Hereby:
You can compare S2M with a playground for innovators: where new ideas get a chance and surprising encounters arise.
• We use unutilized space and people’s talents and knowledge optimally.
We believe in hospitality, connecting people and the power of together. Together we can get in motion, grow and accelerate. We believe that the world we live in now needs new insights to create a sustainable and liveable future. We believe in abundance and that it’s worth sharing.
• Chance encounters arise between people that will collaborate, share knowledge and strengthen each other. • New ideas, collaborations and new business arise. This way, S2M wants to contribute to a socially involved world in which value creation is intertwined with personal, social and commercial opportunities.
We do this by: 1. Offering meeting spaces and workspaces. 2. Creating an inspiring environment in which we facilitate meaningful encounters between people. 3. Connecting people both online as well as offline with the S2M Network.
1 in 3 users experience a serendipity moment at a Powered by S2M location. So these locations are real ‘opportunity spaces’.
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Value creation based on abundance instead of on scarcity.
Society 3.0
At S2M, you often find the concept ‘Society 3.0’. That’s the title of the book which S2M founder Ronald wrote in 2010 about the vision he and his copartner Mariëlle Sijgers have on the future. The book is for everyone who wants to contribute to the society of tomorrow, in which value creation is not based on creating scarcity anymore but on sharing knowledge and information and in which social networks are the key to success.
Critical questions are being asked, such as: What is wrong with the current society, how can it improve? What do technology and social media contribute and how can you use those optimally in your organisation? Why is a shared vision on the future within organisations so important or why do we do what we do? These are all ideas, perspectives and solutions to the questions which are important to us as a society. Solutions and applications that we try to shape specify every day at S2M!
The Experience Economy The complete hospitality industry is constructed around the idea that you want to offer guests an experience, a special one. The concept has been developed by the American management thinkers Pine and Gillmore in their globally famous book ‘The Experience Economy’. The ground idea is that more and more value is added when offering a product or service. By its appearance, the supporting story, the atmosphere, quality or hospitality for example. That’s called value creation. Pine and Gillmore add something to that: transformation. If you manage to offer someone a personal experience, tailored, through which that person learns something or improves in a way (a better professional, partner
or human being), you change that person. They transform. The beautiful thing is: this transformed user has become your end product now! But… you have to know a lot about your user to be able to offer something ‘tailored’. How do you learn about your users? By connecting with them. That happens at S2M because coworkers do not pay with money, but with their willingness to share their knowledge. Also
about themselves. Who are you, where are you and when, what is your expertise, what are you interested in? This data enables us to match S2M and visitors by the S2M Network. Every match is unique, because everyone needs something just a little bit different. Such an encounter enriches you and your chance to become part of a project group, new company and/or job is big. So it gives you
Experience economy Explained Coffee starts with a handful of coffee beans, with a value of about 2 cents. Once you put this roasted coffee in a package with a nice label, the same handful of beans is worth twice its value. If you put that package on a shelf in the supermarket surrounded by other (coffee) products (such as sugar, milk, cups and even recipes) and the cashier is friendly, then the coffee is experienced as a service. This saves time and that’s why we are now willing to pay 50 cents for the handful of coffee beans.
Next step. You go to a special coffee shop like Starbucks. You look up to the logo and your mouth starts watering immediately. After you have been queuing for a while, your coffee is suddenly called ‘White Chocolate Mocha’, ‘Pumpkin Spice Latte’ or ‘Teavana Shaken Iced Tea’. Your name is on the cup. What does your coffee cost? Five to eight euros. Why? You have consciously invested time to specifically go to this place, for this experience. This customer journey has one side note: the experience can also be negative.
something, it improves you. And with that, a visit to a S2M location transforms you.
Is your coffee a bit too cold or has your name been misspelled? Is the lounge chair on which you just wanted to sit a bit dirty? Then suddenly, the coffee isn’t worth the 8 euros anymore and you have a negative experience. That’s why transformation is the next step. If your product or service changes the user positively or permanently, you have really achieved something. That’s exactly our goal at S2M by facilitating surprising, unexpected encounters both online and offline. In this way, we are more than just a nice place to work!
If you change the user sustainably, you have really achieved something.
