What is coliving?
As a coliving expert and consultant in the industry, I'm often asked, "What exactly is coliving?
We've partnered up with one of the best guest experience coliving consultant, Leah Ziliak to launch a 6 part monthly blog post series . We're kicking off the series with our first blog post 'What is coliving?'. Happy Reading!
As a coliving expert and consultant in the industry, I'm often asked, "What exactly is coliving?
What is coliving?
The term ‘coliving’ can mean a lot of different things, so it’s easy to be confused. When I talk about coliving to friends, family and colleagues outside of the industry, I get some puzzled looks. Some imagine I'm part of a hippie commune, while others picture me living out an extended version of college dorm life.
Why would a professional woman in her 30s choose to live with housemates, instead of alone or with a partner? If you’ve found yourself wondering the same, let me start by telling you that modern-day coliving is a much more elevated experience than you might think.
So, what does exactly coliving mean?
In its simplest form, coliving is when a group of three or more unrelated people live together in one place. But the term has come to encompass a wide variety of living arrangements and situations over the years. From housing co-ops to hacker houses to student housing to high-rise community living, coliving has evolved to meet the needs of a new wave of people looking for communal living arrangements.
Interested in getting a glimpse of what coliving can look like? Imagine this...
You're living in a high-rise coliving in the city. You have a 9th-floor room all to yourself but pop downstairs to grab a coffee in the community kitchen. You hop on the community app and see that there's a Movie Night scheduled later that day and click 'Attend.' You use your smartphone for keyless entry into your kitchen storage unit to grab a muesli bar, and settle into your favourite spot in the coworking area to start your workday.
Examples of coliving spaces
You work remotely and book a room for a month at a coliving space in Spain. You’re staying in a quaint village by the sea in a historic apartment with a group of 10 other colivers. During the day, everyone works or studies quietly in the dedicated coworking area. At 5 pm, someone's pouring glasses of Tempranillo on the terrace and starting a skillshare event on SEO Strategies, before you all head out for tapas. Maybe you’ll stay another month or two? It sure beats working from your home office.
This is also coliving.
Modern-day coliving can present itself in a lot of different ways, with these being just two examples of many. There are coliving villages, coliving retreats, rural coliving, long-term residential coliving spaces and short-term destination-based coliving spaces. There are also coliving spaces intended for niche communities.
With so many different types of shared living spaces all over the world, there's a coliving space for anyone and everyone. And while they certainly all have their differences and are intended for different demographics, each of them prioritises the same things:
Community. Flexibility. Freedom. Experiences.
Benefits of coliving
So, why exactly is coliving such a huge trend right now? The growth in modern-day coliving comes about due to a shift in priorities amongst consumers, along with a strong push forward from the pandemic. Here are a few reasons why people are gravitating toward coliving now more than ever before:
- Ease of Living: When it comes to coliving, life is easier in every way. Although amenities differ from space to space, you will typically find perks like housekeeping, all-inclusive bills, fully furnished spaces, coworking areas, a dedicated community manager and events. Many spaces are prioritising tech, enabling enhanced security and keyless access for a seamless user experience and even more freedom. Some operators integrate platforms that enable members to connect based on similar interests and further encourage community interaction.
- Flexibility & Accessibility: With the rise of remote work due to the pandemic, consumers have more freedom and more choices than ever before. When you can work from anywhere in the world, you can live anywhere in the world. Coliving spaces typically offer flexible leases and furnished spaces. With coliving for example, you can move to London tomorrow with nothing more than a suitcase if you’d like.
- Experiences Over Things: In recent years, especially among millennials, we’ve seen a strong shift toward valuing experiences more than physical things. Consumers are willing to share spaces if it means having higher-quality interactions and experiences than they’d get living solo.
- Shared Economy: We no longer need to own a car, we have Uber. We don't need to buy a dress for that black-tie event, we have Rent the Runway. We don't need to own a villa in France, we have Airbnb. With the rise of the shared economy, consumers have access to all sorts of amenities, without the need to acquire a bunch of possessions. Sharing homes gives us access to spaces and experiences that we might not ever be able to afford on our own.
- Community: Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen the negative effects that social isolation can have on our well-being. People are craving a real sense of connection and coliving delivers on this in every way. Far from being a millennial trend, coliving offers a solution to combat loneliness for those of all ages. With the rise of senior and multigenerational coliving, it's clear that the desire to be part of a connected community sticks with us throughout our lives.
So to recap, what is coliving in 2022? Coliving is a lifestyle. It’s a modern-day solution to an age-old need for a more connected, seamless living experience.
There's a meme I’ve seen going around that says, "Normalise splitting a mansion with your 5 best friends and 10 dogs." And, while ten dogs might be a bit much, I appreciate the overall sentiment.
The coliving movement is normalising living with an inspiring group of like-minded people. Through tech, through superior resident experiences, and through community, coliving is shifting the entire housing market and pushing it forward to provide more enriching at-home experiences.
So, when people ask me why someone would choose coliving, my question to them is, “Why not?” Coliving is the key.
Stay tuned for the second of our coliving blog posts series which will be live in June with a focus on hybrid hospitality.
Contact our team of experts to offer a seamless customer experience to your residents with SALTO.
Increase social value with Technology Partner Sowebuild
One of SALTO’s Technology Partners,Sowebuild, offers community services and solutions backed by strategy, management, and their very own technology called ‘Buildr Apps’
One of SALTO’s Technology Partners, Sowebuild, offers community services and solutions backed by strategy, management, and their very own technology called ‘Buildr Apps’ - a community experience platform and engagement app for residential and commercial real estate investors, operators, and building residents.
