User talk:KatherineBusby2019/IWG plc (promo draft)

@KatherineBusby2019: Thanks. Can you get the source link URLs and better yet the original wikitext of this version? It's obviously a past version for which there must be a permalink, right? There's certainly nothing wrong with the intro, but I can't work with the "XX centres and XX brands" parts, and for things like "On 5 July 2012 UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Regus would provide 30,000 young entrepreneurs across England with access to its global network of business lounges and administrative support" -- is that currently accurate? -- followed by "complementing the Government's StartUp Loans scheme managed by James Caan" -- that's the sort of thing I'm likely to delete because it's not about the company.

Has a third party reviewed or described the global network differentiation strategy? It's noteworthy but wouldn't be puffery if someone outside the company has written something like, "well Regus helped when I wanted to open an office in Paris because I was already a London customer and got a volume discount" or some such. The rest of it looks fine to me. EllenCT (talk) 20:30, 4 November 2019 (UTC)

@EllenCT: No problem. Comments, feedback and questions below. If you prefer a different format or approach, please let me know.

Re: "source link URLs and original wikitext of this version," do you mean the IWG plc Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWG_plc or something else? Let me know and I can get that over to you.

Re: "XX centres and XX brands," could a source help you include this part? Admittedly, business centres are opening and closing all the time, what is more enduring is the number of countries where IWG has centres. This would be 114. Reference: https://media.thinknum.com/articles/wework-regus-industrious-coworking-comparison/ The third-quarter trading statement was just out today, with full third party disclosure of revenues, numbers of new locations, number of franchise deals, etc. Hopefully this could be a useful resource: https://www.marketscreener.com/IWG-INTERNATIONAL-WORKP-32526474/news/IWG-International-Workplace-Third-Quarter-Trading-Statement-29516361/

Re: "On 5 July 2012 UK Prime Minister..." this is a fact, and is linked to the company, so would it make sense to keep it? AI agree that "completing the Government's StartUp Loans scheme managed by James Caan" is not relevant to the company and can be deleted.

Re: "Has a third party reviewed or described the global network differentiation strategy?" One editor added a small part of this section on the current page when I submitted the initial suggested draft. To develop the section, it will be necessary for an independent, reliable editor such as yourself to evaluate it, pick out the facts and request more sources or evidence if necessary. Hence the RfC.

If useful, here are some of most recent customer testimonials:

Verizon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjUTdbS_dFg

Siemens: https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/why-are-large-players-entering-the-coworking-sector/?_lrsc=4b5e5104-a47d-455b-8615-3df0d23e602a

Although the below customers have not offered a comment, it might be noteworthy that more multinational corporate companies are starting to use flexible workspace and coworking services:

Deloitte: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-16/deloitte-to-move-700-employees-to-vancouver-co-working-offices

Google: https://business.financialpost.com/real-estate/property-post/google-snubs-wework-signs-toronto-lease-with-co-working-rival?_lrsc=cd6b0e93-7b73-4748-8792-83824aa7c5a0

This trend of corporate take-up of coworking space is "noteworthy" because the majority client for startups has tended to be startups. Reference: https://propertyeu.info/Nieuws/Corporates-to-double-commitment-to-coworking-over-five-years-C-W-survey-shows/57253534-a815-4577-bc40-6d2bd7455dea

I hope this helps. Please let me know about the source URL / original Wikitext and whether you need anything else from me to develop the IWG plc Wikipedia page. KatherineBusby2019 (talk) 09:21, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

@Jtbobwaysf:@Maproom: Pinging you both in case this page is of interest. This is a workspace where independent, reliable contributors are working on improving the IWG plc Wikipedia page. KatherineBusby2019 (talk) 10:02, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

Hi Katherine, wikipedia doesnt allow testimonials. It is necessary that content is added to wikipedia be in WP:WIKIVOICE and must be based upon WP:RS. I have been inside regus, spaces, and wework and there is not much difference from a high level. Both companies offer short stay office space for rent. The marketing positioning of the two companies is not really relevant to wikipedia unless it has been picked up by the RS. But if you can find RS to support the differentiation in IWG's various brands, that would be interesting and useful to the reader. Jtbobwaysf (talk) 10:31, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

@Jtbobwaysf: I'm pretty sure there is no prohibition against de facto testimonial statements when reported by neutral third parties with editorial oversight on the topic. In this case, I would say that [1], [2], and [3] are actually quite helpful. I'd rather see this aspect of competition covered than left out, since one of the reason these kinds of companies conglomerate is to be able to offer those kinds of deals. I'd love to know your thoughts as to the disadvantages of that sort of thing. I admit it is beneficial to the subject, but we have to look at it from a reader's point of view. A lot of readers are going to be looking for this sort of information. EllenCT (talk) 18:26, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

There are policies on quotes, generally we summarize rather than quotes. For sure quotes on why one company is better than the other will foll into promotional. We dont really get into what is beneficial to the reader, we focus on the wikipedia policies. Jtbobwaysf (talk) 19:22, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

@EllenCT: Starting to see some positive changes on the page. Please let me know if I can be of further support.KatherineBusby2019 (talk) 15:40, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

@EllenCT: Hi again! It's clear from a conversation on IWG:Talk that there is some confusion around the naming of the holding company IWG plc (formerly Regus Group) and the operating brand Regus. Would it be worth including a few sentences on the relationship between holding company and operating brands from a factual standpoint as it would add value to clear the air on a source as authoritative as Wikipedia? KatherineBusby2019 (talk) 15:43, 11 November 2019 (UTC)

@KatherineBusby2019: sorry I forgot about this -- is the holding company vs. brand distinction currently adequate? If not please be specific about the issue and I'll do my best. EllenCT (talk) 04:45, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

@EllenCT: Welcome back! It could probably be clearer. IWG plc is name of the holding company. Before this, the holding company used to be called Regus. Today, Regus is the name of the group's professional workspace brand, and historically, the group's longest-standing brand. There are several other brands in the IWG plc portfolio, namely Regus, Spaces, No18, HQ, Signature by Regus and a number of purely digital brands. I hope this helps. KatherineBusby2019 (talk) 10:45, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

It's too bad "Spaces," "HQ," and "Signature" are such generic terms, because beyond making it confusing to write about them as brands in an article about a company, we can't make redirects or use them on disambiguation pages in any practical way. EllenCT (talk) 11:21, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

Replaced with current version

@KatherineBusby2019: I've replaced the draft with the current version wikitext, so in the future to make requests you can edit this one the way you want it and post the diff(s) at Talk:IWG plc instead of having to describe them. This should make it easier for you and whichever editor reviews them. EllenCT (talk) 00:46, 28 November 2019 (UTC)

Fantastic, hugely helpful. --KatherineBusby2019 (talk) 10:39, 28 November 2019 (UTC)