OUR STORIES

If we take a look at the t.v the world of interning is full of enduring storylines of low pay, slacking and my personal favourite - getting no where. But how close is this all to reality?  In an ever increasingly competitive job market, interning in practical terms gives a foot in the door, vital experience and hopefully a couple of good contacts for your rolledex. In 2009 in the United States alone 300,000 students took part in some form of pre-work apprenticeship, a long held working tradition that holds amongst it the likes of Bill Gates and Ursula Burns. Perhaps I take a special interest in this subject because I too, like Bill Gates was once an intern - an unpaid one even...
 

It strikes me that more and more people across a varied range of industries are realising that their skill sets can be utilised in the most incredible ways for community good. In todays digital age, a solid online presence is becoming increasingly important for building a strong network of support for Non-profits and Charities - and enabling this often relies on skills that lie either outside of the traditional expertise of teams behind NPOs, or perhaps more importantly, outside of the available budget. 

Most people have more than one string to their bow, you may be able to code in rails as competently as you can speak french. You may be a writer that moonlights as a diver. For Alvy Ray Smith, most know him as “that guy that co-founded Pixar", although as it turns out his skills and passions extend far beyond this one storyline…

GridAKL is an active prototype, allowing us all to work together to create great stuff through experimentation, blue sky thinking and a whole lot of exclamations of 'Lets do it!'. This is the first article in a series where the GridAKL team share lessons, insights and view points gained from our days here at GridAKL. First up is our Community Co-ordinator Casey! 

When we take a scan of the local business scene the startup success stories are evident, blaring even. But what happens if you are finding that your founding is more challenging than you had first thought it would be?

Founders clubs are nothing new. Getting a bunch of business leaders into a room to hash out whats going on with their businesses is a natural thing. New hires, new technology, fabulous wins - but what about the less gloat inducing conversations? We spoke to the guys behind Flounders Club, a founders club with a difference, to get their view on the scene, diversity in conversations and why the best talks are probably not the gloat worthy ones…