You know those kinds of folks who could be described as a ball of energy? Those people powered by enthusiasm, creativity and positivity, lighting up the room wherever they’re at? They have a smile on their face more often than not? They’re a rare delight but we all know at least one of those. Hackastory has such a person at its very core.
A lot of people who have jumped on board the Hackastory spaceship hail from the Communication & Multimedia Design, a bachelor course in Breda. Nienke Huitenga, Hackastory’s co-founder and creative lead, has everything to do with that. Teaching several modules on this course, she’s inspired many a storyteller, designer and coder to join our alien collective’s journey to the moon.
A Story Enabler
Nienke has been at the heart of Hackastory since its inception. When she, Albertine Piels and Hay Kranen came together at IDFA’s (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) first iteration of DocLab, the three of them had a common vision. They decided to organize a hackathon, creating an opportunity for people to come together. Not only was this original Amsterdam hackathon a tremendous success, but Hackastory has become so much bigger and more than that. It’s a company she believes in and she’s doing what she can to help.
There’s a pattern to what she does. When she’s teaching, whether it’s at CMD in Breda or during hackathons across the globe, she’s allowing students and professionals alike to fulfill their potential, enabling them to create the best stories they can.
She also tells me she works a lot behind the scenes of various projects (one such project, The Modular Body, even won a Golden Calf, sort of like the Dutch Oscars). Long story short: she’s an enabler. In the best of ways, of course. Or as she later put it herself more specifically: she’s a story enabler; thanks to her, a lot of stories make their way into the real world that might otherwise not see the light of day.
Nienke (left) with fellow Hackanauts at a workshop for RTL Z
Confidence
Her eyes light up when she talks about the first-ever hackathon that drew such a crowd. She says she would have never expected it to be as big as it was. Putting that together with the fact that she mostly does work behind the scenes of projects, one might sense somewhat of a lack of confidence. She confirms this when I ask her about it. She says it’s something that Hackastory has helped her overcome. It takes guts to start a new company, and it takes a leap of faith. With Hackastory’s tangible progress (and her Golden Calf), she has every right to feel confident. She’s allowing for great things to happen.