Christmas Morning
Nick Stevens, one of the founders of The Big Building, saw the tweet and asked me:
As one of the people who has been there since the beginning, would you be willing to write something to go on www.thebigbuilding.com? It’s time to show the world that TBB is only just beginning.
I’m not a person of resolutions, especially when the new year starts, but if there was one in the back of my mind, it was about writing more on my own website (www.bobvoorneveld.nl). (And using shorter sentences…)
So Nick Stevens, here is the English translation of my post in January, so that you can post it on the TBB website. (The only abbreviation I like to use by the way, the rest should be fully written.)
And why is that community so important? Why do I feel myself so comfortable? I think you can compare it with your own house. Despite the askew toilet seat, the scratches on the wall created by the kids, the fence that really needs replacement, in short, all the imperfections, you still love it and you want to live there. Because of all the memories you created, especially the memories which you created with the people you live with. Since my first entry into the building, when we were looking with Spindle for a new office and we stepped into a big empty hall, I had the urge to create those memories. Because of the intention to create it together right from the start, to build a ‘house’ together, even if it was temporary, I wanted in. You look pass a lot of things and you look at your new neighbours, which you probably won’t have in any other building.
As a nerd-shack living together with van Hulley, students of the Hanze, the people of Saus, the dog owners of Alledaags, the food of Eetlust, the bike riding architects of Cycling Espresso, it made me happy to get together with different people every day. I loved my time with Spindle and got to know a lot of great colleagues. Some of them are still very good buddies of mine. But because of the variety of people, the possibility to have lunch with total strangers, my world grew a lot bigger.
At some moment in time, I had the feeling that I was ready for the next step, I wanted to do something else. I wrote my first blogpost on my new website and started searching. That search didn’t took long, I had some really great conversations with companies in TBB. In the end, I could continue my work for the Digital Office. Nowadays, I am spending quite some time at Nicks office, working on the digital future of our city.
TBB changes every time I walk in, with new inhabitants, people who are growing and leaving the place and thus I see new faces every day. It is a party to go to work every time.
And yes, TBB is just the beginning for me. And I hope it’s the start of a community that will find it’s place somewhere in Groningen for many years to come. But in my head and heart will it always be the warm blanket it felt on Christmas morning, eating together.
The original (Dutch) post can be found here: https://www.bobvoorneveld.nl/blog/the-big-building
