Within SKAR wonderful things happen. By tenants, with tenants, with the neighborhood and the city. We think that all these activities should become much more visible. That is why we have changed our communication strategy. We like to share with you what we are going to change and what our plans are for the future.
Our strategy revolved around one question: why does SKAR do what it does? Why do we rent workspaces to artists and the creative sector at affordable prices? We don't do this to fill buildings, as a kind of vacancy manager. We do this because we believe that artists and creative entrepreneurs are important to the city, that they offer added value. And in order to be able to do their work, they need affordable workspaces. So our task is to make workspaces available. But those workspaces are a means to another goal: to help artists and creative entrepreneurs to be good or successful at what they do. At the same time, we help the city move forward by having special people in buildings all over Rotterdam, giving the city more colour, character and value.
Connect in the city
It is no longer so self-evident that vacant premises go to the creative sector. Rotterdam has simply become too popular. This means that we have to show all the more what we do and what we mean for the city and its neighbourhoods. Of course, as a tenant you have every right to fully focus on your work and not to participate in joint activities. But as an organisation we will show more and more and where possible we will seek the connection with the city and the neighbourhood. And it's not just about showing. We will also always look for new forms and focus on innovative projects, in constructive cooperation with all parties. We see ourselves as a connector, a networker, an organisation that connects premises, the creative sector and the city. We facilitate the ambition of artists to create their best work. And we believe that this is of value to all parties involved.
Meet each other
Interviews with tenants about the revised strategy also revealed that they need more contact with each other. Many people do not know each other, or hardly know each other, even if they are in the same building. And that's a pity: together we form a sea of knowledge, experiences and stories. That's why we're going to organise meetings. These will always have a substantive character, but at the same time have the aim of meeting each other.
Concrete plans
Specifically, we are going to develop the following activities in the coming period:
New corporate identity. Designer Meinhard Spoor has developed a new corporate identity for us. This SKAR Journaal is in that house style. The site and all our other expressions will follow later, from stationery to nameplates on the buildings.
New website. Early next year we will launch our new site. On this site you can submit repair requests as a tenant, onderhoud@skar-ateliers.nl but also a request for another workspace. On the site you will find an overview of all SKAR buildings and which tenants are in them (listing on the site is on a voluntary basis, by the way).
In a next phase we want to further enrich the website. Among other things, we will then create personal pages. Here you can quickly make arrangements, such as changing personal details, or make a subsequent payment.
Online newsletter. When we launch the new site, we will also start with an online newsletter. You will receive it in your mailbox. In the newsletter you will find news, interviews and room for discussion. The introduction of the online newsletter also means that this printed SKAR Journaal will be discontinued.
SKAR Talks. We will organise more activities for the SKAR network. Because we can learn from each other and we can exchange ideas. Of course it is also just fun to meet each other. One of the activities is the SKAR Talks. During the SKAR Talks, we let people speak who have a special, inspiring story.
SKAR & innovation. We are going to decorate more buildings themed. For example, we want to furnish a building around fashion, a building around literature and a building around, for example, sculpture. Another interesting project is SKARLokaal, workspaces in a school, with the possibility to design projects together with the children.
Visibility. As SKAR we want to look for publicity more often in order to show the city what's going on in the city in a special way. So you will see us in the news more often. We will share the messages on Facebook.
Waiting list. In the past, we used to use the 'first who grinds first' principle. We partly let go of that principle, because we now do a lot more 'matchmaking'. We look for the right people at the building and the right workspace for one person. This means that for each space that becomes available, we look for the best match. This means that sometimes someone can be on the waiting list for a longer or shorter period of time. The starting point is that we do our very best to find the right space for someone.