Case study: The WAVELENGTH-O-METER
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Jan 2021
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Online profiles, full of life
Thanks to this man, we redesigned our profiles completely. We have never looked back since.
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Alex and Monika grew up in Vienna as real working class kids.
Both were born in 1958 and raised by single mothers with a great sense of humour and no money. They met at university and got married in June 1985. Alex and Monika raised four children. Alex started working for the UN in 1989, ten years after the "UNO-City" in Vienna had opened its doors; Monika followed two years later. By the time the family joined the Global Natives network in March 2012,
their two older kids had already started to live independent lives. |
The council estate where Alex grew up ...
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wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_International_Centre
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Lilly however was 16 and Andy was about to turn 15, the perfect age to go out and discover the world. Soon they were off to spend a year abroad.
They really were a wonderful family - global minded, bright and cheerful. It was not meant to last. In January 2017 Monika was diagnosed with metastasized malignant melanoma, between her first hospital admission and the funeral they had eleven weeks. The family was shattered, Alex was heartbroken. For quite some time, there were no more plans on the table. |
As the kids had grown up by then, Alex was no longer in touch with his international partner families and the network.
Until early 2019, when he was asked if he would possibly consider being a mentor. At first, Alex said no.
But the idea was a seed, it started to grow. He would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it. Eventually, after three weeks of pondering, Alex logged into the family account to have a look. It had always been Monika who took care of all these matters, and so Alex needed some time to get into the right mood and into a more enterprising thinking mode.
Until early 2019, when he was asked if he would possibly consider being a mentor. At first, Alex said no.
But the idea was a seed, it started to grow. He would wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it. Eventually, after three weeks of pondering, Alex logged into the family account to have a look. It had always been Monika who took care of all these matters, and so Alex needed some time to get into the right mood and into a more enterprising thinking mode.
He decided to consult his children and ask for their opinions. All four told him exactly the same: "You have to say yes!"
It would be good for him - in a few years time he would retire, by then he would need a whole bundle of challenges to keep him occupied. It would be good for his mentees too: His expertise, his smart analytical mind, his wonderful talent to teach and explain and his huge network of highly knowledgeable people from over 40 nations would be a tremendous asset to the entire community. So Alex went back to take a closer look at what the project was all about. This time from a new angle.
It would be good for him - in a few years time he would retire, by then he would need a whole bundle of challenges to keep him occupied. It would be good for his mentees too: His expertise, his smart analytical mind, his wonderful talent to teach and explain and his huge network of highly knowledgeable people from over 40 nations would be a tremendous asset to the entire community. So Alex went back to take a closer look at what the project was all about. This time from a new angle.
Alex is a water & sanitation engineer and a renowned expert in his field, his most passionate topic is clean drinking water.But before he felt ready to dive into the professional aspects something else caught his attention.
For a fortnight he spent every evening going through the personal profiles of other women and men who had registered to be a mentor. Based on the information he found there, he could of course tell if someone might be an excellent match in regard to languages, skills and specific knowledge, mutual goals and perhaps even highly specialized fields of expertise. But ... |
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The invention of the wavelength-o-meter
Alex never felt "I'm really getting to know this person" |
... which was something he considered crucial. |
"If I want a vice-versa-mentoring partnership to achieve its maximum potential, the chemistry has to be right.
This really matters." So he asked for more space to create his own profile, in the way he would love to find those of others.
It was a very personal thing. His bio was an essay, he explained his background and what his driving forces were, in private
life and in his work. But to Alex, a lot more was needed still for a full picture.
This really matters." So he asked for more space to create his own profile, in the way he would love to find those of others.
It was a very personal thing. His bio was an essay, he explained his background and what his driving forces were, in private
life and in his work. But to Alex, a lot more was needed still for a full picture.
What makes you tick, what gives you joy?
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Alex created a list of books he loved best, a collection of links to what really appealed to his sense of humour, his
TED favourites and a special playlist of his favourite music. |
In April 2019 the profile of Alex went online.
Lo and behold, within ten weeks it had more views and contact requests than any other mentor's profile on the entire network! Young people and other mentors felt Alex was approachable and relatable. He was "low threshold" and many clearly shared his sense of humour. In May the profile stats showed that some visitors would stay for up to three hours, watch all the clips Alex thought hilarious and then send a contact request. Naturally, this had nothing to do with his professional abilities as a mentor. But it meant: "We have strong common ground. I want to know you." It broke the ice.
Next stage: Let's try this on a larger scale
From June on all other registered mentors were cordially invited and encouraged to view Alex' profile and adapt their own if they felt inspired by it. Over 80% reacted with enthusiasm and opened up about their own views and likes, their lives and preferences, their ideas of what was funny, beautiful and inspirational. Moreover, they expanded on the professional and scientific goals they wanted to pursue in future.
Their views and contact requests multiplied. Many profiles soon featured multilingual content.
Just take Alex, he embraces H. Qualtinger and the Austrian Maschek stuff as much as Monty Python and Billy Connolly!
Their views and contact requests multiplied. Many profiles soon featured multilingual content.
Just take Alex, he embraces H. Qualtinger and the Austrian Maschek stuff as much as Monty Python and Billy Connolly!
This is really working. Stage three: Let's invite all our families to do the same
Now all Global Native families were invited to follow suit - as an option, not an obligation - and to put whatever they really cared about in life into their profiles. By then, it was December 2019. This turned out to be perfect timing because by March 2020 the kids were at home with distance learning and parents busy in home offices. Working on their own profiles and studying those of others became a very popular pastime, it compensated for not being able to meet friends.
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The list of favourite books proves a popular feature too. One of the most widely read authors amongst the mentor generation is Kurt Vonnegut. Many teenagers had never heard of him before and got hooked straight away - the new profiles are a bonus for intergenerational understanding too!
Alex' idea proved to be contagious and helped to inspire more new mentors to register. The wavelength-o-meter is now a much loved part of Global Native life. Alex and his wish to fill profiles with lots of life had kicked off an avalanche of new developments and brought new drive to the platform. |