Communications Intern

Impact Hub Bergen is where change goes to work. We are a coworking space that enables changemakers to realize their ideas for a better world.

WE…

AS AN COMMUNICATIONS INTERN, YOU WILL:

REQUIREMENTS

BONUS QUALIFICATIONS

5 REASONS TO JOIN US…

SEND YOUR:

to [email protected] with ‘Communications Intern’ in the subject line.

Please note that this is an unpaid position.

DEADLINE: 20th of February

Impact Hub Bergen is a co-working space chalk full of the movers and the shakers, the game-changers and the social entrepreneurs of our community. We are looking for like-minded people to join a team of Norwegian and international hosts dedicated to keeping Impact Hub running!

 

THE ROLE:

 

Hosts are voluntary positions.

SOUND FUN? Send an email to [email protected] with a short message about why you want to join and your CV attached as a PDF.

 

HUMANS OF IMPACT HUB

Ander’s Story

I started studying Graphic Design at the Norwegian School of Creative Studies, Oslo (now NKH), in 2009 and after two years of studies, I moved to Melbourne, Australia, to finish my Bachelor’s degree in Communication Design at RMIT. After completing my studies, I moved back to Norway and stayed for a year doing some freelance gigs before moving to Berlin for an internship at Studio Hausherr (now CeeCee Creative). What was initially going to be a six month stay ended up lasting for an additional year. During my time in Berlin, I was lucky to get to work with a couple of different studios and meet with a lot of inspiring designers. After one and a half years in wonderful, creative Berlin, I got a job offer in Lucerne, Switzerland, which I took. While working full time in Lucerne, I got familiar with the fantastic design scene there and all the poster designers. This led me to host an exhibition for my side project, Blank Poster, at the Weltformat design festival of 2016 in Lucerne. Then, during the festival in 2017, I was a part of the an exhibition, Poster town, which featured posters made by designers in Lucerne over the last 10 years. After two and a half years of working in Lucerne, I quit my job to focus on my own practice.

The motivation for starting my own design practice was: to be able to work on many different kinds of projects, to be able to work closely with my clients in a collaborative manner and to solve each case in the way that’s most fitting. Creative freedom and the challenge of starting and running something is also up there on the motivations chart, as well is to be able to work from wherever. The greatest challenge of establishing my own business was perhaps the act of convincing myself to go for it; and then, of course, there are all the new challenges that come with it, like learning the ins and outs of running a business.

A quick Google search brought me to the Impact Hub. I think, “rent office space Bergen”. Working from a co-working space is a great way to work and get stuff done. Going to cafes and libraries only works for so long and in a co-working space, I needn’t buy a coffee every hour to justify sitting there; and here at the Hub, there is free coffee! Jokes aside, it is a great motivator to have a place to go to where like-minded people work diligently. It’s very inspiring to see creative minds at work.

At the moment, I am working on a book for a project, called Blank Poster, which I started with some friends. It’s a poster book and it will, if all goes well, be released during summer of next year. In coordination with the release of the book we’ll host some poster exhibitions in different locations. My plans are to continue developing my own design practice and to work further on developing Blank Poster. I’d like to have my own poster exhibition sometime in the near future featuring a few of my own posters. I’d also like to arrange many more poster exhibitions abroad. Then become a studio.

Check out Ander’s Website and Instagram!

Job Description:

We are looking for an Operational Manager who can help develop Impact Hub Bergen to the next stage. The Operational Manager will be the General Managers right hand. You will be in charge of office clients, take part in internal processes (from board reporting, tracking financial targets to some HR processes), and lead development projects. The work description will also cover space management (various repairs and adjustments) or meetings with suppliers and service connected to bookings and a variety of member requests.

Tasks include:

Business Development: Service development & innovation. Increase different revenue streams.

Member value: Increase member benefits and further develop the value proposition to members.

Collaboration: Attract and coordinate volunteers, collaborative partners and develop the team.

Communication: Coordinate work on strategic communication in a number of channels.

