Introducing Sara Hassen, Marketing Lead at Notbinary…..
I’ve been working in Marketing for about 20 years now, predominantly in education and technology. I started my career working for a small event management company, and I still have a real passion for working on events.
Way way back at the beginning of my career I ran UKOLN’s 6th and 7th Institutional Web Managers Workshop (IWMW), they are now on their 23rd! More recently (in 2018) I was a senior member of the team that delivered Jisc’s Annual Conference Digifest, each year it attracts more and more people who are leading technological change in universities and colleges. My highlight last year was meeting Shakira Martin, president of the National Union of Students (NUS) and the incredible LOLA Presentation which showed the power of LOLA and the Janet Network.
Over the last few weeks since starting my job at Notbinary I’ve enjoyed being in an environment whilst new, also feels familiar and welcoming. I’m just trying not to get too distracted reading articles about Squad Models and Kubernetes, One Team Gov, unconferencing and Robotic Process Automation (RPA)!
What cheers you up?
My 8-year-old daughter has a great sense of humour and she can really make me laugh.
Having the opportunity to see life through her eyes each day provides a little perspective, cheers me up and reminds me how lucky I am to have her as part of my life.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?
I’ve often put training at the bottom of the priority list, but I recently completed a 10-week Adobe Creative Cloud software course (InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator) at my local university. I’ve loved learning to do something different, that I’m also able to use in my work. Plus photoshopping pictures of myself has been great fun 😊
What are you looking forward to right now?
I’m really looking forward to a family trip we have planned to Ethiopia over Easter. I spent two years there, working through VSO in a town called Assosa in the west of the country which borders Sudan. I worked with the local Education Bureau and a small number of grassroots community groups who represented indigenous communities in the region. Whilst I was there I had the opportunity to visit and survey some of the schools throughout the region, often in very hard to reach areas. I also helped colleagues in the community groups to secure substantial European funding to run workshops related to Conflict Resolution. We’ve tried to visit every few years since we left in 2010. The trips are a great opportunity to reconnect with some of the amazing friends we met there and a reminder of what’s really important to us as a family.
What’s your favourite emoji?
Can I have three? I really over use these:
😊 😃
And usually when I’m laughing at my own jokes:
😂
What TV show/book/ podcast would you recommend?
At the moment I’m really into the Guilty Feminist, I love the podcast and I’ve almost finished reading Deborah Francis-Whites book. Both are very funny and interesting, I laugh and cry out loud. Her book has really inspired me. It’s inspired me to get more actively involved in things I believe in, to be a bit braver, and to get out there and do some things I don’t usually do.
Whom in the world would you most like to share a meal with?
Right now, see my answer above. Deborah Francis-White is currently part of the Comic Relief Prizeathon and I’d love to go out for lunch with her.