So Seats2meet offers more than just physical meeting places. Especially the combination between the virtual platform and the physical locations enable the consecutive unexpected, relevant encounters between people and knowledge. So transformation chances in abundance!
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Social Capital According to the traditional economic principles, scarcity is always present in our world. And customers have to make choices constantly, because you can ‘spend your money just once’ of course.
When you look around carefully, you see ‘abundance’ instead of scarcity. In a traffic jam of 1 kilometer, on average 1.2 persons are in every car. So there are more empty seats in the traffic jam than occupied ones. Another example: offices, schools and universities close on the weekends. Thousands of square meters are empty. Sports fields are hardly used during the week, theaters are usually closed during the day. Hotel and office lobbies are empty almost all day. In short: an abundance of unused space. Knowledge is a special type of abundance. Because when I share my knowledge, I also keep that knowledge myself. Coworkers ‘pay’ for their workplace at a Powered by S2M location with their willingness to share knowledge. ‘Monetary capital’ is still there at the locations, because you pay with euros to book a meeting space. This creates S2M’s special business model, in which social and monetary capital are balanced. That makes the business model sustainable. Because of the way of working
Social Capital - Explained
and ‘paying’ with social capital, coworkers are intrinsically involved with S2M. That’s why they are happy to share our story. And that’s why they are our ambassadors. This saves costs and effort for sales and marketing!
So what does this working with social capital yield? Joe Pine, co-authors of The Experience Economy, described social capital like this: “Social capital is the attitude to be open to unexpected and valuable encounters and to share your knowledge and talents – truly is a form of capital, as valuable as money (if less tangible). The people who come to every S2M location get it too, and give as well as they get. Social capital is the entry fee, the grease that oils the machine of serendipity, the connective mesh that enables and enhances the entire S2M ecosphere. That ecosphere then generates money – old-fashioned monetary capital! – not least by greatly encouraging the booking of meeting rooms. Thus, social capital and monetary capital
The additional advantage of social capital? Powered by S2M locations function like a magnet. Visitors know they have the opportunity to share knowledge and meet new people. Social capital ensures a buzzing and thriving business! In addition to the meetings at the Powered by location, we take care of the digital process to facilitate the ‘unexpected, but relevant meeting’ between our visitors online. Serendipity, it’s called. This results in a huge amount of unexpected innovations, insights and opportunities. It ensures people want to return.
Test: what is your social capital? Answer these 4 questions and discover your social capital. 1. What is natural to you? 2. What is easy for you? 3. What do you see which others don’t? 4. What could you share right away?
Examples of abundance: • Space (an empty seat) • Time (something is can celled, you have spare time) • Knowledge (you know a lot about Virtual Reality) • Sources (think about tools, technology, beamer, chairs, food). • Networks or people (which you are famil iar with and which you can ‘share’).
work together, strengthening each other in a unique and prosperous way.” What have been the results at Seats2meet? • The publication of more than • 100 books • New, successful companies • Innovative schools • Partnerships between start-ups and big corporates • Places for co-creation such as • Permanent Future Lab • Hundreds of apps and games • Thousands of assignments and hundreds of jobs So social capital enables growth of activities, which in turn enable additional use of S2M meeting spaces, which are sold for money. In this way, the circle of our business model is completed!
The attitude to be open to unexpected and valuable encounters and to share your knowledge and talents.
The key to serendipity.
Serendipity Elements such as coincidence, ‘the unexpected’ and ‘you weren’t looking for it but you got it anyway’ are part of the concept of serendipity. Exciting and a bit mysterious. Entire books have been written about the concept and its meaning. Everyone knows it. It's one of those moments when you meet someone and realize:“Wow, perfect that I'm talking to you right now!”. This could be about something relatively minor, such as exchanging a valuable tool to plan your social media posts, but also something that changes your life. Think of someone who points out a vacancy or who makes a connection between people, creating a new company. At S2M, we use the following definition:“Serendipity is the catalyst for the unexpected but relevant encounters of our visitors with other visitors, events, and knowledge.” The Erasmus University Rotterdam researched serendipity at S2M. It appeared that: • 1 in 3 visitors experience serendipity. • 1 in 6 visitors start a new collaboration, company or product/service because of a visit to S2M.