Attraction and sales: Attract new customers and follow up on sales of services.

Event planning and coordination: Plan, coordinate and facilitate events and programs.

Administrative assistance: Assist the General Manager in different administrative tasks.

Strategy and growth: Work with the leadership team and the board on strategy and growth.

You can be our Operational Manager if …

You are a natural leader, you can give constructive feedback, you are people oriented and a doer. You enjoy working efficiently and improving the processes, you have an eye for detail, but also the natural ability to see the bigger picture. You are a systematic and practical person.

You enjoy multitasking and will have a variety of tasks every day (from the exchange of air conditioning in the open space, giving feedback to a team member and helping with an event after creating a financial plan or preparing your own agenda for the next six months).

You are not afraid of responsibility and you have the working habits of an experienced Project Leader: you understand the terms, you can delegate, you can plan ahead, you know how to split an unclear or complex task into smaller, deliverable parts.

You are preferably not a newcomer, you have previous experience with project management that you can rely on. You are good at planning, but are also not afraid to make decisions. You have a degree in economics or you are a natural talent with numbers. You know what is margin, cashflow etc.

You share our values and worldviews and talk with your friends about how to improve the world. You have what we call a Hub spirit: you are a cheerful person with a positive attitude to life and the world with a good sense of humour. You like people. You understand the importance of community and relationships, and you can build and maintain them. You speak and write fluent English, and it is a clear advantage if you also speak and write Norwegian fluent, but not an absolute criterium.

What can we offer?

An 80% position, starting September 15th, 2018. Salary upon further agreement.

You become part of a creative community and a global network of social innovators. As a core member of our management team, you will support new up n`coming entrepreneurs,  take part in the development of Impact Hub Bergen towards next stage, and get the opportunity to join a number of events for knowledge and inspiration.

Application deadline: August 21st, 2018

Please send your application as a motivational letter with your CV along with two references.

Apply here

HUMANS OF IMPACT HUB

Daniel’s Story

When I was 17 I went on a scientific research expedition to Indonesia. I was young, naive and had the desire to help save the planet. The money for the journey was largely funded by childrens activities at local schools. I made a documentary film during the expedition with the aim to explain to a young audience that different animal species were being extinguished and the childrens personal involvement raised awareness to prevent it.

After that I made films in Belize, Guatemala and I also produced photographs. I was enjoying photography so much that I decided to study it instead of marine biology. Photography seemed like a perfect opportunity to explore the multifaceted elements of the world. Be it colonial history in Africa or political agendas in Eastern Europe, it’s a really exciting way of meeting people and leading different projects. That led me to study a photographic communication degree in the South of England.

After university I was awarded a scholarship to explore the relationship between French colonial history and the native African culture. Colonial Beauty was looking at the way the European society has directly influenced the African landscape. Comparing and contrasting the decadent design of colonial buildings to the humble local vernacular architecture and documenting the extreme contrasts between rich and poor. I attempted to observe neutrally, not saying this was wrong but instead exploring the political concept and using it as a method to produce art and stimulate discussions. However that didn’t stop me getting arrested by the local military, but that’s another story!

I believe the power of photography lies in its ability to influence people to reflect on their personal beliefs.

My next project was Silent Memory, a travelogue between Eastern Europe to Russia tracing the route of the Red Army between Moscow and Berlin. I explored symbolic architectural sites, photographing them from a different perspective and placing importance on the often overlooked. That is when I won the International Architecture Photography Award in 2007 with an image of the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Blocks. The exciting element for me is that you are seduced by the image because of its painterly abstract qualities but then you realize that it represents one of the darkest sides of humanities history.

Following on from that exhibition in Soho, London I was commissioned to work for one of the world’s largest Global Design Engineers Ove Arup, producing commercial photographical representations of architecture and design related projects. I started working for companies, like Snøhetta and Link Arkitektur in Norway amongst others. As the design and architecture commissions increased I was flying up to around 40 times a year, creating a new challenge.

