Wellington City Council is looking for a social media specialist to join their team.
Connect Wellingtonians to their city
Increase awareness and participation in events
Coordinate corporate social media channels
This is no 9-to-5 role! You will need to be able to attend events, create content and engage in conversations on social networks throughout the day. You should be confident using smartphones, taking videos, photos and interviewing people to produce stories on-the-fly.
A significant part of this role is connecting with people, places and stories around Wellington. You will be an experienced social media or community manager and a confident communicator with the ability to engage in conversations on a variety of topics.
Wellington City Council requires a dedicated Social Media Manager to coordinate the council’s Official Social Media Channels. To be successful in this role, you will need to:
Be an energetic and confident communicator – your smartphone will be glued to your hands and you’ll be active on all social media networks especially Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube
Love Wellington – know all the good spots to hang out and regularly attend events around the city
Hold a degree in communications and/or marketing with at least five year’s experience coordinating corporate social media channels, content creation and community management
This position has been created to tell more council stories, connect more Wellingtonians to the people, places and events in their city. You’ll be measured on how well you increase awareness and participation in events, issues and facilities, while demonstrating value for money to rate payers.
Please include links to personal social media channels and any corporate/brand social media profiles you have managed previously. Applications may be submitted in any shape or form. Be creative to demonstrate you have the key skills and requirements to take on this role.
More:
Wellington City Council is looking for people who share their passion for Wellington and have the same values – to make the city an even better place to live, work, have fun and achieve goals.
Their services and projects are diverse and relate to all aspects of life in the city. WCC offers a wide range of careers, the chance to work with fantastic people, and many training and development opportunities.
Join them in making a positive difference – shape your own future, while contributing to the future of Wellington.
Are you a communications specialist who feels at home in an online environment?
If so, this is an opportunity for you to build Callaghan Innovation‘s online presence from the ground up – a new organization with the mission to take New Zealand innovation to the world.
Working in the Communications team, you’ll source high-quality, inspiring content that tells Callaghan Innovation’s story and helps New Zealanders build their understanding of our work in the innovation space. Your focus will be on providing a strategic direction for our online engagement by scoping, developing and managing appropriate online channels, and providing innovative, fresh ideas in this environment.
Callaghan Innovation is a new organization, so this role is a blank canvas for the right person. They help innovative New Zealand businesses build their capabilities by linking them with organizations that offer the expertise and facilities they need. They work closely with investors, research organizations, economic development and government agencies, and other stakeholders.
You’ll need to be passionate about the online environment and social media, and very comfortable working in this area. You’ll have plenty of experience in corporate communications, and a relevant qualification in communications is desirable. You’ll also have extensive knowledge of the various online channels, and experience in their development and management. You’ll be successful in the role when the up-to-date, relevant, and inspiring content you’ve created generates a sense of ownership across the whole organisation.
This is a content role like no other – it’s a rare opportunity for you to use your online skills and experience to play a vital role in how a new organization portrays itself and is perceived. This is your chance to help us grow and make a name for ourselves, both in New Zealand and internationally.
Applications for this role will be processed after January 6 2014.
Use your UX expertise to grow your career and the careers of countless others.
UX – it seems like it wasn’t that long ago that people didn’t even know what it stood for… let alone how critical it is to online success. Fortunately the world has cottoned on to the value of a well structured user experience. And that’s great news for what Careers New Zealand is doing, what their users want to do and – right now – for your UX career.
Careers New Zealand is delivering tools that help Kiwis make well informed education and employment decisions. A customer-centric approach is at the very heart of all they do… and they’ve got big plans in the pipeline. So, the opportunity here for you is impressive to say the least. Not only that, you can look forward to the satisfaction that stems from helping others develop their careers, while enhancing your own.
They’re breaking new ground in their field, both locally and globally – setting the benchmark for careers development of online products and services. The best part though, is that they’ve only just scratched the surface of what’s possible. And you’ll have a major hand in creating ‘what’s next’.
Expect to be involved at a strategic level, working holistically with a broader perspective – applying UX principles to achieve bigger organisational goals. In a nutshell, you’ll directly influence their overall success – not be just a part of the puzzle. Whether it’s creating user scenarios, information structures, wireframes, navigation diagrams or workflow models, the user-centric logic you bring will ultimately deliver benefit to all involved. And you’ll get to do this in a truly fluid environment, with great collaboration where you can bring new thinking to the table and inject your own perspective and point of view.