That’s very cool, but not very strange. Because all our processes are exactly tailored to that. Serendipity is the greatest added value for our visitors. We’ve even developed a special algorithm for it, which we call the ‘Serendipity Machine’. It completely independently carries out the matching process between visitors by searching for millions of matches in a few seconds. In order to decide which people, events and knowledge relate to each other and to give suggestions about that.
Serendipity is only possible in an environment of diversity. Diversity is the key ingredient to ensure unexpected, relevant encounters.
These unexpected, relevant matches ensure the Seats2meet visitors’ transformation process. Both physical and virtual. The matches are visible in the S2M Network, a personal matchmaker for everyone who checks in. Data protection and privacy are priority. Later on, you will read more about the Network and our data handling!
Post-it During the research of a new glue, the post-it was born. The glue wasn’t strong enough, but worked perfectly for sticking notes temporarily!
Inventions Did you know that many inventions were moments of serendipity? The microwave A scientist patented the idea of the microwave after noting that radar emissions had melted the candy in his pocket.
Medicine Avastin is a drug used to treat cancer. As an accidental result, patients noticed they were starting to see better. That’s why the drug is now used in the treatment of eye retinal problems. Sharp insight!
Third Space There are two concepts: the Third place and the Third space. The Third place is the workplace between your office and your kitchen table. It can be a lunchroom, but also a library or coworking location such as Seats2meet. You could call such a place a ‘second work-from-home place’. Recently, it has become clear that we work at the office less. This changes the function of these offices and buildings. Because the Netherlands has a strong digital network structure and many people are able to work independently of time and place, this development is expected to be permanent. However, not every home is suited to work from, so the need for alternative locations is increasing rapidly. Powered by S2M locations are the ideal solution. Going to the office occasionally, staying at home occasionally and going to a S2M location occasionally.
When you add a digital network to these different physical locations, where people meet, exchange knowledge or book their workplace, a new space arises. We call this the Third space. The physical services are
Powered by S2M locations are the ideal solution.
virtual meeting rooms
1,5 meter distance
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of course the meeting spaces and workplaces. The virtual service is the personal S2M Network, both at home and on the road. People are matched to each other, events and 'S2M stories' articles. And users can book their workplace or meeting space. Besides, the S2M Flagship locations offer a virtual meeting space in addition to an offline room. We call this Hybrid Meetings: some participants attend in person, others attend remotely. We offer the Digital Office Host for the office, which ensures you can work safely and through which the management can see who is present when.
SPACE
De online en offline verbinding tussen professionals en locaties Boek jouw werkplekje bij een S2M locatie
Kom in verbinding met elkaar, waar je ook bent. Stel al jouw vragen via de Q&A in jouw S2M Passport
Laat je inspireren op een nieuwe werkplek.
3RD PLACE
THUIS
Locaties tussen keukentafel & kantoor
Alleen thuis maar verbonden Stel al jouw vragen in jouw S2M Passport, jouw digitale thuiswerkplek.
2e thuiswerkplek
Boek jouw werkplekje of meetingspace via seats2meet.com en ontmoet elkaar fysiek.
KANTOOR
Veilig op kantoor
Boek je werkplek op kantoor Welke collega’s zijn er nog meer? En is er nog genoeg plek? Met de Digital Office Host
Thirdplace
between the kitchen table and the office
“The digital frontier, lying at the intersection of digital technology and offering innovation, beckons companies seeking to create new customer value by mining its rich veins of possibility... But by far the greatest value will come from those innovations that create third spaces that fuse the real and the virtual.” Pine & Korn in their book ‘Infinite Possibility’, 2011
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Hub & Spoke In the context of Third Spaces, the concept ‘Hub & Spoke model’ is used regularly. But what is that exactly? This physical network structure of work locations (home-officethird places) exists of central locations, such as the traditional headquarters of an organisation of a S2M flagship store. These are called the ‘Hub’s’. Around those, you find a circle of smaller (suburban) locations close to the work-from-home places or close to the hubs: the spokes.
which create the Third Space together. Do you still get it?;-) Benefits: • Less than m2 office space necessary • Less travel time • Less environmental impact by less commuting • Increasing connections between networks
Workers have the choice: working from home or at a ‘Spoke-cowork’ location. The central Hubs are then predominantly used for team sessions or events. The S2M Network and the Digital Office Host ensure a digital connection of workers at all those different locations,
Your location is bigger than 4 walls. Make use of the network of co-locations!