We’ve asked the co-founder of Sowebuild, Sander Willems, and Laura Henke, who is in charge of Marketing and Content, about their integration with SALTO’s cloud-based access control solution, SALTO KS, and how this integration helps to increase social value in real estate.
Continue reading to find out more about this valuable integration:
How is the integration between Buildr Apps and SALTO KS improving the lives of end-users?
It primarily saves time and prevents frustration amongst tenants who want to make use of shared workplaces, work spots, and meeting rooms. Users can book a room and automatically get authorized access to their space with a single click on a button via the app, which acts as a remote control and extension of their daily natural work routine.
In addition to that, it also helps end-users to be and feel safer around their living and/or working places, especially in regards to the COVID-19 rules, since operators can decide to give or deny access based on occupancy and cleaning status of shared spaces.
What triggered Sowebuild to work with SALTO?
My partner Rick Scholsis one of the Dutch Ambassadors for the Co-Liv network and got to know Christian Schmitz of SALTO Systems through it. Since we share a passion for community and are both very active around the subject of shared living and coworking, conversations between our companies arose naturally.
We felt that SALTO could be a perfect and much-needed extension/integration to our technology. Looking at the current situation, our collaboration became even more meaningful as it helps us to keep both operators and tenants safe and the overall user experience seamless.
Success comes with a proper strategy and conscious, continuous nourishment, treating residents as if they were your own kin. - Co-founder of Sowebuild, Sander Willems
Why do you feel it’s so important that tenants have a say in the management and development of their own space from the get-go?
Because tenants (read: people!) who are involved in the development of their own working and living environment naturally feel more connected to it. Generally speaking, this means higher engagement, more inclusion, and a sense of responsibility for the place they are living or working in (and the people they are sharing it with). On an operator level, this usually results in a higher social value of the properties and better retention rates which heavily enhance sustainability and NOI growth.
On the other hand, the end-user feels seen, heard, valued, and appreciated, which motivates them to take responsibility for their shared space and invite others to do so as well (ambassador) – it doesn’t really matter whether we talk coliving, cohousing, or coworking.
What do SALTO and Sowebuild have in common?
Sowebuild and SALTO are both advanced, fast-paced software providers: companies that are very much needed at this time and will be highly requested in the near future not only due to the current changes in the real estate market but also in the world.
Besides that, we are both active members of the ever-evolving community, coliving, and coworking debate, shaping the future of shared housing and flexible working.
What are the three most essential aspects in building communities in the PropTech sector?
- Community managers/facilitators should have the time, space, and tools to focus on the facilitation of their members; organizing the community itself, as well as events; and realizing valuable social connections.
- Give members the opportunity to orchestrate their own lives, to be effective in what they do, thrive in what they enjoy doing, and foster close relationships with people and businesses around them.
- Elevate the experience by creating an environment of inclusion. Build a place rather than a space, that is based on interconnected membership and shared values. The effects and results of building a real community go far beyond the experience of the physically built space itself.
How do you analyze user behavior and how do you use your findings to upgrade your services?
We analyze social behavior within our community module, analyze actions and transactions in our online services module, and we aim to measure the temperature of residents’ happiness by Net Promotor Score, reviews, surveys, and in the future with AI technology.
These indicators are used to provide community managers the opportunity to allocate social interaction at the right moment and place to facilitate members better in supply and demand of local products and services.
What are the most valued features that Sowebuild offers its users?
To name two of our most successful modules:
- Community (newsfeed, events, profiles, live chat)
- Bookings (meeting rooms, services, and perks; food and products; shared items)
Though we are increasingly adding features, functionality, and analytics to our platform, we’d like to stress that the success of building a sustainable community has nothing to do with solemn technology and the number of features that you offer. Because the community is built around values of inclusion, not just or only around amenities and perks.
Connecting with residents personally is 10 times more effective for your people to feel happy than adding a gadget. We’ve seen this over and over again in the places that we serve. Success comes with a proper strategy and conscious, continuous nourishment, treating residents as if they were your own kin.
What is something people might not know about Sowebuild, but they should?
Communities are built best with the right balance of strategy, management, and technology. Often clients come to us requesting “an app for their building” with the idea of leaving with a product, but they often appear to stay with us helping them to build their community to its full potential, both online and offline, where technology is just a fraction of what we do. We have community experts and managers in our team that help facilitate various kinds of places where people live and work. So we are active in different verticals of real estate and take our learnings from the different markets to serve a general goal: building a strong community.
We know you are likely thinking, “yes, in an ideal world community is most important but often a delicate challenge that is difficult to grasp in reality, and ideas are often easier than their practical implementation.” We hear you! That’s why we listen and observe. We are driven to prove “community success” and the eventual ROI for property investors and operators. We see this aspect as our personal mission, to find the right metrics and optimize spaces ensuring a sense of belonging, wellbeing, and happiness for our client’s end users.
At this moment, around 15 people work at Sowebuild and we are preparing ourselves to expand internationally. To set out this course in a sustainable way, we are always on the lookout for the right partners to join us in this journey. Whether you are a possible integration partner, potential client, or interested in investing in our company’s growth, please reach out to us to learn how we can collaborate, we’d be happy to visit.
Let us build more thriving communities together!
What would you like to see for the future of this integration with SALTO KS?
First of all, I would like to thank Menno Ruimschotel for taking the time and having the patience to work on this assignment meeting our client’s expectations. As he is taking a higher position at SALTO Systems, I would like to wish him all the best in the future.
