WebRTC enables browser to browser applications for voice calling, video chat, peer-to-peer file sharing etc. Kari believes that a new standard for voice and video on the web can change how telecommunications companies do business.

But what will change? Can this technology benefit customers? Everything is so new and the changes are very rapid, so who knows who will use this technology in one year’s time. Google, Mozilla and other big names are driving to make things happen, and there is a huge number of start-ups and bigger companies betting on the technology.

The best way to find out what’s going on is to check out a short video by Todd Simpson, Mozilla’s Chief of Innovation demoing WebRTC features.

Text is written by Kristiina Ahlgren, Hub Host

While enjoying morning coffee, the audience learned that the idea of crowdfunding is suitable for companies that, for example, need money, new clients, and market feedback. Companies can contact FundedByMe even if they have only a business idea – sometimes it’s enough. What is needed, is a good, selling story. In other words, crowdfunding is suitable for startup companies as well as mature companies.

Crowdfunding refers to the funding of a company by selling small amounts of equity to many local or international investors. Normally, companies sell equities to 50 -149 persons. Everyone can invest as the minimum price is often 50 € – depending on the stock size. However, companies can decide who they allow to invest – not everyone will be chosen!

FundedByMe is a Swedish company, founded by Daniel Daboczy in 2010. In Finland there was a highly popular launch happening just a week ago, at the end of January 2013.

More information about FundedByMe

Text is written by Kristiina Ahlgren, Hub Host

The topic of the day was decision making. Personal Brainer, Reidar Wasenius from Briim told us that all of the people sitting among the audience had made a decision on this morning – it was to come to Hub for a morning coffee and listen to what Reidar has to say. Likewise, those people who knew about this event and stayed home instead of coming, had made a decision – they had decided not to come. When making decisions, people often consider pros and cons. People want to feel good, have positive emotions or they just want to avoid doing something else. People weigh up their options and act on it. According to Reidar Wasenius, “If it touches me, it moves me.”

Want to learn more about decision making? Reidar will be having a half day seminar on 27th February 2013 about the same topic. Kohti älykkäämpiä päätöksiä is part of the Hub Catalyst seminars and workshops and will be held in Hub Helsinki. See more information from Hub Catalyst website.

Text is written by Kristiina Ahlgren, Hub Host

De Benetti is the founder of WritingBold, Helsinki-based company set up in 2010. He spent some time to come up with a right-sounding name – the name of the company was chosen because De Benetti liked the spun!

WritingBold is a small business which has customers all over Europe. Initially, its main focus was on gaming but later it has expanded to media. Among the vast selection of services it offers, are producing quality website content, creating cathy slogans, rewrite, edit and ghostwriting client’s material.

Gaining new clients and keeping old ones

Tommaso De Benetti believes that in order to get new clients, it is important to demonstrate your company’s competitive advantage. Also, using effort to build a brand value and make people remember your business ,is time well spent. When designing websites, consistent visual identity and easily accessible sites are among important things to remember. Possible clients do not want to spend a lot of time surfing badly designed site looking for needed information or links – well designed and clear websites will have an advantage – and the clients! Naturally, the products you are selling have to be of great quality, simply because selling bad products is difficult!

De Benetti’s tip for getting new clients is to look for badly written websites, contact the possible clients and give them an example of what one could do better.

Text is written by Kristiina Ahlgren, Hub Host

Taija Myllylä from Learnia Oy – and a Hub Helsinki member – was lecturing to an audience of approximately ten listeners about language learning skills.

Learning is an individual process and It seems that some people have a natural ability to learn languages while others are struggling with them. Do the people who found language learning difficult have hope?

There are various language learning theories and language learning styles. According to Taija Myllylä, adults belong to four different language learning types, but a person is not necessarily using only one form of learning.

The audience – us – had a discussion about which type of learners we were. There are four types: activist, reflector, theorist or pragmatist. For example, activists like to gain new experiences, reflectors like to observe others and think carefully before making decisions. Theorists prefer to use logic and step-by-step approaches and pragmatists are keen to try new ideas out immediately.

There are also many other factors that influence people’s learning styles. Among those belong to past learning experiences, cultural environment and one’s own attitude. The last one, the learner’s motivation to learn is an important key factor in learning languages. Just putting more time or effort into learning will get you far – even if you are not a fast learner!