S2M Network The S2M Network has been created to bring all aspects of S2M together in a personal work environment. A virtual place in which you find all your data, answers to all your questions and through which you get in touch with people that suit your work and interests. The S2M Network is set-up in 3 components:
Connect • Get in touch with other professionals • Search for specific expertise • Search for the right location and book a workplace or meeting space • Create groups and stay connected with people who are interested in the same theme. This way, you can also be found in the groups you join
Collaborate • Ask questions • Answer questions • Meet each other in the virtual cowork lounge • Work with your group on a specific theme
Grow • Organise events • Discover events • Read stories/tips • Write a blog yourself • Organize events to meet more like-minded people
Your social capital wallet Because you pay at S2M with social capital, you can view the S2M Network as a virtual wallet filled with your social capital. You manage your knowledge tags here and adjust those at every desired moment.
Getting started The first question being asked if you open the Network is: ‘What’s your focus today?’. Your knowledge tags are something ‘fixed’ (although you can always delete/adjust/add), but your focus of the day is something which can change every day. Today you are doing administrative tasks and are having different needs than when you’re working on a presentation with which you could use some additional creativity. After filling in your focus of the day, you’re matched to professionals, events, locations, questions, and content. All relevant to you and based on your focus that day!
Always useful matches in your pocket!
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With your S2M Network, you discover events, cool articles, nice locations and professionals to link with.
How do matches work? Professionals
Events
These are users like you who are also in the Network or who are physically present at 1 of the 200 Powered by S2M locations. Are you physically present at a location (you have booked a workplace or meeting space)? Then you will be matched to professionals close to you. No one around? The algorithm will keep on searching then.
The events which appear help you with your focus of the day. Every event contains tags about the event, whom it is relevant to and what you will learn. But the events which appear can also take place on the day you have booked a workplace or meeting. In this way, you will never miss a cool event which you can attend!
Aren’t you physically present at a location but online (and you have turned on ‘sharing your location’)? Then you will be matched to professionals worldwide and your physical location is less important.
Questions You will be matched to questions that you might be able to answer based on your knowledge tags. The right questions reach the right experts and everyone receives an answer which fits.
Your personal S2M Network ready in 5 minutes! Go to: https://www.seats2meet.com/ en/login
Locations
1. Make a profile 2. Fill in at least 3 knowledge tags that tell who you are 3. Confirm your account (we do this for safety) 4. Ready to go!
Locations will be matched to you based on the professionals who are present at that moment. If your focus of the day is building your website, you will be matched to a location with potentially many people who can help you out. Besides, it checks which Powered by S2M locations are close to you.
Content You get matched to the S2M Magazine’s content (video’s and blogs), but also to other online blogs that fit your focus of the day. All articles contain tags, which make you see content that inspires you throughout the day.
What’s next....? What else would fit the magazine according to you? Mail your ideas to contact@seats2meet.com
What can you do? • Ask and answer questions • Book locations • Meet people • Find specific expertise • Start a chat • Read and write blogs • Organise your own event and discover events • Start groups and invite people • Posting stories in 'S2M stories'
Online safely
Online safely At S2M we take privacy of our visitors and customers very seriously. We don’t view their data as our property, but we view it as the property of the S2M visitor or customer. We comply with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and never give our data to other parties, do not share customer lists or other overviews and do not sell data. Serendipity matches are our core. It differentiates us from others in the market. And that’s exactly why we handle our users’ data so carefully and sparefully. More info about how we handle data, with which parties we collaborate (virtually) and how we process data? Check https://gdpr. seats2meet.com. You can always ask questions about this topic via privacy@seats2meet.com.
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On our GDPR website you find everything about data security at S2M.
Data & insight The use of social capital is a valuable flow of data: who is where at which moment? What knowledge do these coworkers possess and what knowledge do they need themselves? What are people working on today? The Q&A (question and answer) of the S2M Network is also a valuable source of data. As you have read before, this detailed information enables us to optimize the transformation process of our visitors/customers. For example: surprising your visitors with relevant matches (with the S2M Network), interesting events and valuable blogs. All pieces of knowledge (social capital) are captured in Tags (labels). In your S2M Network, you can view what the S2M system knows about you regarding knowledge and interests (go to your profile picture > profile > your data).
