Tell us a bit about yourself. (e.g. Where do you call home? What keeps you busy during the day? What do you enjoy?)
I was born in 1975 in Berlin, raised 14 years in Germany and 4 years in Rwanda (Africa), by a German father and Dutch mother. I learned very early that the world is bigger that what we see in our neighborhood. I enjoy making a difference even with little drops that can gain momentum when more people are inspired to act, instead of talking.
What keeps me busy during the day: working as an Account Manager for a small but smart Berlin based IT-Company. I keep busy during the night adding drops to the wave of change by giving much more talented people than I am a platform to RHoK for example.
Forgot something? Ah yes enjoyment: Viktor (3y), Marlene (0y), fast Internet, fast Bicycles, vegan food.
How have you been involved with RHoK?
Being a technical geek I was interested to see what can be done with our very smart mobile gadgets and internet-everywhere beneath stupid time killers like Facebook, Farmville & co.
Since my programming skills are from the 90’s and I haven’t found time to make further development, I attended RHoK June 2011 without being a programmer or designer. Still I was fully involved in a team and we developed working prototype for an emergency application on various mobile platforms including a web back-end. All within less than 36 hours.
The lesson I learned was (1) if you’re 35 expect to see your kids attending RHoK, (2) RHoK should never die. So I became one of the Organizers for RHoK in Berlin,
Why does RHoK matter to the world?
RHoK is a platform, an idea to bring companies (Sponsors), NGOs and talented people together to stop talking about problems or to recognize them without acting but to make a true commitment for a first step to working solutions. No matter what your skills are, no matter where you are located, we are motivating people to give their best for a specific human need and we deliver a solution that could be a working prototype or just a concept. What counts is: We make a difference by acting instead of thinking and talking. We RHoK!
Why does RHoK matter to you?
As mentioned above it is a platform bringing together different peoples, groups, companies. It motivates attendees to think about problems and - even more important - focus on solutions that they might not think about without attending RHoK. RHoK is playing with technology and skills and creates a meaning and an impact. It is a great way to meet people in real life working on real problems and focusing on real solutions.
Based on your experience with RHoK, do you have any words of wisdom to
share with the larger RHoK community?
Be aware that the biggest problem organizing a successful RHoK-event is not winning sponsors or attendees but to get good quality problem statements. This involves talking to people who seem unwilling to think about what is causing them problems and also being unable to describe these in a way that can be used to an input for RHoK, and working with them to make good problem statements.
Words of wisdom from me: focus and create solutions instead talking about problems. Hey Ho – Let’s Go!
Words of wisdom from others: "Hell, there are no rules here – we're trying to accomplish something." by Thomas Edison