Furthermore, I enjoyed the collaboration with Björn de Vries and his team, for being helpful in getting the tools connected and integrated well. I would like to see the collaboration in this project as a reference for doing more fruitful work together in the future. Because community is the key, right ;)? (smiles)
We are continuously growing towards the digitization of places where hybrid, physical communities are the key to online and offline connection and part of our daily lives and routines. We will passionately continue to add value to this interconnected realm, creating maximal performance and natural experience.
We foresee an exciting future where the human-centric approach becomes an integral part of designing spatial experiences. Sowebuild is looking forward to being an experienced player in this field, using the leverage of technology to foster sustainable communities.
We’d like to thank Sowebuild for this insightful interview. We look forward to a valuable and inspirational partnership that will continue to grow and develop in the upcoming years.
Follow SALTO on LinkedIn or Instagram to keep up with the latest news in the world of access control. Find Sowebuild on LinkedIn to stay up to date on their community experience platform and engagement app.
Images by Today's Brew.
Personalized branding for Coliving with help of technology
The dedicated coliving professionals from Coliving Insights have done it again! Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the team from Coliving Insights works across the globe on a mission to push innovative ideas, thought, and people from the coliving industry into the spotlight.
The dedicated coliving professionals from Coliving Insights have done it again! Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the team from Coliving Insights works across the globe on a mission to push innovative ideas, thought, and people from the coliving industry into the spotlight.
We can’t believe it’s already the 8th edition of the always anticipated on Coliving Insights online magazine. This edition focuses on ‘Branding & Marketing for Authentic Shared Living Communities’. In this publication, Coliving Insights touches upon how consistent branding, marketing, and communication strategies can open endless opportunities to make your coliving brand more recognizable and authentic throughout various touchpoints of the customer journey and reflect wider brand values, mission, and vision and how coliving operators use various touchpoints to increase brand recognition and reach.
Access control goes beyond the product; it’s a facilitator for a future-proof way of living that supports well-being, a strong sense of community, and thriving businesses. This is why SALTO’s very own Caterina Maiolini and Christian Schmitz elaborate on the topic of how technology can attract those customers that can elevate your coliving brand on page 53.
Other topics that are discussed in this article:
- Learn who your target audience is
- How to discover and meet your guest’s needs
- How a personalised customer experience can help you leverage your brand
This eighth edition features marketers and creative professionals from creative agencies, digital and marketing agencies, and in-house marketing teams that share valuable insights, their own experience, and best practises on how to create strong, recognizable, and sustainable brands through effective and well-executed marketing strategies and brands. Diving into the intricacies of various branding solutions and exploring how they can facilitate the creation of a strong brand personality that can differentiate itself in a competitive coliving industry.
Through 120+ pages of insightful articles, you will get valuable advice from over 15 industry experts including SALTO Systems on how to create an innovative, sustainable, and timeless approach to branding and communication practises.
Get your free copy of Coliving Insights No.8 ‘Branding & Marketing for Authentic Shared Living Communities’ today! Download the full publication here.
Can’t get enough? Follow SALTO on LinkedIn or Instagram to keep up with the latest news in the world of access control.
Intelligent & Secure lock openings with Digital Key
Make your doors smart with Salto’s digital key electronic locking technology.
Salto’s smart door locks allow users and system administrators to send and receive Digital Keys that can open any door or gate equipped with a Salto smart lock, cylinder, wall reader, padlock, or locker lock using their iOS or Android Bluetooth LE or NFC-enabled smartphone.
Mobile access control solutions offer users a keyless experience, providing instant and mobile access without compromising security or convenience. By combining various technologies, Salto's smart locking solutions evolve from traditional access control to ACaaS (Access Control as a Service), enabling users to manage access rights quickly, wirelessly, and without keys. This offers greater security than mechanical keys by introducing digital keys and replacing traditional physical keys or smart credentials.
Implementing mobile credentials and digital keys.
Digital Keys are available across smart access technology platforms from Salto.
Designed to secure any door in a building and make access control more effortless and secure than ever, Salto Space offers a flexible access control platform with a unified software and hardware platform.
Experience unified, scalable security, integration support, and limitless features to manage your buildings’ operations with a virtually networked, data-on-card based locking system.
Salto KS (KaaS: Keys as a Service) is a scalable cloud-based Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) solution that’s built to fit your business needs, today and tomorrow.
Salto KS smart access offers multiple ways of opening doors, including digital keys. It supports a wide range of keyless access methods to improve user experience and the security of any type of building. It also delivers advanced security features on a fully remote and wireless cloud-based smart access management platform.
Salto Homelok - All-in-one smart access solution for residential living
Salto Homelok enables modern keyless living for residents, streamlines operations for managers and owners, and improves security across all types of residential properties.
A cloud-based smart access platform with intelligent, wire-free and virtually networked electronic locking SVN technology optimises hybrid deployments and enables the smart building ecosystem without needing infrastructure.
Benefits of mobile credentials for Access Control
Salto’s digital keys eliminates losing keys, added expenses, and frustration.
- Digital Key: Increases flexibility and improves security. Easy, efficient, and intuitive automated key delivery.
- Bluetooth LE, NFC and Apple Wallet: Proven mobile and secure technology to create a unique keyless experience anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
- Smarter access: Send or receive a Digital Key to open any door. Grant access or block users easily to specific timeframes and/or locations.
- Improved operational efficiency and significant cost savings: Traditional mechanical keys can be expensive to replace and maintain, and the cost of key cards or physical credentials can quickly add up. Operators can instantly manage access permissions to grant, disable and revoke access to optimize user experience and enhance security management.
- Mobile and card-based access control systems are the most secure way to give access to the right person at the right time.
