Dear visitors to the Gessnerallee, dear culture enthusiasts, dear artists
New members of the Gessnerallee team started work in mid-August. For some, this is their first job in a theatre, let alone in the cultural sector. Their perspective is particularly helpful for an organisation when it comes to reviewing the effectiveness of existing structures and developing ideas and solutions to problems that go beyond what we already know. So we asked them: ‘What's great? And what's terrible?’ These are their answers.
Ramona Unterberg, Diversity Agent: ‘I love trying out new things - working together and finding solutions as a team and with artists - to create beautiful theatre experiences for different communities. Reading and writing lots of emails is just cruel because it takes me ages. That's why a cosy after-work beer with colleagues at Stall6 is so much better.’
Adèle Macefield, Head of Gastronomy Stall6 Bar: ‘What I think is great here is that we all face a colourful challenge together - everyone brings their own piece of knowledge and experience to the puzzle, and it's a real adventure to experience the Gessnerallee as a living, constantly surprising organism. What drives me up the wall however is my impatience - I want to have everything done yesterday. Patience may be a virtue, but it will probably keep me on my toes for a while yet.’
Dzevada Isanovic, HR and finance administration employee: ‘What I think is great is that everyone is always willing to help and explain things transparently and understandably for me as an accountant. I think it's great that I'm learning about an industry I've never worked in before and it's broadened my horizons about the hard work and organisation that I didn’t see before as someone in the audience. What I find ‘horrible’ is the process of clearing credit card invoices and the lack of understanding from employees about how important it is for the accounting department to have these documents. I also see the lack of understanding of account assignments as a major problem. Our documentation system should be electronic.’
Shelagh Armit, production and operations employee: ‘It's great when I see how comfortable artists, the audience, visitors and the team feel at the theatre. It's terrible when the coffee machine unexpectedly breaks down early in the morning and will take several weeks to repair.’
Rahel Bains, Head of Communication: ‘The most important thing is that all the people who work here are super nice. And I think it's great that we at Gessnerallee are allowed to take bold, new paths when it comes to communication. It's not just cultural journalism that is currently undergoing a transformation, but the communication strategies of cultural centres as well. I think it's terrible that we don't have Slack.’
If you would like to join the Gessnerallee team after these insights, please check our website regularly. Job offers are published here. Or drop by and get to know us in person.