It was important for me to keep the business environmentally sustainable. Therefore I started investing in a German company that plants trees in the Great Rift Valley in Kenia. Comparingthe amounts of CO2 that are produced during travels and offsetting them to produce a neutral footprintis a method to keep my business sustainable. I hope to travel out to the Rift Valley and see the work in action.

The last personal project I completed was Structural Divinity. It explores colonial history in relation to religious architecture across Southern Africa. An exhibition was produced with fine art prints for sale. The money from the portrait prints goes to an organization called Wateraid.org that works with disadvantaged communities providing them with water. The work is currently exhibited at Impact Hub Bergen and can be purchased there.

I came to the Hub around four years ago for the social environment. I love bouncing ideas off of people and receiving constructive feedback. I love the diversity of the fascinating creative people that populate the Hub. It helps me to improve my methods, develop my business and launch new creative endeavors.

Check out Daniel’s website and projects.

HUMANS OF IMPACT HUB

Lukas’ Story

I am an entrepreneur because I value independence. I do not like it to be permanently employed. 

I love to build things up. Once they run by themselves, it gets a bit boring and then I look for something new to do. That’s why we sold the coworking space we had ran for five years in Frankfurt. The story behind it goes like this:

I met Jenny, my girlfriend, when she had just come back from Canada where she had worked in a coworking space. She talked to me about opening one in Frankfurt. I thought it was impossible because of the housing prices in Frankfurt and we forgot about the idea for some time.

 I was working in a Publishing House as  a Project Leader for City Magazines and Portals, but I hated the job. I managed to stay there for one year.

 After we quit our jobs we travelled through Germany and Europe with our train cards 100 (this is a German card that covers all cost of train transportation) that we had from our previous jobs and worked on the road. During that time we realized that working from home was shit and also we didn’t want to go back to be employed.

One day I was thinking about the coworking space idea we had. So we sat down and crunched numbers for a few weeks. It seemed do-able with the right property. From then on it developed its own dynamics. We scanned the property market and signed the contract for a space in the nicest area of Frankfurt 9 months later. It was a huge project and we got a loan from the bank. I think we were even after a month or two and that was great. It became quite exhausting though because we first had to renovate the place and worked 14-16 hours every day. We soon had 40 members, a decent amount for the start I believe. We tried to attract a lot of meet-ups and started to rent out the place for external bookings. 

Coworking spaces back then were a completely new concept. Some business centers propagated this but when you got there it was nothing but an empty office. We tried to stick to the coworking principles Community, Openness, Collaboration, Accessibility, and Sustainability. It wasn’t just about working alone in a fancy office but also about the exchange between coworkers and being open to everyone.

 It was very cool to do this as a couple because we are such different people. I was the janitor and the printer-is-broken-dude and Jenny was basically the one talking to the people. It was a really rewarding job because people appreciated what we did for them. In the first place they were really happy that we facilitated the communication between them. Around 30% of people living in Frankfurt are actually from Frankfurt. The rest of them move there because of their jobs or something. So there were lots of people that were socially  isolated and didn’t know anyone.

 Our lifestyle in the first two years was basically 14 hours a day of work. Many things would only start at 19:30 in the evening. They were mostly external events and we had to be there. The next day things had to be build up and put back. We promoted the place on each meet there was for startups and we became very well known. We wanted to be accessible. We wanted to create value for the community. If someone had lost a big costumer we would let them work for free. That wasn’t a matter. We had big companies that wanted to come to us to be in a hip and creative environment and we would charge them more. Because they weren’t beneficial for the community of coworkers. Instead we used that money to lower our membership prices. 

I never networked in my life before so that I had to train. We became a model for many open spaces and coworking spaces. We adapted the place according to our own needs. We wanted it to be a place that we really wanted to go to every day.