Find out more about language school Learnia: http://www.learnia.fi/

Text is written by Kristiina Ahlgren, Hub Host

Today we had a special breakfast around a topic that is close to a Hubber’s heart. Hub Helsinki is, together with Suomen Yhteiskunnallisten Yrittäjien yhdistys (Syy ry), the proud organiser of Onnistamo and there are plenty of Hubbers working with the project. We had Project Manager Ulla Tirronen from SYY ry as our breakfast guest to present a preview of the forthcoming Onnistamo.

Onnistamo started as a SYY and Hub Helsinki project a few years ago. The first event was held in February 2011 in Helsinki. A need was seen for a networking event for the actors of the field. As there was none at that point, action was taken with many benchmarks coming from the United Kingdom and especially Shine. According to Ulla, organising the first event was challenging but it succeeded. Now we await for the third annual Onnistamo. As a preview of what kind of stuff happens in Onnistamo, we had a lively breakfast discussion about Social Enterprises versus Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Before diving into the discussion, lets tackle first the burning question: what are we talking about when we talk about social enterprises?

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

An expert of the topic, British Council Country Director, Dr Antti Karjalainen, endorses the definition of Social Enterprise UK: “Social enterprise is an organisation that trades for social purpose”. This strap line type of a definition implies that the model is open for different types of juridical forms of organisation. It also includes that the funding is based in doing business but that this business is practiced because of social motives. ”This definition is short and sweet but still has all the necessary factors included”, Antti says. This will do for us.

What is Onnistamo about?

Now that we have the definition, we can ask what the organisers want to achieve with Onnistamo. Ulla Tirronen says that Onnistamo is a meeting place. There is both a need to strengthen the sector and for the people in the sector to know each other. ”This way they can do projects and start social enterprises.” Secondly, Onnistamo is about sparking up new ideas. ”We want to bring inspiring examples and ideas on the table. We want Onnistamo to be a place where you can have interesting and meaningful conversations.” Ulla admits that the most difficult task is to generate action. This is something that is most definitely wanted though. As a means to facilitate action, a Pro Action Café will be included in Onnistamo’s program for the very first time.

A strong, in a certain way defining, element of Onnistamo is the unconference that will be held on the second day of the event. In an unconference there is no set agenda. It is all up to the participants to bring one up. Today’s breakfast discussion was just one of the themes related to social enterprises. ”We have thought about an annual theme but we want people to bring up anything related to social enterprises. That is why we want to keep the theme loosely defined. The first day seminar will be more about thematic discussions, though.”, Ulla says.

What’s the buzz about Social Entrepreneurship about then? What’s it to do with the real world?

This is starting to get interesting. But there seems still to be one crucial question without an answer: what lies beneath this all?

When you think about the social entrepreneurship as a phenomenon it would seem to fit well modern day society and the  sociological theory of the so called rise of post-material values that have been in discussion since the 1970′s. The core idea is that as people gain more prosperity, the public of advanced industrial societies do not have the same stress on the acquisition of basic materialistic needs. Autonomy and self-expression become more important. For the topic, this is obviously a bit black and white approach as social entrepreneurs are diverse group. Perhaps there still is a seed of truth in this analysis.

Ulla believes that the rising interest in social entrepreneurship, in a way, does tell a lot about our time. ”Especially in these times of financial crises, people start to crave for a different economical system and more humane entrepreneurship.” Ulla stresses that these kinds of ideas are not new. For example in Finland there is long history of cooperatives, but this has not been called social entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, consumers are more aware and demand a more ethical approach from companies.

Antti agrees that social entrepreneurship rises from the motives of the people. ”In Finland it has for a while been acknowledged that few people who start an enterprise do so because of a motive to gain fame and fortune. People start their businesses often because of similar motives you have when workinh in any profession. That is, to developed your living environment, gain some positive outcome or because the work is meaningful for you.” There can also be seen a broad process where public services or the production of them is opened up for new actors. ”Altogether in the bigger picture it’s about valuing more greater life values than being able to work long hours and make a lot of money.”

The more there has been talk around the topic the more people have been recognising themselves as social entrepreneurs. ”When you look at Europe, the EU Commission for example has endorsed social entrepreneurship and its rise. It is interesting to see how Finland reacts to the European trends”, Antti says.

