Board Recruitment 21/22

Looking for a chance to be part of a creative adventure? Wanting to combine your studies with an extracurricular activity that is challenging but also doable in terms of time? Searching to improve your organisational abilities by taking up a managing role?

Then seek no further and keep reading, because IBCoMagazine is looking for their upcoming 2021-2022 Editorial Board! With the help of the advisory board containing lecturers and IBCoM staff, IBCoMagazine functions as the creative outlet where students merge the academic and the creative. Alongside 5 other enthusiastic IBCoM students, you get the opportunity to guide a team of passionate creators in producing amazing content in the format of magazines, blog posts, visuals and marketing assets. Being part of the board means that you will fulfill one of the following positions:

I. Editor-in-Chief | Sara Haverkamp

As Editor-in-Chief of IBCoMagazine, it is your main task to be the point of contact for both people within and outside of the magazine and make sure all the teams are able to do their work smoothly. This returns in planning and hosting meetings, delegating tasks, setting responsibilities for others, keeping in touch with the advisory board, but mostly helping out whenever the need is there. Significantly, it is also your job to supervise the work of the teams and check if everything is working according to the schedules, plannings and quality that is expected from the magazine members.

It is important to always keep focus on the greater picture of where the magazine is supposed to go and lead the team there, while safeguarding creative freedom for every member to encourage maximum development! You need decision-making skills, the ability to maintain a good overview of all that is happening within a team of more than thirty students and a flexible availability, since you never know when issues may arise.

The amount of work you have as Editor-in-Chief depends on the periods within IBCoM terms, as magazine releases and the like are pretty much set in stone from the start of the year. However, the magazine is always there in the background, and you have to be there for it at any time. I have been doing so with pleasure! It’s an incredibly rewarding position, since you are in touch with all the teams while enabling them to flourish – even amidst pandemic times. I was able to increase the reach of my network and meet many personal learning goals throughout the year. Super excited to see what the future brings!

II. Internal and Public Relations Manager | Anisha de Vries

As Internal and Public Relations Manager, you make sure that the teams are keeping up with deadlines, organize workshops and (internal) events, and set up potential collaborations of IBCoMagazine with organizations, student associations, and the university.

Within this position, it is important that you remain flexible. As you are not tied to a specific team, you might be asked to jump in and help out with a variety of tasks. Also, as the Internal and Public Relations Manager is in charge of external communication, it is important that you represent the values of IBCoMagazine! Even a simple introductory email can lead to a great collaboration, thereby further contributing to the success of the magazine!

Because of this, every day as an Internal and Public Relations Manager is different! One day, you might be working on setting up a new workshop, and the other day you might be reviewing the newest issue! There is also room to develop new projects that you think might be interesting and of added value, so you have freedom in determining what you want to work on.

Personally, this position has taught me a lot about working independently and about daring to go beyond my comfort zone. I had the opportunity to build my network by reaching out to people I may have never met before, and this has led to very rewarding collaborations and workshops! I had the freedom to pursue my own projects and it was great to see these come to life after careful planning. My time as Internal and Public Relations Manager has been extremely rewarding and I cannot wait to see IBCoMagazine continue to grow!

III. Magazine Copy Editor | Allie Noguera

As the Magazine Copy Editor I am responsible for all the content that is published in the name of the IBCoMagazine in the four editions of Issuu publications throughout the academic year. It is the copy editor’s job to lead and organize the team of writers in terms of content creation and to encourage and inspire the writers’ team to show initiative, proactivity and be creative.

Although it may surprise you, a good IBCoMagazine Copy Editor needs quite a dynamic range of skills. Communication skills are truly key. Written communication is as important as ever. You need a keen eye for spelling, grammar and, above everything, how to turn a concept into an enthralling article. But article writing is nowhere near the only reason why communication is important. As an editor, your priority is not your own work but to bring out the best from your writers. This requires a lot of open communication and a good handle of organization. There is always something new to learn or a skill to develop in this position!

The busiest times for the Copy Editor are the start and end of the term. During and right after the team meeting and the term’s theme is decided, it’s all hands on deck. During the meeting most article concepts and writers are assigned, which means the next couple of weeks are devoted to drafts, deadlines, revisions and coordinating the articles division with the Visuals Team. After the drafts are finalized and visuals are assigned, there is room to breathe until the issue release approaches. Then, the Copy Editor, alongside the Editor in Chief and the Reviewing Team, makes sure that all content comes together as intended and according to the shared vision for the magazine. However, there is always plenty to do throughout the term. Keeping everyone engaged and inspired is an important task!

