新型创意网站帮年轻创意人才求职

After graduating from New York University in 2013 with a degree in film and television, Dan Kim found himself in an entirely unexpected situation: a friend asked him to help shoot a music video, an incredible opportunity at the time, and Kim had to turn him down. "I was in film school, but I didn't know anybody who could help," he explains, referencing his then-nonexistent set of industry contacts. "I thought it was insane that there was no space for people like me to share their ideas. People still use Craigslist!" The realization drove Kim to create Unique Board, a website where artists working in seven different categories – cinematography, fashion, design, music, art, dance/performance and technology/programming – can find each other for different projects. "We're digitizing the collaboration process, making it simple but effective by cutting off all the extra steps of networking," Kim explains about the site, which has amassed over 200 members — many based in New York, many others international — since going live in February.

丹·基姆(Dan Kim)2013年从纽约大学毕业，获得影视专业学位，却发现自己完全置身于意想不到的情况：一个朋友请他帮忙拍一部音乐录像，这在当时对于他来说是个非常好的机会，基姆却拒绝了。“我学的是电影，却不认识什么人可以帮忙，”他说，自己当时在这个圈子里没有什么熟人。“我觉得居然没有什么地方可以供我这样的人分享创意，真是荒谬。人们还在用Craigslist!”这种想法驱使基姆创立了Unique Board网站，电影、时尚、设计、音乐、艺术、舞蹈/表演和技术/编程这七个门类的艺术家们可以在这里寻找同伴，开展各种项目。“我们正在把合作过程数字化，减少多余的交往步骤，让它变得简洁有效，”基姆说。自从2月运行以来，它已经有了200多个用户，很多人来自纽约，也有很多来自海外。

There are two kinds of users on the site: project leaders who need to staff up, and artists who need work. Both types create profiles explaining what they're in the market for and, hopefully, find each other. It follows the age-old want ad formula, a simple and no-nonsense setup that has already attracted the attention of people like Brian Meece, a co-founder of RocketHub, a global crowdfunding site, who recently became an advisor to the start-up. "Dan's Unique Board concept has huge potential to impact artists in a very positive way – both creatively and financially," said Meece. "By focusing on bringing professional opportunities to the creative class, Unique Board is positioning to become a leader in the ‘tech arts' space. The business could be massive in three to five years' time."

这个网站的用户分两种：需要工作人员的项目领导者，以及需要工作的艺术家。两种人都要在网上建立档案，解释自己在这个市场上的需求，理想的情况下，就能找到自己需要的人。它沿用传统的招募广告形式，是一个简单、没有废话的结构，吸引了不少人的目光，其中就包括国际众筹网站RocketHub的创始人之一布莱恩·米斯(Brian Meece)，他最近成了这个新项目的顾问。“丹的Unique Board概念有巨大的潜力，可以在创作和经济方面对艺术家们产生非常积极的影响，”米斯说。“Unique Board注重为创意阶层提供职业机会，把自己定位为‘技术艺术'领域内的领袖。这种商务模式在三五年内就会兴盛起来。”

Like the virtual dating platforms and Tinder, Unique Board also offers an offline place for members to meet organically: a series of parties called Unique Gatherings. Following on the heels of the first successful event in Manhattan at the end of February — designed by Paul Clay, who created the sets for the Broadway musical Rent and has staged events for the Museum of Modern Art and Anna Sui — the second is scheduled for May 22, around the same time that Kim expects to release the 1.5 version of the site. As the platform grows, Kim hopes to add social media and crowdfunding components to the mix. "Artists have to survive and the current options are not practical," he says. "So many ideas are wasted. We need each other."

和及Tinder等在线约会平台一样，Unique Board也为成员提供真实的线下见面：一系列名为"Unique Gaterings"的派对。第一次活动由保罗·克雷(Paul Clay)设计，他曾为百老汇音乐剧《吉屋出租》(Rent)设计过布景，也曾为MoMA和安娜·苏(Anna Sui)设计过舞台。活动于二月底在曼哈顿举行，大获成功。第二次活动将在5月22日举行，基姆期望在同期推出网站的1.5版本。随着平台不断发展，基姆希望增加社交媒体和众筹功能，“艺术家必须生存，现在的选择都不够实际，”他说，“有那么多创意被浪费了，我们需要彼此。”