JustIn Mobile Digital Keys: Using your smartphone for access
JustIN Mobile eliminates the need for physical keys or cards and all the associated costs and access management hassles.
The JustIN Mobile technology replaces the need for a physical access card by securely sending a room key “Over the Air” (OTA) from Salto’s Space, KS or Homelok smart access platforms to a registered and verified iOS or Android device. The phone then uses Bluetooth LE or NFC to send a signal to the door’s electronic locks.
Leverage the performance and usability of the fully native Salto JustIN Mobile key delivery experience into your mobile app. With the JustIN Mobile SDK, which is available for both iOS and Android, you can integrate JustIN Mobile for a fully customised mobile digital key integration into any third-party application. The JustIN Mobile SDK makes it easy and secure to incorporate smartphones into your access control solution.
Give workspace members, hospitality guests, or multi-family house residents the convenience of going keyless using their smartphones, enabling community-based access control solutions supporting user satisfaction, security, and safety.
Can’t get enough? Click here to learn about Salto’s smart access solutions.
Follow Salto Systems on LinkedIn or Instagram to keep up with the latest news in the world of access control.
The Key in Weave Living Properties
There’s a popular movement going on in busy city centers like Hong Kong: the rise of share living spaces brands. For rental brand operators to optimise the living experience, they need to find more convenient ways to control access across multiple properties for their large number of residents as well as staff.
There’s a popular movement going on in busy city centers like Hong Kong: the rise of rental brands. For rental brand operators to optimise the living experience, they need to find more convenient ways to control access across multiple properties for their large number of residents as well as staff.
Weave Living is Asia Pacific’s leading owner, developer, and operator of rental accommodation, offering hassle-free city living in many prime locations. The company strives to bring individuals together in inspiring spaces, allowing them to thrive in an urban environment.
It provides a range of long- and short-term rentals including Weave Suites, which emulate a stay on the concierge level of a luxury hotel; Weave Residences, which are like traditional apartment rentals; and Weave Studios for co-living accommodations popular with millennial types. Within these properties, Weave Living’s residences boast a range of living options such as furnished apartments with private kitchens and bathrooms, and private studios with shared spaces like kitchens, living rooms, workspaces, and gyms.
To maximise its residential and staff experience, Weave Living realised its need for a keyless entry system. It required a system that would allow residents and staff alike to enter and exit living units and shared spaces like main entrances, gyms, rooftops/terraces and meeting rooms without mechanical keys. Managing traditional mechanical keys with rental residents who might only live in a property for as little as a month would be nearly impossible. Additionally, the use of mechanical keys would pose a significant security risk considering that lost keys are amongst the most serious security breaches. Consequently, it was clear from the offset that an electronic access control system would best serve Weave Living’s residential properties.
“SALTO KS enables the freedom of movement between properties for staff and residents with a single credential” - David Lee, SALTO Systems Business Unit Manager, Greater Bay Area and Taiwan.
Weave Living was committed to finding a true cloud solution. It found its ideal solution in SALTO KS’ ‘Keys as a Service’ access control management platform. SALTO was the perfect partner for Weave Living owing to its smart solution offerings that catered seamlessly to Weave Living’s wide range of property types.
The solution provides a flexible, cloud-based access control management system that requires no software installation or the added expense of a fully-wired electronic product. An online device with internet connection is its only necessity. The key benefits of the SALTO KS cloud-based solution include: very little maintenance; scalable to any number of doors or properties; and extreme reliability. Property management can easily oversee the electronic locks on doors from any device – a phone, PC, or tablet – and residents can conveniently access their homes with a smartphone. Ultimately, this system eliminates the hassle, cost, and security worries associated with lost mechanical keys.
“SALTO makes it easy to manage users and access groups on SALTO KS remotely without physically presenting an access card, key fob, or smart device” - Juliana So, Weave Living Systems Manager.
SALTO Systems Business Unit Manager, Greater Bay Area and Taiwan, David Lee, said that when Weave Living and SALTO representatives first met, it was apparent that Weave Living placed a very high priority on using technology to drive a better user experience for their residents. Furthermore, SALTO KS is integrated with Weave Living’s PMS provider. As such, SALTO KS delivers a convenient digital key that residents can access from their smartphone within the same mobile app where they read news feeds, sign up for events, and make maintenance or housekeeping requests.
“Whether it’s using the SALTO key fob or integrating with the Weave Living mobile app as a digital key via Bluetooth to access doors, we have been able to create a great experience for our residents and our Weave Living staff members,” said Weave Living Systems Manager, Juliana So.
Another key benefit of SALTO KS is the ability to block access remotely, “In the case of a lost or stolen phone, one of our staff can remotely block access for that digital key and either install a new key on one of the resident’s other mobile devices or issue a SALTO key fob until they can replace their phone. The SALTO system even allows senior Weave Living staff to access multiple properties with just one digital key on their smart device,” explained So.
On a final note, SALTO KS, coupled with the elegant selection of SALTO electronic locks, is the perfect access control solution for the sleek Weave Living decor – comparable to luxury hotels. On this theme, So said, “the SALTO locks are stylish and blend in really well with our beautifully designed homes.”
Weave Living will continue to incorporate the latest SALTO smart locking technology as they expand across Hong Kong and into additional markets like Singapore and Australia. For any global gateway city – good, quality, and professionally-managed rental accommodation is the key to keeping the city competitive and attracting the best international talent to the city.
Take a look at the SALTO KS page for more information on this cloud-based access control solution. Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for the latest product features, updates, and news from the industry.