IV. Website Copy Editor | Gwendolyne Cheung

As the Website Copy Editor, I am responsible for all of IBCoMagazine’s online content that is published on our official blog! Together with the bloggers team, I ensure that the website is provided with weekly content ranging from student related topics to culture and lifestyle specific. In addition, the copy editor also works with lecturers on the monthly lecturers’ columns, monitors the communications between bloggers and the visuals team and encourages bloggers to write creatively and outside the box through this years’ newly introduced bloggers’ column that is part of the issuu publications.

As the blog works with a very tight schedule as several blogpieces are posted in a month, it’s important for a website copy editor to have good organisational and planning skills as this will allow you to have a clear view in the midst of all the deadlines. Communication skills take up a key role as well because you need to edit out any spelling or grammar mistakes and give insightful feedback that the bloggers can use to transform their story in a catchy and coherent blog piece. Besides, to allow the bloggers to really flourish, continuous and open communication is needed from the copy editor’s side. A bonus point would be if you have some experience with the management of websites as technology is just unreliable and you will have to be flexible enough to think of other solutions to keep the blog rolling!

Therefore, a day in the life of a website copy editor often comes with many surprises. While your main priorities would be the management of the bloggers and editing their pieces until they are ready for the audience, don’t be too surprised if once in a while technical or personal issues occur that causes possible delay. For instance, wordpress has its occasional mood swings, and you will be responsible to keep everything on track! This position then also has taught me so much about how to be a supportive team leader and the necessary managing skills. My biggest take away would be that open communication is extremely crucial to build a tight knitted team, something that I value a lot and also gained valuable experience with through my role as the website copy editor.

V. Marketing Manager | Vitalii Zharinov

As the Marketing Manager, together with my team I am responsible for promoting the work of IBCoMagazine creatives online. I keep track of the marketing plan to make sure that we produce relevant content for our audience in time, and I come up with creative concepts to attract more and more readers to the magazine.

To be a Marketing Manager at IBCoMagazine, all you need is ambition and creativity. Ambition is the key to not being afraid to produce new extraordinary projects, and creativity makes sure that you execute them in an original way. I highly recommend to have some basic knowledge of marketing, because understanding the internal capabilities of IBCoMagazie and aligning them with the readers’ needs is the key to promote the magazine effectively.

9 months in this position my main takeaway is that adaptability is very important. My journey as the marketing manager has been nothing but work through trial and error. You have to adapt to all sorts of things: internal issues, unexpected outcomes of marketing campaigns, crazy deadlines, and of course, the environment of work. Corona has definitely brought challenges to my work at IBCoMagazine, but it hasn’t made it any less fun and insightful!

VI. Art Director | Chelsea Blijlevens

As Art Director, you are the creative mind behind the magazine! You are not only responsible for the visuals of all released issues, but also the visuals of the bloggers. It is your job to guide the visuals team – consisting of designers, illustrators and photographers – in their creative process. You decide the final look and feel of the magazine through an extensive visual guide for every issue.

But, what do you need to be a good Art Director? Firstly being organized! You are leading three smaller teams, all with their own deadlines and projects, so you need a good eye and planner to keep up with it all. Secondly, managing skills are quite important as well, as you are guiding people in their work. You’re not only helping them make their best pieces, you also help them grow as artists! Another aspect you should have is time management. You are not only checking in if everybody delivered their work on time, you are also giving feedback on their projects, keeping track of who may be behind and what is still needed for the magazine. This requires some time, and every week is different, so it’s very important you can schedule.

The busiest times of the art director are at the beginning of the term and the end, as you need to put together a visual guide and the actual magazine. This doesn’t mean you are free between these weeks, as there are multiple blog posts per week (which have visual deadlines you need to keep track of) and there are internal deadlines for the magazine. The job is part time though! Don’t worry, just imagine that you spend around 2 hours in your ‘calmer’ weeks keeping everything on track. In the first and last busier week you can think about a 4-6hour work load, depending on how smoothly the term goes!

What I’ve personally learned from this position is to manage people. I did not have any experience before so it was a very valuable experience for me to lead a team and help them in their creative process. I’ve also learned to approach people better in a working environment, as you want to build a safe space for yourself and the team. Besides that, I got a lot better with designing and seeing small details, as you do a lot of reviewing work for the magazine!

So, are you interested in becoming part of the team and believe that you can potentially fulfill one of the six positions that is the editorial board of IBCoMagazine? Then wait no longer, because the recruitment has started and we are looking for our 2021-2022 board. Apply now through the link below and have the opportunity to support and manage a creative outlet where we let the voices of IBCoM be heard!

Apply now!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOPESEYGrKNTAmn9_YaE0jTaxLBGHTSdBl-AKzOKbutPzo8g/viewform

(DEADLINE: May 23rd, 23:59, 2021)

Some guidelines for the motivation letter:

What can you bring to IBCoMagazine in the role you chose?
What could you change or improve for what has been done previously?
What skills do you have that will help you with the role you chose?
What can IBCoMagazine give you?
Where do you see IBCoMagazine in the future?