The discussion: Social Entrepreneurship versus CSR

Definitions about both terms are debatable and today’s breakfast was a lot about hearing the guests’ views and opinions of what these are or how they should be interpreted. The conversation was interesting and plenty of well argued views were brought up. Some thought that they are the opposites. Some thought they were pretty much the same. Most thought that both are desirable.

As a definition and context for social entrepreneurship was suggested above, lets try also to dig deeper into the CSR with a mind game. Nowadays it could be seen as more or less a must for any corporation, at least partly due to more conscious consumers and their post-material values, to take into account a broader ethical approach into business. As such, it is a dangerous tool to be used for marketing premises  as we saw in the recent Fazer case. CSR should built-in mechanism in everything businesses do whether it’s about acting in the spirit of the law, ethical standards, international norms or encouraging through action, a positive impact on the environment, consumers or employees.

If Social entrepreneurship arises from post-material values CSR would seem to have a lot of common with the term in that sense. The biggest difference is perhaps that in the core of social entrepreneurship lies the presumption for “trading for social purposes”. CSR is something any company should probably practice whether they trade for social purposes or not.

Discussion will go on.

For more meaningful and thought provoking discussion and bold action around social enterprises, stay tuned for Onnistamo 2013 enrolment. Be sure to follow the event on Facebook for updates.

My Finland is International?

The organisation was officially founded in 2010 on the grounds of an active Facebook page to work for an international and open-minded Finland. Their aim is to inspire, enlighten, educate, advocate, acknowledge, build networks, seek partners, source crowds and campaign to change Finland for the better. Many might remember the organisation from Breaking the Silence Day. The first one was organised in the aftermath of the 2011 Norway attacks. Today they have a respectable 48,000 Facebook followers.

So, what is their forthcoming magazine about then?

Gareth Rice, another key person behind the project, states that the magazine is more than just another online magazine. It can be seen as a key tool for the organisation and in the longer term, an arena to provoke debate and promote more respect for one another and to cultivate a more tolerant country. “It is an opportunity for Finland to learn more about its international community”. In the first issue there will, among another topics, be an interview with the Finnish based best selling crime writer James Thompson on his latest book Helsinki White and on marching with striking Spanish miners.

Get involved

How can one contribute to the project? According to Hanna, proofreaders are always needed and articles are warmly welcomed. Anyone can write for the online publication as long as it fits the context. Topics can range from food stories to movie reviews. Or you can write about travel your experiences and things learned while travelling. Hanna gives also a good tip: “If you have worked for a multinational company you can tell about the experience. A critical approach is always welcome but Hanna wishes to stress that they are not out to mock anybody. “The point is we are not against anybody. We are more for everybody”. The magazine is independent and will be in both Finnish and English.

If you are interested in getting involved  you can contact directly Hanna Diallo at kansuhanna@gmail.com. The publication will be up and running in the near future. We shall stay eagerly tuned.

One aspect of intercultural communication are stereotypes. They can be seen, according to Eila and Marisa, ”as merely best guesses” about the people we meet. As we talked the topic there came up such familiar ones as ”all British have bad teeth”, ”Brazilians like to dance samba” and that ”there are polar bears in Finland”. Although these can hardly be described as accurate, social situations would be difficult if we wouldn’t have any anticipation regarding the people we meet. Eila and Marisa stress that the work they do rarely concerns culture specific training. It aims to be deeper and act as a reflection of ones own background, cultural identity and, most importantly, the attitudes and motivation that influence the way we think. Unidos seek to find an understanding why people act as they do.

There was a great bridge to Simon Hodges’ last week Storytelling breakfast. After attending the breakfast and workshop Eila had come up with the story of the work Unidos does. The story starts with a metaphor for sea as culture. The sea is vast and diverse. Our personalities can be seen as islands in the sea. Many islands together form archipelagos. A convenient way to move between islands is with a kayak. However, as the sea can be stormy sometimes, courage is needed to travel from island to island. It is curiosity and the urge to discover that makes us make these inter-island journeys.

