My Thoughts on The Wing

Happy Friday!
I’m in Tucson, but will be traveling back home later this afternoon. Can’t wait to see my little family, that is for sure. 🙂

Today, I wanted to share my personal thoughts about “The Wing” – a members-only association for women that began in New York City and has since spread to other U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., that I recently joined. I can’t even remember the first time I heard or read about it, but when I took some time to research it more thoroughly, I immediately found myself gravitating to this concept. I loved the idea of women (different backgrounds, different careers and hobbies) coming together to attend all sorts of events (different group sizes, different focuses, and different conversations).

Full disclosure, if you’ve been a longtime reader of this blog (or maybe a not-so-longtime reader), you know I do slant left on the political and social spectrum and another big reason why I was drawn to the Wing, is because it is geared towards progressive-thinking minds, politically and socially. To me, this was a big plus. It excited me to meet more people that shared my perspective and values and to attend events that also assumedly would peak my interests and passions.

The idea of a beautiful, open, and bright working space and event space with lots of amenities was also very appealing. Amenities include a Beauty Room to get ready in + showers, a Lactation Room, phone and conference rooms to use, couches to relax on, a Cafe to order food, complimentary water and coffee, and so much more.

The Wing has a beautiful library where you can work with a community table and chairs, plus mini sofas and plush chairs. You can also check out any of these books too!

Another bright and open space in a different room offers more couches, more communal tables, and even a mediation room to enjoy.

The Fine Print:

Cost

Because the Wing is a members-only association, you do have to pay an annual fee to join and it isn’t cheap. There are two membership options:

• Single location membership (you can only go to this location, unless you are a guest of someone else at another location) which costs $2350 upfront or a monthly fee of $215.
• All access membership, which gives you access to all current and upcoming Wing locations and events, which costs $2700 up front or a monthly fee of $250.

When I received an email about 6 months ago letting me know the Wing D.C. was going to be up and running by this past April and if I was interested in joining, I had been selected (for interested parties looking to join the Wing, you do have to fill out an application), I decided to do the single location membership. However, now I’m considering upgrading to the all access membership, given how much I travel – especially to New York City.

Yes – I will say it again, it isn’t cheap and in some ways the high price tag does seem a bit conflicting as one of the pillars of the founding members vision was for the Wing to create an inclusive space for women of all shapes, sizes, and colors to come together and meet. However I do think they are trying to remedy this a bit. One of the perks for each member is they can bring up to 2 guests at a time (unless you are reserving a conference room and then the number increases) to an event or invite them to work with you in the beautiful space. And just today, it was announced that the Wing has launched the Wing Scholarship Program. From their website:

As part of our commitment to building an economically diverse and inclusive community of members, we will be granting 100 applicants free two-year membership to The Wing as part of our pilot initiative. These scholarship recipients will be chosen from a pool of self-identifying women and non-binary individuals whose work supports the advancement of marginalized women and girls, specifically in the fields of non-profit, teaching, social services, and advocacy.

Location

I was a little surprised to find that the D.C. Wing location was going to be in Georgetown (though because of this locale and the beautiful and large space the Wing is housed in, in some minds this may support why dues are high). Georgetown isn’t the easiest place in D.C. to get to by any stretch of the imagination – there is no dedicated metro stop and parking is atrocious and/or expensive. From talking to friends and acquaintances, I will say this fact alone did deter some people from joining, as they didn’t feel like trudging to Georgetown.

I will say, this did cause me some pause to joining as I couldn’t remember the last time I had been to Georgetown! But that ultimately made me decide to push the button – it would give me an excuse to go back to a beautiful part of D.C. frequently and maybe get in some shopping and dining time, whenever I needed it!

D.C. Wing

Currently there are 600 members at the Wing D.C. They are accepting more members on a rolling basis, taking into account the capacity of the space, and the comfort of its members.

How Often Have I Been to the Wing to Date?

• I was planning on attending the Open Ceremony Reception on April 10th, but I was sick.
• Decoding Confidence for Our Girls – a panel discussion – on April 13th.
• RBG screening and Q&A with the filmmakers – April 27th
• Worked from the Wing before the RBG screening – April 27th

Sadly, I haven’t made it to the Wing this month due to a lot of work travel. Hoping to!

A proud “Bag Lady”!