SALTO Systems develops and manufactures advanced and reliable wireless electronic locking and access control smart solutions that provide a smoother, more comfortable, and secure daily life for the people using our systems. We bring added value to our clients, making it easier for decision-making and smarter management of facilities. Our goal is to not only be within the top three companies in our sector in the world, but to also be your number one smart electronic access control provider. As an organization, we intend to create an ecosystem of end users, clients, partners, collaborators, and suppliers with whom we build long-lasting, win-win relationships guided by closeness, flexibility, integrity, and trust.
SALTO joins digital nomad communities celebration at Bansko Nomad Fest
In the last week of June, more than 300 digital nomads, remote workers, and freelancers made their way to a quaint mountain town in Bulgaria to take part in the Bansko Nomad Fest.
In the last week of June, more than 300 digital nomads, remote workers, and freelancers made their way to a quaint mountain town in Bulgaria to take part in the Bansko Nomad Fest. With inspiring speakers, interactive workshops, community events, and lots of time in nature, the week-long festival was a true celebration of the location-independent lifestyle. Digital nomadism has already been on the rise in recent years, but with the increase in remote work opportunities, the community is set to explode. According to The Economist, by 2035, there will be 1 billion digital nomads in the world.
As one of the main partners of the event, our team at SALTO Systems was able to experience the magic behind the nomad community in Bansko first-hand. Previously, Bansko has been known for its ski slopes and old town, but over the last five years, it has become a notable hot spot for digital nomads, drawing in location independent travellers from all over the world and all year-round.
In order to create a customer-centric experience with our products, we believe in the importance of getting to know our end users and understanding their personal experiences, desires, and needs. At Bansko Nomad Fest, we were able to do just that. Coliving and coworking are all about connection, and having the opportunity to connect with the people who use our products daily in the stimulating festival environment was especially impactful.
To find out all the key takeaways from the event, we reached out to our Think Tank Partner, Leah Ziliak, Founder of The Coliving Consultant and a digital nomad herself.
Read ahead for Leah’s on-the-ground experience of Bansko Nomad Fest!
So, how did a ski resort town in the middle of Bulgaria become one of the top digital nomad destinations?
In 2016, Uwe Allgäuer and Matthias Zeitler founded Coworking Bansko, with the intention of not only building a top-notch coworking space but developing a real community around it. The results have been pretty incredible. Now, with multiple locations and 100+ members at any given time, Coworking Bansko has been able to foster an environment that supports entrepreneurs and remote workers, while cultivating an incredibly close-knit community.
With its picturesque location at the foot of the Pirin Mountains, it’s easy to see the allure of spending time in Bansko, but the real undeniable draw here? The community of Coworking Bansko.
Coworking Bansko has crafted its own unique community experience, one that makes its members feel at home right away. It’s not unusual for members to come for a week or two and end up staying for a few months or years. That’s the power of the community built in just these past few years.
Wanting to open the experience up to a larger audience, Coworking Bansko decided to create a festival to celebrate the location independent lifestyle and connect on an even bigger scale, and with that, Bansko Nomad Fest was born.
With attendees from over 30 different countries, the festival drew in crowds from all over the world. Israel and Italy also participated with their own Digital Nomad communities to join the international nomads who flocked to the festival. With 48% of attendees being women, it's clear that the work-from-anywhere trend is growing among female entrepreneurs and remote workers.
The festival itself was jam-packed with activities all week long, including professional events and workshops, alongside more community-based activities like bonfires, karaoke competitions, quiz nights, horseback riding, and pool parties. But, even during a quiet week at Coworking Bansko, you’ll find an entire schedule of events. With yoga classes, community dinners, skill shares, game nights, group hikes, and more, there are plenty of opportunities for members to connect on a daily basis. No matter your interests, there’s always something you can participate in.
With a strong interest in the coliving and coworking sector, the team at SALTO Systems had been hearing the buzz about Bansko for a while now and wanted to experience it first-hand. Nomad Fest was the perfect opportunity to connect with users and be fully immersed in the community.
SALTO Systems’ Christian Schmitz, Global Lead of Shared Living and Workspaces, and Cate Maoilini, Community and Partnership Manager, presented their talks on The Freedom of the Cloud’ and Growth in Tech in the CO to the main stage audience. Bringing technology to the shared living and working experience is all about creating both a sense of connection and a sense of freedom. Both SALTO presentations took an in-depth look at the user journey experience and the tech needed within the coliving and coworking industries. From communication tools to cloud-based keyless access solutions, the duo discussed how properly integrated technology has the potential to improve the customer experience from the very first touchpoint to the last.
Additional highlights of the week included SALTO’s Sharing Is Caring workshop, bringing together festival participants to collaborate and find solutions to real-life issues they were facing. Along with a Virtual DJ Party, various networking events, and impromptu meetups, SALTO was able to provide their own community experiences and bring further awareness to the possibilities that tech solutions can have within the industry.
Digital Nomads are on the cutting edge of all types of industries: travel, tech, coliving, and coworking to name a few. They’re not the average traveller. Nomads have a very unique set of needs and a unique set of values. They are experience-driven and with a location independent lifestyle, strongly prioritize freedom, which is part of the reason SALTO’s access control solutions are such a powerful tool within the coliving and coworking industry/sector.
One of the things that stands out most while spending time in Bansko is the collaborative, supportive spirit that exists within the community. The personal connections derived from coliving and coworking are immense, but the benefits extend even beyond that. Being surrounded by a group of people with different mindsets and backgrounds allows for an incredible amount of personal growth opportunities.
The sharing economy is about more than just coliving or coworking together. It’s about combining skills, creating together, and sharing experiences that can enhance life in real tangible ways.
