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When Syracuse CoWorks closed for renovations in October 2019, the nonprofit anticipated reopening for the spring season. But the coronavirus pandemic halted its plans.

CoWorks provides contractors, small business owners and entrepreneurs with shared conference and presentation space, and the nonprofit also hosts events for its members. The organization has recently hosted both virtual and socially distanced, in-person events to support surrounding businesses and keep members engaged and entertained.

“There’s definitely a lot that online programming just can’t replace, so that’s unfortunate,” said Dallas Bryson, who manages the workspace’s activities and events. “All we can do is hope that people, if they’re not coming to the things that we’re offering, that they’ve found other outlets that are giving them the kind of interaction that they need.”

During the spring and early summer, CoWorks ran a virtual challenge called “Try Day Friday.” The program challenged participants to cook new foods and make a meme, among other activities. CoWorks has since moved on to different programming because trying new things so frequently was a lot to ask of people, Bryson said.

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Instead, CoWorks has focused on virtual programming that allows participants to be social, Bryson said. One of these events is a weekly Tuesday game night in which people virtually play JackBox Games. This is one of CoWorks’ largest virtual events, with eight to 15 people normally attending.

For Steven Broida, who lives alone in his apartment in Syracuse, the game nights provide an opportunity for human interaction at least once a week. Bryson introduced Broida to CoWorks through the Syracuse Society of Geeks, which has board game meet-ups.

“I like what CoWorks does,” Broida said. “It’s a good organization that fulfills a need that isn’t often filled well by other parts of the community and society.”

This month, the workspace is hosting virtual events for National Novel Writing Month as a part of their “CoWriters” programming. In addition to online writing workshops, CoWorks is hosting an in-person event called “Destination Writing,” in which people meet up at different locations around central New York to write.

Another upcoming program is “Extra Life,” which is taking place on Saturday and Sunday. The event, which raises money for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, is typically a 24-hour long gaming fundraiser hosted by the Syracuse Society of Geeks with help from CoWorks. The fundraiser will be split into two 12-hour days this year because of the switch to virtual programming.

“At least with the virtual, they can just come into the chat,” Beth Whitmore, one of the organizers of “Extra Life” said. “They can talk with people about whatever and get a little bit of social interaction in and out throughout the day, and they don’t have to stay the whole 24 hours.”

The fundraiser has been going on for six years, with a turnout of around 60 people last year at CoWorks, Whitmore said. Fifteen people have signed up for the virtual event so far, but Whitmore is hoping for 30. The organizations are halfway to their fundraising goal of $3,000.

CoWorks pays attention to which virtual events its members are enjoying and tries to base programming off that, Bryson said. Bryson hopes that CoWorks will be open this spring with social distancing and sanitizing measures in place.

“I think that it’s a little bit like the bar industry or the restaurant industry, that it will absolutely come back, but I think it’s a matter of surviving COVID,” Bryson said. “Because there will be a post-COVID time, but you have to get there.”

Published on November 4, 2020 at 9:08 pm

Contact Sydney: sabergan@syr.edu