After 3/4 years we were so exhausted and wanted to start new projects. We bought a mobile home to travel around and get away from the city for a bit. Then I started with the project of an app where you could see which places you could stay at with motorhomes and what these places offer. But it grew and became bigger than a hobby.  Jenny was doing her PhD. at the same time and after finishing it  she was offered a research position in Oxford. So we decided to sell the coworking space and move ther. We lived in England  just one year because we wanted to move to Norway for many years. And  then the opportunity came when Jenny wa proposed a research position at the University of Bergen. I have always loved Bergen, I think it is the best city in Norway. And now I’m here and it’s so hot (laughes), I don’t like it 🙂 but the rain will come again.

HUMANS OF IMPACT HUB

Kathrine’s Story

I started studying public health here in Bergen in 2008 with the motivation of learning more about physical activity and nutrition. During my studies I got more interested in the socio-economical differences of health and issues related to public health on a global level. Especially how where you grow up, live and work impacts your health & wellbeing. This type of inequality is very unfair – but also possible to change.

My wish was to make the places people grow up, live and work more health promoting for everyone. And change peoples’ perception of what it means to be healthy. Good health can easily become unreachable if a small elite sets the bar for what is good health. No one is 100% healthy or 100% sick. For me it is about more than apples and abs. I want health to be more about meaningful and supportive social networks, safety, inclusion and empowerment.

When I was done in 2011 I was really eager to work with this. But neither in the private nor in the public sector there were jobs focussing on these issues. I felt that there was a lack of initiatives and a lot of room for things that could be improved. So I decided to start my own company and take on these challenges.

I often do things I don’t know how to do. At the same time I started Folkelig I got involved in startup initiatives, like the Startup Weekend. I got more involved in building the startup community here in Bergen, running and facilitating startup events etc. I think I learned a lot by helping other entrepreneurs with things I didn’t know myself.

Entrepreneurship, finances, marketing and design etc weren’t part of my studies and it took me about a year to figure out what I wanted to do and how to do it. It wasn’t until we found out there was something called Social Entrepreneurship that we really got started and found a direction. In the other startup communities we didn’t find our space as we had an impact driven company.  But when we discovered Impact Hub we learned more about social businesses, that it is actually a thing – and that we were not completely off. We started connecting with other people and getting to know the community. I remember we even went to Stockholm to the Social Innovation Camp with Microsoft and we talked about an old idea, an app to organize social activities. I was in the panel talking about entrepreneurship on stage, when I had only been in this field for 6 months. But it was wonderful!

In 2013 we got our first customer, Bergen Kommune, and from then on the business has been growing steady. Today we have many projects, recently won a tender from the Norwegian directorate of health, collaborating with the norwegian WHO healthy cities network, and scaling our biggest project called Smaksverkstedet, where we teach kids about food after school. We’ve established it in many municipalities now, as part of a national initiative from Gjensidigestiftelsen. We’ve also just recently got into the school budget in Bergen, where we will educate more kids about food and sustainability this fall. I’m so happy to have my co-worker Ann Helen and many other people working with me on this, and we’ll soon increase the team. We have way too much to do :).

 

Contact Kathrine Marthinsen:

Website

LinkedIn

Photo Credits: Øyvind Toft

HUMANS OF IMPACT HUB

Eirik’s Story

I never planned to be an entrepreneur.

My life has been influenced by different fields of interests. As a young student I was studying theology and medicine. At the same time one of my main passions was music – listening to music and playing music. But I never considered it as a career option.

I started and quit med-school. I was frustrated that I hadn’t gotten enough information about my career options in high school. I worked as a teacher and at the same time I started my first company. That company was actually the result of my past disappointments. I decided to travel around Norway accessorizing young adults in their choices and sharing my story. It was never meant to become a business, but the idea was good and the young people loved it. So it became a company and I worked part-time for Studiestart (Starting Studies) together with my brother-in-law.

Then I moved to New York, where I had the perfect job. I was the Culture Director for the Norwegian Seamens Church, which is an official organization for Norwegians abroad.  It functions as a Norwegian cultural center for Norwegians abroad. I was promoting Norwegian culture in New York and making cultural events available for Norwegians. We had a space close to the United Nations where I opened a gallery with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

In both Starting Studies and the gallery I was entrepreneuring, I was starting new things in totally different areas.