We also ask bookers of meeting spaces to assign characteristics to their meeting. The same applies to events of the Connecting Event Software. This clearly shows what our network is working on. Yesterday, today but also tomorrow (and the day after tomorrow)!
Predictive gifts That enables us to match our users optimally to relevant encounters, events and content. And we can predict what topics will become important to our network in the coming months. If we can look ahead like that we can even, together with experts from our network, organise events about hot topics. And S2M (or actually, our algorithm) also knows who might be interested in that. So we have meeting spaces, topics, a good program content-wise and a big group of interested people to invite. With that, we create our own revenue and turn less and less dependent on external parties. That’s a pleasant idea!
Which data do we save?
Surprise your visitors positively with relevant events, blogs and tips. Based on the current need. The data that creates our real time dashboards, started somewhere. We have a lot of financial data about topics like revenue and costs, occupancy and booking overviews. Who books and how often? All of this throughout the years. It gives us a strategic insight into the developments of the market and customers. But we know more...
Of workplace bookers: • Name, email address (as long as the account exists) • Reservation info Of meeting space bookers: • Name, email address (as long as the account exists) • Reservation info Do you delete your account? All data will be deleted, including all reservations. In case of the meeting space bookers, a paid booking will stay in the system, even if the account has been deleted. Because this is not personal data, but billing data.
How do you use your dashboard as a Powered by S2M location? Go to the management environment of S2M. You will find dashboards for: 1. Insight into reservations, revenue and profit 2. Occupancy, popular and quiet days 3. Insight into necessary resources (for purchases) 4. Insight into the amount of knowledge tags on your location and the way in which this changes every month and year 5. The amount of coworkers & meeting space bookers present Discover trends and act upon them. Do you see the knowledge tag ‘programming’ keep coming back among bookers? Organise an event or add cool content (in the S2M Magazine) about this topic.
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Who can see what information about me?
Predict what event you have to organise next month to surprise your visitors positively!
If you are logged in, you can see other users that are logged in as well. The location of users is visible if they booked a workplace or approved that their location is shared (also if they’re not present at a S2M location). Check your S2M Network (go to your profile picture > profile > your data) to view your profile and adjust it.
Numbers & Facts Important! Of course, a dynamic company does not stagnate. That’s why we only share fixed numbers here. You can find up-to-date information on the website. We always share the most recent numbers & facts there. Some data here might not be 100% up-todate, but do give you an idea of our market and reach.
Pieces of numbers: S2M started since 2007.
Mariëlle Sijgers became Hotello of the year in 2012.
Meanwhile, 200 Powered by S2M locations exist in 30 countries.
A separate website on GDPR was made within S2M. Because we think privacy and data are very important.
Ronald and Mariëlle both completed the Hotelschool The Hague and started S2M with this hospitality background. S2M has 5 key locations in the Netherlands and the flagship store is in Utrecht. Achmea uses S2M for more innovation.
The S2M magazine has 400 authors and 30.000 readers (september 2020). S2M won the NIMA Award customer-oriented business in 2011 .
There are 100.000 active S2M Network users with more than 32.000 types of expertise. 1 in 3 S2M visitors experience serendipity (researched by the Erasmus University Rotterdam).
Excursions from all over the world visit S2M to see the power of social capital.
More than 61.000 coworkers worked a day in exchange for social capital (2019).
In the S2M Network, every question receives 3 relevant answers on average.
In 2019, more than 251.000 participants have been in meetings at S2M in the NL. S2M international does not own locations, all locations are the property of entrepreneurs or organisations. 1 in 6 S2M visitors start a new collaboration, company or product/service because of a visit to S2M.
Schools, libraries, municipalities, hotels, restaurants, offices and even showrooms have joined as a Powered by S2M location.
The first location abroad was in the capital of Egypt, Cairo. Worldwide, S2M is the only company which offers coworking in exchange for social capital.
Did you know that S2M was a certified B-corp from 20152021? And we still fully comply with all the principles of a B-Corp. We have only chosen not to renew our license after Corona. So you can still sit comfortably in your seat at Seats2meet ;-)
You are an expert Test your knowledge and share the Seats2meet story.
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