We think there’s no better place to put your UX and visual design experience to use. Just show them you have strong core skills and that you’re a true advocate of UX methodologies, and they’ll show you stacks of opportunity.
I think New Zealanders like to take a chance in both life and business… Adventure is in our blood. Both Auckland and Wellington are full of creative, driven people who also really value work-life balance.
After the great Kim Lesch kicked things off with our first Fetch in NZ last November, we’re now excited to hand the reins over to Katherine Field. Part of the curator’s code within The Fetch community is for the outgoing person to recommend a replacement [we also take applications for new cities] and I couldn’t be happier with Kim’s suggestion. Katherine is simply incredible and we’re looking forward to all the great happenings she uncovers! You may already recognise her from her role in building community at The Biz Dojo coworking spaces.
Why did you want to get involved in The Fetch’?
I see a real need for this community to be able to easily discover awesome events and opportunities, so I’m really excited to be part of a solution. It’s also a really great excuse to meet kiwis at the top of their game, and sit them down for a chat. The Fetchers are a real welcoming bunch and I feel like I’ve immediately extended my global family!
What things excite you about your community right now?
I think people are really starting to harness the hyper-connectedness (must be a word) of this city and use it to create super-charged projects. Every new initiative and event that involves this community seems to be the product of some serious collaboration. The power of doing things together – working smarter not harder – seems to be amping up – and really paying off.
How did you end up where you are today?
I grew up in Christchurch, and then moved to Wellington to go to University, and studied Art History and Criminology. Although a Da Vinci Code-inspired lifestyle was tempting, I ended up managing Toi Poneke Arts Centre – a City Council-run gallery and studio facility for emerging artists. I was part of a great team and it was really inspiring to be surrounded by over 100 talented creatives every day!
Two years ago, I jumped on board at The Biz Dojo – a coworking network for innovative tech and creative businesses – to be the community manager for the newly established Wellington space. We’ve had a lot of really amazing people and businesses join our Dojo family over this time. Not only do I get to watch their businesses grow, but I’m also able to get out and meet a lot the people creating interesting work, products and businesses throughout Wellington – and Auckland too. Dream job!
What makes you tick?
Nailing a new recipe, filling out forms and poking my tongue out at small children.
What makes you ick?
Mushrooms and rude people.
What events can we find you at?
I’m often gate-crashing tech events that go way over my head, but the people are awesome and I learn something new each time. Through The Biz Dojo and my involvement in Startup Weekend, I’m also often seen dishing out the pizza and opening beer bottles at a lot of events for the local startup community.
What’s your favourite thing about your city?
My favourite thing about Wellington is the walkability! Having shops, restaurants, work, museums, theatres, waterfront, bike tracks and lookouts all within 20mins walk from home is pure luxury! Also, the fact that you will see someone you know around every corner!
What’s unique about Auckland and Wellington?
Both AKL and WLG are in the weird situation of being plonked at the bottom of the world..
The country is full of the descendants of crazy people who took a chance to emigrate to a tiny island at the bottom of the world. Adventure is in our blood.
I think New Zealanders like to take a chance in both life and business.
Both Auckland and Wellington are full of creative, driven people who also really value work-life balance.
Where can we find you in New Zealand?
You can normally find me in Wellington, on a coffee-date of some description! There’s no better way to get to know a new friend of business connection than over a delicious cup of local brew. 😉 I also love to get up to Auckland, hang out with the Dojo crew on K Rd, and get to know the great businesses and creatives up there. I’ve also started to find the hidden foodie gems!
Recently Wellington Ambassador Kim Anderson sat down with the founders of chalkle°, a community education organisation, their conversation went deep into the power of collective knowledge.
I will safely assume that many of us have a list somewhere, whether it is a mental or physical list, of what we would like to learn if we ever had the time or money. However learning is always an investment, and for time-poor and cash-strapped modern folk, further education beyond formal schooling can often be a stretch too far. But it doesn’t stop you from wanting it, and this is what chalkle° founders Silvia Zuur and Linc Gasking discussed over a coffee in Wellington in July 2012. From this they built chalkle°, an alternative education source that not only strives to make education more accessible to everyone, but to also strengthen local communities at the same time. I sat down with Silvia Zuur to talk about the chalkle° vision, its growth and future goals.
Photo supplied by Chalkle
Firstly, how did you come up with the name chalkle°?