One of the biggest trends in coliving right now is the rise in rural and destination-based coliving experiences. Places like Bansko are proving that there’s so much value in a community. As a coliving or coworking operator, if you’re able to create an experience that’s truly unique, people will travel around the world to be part of it. On top of that, rural areas tend to offer a lower cost of living, access to nature, and an enhanced quality of life that you simply can’t find in major cities around the world.
As the remote workforce increases, people are becoming more and more conscious about where they choose to live. If you can work anywhere, you can live anywhere too, right? It’s clear that the number of digital nomads will rise in the next several years. The numbers speak for themselves; an estimated 17 million people aspire to become nomads in the future. Analysts say that by 2035, there will be 1 billion digital nomads in the world.
As for those that are already living the nomad life in Bulgaria, and in various hotspots around the world? They are early adopters of the shared living/working experience and part of a rapidly-growing demographic.
Bansko offers community, ease of living, and the freedom to experience the world a little differently, factors that will one day become the norm. SALTO Systems has the ability to make a real impact within these communities by enabling seamless experiences and creating opportunities for connection through their solutions.
Christian Schmitz put it best, “Community is the key.”
What is the Next Generation of Smart Locks - What is it?
In a new video collaboration by SALTO and Group337 we dive deeper into what we believe "The Next Generation of Smart Locks" will be.
In a new video collaboration by SALTO and Group337 we dive deeper into what we believe "The Next Generation of Smart Locks" will be. The purpose of this collaboration is to spark a conversation—a change. We are hoping to help start a new language for the industry, and if we agree that the smart lock industry has entered into its next generation, we should agree we need to look, say, and act next generation.
In part 1, we are diving into the difference between smart, connected, motorized, and mechanical and what the next generation of smart locks will need to stay relevant.
In part 2, we will tackle the value beyond locking and unlocking. And in the finale, part 3, we reimagine door openings and our relationship with entering and exiting.
We plan to cover the different verticals such as single-family, multifamily, and commercial locks. We will speak to all of them generically and high level enough that what we discuss applies to all use cases. There are fundamental functionality and value creation that work across all verticals in the Next Generation of smart locks, and we want to cover them here.
Of course, this is just the beginning, and we can't cover it all in such a short amount of time, but we will do our best.
All right, let's get into it part one.
It is important to note a clear difference between smart, connected, motorized, and mechanical locks. Unfortunately, we sometimes mix them all and conflate their abilities.
If we are honest, most of the electronic locks on the market today are not smart. What they are, is connected. We went from mechanical to motorized, motorized to connected, and we still haven't gotten to what we all want, which is smart.
But we are getting there. One of the most significant barriers to our industry boarding a rocket ship and seeing that hockey stick growth and adoption we all expected to see by today is that we have not innovated the smart lock (enough). We have only iterated the mechanical lock. Motorized and connected were feature iterations off of mechanical. So think about it, we as an industry said, "what if the door opened itself? Well, if it's locked, that won't work, so let's automate the unlock function." So we went and took the same mechanical lock that we had before, updated it a bit, and integrated a motor into it.
Is it an advancement? Yes, no doubt. But it was not very smart.
Then the market and ecosystem said, "We'd like to take your motorized lock and have our system lock and unlock it. We want to control it." We also said, "wouldn't it be cool if we could lock and unlock via our phone or watch?" 100%.
And we were happy to do it, so we took the same motorized lock and added some radios and gave the ability for it to connect to other systems... introducing the connected lock.
Some marketing departments and analysts got excited and dubbed it "smart locks," but unfortunately, once the cool factor wore off and the inability to drive a consistent experience became a reality, what we ultimately had was a connected lock that, frankly, wasn't so smart.
But that is ok because, like many things, the market is shifting. New technology is being introduced.
As a result, new players are interested in the market, and end-user demand has increased, resulting in a renewed interest in smart locks.
So what does the next generation of smart locks look like?
- It is a reimagined platform—all of it, including the hardware.
- It is not a feature of a mechanical lock like a brass finish. It is its entity.
- Some use cases and end game functionality are unknown, which is ok because it is part of an ecosystem. It is an ingredient to a much larger solution.
- It is a software product with hardware that supports the experiences desired by end-users versus administrators and installers.
- It has safety at the core and safety as table stakes. It is a given and includes cybersecurity as well as hardened physical security.
- A team supports it focused on it day in and day out, not as a side hustle.
- It is a product line understood by leadership with the same importance and expectations as its mechanical brothers and sisters.
- Business plans are not predicated solely on yesterday's metrics.
- Distribution and hardware sales are not the only measures of success. It is time for a new spreadsheet.
- Hardware is used to grow the platform's adoption to unlock software potential exponentially, not get in the way of said growth.
The smart lock is this and many other things. But, more or less, the smart lock of today and tomorrow is a complete re-imagination. And those with curiosity and imagination will unlock it.
Contact us if you have any questions on the SALTO product range or visit our website located here for information on all things SALTO. We look forward to helping!
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SALTO Systems develops and manufactures advanced and reliable wireless electronic locking and access control smart solutions that provide a smoother, more comfortable, and secure daily life for the people using our systems. We bring added value to our clients, making it easier for decision-making and smarter management of facilities. Our goal is to not only be within the top three companies in our sector in the world, but to also be your number one smart electronic access control provider. As an organization, we intend to create an ecosystem of end users, clients, partners, collaborators, and suppliers with whom we build long-lasting, win-win relationships guided by closeness, flexibility, integrity, and trust.
The world’s largest coliving gathering: Co-Liv Summit 2021
A common denominator for all pioneers is that they don’t stop for anything until they reach their goal. This is also the case with SALTO’s partner Co-Liv.
