Students of Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen, participate in Game City: Port of Hamburg
School of Communication and Media
Three students of the School of Communication and Media belonging to the Hanze UAS are participating in a project between the Northern Dutch and Northern German game scene that aims at researching “gaming in residency”.
The three students Teun van der Laan, Xander Doornbos and Floris Roetert follow the specialisation Game Design & Development of the study programme Communication Systems and will graduate in the course of this year. Their graduation project concerns the study of online and real-life professional communities. By carrying out this study in Hamburg, the students build a network crossing boarders which will contribute to their work in their development studio Paradoxys. Participation in this project also helps Hanze University Groningen for building international contacts and important expertise that can be used in its future education.
An entire floor of the new building in Sankt Pauli is dedicated to this project which the Dutch students can make use of. The project is being supported on a national level by the German government. The municipality of Groningen is the first foreign city that has been asked to help with this project and to assist the students in their research. The Dutch Consulate General in Hamburg as well as the ICT organisation Hamburg@ Work are also closely involved in this project.
European Challenge Real Estate Project
School of Business Management
This project allows students of the School of Business Management to act in an international context as a real estate professional. They develop tailor-made advice for an American company that wants to concentrate its European activities in a new headquarters in a major European city.
Students develop consultancy skills, build an effective relationship with the client, investigate and understand the specific business goals and requirements of their client and take effective initiatives to direct the consulting process. As professional consultants they advise about relocation, office design and corporate real estate management. They write a building appraisal and advise about an office-concept that helps the client meet their long term goals. In the process intercultural skills are developed. As all communication with the foreign client is in English, foreign language skills are further improved.
A Class at the Conservatoire
Prince Claus Conservatoire
For the project New York comes to Groningen, eight famous jazz musicians each stay one week in Groningen according to a rotation schedule. Each instructor shares his professional experiences in theory class, history, ear training ensembles, big band and master classes. Pianist David Berkman teaches his students some things about the jazz business.
Most master classes at the Conservatoire consist of students playing music and the master commenting on it. Today famous jazz pianist David Berkman makes an exception. Although he still plays music with his students during his lecture, the main focus this Monday afternoon is business. Not an easy subject among jazz musicians, he admits.
‘Jazz musicians don’t like to tell you what they earn’, he says when a student asks him to be more specific about money. ‘No one ever reveals figures, because they always want to get paid better. Believe it or not, I already gave you more numbers than most musicians will ever do in their life.’
Berkman does not exaggerate. There will not be many music classes where the word dollar is mentioned as often as during this master class. But Berkman thinks it is necessary for students to realize what awaits them. ‘When I talked to some graduating students recently, I was quite shocked about how little they know of the business aspect of being a jazz musician.’
So what does it cost to take a group of musicians on tour? ‘You have to realize that most of us are used to a certain standard. An average tour will cost you between fifteen hundred and twenty-five hundred dollars a week, for each musician. I never pay less than two hundred a day, and fifteen hundred a week.’
The principles that apply to touring, also apply to recording. ‘You need to pay a musician at least a thousand dollars for a recording.’ But recording can be a bit trickier than touring. ‘Make sure you make clear what the purpose of the recording session is. I have had musicians who asked me to record with them, saying it was just for a demo or for fun, and later I would find the record in stores. It happened to me three times. Be careful, don’t screw musicians over. It might be cheap for once, but musicians will not trust you anymore.’