Chalkle has two naming contexts. First of all blackboards and chalk, and then street art, where the pavement becomes the blackboard, and which is our main design inspiration. It’s all about expressing creativity. Our tagline (six degrees of education – represented by the small circle next to ‘chalkle°’) is because we believe there is six degrees of separation, or education, between people, and that you can find all the education you need within your community.
What was the dream for chalkle° starting out?
I guess for me it was enabling everyone in every community to take their learning into their own hands. To be able to curate their own education – and to have choice and possibility as to what they want to learn in their own life-long learning path. We wanted to provide them with those opportunities.
The knowledge is in the community and we wanted to tap into what is already there. We are really just connecting the people who need to be connected.
In three words, how would you describe chalkle° classes?
Can I give you four? We have four Principles – Strengthening community, Learning, Accessible, Collaborative – and this is what we strive for in all our classes.
So how do chalkle° classes work?
There are two main parts. First you, as a Chalkler, can just sign up – there are no membership fees and limited barriers to entry. You just need access to a computer, and then you can get notified about classes that come up which match your interests. We try to make it easy for you to be a part of.
For you to be a teacher, you just get in touch with us, we send you a form, and we see what you wish to share. We have a whole spectrum of teachers, from beginners to well-seasoned professionals. The latter tend to be more independent and don’t need that much support to get started, but people who aren’t used to it may need help with finding a venue for their class, figuring out how much to charge, how to shape their class, and those are all services that we provide. We try to make certain that it’s possible for everyone to have the chance of teaching.
Photo supplied by Chalkle
Building on that, why is collaboration so important for chalkle°?
I think there are two layers. First of all we’ve really identified with the Collaborative Consumption movement, but secondly collaboration comes core to what I do in terms of how I work. I go into every working relationship trying to find out where’s the win-win, and sometimes not just the win-win, but the win-win-win-win-win. I’m always trying to find how one plus one can equal more than two.
So there is an element of social good in chalkle°. Speaking of Collaborative Consumption, there seems to have been a shift towards businesses and organisations being more socially and community minded – have you noticed a similar shift and do you think it’s attributable to anything?
I think people are starting to realise that competition is not the answer, so therefore that begs the question what does collaboration look like in the business world. As individuals, especially in the West, we’re quite ego-centric – it’s all about the individual. But then you start to see how that can create disenfranchised people – they feel isolated. People are starting to realise, or at least I hope they are starting to wake up, to the fact that if they know their neighbours, there is a personal benefit as well as a societal benefit. AirBnB is a classic example – ten years ago we might not have done that, but we’ve gotten up to a point that we trust people coming through. I think we’re still very naïve about it, but I’m excited to see how it develops, for example things around reputation and online trust. And that’s really important for chalkle° – we’re building an offline community – we happen to be using technology and online systems as a way to connect everyone, but it’s all so that we can strengthen the face-to-face community.
Photo supplied by Chalkle
You and Linc (co-founder) met at Enspiral. Has continuing to work in this space had a big impact?
Oh it’s what’s made chalkle°. I describe Enspiral as an eco-system or a nursery – that growing, nurturing image. Practically, it’s the fact that we have lawyers and accountants in the same space, combined with people who have ridiculous amounts of start-up experience. Those are the hard skills, and then you have the soft skills – everyone out there is creating something, and so there are those emotional connections and work relevance. For example, our Horowhenua chalkle° channel connection was made through an Enspiral connection. Perhaps the value comes because we’re all creating something new…in this work you’re constantly trying to convince people out in the world that what you’re doing is awesome, and sometimes having people who have your back just means that you can thrive.
What are your next steps for chalkle°?
I hope that chalkle° can enable more communities to collaborate and explore their learning. Practically what that looks like now is that we’re really interested in working with more communities around New Zealand. We’re keen for people to get in touch if they have an idea – if there’s a community centre, library, local council, or a trust – we’re really interested in partners who share our values and want to collaborate. I hope Wellington continues to thrive and grow – we’re organising two conferences in the next couple of months…the UX Design Day on the 10th October and we’re helping to organise Social Enterprise Week in mid-August.
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About our ambassador // This article was contributed by Community Ambassador Kim Anderson. Kim is a Design kid from Wellington who loves crazy ideas and gizmos and has a complicated relationship with the internet. Say hi on Twitter @_kim_anderson or on her blog.
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