A common denominator for all pioneers is that they don’t stop for anything until they reach their goal. This is also the case with SALTO’s partner Co-Liv. This May they held the world's largest coliving gathering and even a global pandemic couldn’t stop them from making this online event a huge success.
As residential communities that host like-minded people, coliving has become a welcome solution to the growing desire to live in communities and the lack of individual real estate possibilities. This popular housing concept is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs, developers and professionals to contribute with smart technology and new innovations.
SALTO believes in a future built by people, that enhances the way we live and work by technology. A human-centered future that benefits from smart innovations that supports a healthy lifestyle, whether that’s in an office, a shop or a shared living space.
If you have been keeping an eye on the SALTO LinkedIn and Instagram accounts, you are probably familiar with SALTO’s biggest partner in the coliving industry, Co-Liv: a global association of coliving professionals that have the same beliefs on the future of living as SALTO.
Co-Liv unites those professionals who are looking to make a difference in the coliving experience. They believe that together, they steer the coliving movement towards an independent, flourishing, and stakeholder-centered industry that creates value for residents, cities, neighborhoods, operators, investors, and real estate owners alike.
The theme of the Summit was “Laying down the foundations for the future of coliving” and to date is the largest coliving gathering ever held.
On day one Alexander Rosdorff, Global Technology Partner & Integrations Lead at SALTO Systems was a panel member together with fellow industry experts Ari Dinar, Oscar van Wel, and Dimitri Belin, for the insightful discussion 'Deep dive into the coliving tech ecosystem’. The summit was topped off by the very first edition of ‘The Coliving Awards’ live-streamed from Paris, where SALTO’s Christian Schmitz, Global Lead, Shared Living and Work Spaces, and head of tech at Co-Liv, acted as a jury member and simultaneously accepted the award for ‘Best Sponsor’ in name of SALTO Systems.
"I believe that when you are together and you share information, doubts, fears, successes, and more, very strong bonds are created and this will remove many of the current roadblocks in the coliving movement." - Christian Schmitz, Head of Tech at Co-Liv and global Shared Living lead at SALTO Systems
By bringing the whole ecosystem together during the summit, Co-Liv has empowered the movement to grow even further. Small and big players now feel more connected and part of something bigger. With this summit, the word ‘Coliving’ has for once and for all evolved from just a buzzword to a word with meaning.
"This event was a great opportunity to learn about the often overlooked aspects of technology in Coliving, and bring them to light. Integrations being a vital part of this. Choosing the right integrations is essential to create a thriving community, and I enjoyed diving into this important aspect at the summit." - Alexander Rosdorff, Global Technology Partner & Integrations Lead at SALTO Systems
It was an honor to be part of this celebration which casts a much-deserved spotlight on the coliving community.
"This event showcased the core values that we strongly share with Co-Liv which are to educate, empower and connect. These are values that are still felt strongly by the whole coliving ecosystem. Winning the award at the Coliving Awards was the perfect ending to this incredible event.” - Caterina Maiolini, Community and Partnership Manager for Shared Living and Workspaces at SALTO Systems
To conclude this article SALTO would like to congratulate all winners, finalists, and nominees, particularly our partners: Co-Liv for their Ambassador Programme, OurDomain by Greystar, on their awards, and lastly, the winner of the PropTech and ConTech award for which Christian acted as jury member: Hmlet Coliving Software.
Co-Liv has just released a comprehensive report on the key highlights, exclusive industry statistics, key insights from panel discussions, and much more! Make sure to download the report through this link if you want to read exclusive insights from the world’s largest coliving gathering.
SALTO Systems develops and manufactures advanced and reliable wireless electronic locking and access control smart solutions that provide a smoother, more comfortable, and secure daily life for the people using our systems. We bring added value to our clients, making it easier for decision-making and more innovative management of facilities. Our goal is to not only be within the top three companies in our sector in the world but also to be your number one smart electronic access control provider. As an organization, we intend to create an ecosystem of end-users, clients, partners, collaborators, and suppliers with whom we build long-lasting, win-win relationships guided by closeness, flexibility, integrity, and trust.
La Pinada Lab and SALTO partner up to make the built environment more sustainable, inclusive, and livable through technology and data.
La Pinada Lab, located in Valencia, Spain, is an open innovation center that paves the way for future living. It is the first eco-district that is co-created by its residents.
La Pinada Lab, located in Valencia, Spain, is an open innovation center that paves the way for future living. It is the first eco-district that is co-created by its residents. The center focuses on the sustainability of the urban environment by facilitating processes that tackle key contemporary challenges such as renewable energy, waste management, sustainable drinking water, smart mobility, accessibility, alternative construction methods, involvement of diverse populations, and more.
The Lab works alongside corporations, startups, administrations, and other stakeholders with the ambition of not only designing an inclusive, sustainable, and meaningful environment but to develop solutions that can be applied and scaled up in different contexts.
Acting as a backbone organization, La Pinada Lab facilitates processes to test, deliver, and implement solutions to support a more inclusive, cohesive, and conscious way of living in the community. This results in shared living experiences in urban density and efficiency for all involved audiences like customers, operators, and third-party service providers.
The lab is a 900 sqm. venue that is currently under construction and is scheduled for opening in mid-June. This space will support events and networking activities, workshops, operate as a testbed for pilot projects and other experiments, and serve as a showroom for advanced solutions and technologies.
The collaboration:
By partnering with SALTO, La Pinada Lab can connect the dots between lifestyle and technology, allowing them to build the right tech infrastructure. SALTO is happy to join this unique experience to share what we have learned and educate and inspire the entire La Pinada Lab team and visitors about the new experiences and benefits that come with opening doors.
