OffiCenters WINS 2013 Most Innovative Workspace Award
Lori Spiess, CEO of OffiCenters & VirtualOffiCenters, attended the Global Workspace Association Conference in Atlanta, GA from September 18th to the 21st. While there, OffiCenters and VirtualOffiCenters won the award for Most Innovative Workspace of 2013, the most prestigious award of the conference.
What is the GWA? The GWA stands for the Global Workplace Association and is the reorganized name of the former Office Business Center Association International. The association represents workplace providers around the globe. Lori was the president of the association from 1995 to 1997.
The Award. Each year, the GWA honors a member that uses their creativity and innovation to bring their ideas to life, even if that is something completely out of the box. The members nominate themselves by submitting letters and photographs of the workplaces. This year there were five companies from Los Angeles, Miami, Washington, DC, Baltimore and Minneapolis. These entries were voted on by the membership.
How does it feel to win this award? Lori said, “I am so proud of my team. This has been an exciting year for us as we remodeled three existing locations and made them into hybrid office suites plus full coworking facilities. There are not a lot of people doing what we do!”
“When I looked at some of the entries, their spaces were gorgeous! I think the members liked that I took a 32 year old business and remodeled to bring our clients the workplace for the future. It takes a lot of innovating to revamp an existing business. And they were very impressed that I did it on a budget. That must be my Midwestern sensibilities.”
Lori also added, “Our workspace innovation goes beyond the cosmetics. I feel we were honored for our community building skills. We now offer networking, educational classes, after hour gathering such as Appy Hour in addition to new phones and technology. And, next up, we are launching a member business to business directory. That’s where we really stand out.”
Lori, who was also on a panel at the conference, admits that she was not very humble in her acceptance of the award and told the crowd, “We worked hard and we deserved this award!”
In the end, I think everyone loves to see an enthusiastic winner and everyone at OffiCenters and VirtualOffiCenters is thrilled to accept this award.
