If you're like most people, when you think of a content creator you think of your favorite influencer, a sponsored post, or a video that went viral.

According to Devrix it is estimated that more than 50 million people think of themselves as content creators. While most of them consider themselves amateurs, more than 2 million have made content creation their full time job and primary source of income.

And according to Yahoo the creator economy has grown to a staggering market size of over $104.2 billion and is increasing at a steady pace!

Who are these millions of content creators? They are podcasters, video creators, musicians, visual artists, writers and journalists, and gaming creators. If you create content of any sort consider yourself a content creator!

Along with this explosion of content creators have come spaces for these creative people to have a sense of community that supports their ideas and helps them reach their audience and make a sustainable living. These spaces are both digital and physical.

Those of you who have traveled lately may have noticed how busy the airports and highways are. According to travel management company TripActions, business travel bookings for the first quarter of 2022 outpaced more than half of all bookings for 2021, with an 875% increase from March 2021 to March 2022.  Travelers are also booking what are known as "bleisure" stays—that is business trips combined with a few extra days of leisure.

However, natural challenges arise for the frequent business traveler who seeks a productive work environment. During the pandemic, the hotel industry did a great job of pivoting to offer day use of their rooms as private, on demand offices, but that’s problematic going forward.

At Gather we value personal connections and work to know at least one thing about each community member. Now it’s your chance to learn more about one member in particular: Brian Barry, President of F. Curtis Barry & Company.

A coffee shop is a great place to meet up with friends or relax with a good book, but is it really the ideal place to work?

Coffee shops have been around for a long time and have a well established culture as cool places for freelancers, remote workers, and students to work and hang out. After all, you don’t have to pay for your seat, the wi-fi is free, and typically there is no limit to how long you can stay.

According to a GCUC survey, 84% of coworkers say working in a coworking space makes them more engaged and motivated. And we couldn’t agree more! Here at Gather we see the evidence everyday. In fact, we value personal connections and work to know at least one thing about each community member. We are always looking for opportunities to engage, break the ice and build relationships with one another. And we never stop learning and improving. This is what motivates us and our members!

“According to Alex Pentland, Ph.D., author of Honest Signals: How They Shape Our World, allowing and encouraging workers to socialize with one another boosts both engagement and productivity” (Happy Brain Science, 2022).  While it is true that employees can potentially socialize in traditional offices, as pointed out in the Harvard Business Review, employees often feel as though they are expected to socialize with their coworkers when everyone in the office works for the same company. You’re probably aware of this feeling, right? 

The “obligatory nature” of the experience might make it feel forced. However, at a coworking space, people don’t socialize because their HR manager has told them it’s important for all coworkers to feel like “members of a family.” Simply put, people want to socialize when they want to.

Here at Gather, we pride ourselves in providing the perfect workspace environment that bolsters productivity and manifests greatness for our members. We get how important it is to find the right amount of space for your team, while having access to awesome amenities and resources to maximize your team’s efforts that make them look forward to coming to work every day. This is why shared office space at Gather is so successful.

Gather is a community workspace on a mission to help members make their businesses better. We understand the importance of membership experience and the quality of our workspace solutions. That’s why – with a little bit of help and feedback from our prospective members – we’ve launched our new self-checkout system online for those eager to start our pay-as-you-go, coworking and mailbox plans. 

Gather provides you with the right amount of space for the right price, whether you’re an enterprise level team in need of ample private office space or a solo-prenuer looking for shared office space. We go above and beyond to make sure our members get the most out of their membership–whichever workspace solution you opt for!

Newport News’ Tech Center is 100 acres of mixed-use development which encompasses a hybrid concept that brings together the very best of neighborhood living, retail, recreation, dining, and office space. It’s a place for the community to come together, exchange ideas, encourage innovation, and collaborate. Not only is it a centralized hub for everything you need, it’s also created more than 5,500 new, high-level jobs and is carrying an economic impact expected to exceed $28 million!

Sedentary lifestyles are on the rise, with the majority of people in the United States sitting for 6.4 hours a day on average–with an even more startling average of 25% sitting for more than 8 hours per day! For most people, days consist of getting ready for work, sitting in traffic, sitting at their desk, and then heading back home, only to sit on the couch and unwind with TV. It can be hard to make the time for physical activity and leisure outside of work. Biking to work may in fact be your answer to getting daily movement, saving time, and more! Let’s dive in.