SALTO is joining La Pinada Lab’s partnership program as Project Partner. The first step is to incorporate SALTO smart access products and technology into the infrastructure of the La Pinada space. And being installed in a lab, it is only natural to observe and experiment with the use of SALTO’s keyless experience, identifying opportunities for new solutions and the impact of digitization and automation on daily life.
Both SALTO and La Pinada Lab are firm believers in sharing, exchanging, and networking. As part of its program of activities, the Lab will host events around Smart Cities, construction, building management, and various related fields where SALTO and other partners and stakeholders will share their expertise and learn from each other.
We are excited about this new partnership and can’t wait to explore potential innovation projects to develop new products, services, and platforms together.
Connect with us to learn more about:
Follow the journey by learning more about La Pinada Lab through their social channels on LinkedIn, Youtube, and Instagram.
For any further details on SALTO Systems and showroom activities, please contact Christian, Global Lead for Shared Living and Coworking Spaces.
Curious about partnership opportunities? Reach out to Caterina, SALTO’s Community and Partnership Manager for Shared Living and WorkSpaces.
SALTO Systems develops and manufactures advanced and reliable wireless electronic locking and access control smart solutions that provide a smoother, more comfortable, and secure daily life for the people using our systems. We bring added value to our clients, making it easier for decision-making and smarter management of facilities. Our goal is to not only be within the top three companies in our sector in the world but to also be your number one smart electronic access control provider. As an organization, we intend to create an ecosystem of end-users, clients, partners, collaborators, and suppliers with whom we build long-lasting, win-win relationships guided by closeness, flexibility, integrity, and trust.
Let your tenants manage their own space with Pod
Today we are happy to welcome yet another new feature to the KS family. This addition to the Salto KS and KS Connect API enables building managers (Site admins) to create a small independent group of members named 'Pod'.
What is Pod from Salto KS?
With the new Pod functionality building managers get the chance to outsource access control management to their tenants. This feature will help keep an overview of their buildings' operations and save them a lot of time.
On the other side, tenants have the unique experience of managing access to their own space: A Pod can be a floor within a building such as an apartment or an office that’s managed by its Pod members (tenants) that have access to the Pod at all times and can invite guests to the Pod for specific timeframes.
By implementing this new feature, we aim to offload the responsibility of managing access for tenants and (their) guests for building managers and provide tenants with the unique experience of managing access to their own space.
Only a Site admin can create a Pod, on the main navigation menu where there’s a dedicated Pod page on which the option ‘Create a new Pod’ can be selected. To create a Pod you need at least one Pod member. The Site admin is able to create a Pod member by entering the name and e-mail address and if needed add more Pod members.
Next, the Site admin can select locks to which the Pod member may have access to, such as the front gate, apartment 201 and/or the storage room.
Benefits of Salto KS's Pod?
All Pod members automatically have Digital Key and remote opening rights. This means they are able to open the Pod's doors by tapping their phone to the lock or opening the door from a distance. Yes, even if they are located on the other side of the globe!
Once the Pod is created an invitation email is sent to the Pod members. Through this email, the Pod members can download the mobile app and register. After registration, the Digital Key and remote opening functionality will automatically be activated. The Pod's details will be shown on the dedicated Pod page.
By using the mobile app for iOS or Android a Pod member can invite, block or delete guests. The individual rights per guest in the guest overview can be viewed by Site admins from the Salto KS web app. Rights such as Digital Key, full access, which locks and when access is granted.
The Pod summary consists of multiple characteristics the Site admin can search on such as Pod name, amount of Pod members, amount of locks, amount of invited and active Pod guests. By clicking on one of these Pod characteristics the Site admin will land on the Pod detail page. On this page, several details are shown and actions can be taken.
Think of:
- Block or unblock guests
- Edit locks Renaming the Pod
- Deleting the Pod
At some point, you probably need to invite a guest to your Pod. A friend, customer or regular supplier for instance. A Pod member is able to invite a guest using the mobile app for iOS or Android. Once the Pod member invites a guest the guest will be shown as ‘Sign-up pending’ in the Pod members people overview screen until the guest registers.
The guest can register by accepting the invitation to download the app in the e-mail he/she automatically receives when the Pod member sends the invite.
There are some rules though. Until further notice guests can:
- Only use Digital key
- Only be invited through email
- Have the same access as the Pod members or limited access
The Pod member who invites the guest(s) can choose which locks guests can access and when they can access them. They also have the ability to block or delete guests from the Pod.
In the next phase, we aim to perfect the Pod feature even more. With more functionalities that we are sure will make lives around the world easier on a day to day basis.
Functionalities of Pod members section
- PIN creation from the mobile app by a Pod member
- Lock group implementation
- Privacy for tenants (hiding the information of Pod member's activity on Site owner/admin view)
Do you have a Pod related question? You might find your answer in the Support section.
Opening doors from your Today View screen? Read more about the Digital Key widget.
Follow our team on LinkedIn and Instagram: That way you’ll always stay in the loop of what’s going at Salto KS.
The Pod feature is supported on IOS version 4.4.2 & Android version 5.5.1 or higher.
All the above screens are taken from the Salto KS web app.
Salto KS provides a flexible access control management system that requires no software installation or the added expense of a fully-wired electronic product. Modern cloud-based, wireless access control system is easy and simple to use for businesses including Coworking Spaces, Coliving Buildings, Purpose Built Student Accommodation, Retail, Multi-Tenant Housing, Gyms and many more. Our best in class wireless access control solution and smart locks guarantee the efficiency for your business. Integrate smart locks, start easily managing wireless access control now!