Eila and Marisa assigned the breakfast guests a simple task to demonstrate the work they do. It was an exercise of description, interpretation and evaluation. We were asked to tell what we saw around us while the words we came up were written down. Words such as food, diversity, dirty windows, happy days, blondes, plants, new faces, coffee etc. were suggested. Then we were discussed whether we all agree with these descriptions of the environment or not.  Perhaps not so surprisingly, there proved to be different views of what for example blonde or dirty windows mean.  For one there were seven blonds around the table as for another only two. One comment about the windows was that as long as you see through them they are not dirty.

Talking with Eila afterwards, she tells that she worked 4,5 years at the University. One existing stereotype is perhaps that entrepreneurship is not that common for people with a background in humanities. Eila herself proves this wrong and for her entrepreneurship was a natural step to take as she had done training and workshops already during her time working for the Uni. She still has a close connection to the academy as she is preparing her doctoral thesis on Learning on intercultural experience in training and lecturing at the University of Helsinki. This proves to be an excellent way for her to stay in touch with the most resent cutting edge research in her field.

According to Marisa, ”If you don’t have the tools to do reflection and analysis you do not learn”.

Stay tuned for next weeks breakfast topic and join us at 9 am at the HUB.

The entrepreneur-to-be had the first spark of idea on building a social fundraising platform after the holiday in Sri Lanka. Finland seemed to lack in his view the concept and thus the need in the market was unmet.

Together with a partner, a childhood friend, Henrik embarked upon the journey of developing Jelpi – the social fundraising platform for charities. The prototyping phase started included feedback from the prospect organizations – all which gave the green light for future developments.

“The idea of Jelpi is to make fundraising fun, so the social element here is really the key” , says Henrik. Through Jelpi´s service, literally anyone can set up a fundraising site and challenge friends, family and colleagues to support a particular cause and charity. From the charities’  point of view, the service helps them, via customized websites, to use a more innovative approach to regular one-to-one fundraising.

In June 2012 Jelpi Oy was officially launched and July brought about the publishing of the website www.jelpi.fi. Jelpi´s client base currently includes 3 charities and the work on connecting to other charities, CSR initiatives and events is undergoing.

What is storytelling all about?

According to Mr Hodges, it is about creating awareness who your audience is, what you can contribute to their lives and how you wish to communicate it. Simon does this with Words that change. He believes everyone is a storyteller. ”Storytelling is about accessing what is real to you, what is authentic to you and in a sense what is unique to you. First of all understanding that and then learning how to communicate that in a sometimes fun way, sometimes a serious way and sometimes in a sincere way. And that’s really the business of telling stories.” There are different type of storytellers: ”some are writers, some are journalists, some are film makers and some are designers, Some are very good at getting stories out of other people.  These people are coaches or the story carriers as we call them”.

”Questioning is a part of bringing your story into the world” Simon argues. He presented a task for all the breakfast guests. He asked them to choose a pair and share their stories with each other. The other one was the speaker, the other the question asker. The speaker told some facts of his or her life and afterwards the question asker would ask a question starting with the sentence ”hearing that, what I’d like to ask you is”. The discussion started to flow and the feedback afterwards was encouraging. For one guest it felt almost like therapy for another it proved to be a good way to know peoples goals.

Asked for examples of people who have benefitted from his workshops, he names an academic who got an idea how he was going to talk through his writing to other academics in a more personal way about the things they were really interested. A recent story that started to evolve during one of Simon’s workshops is a beautiful video that a Swedish woman uploaded on Youtube, Once upon a time in Paperville.

The international HUB Network

Simon is also a member of Hub Amsterdam and as such truly a great example of the benefits of the ever-growing international Hub network. Simon believes there to really be ”a global class of creative person”. In his view, ”they seem to be, in very different ways, interested in the same thing. That is how are we expected to provide for ourselves in a responsible way”. Common for this creative international class is to consider how they can transform existing institutions, existing companies and governments through the work that they do. Simon points out, that “it’s quite exiting that this class of person have an established network that is on the ground, not just an internet thing, it’s on the ground in different places. It’s that’s lovely to connect with these people. I can come to Hub Helsinki with storytelling. Just like today’s breakfast”.

It was a pleasure to have you over, Simon.  Welcome back anytime.

Storytelling for business workshop 20.9.2012 10am – 6pm.

More details here.

Signup: simon@wordsthatchange.nl

Also, be sure to come to our next week Tuesday morning breakfast. It will again be something different but as meaningful as always.