In 2010 I came back to Bergen and was wondering what to do next. I received an offer to join a startup that evolved out of a collaboration between Starting Studies and a similar company in Oslo. Also, a bank in Norway asked us to start a loyalty program for students. But things tend to not develop the way you think and instead develop their own dynamics. The initial project didn’t flow – so instead we started a company and built a solution with the ability to run multiple loyalty programs. It turned out to be a good business idea and we have been around for 8 years now. It has been a lot of road blocks on the way, but we have managed to move ahead.

My connection to the Hub was through Silje – she had coaching courses for our employees in Starting Studies. When I found out that she was starting the Hub  I decided to get involved. The windows you see in the Café were actually painted by me in one of the first “dugnads” when the Hub was started. I’m amazed by the growth of the Hub and how the house has evolved. For me the Hub is not only work place – it has the feeling of being a home too. The Hub is kind of like a family – a lot of different people doing different things, but we work and hang out together as friends. What I like most about the Hub besides the nice building are the people in it: their devotion to social entrepreneurship and working for a purpose that goes beyond making money.

HUMANS OF IMPACT HUB

Gunnbjørg’s Story

It all started because I’m good at so many things but I couldn’t decide what I wanted to be when I grow up. Deciding for one thing to do was impossible. That’s what led me to studying business. After I finished my bachelor I spent a couple of months in Singapore for a company promoting eco-friendly tourism. Then I wanted to implement what I learned at business school and I joined a social entrepreneurship organization in South Africa, teaching women and young people how to start their own businesses and teaching them about the importance of collaboration and network.

After South Africa I joined my sisters company in Bergen, and I started making simple websites for her customers. One of her customers needed photos for a project, and that seemed like a fun job. I bought the camera on the way to the photoshoot. The pictures were good and that’s how I started to be a photographer.

Later I realized that my camera could make videos, and I started making short films for fun. Then I joined a film competition in Bergen with two friends and we won first place. The film was shown in the cinema and in the BIFF and people started calling me for photography and film jobs.

Now, 10 years after I started business school, I am running a small film production company. I want to make movies that have social impact and will matter to someone. I want to talk about taboos and do something that could help people when they are in these situations – suicides, abortions etc. That is what I am currently working on.

HUMANS OF IMPACT HUB

NAYARIT’S STORY

I knew that I wanted to work with clothes since I was a child. I used to play with dolls and make clothes for the dolls. When I was in my teens I started making clothes for myself. I didn’t know how to make them but I just toke different cloths and tried it out.

I was always fascinated by clothing and how you can express yourself through clothes. And I wanted to create my own way of expression. Later on I decided I want to study fashion design.

I’m a very creative person and I like to draw and take pictures as well. It was in my teens that I realized I had talent for it as well. People liked what I did. When I started university I was really good at what I was doing. I learned fast and I knew then that it was my place because I was progressing so quickly.

When I was in my twenties I came up with the idea of having a brand called Nayaritas. Because I wanted to find a name that could represent me and could show what I did. Nayarit multiplied by everything I do turns into Nayaritas. When I knew the name I started producing summer clothing in Costa Rica. I’ve always created everything on my own because no one really knew how exactly I wanted it.

Then I travelled and moved away from Costa Rica. I get inspiration from traveling. I believe in working ethically because one has to work humanly, we have to think about nature. When I work with clothes I like to work with high quality materials and production methods. That’s why I produce locally. I don’t believe in fast fashion. I like to work with taboo themes, like naked bodies, feminism, women empowerment. And also gender equality: I promote it with my photography. I do all this because I don’t like that stores dictate what we wear.

I produce individually from person to person and help them express themselves through their clothes. My customers and I have a collaboration. I tell them what I think would suit them and they tell me what necessities they have. That’s how the product is developed.