PORTFOLIOMATEVŽ STRAUS A wild-card. Urbanite, urban sociologist, city marketer, strategist, entrepreneur and activist. Traveller.

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WHY

MATEVŽ?A wild-card. Urbanite, urban sociologist, city marketer, strategist, entrepreneur and activist. Traveller.

Matevž Straus3

Hiring a new employee is always a demanding task. Even large companies that have excelled at selection process admit it. Why? Because it matters. It matters who you hire.

The purpose of this portfolio is not to make your selection easy - but rather to help you make an informed decision. To give you an impression how I can contrib-ute to your company and make your/our company better at reaching its goals.

“Getting better” is exactly what I believe in. It is the main reason why I initiate. I start-up projects, I create visions, I strate-gise.

I am a generalist. I try to see beyond boundaries, beyond the existing and the obvious.

I am curious and creative, but analytical. I am a youth leader, initiator, magazine editor, entrepreneurial mind, young strategist, and a Slovenian coming from a pocket-sized country with a pocket-sized capital ... living on the crossroads of two mentalities: the Central European “plan-ning” and the Balkan “anything goes”.

Someone ready to grow with your com-pany.

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MY

BACKGROUNDMaster in Urban Studies - 4CitiesVrije Universiteit Brussel, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Universität Wien, Kobenhavns Universitet, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Brussels, Vienna, Kopenhagen, Madrid• Urban Development, Urban Planning and Urbanism, Urban Analysis, Urban

Demography, Urban Geography, Urban Economic Geography, Urban Sociology, Urban Studies

• Average grade: A

Master in Strategic Market CommunicationUniversity of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Ljubljana • Corporate Communication, Branding, Micro-economics, Strategic marketing,

Local governance, Method Integration• Average grade: 9,5/10• Master thesis grade: 10/10

Analitical SociologyUniversity of Ljubljana - Faculty of Social Sciences, Ljubljana (with exchange semester in Umea, Sweden)• Statistics, Urban Regeneration, Studies of Tourism and Travel, Spatial Sociology,

Economic Sociology, Sociology of Creativity,Social and Political Psychology, Social Anthropology, Philosophy and Logic, Rhetoric, Critical Theory of Culture

• Average grade: 9,5/10• Bachelor thesis grade: 10/10

2014 - ...

2007 - 2011

2011 - 2014

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SUMMER SCHOOLSChinese Business Language Course | July 2012Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, Shanghai• Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Smart City,

Mobility Studies, Urban Studies• Grade: 100/100

EIT ICT Labs - Urban Life and Mobility | July 2015UCL University College London, London

• Chinese Business Language, Chinese Business Culture, Entrepreneurship and Innovation

• Results: Asked by case study company (SNCF) to continue work

CONFERENCES• regional development (European Week of

Cities and Regions in Brussels)• town center marketing (Fanfara in Ljubljana)• heritage interpretation (Geopark Idrija)• environmental policy (EarthTalks in Vienna)• business related topics (Chamber of Com-

merce and Industry of Slovenia)• content marketing (Forum Corporate Publish-

ing in Berlin, POMP Forum in Ljubljana)• leadership (Zveza ŠKIS, National Youth Coun-

cil of Slovenia)

JOB-RELATED SKILLS• urban analysis tools (mental mapping, stake-

holder mapping, qualitative methods, graph plotting, ...)

• implementation lab methodology• strategy and tactics• content marketing skills (offline and online

communication tools - corporate magazines, web-magazines, e-newsletters, infographics, video content, web platforms ...)

• sociological imagination• ”big picture” view• branding and marketing• public relations and advertising• project leadership• strategic planning and visioning

DIGITAL COMPETENCES• good command of Microsoft Office • basic knowledge of statistical analysis software

(SPSS, Excel, Nvivo)• basic knowledge of graphic design software

(Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator)• basic knowledge of GIS software (ArcGIS,

QGIS)

SOCIAL SKILLS• communication skills• content marketing skills• understanding others’ problems• team spirit• adopting to multicultural environment• listening• patience• trust building

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ANALYSIS + POLICYYOUTH STRATEGYMunicipality of Idrija (Slovenia) is a rather small Alpine municipality with rich mining history, in-scribed on UNESCO World Heritage List. Periph-eral location and limited employment possibilities force many young ambitious people to leave it. The mayor and municipality wanted to tackle youth is-sues with a comprehensive set of youth policies that would retain ambitious and entrepreneurial youth.

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2015- ...

Challenge:(s)• analyse the youth of Municipality of

Idrija and develop municipal youth strategy

Solution(s):• create a platform of youth organisa-

tions to gather inputs and broaden the reach

• prepare an engaging online survey to gather rich inputs (300 participants)

• engage local stakeholders and decision makers

• identify strategic capabilities and chal-lenges of the municipality in the field of youth

• develop a vision, aims, goals and propose holistic strategy for a five-year period

My role(s):• coordination• strategy• input gathering• analysis• brochure design

More:www.idrija.siwww.mcidrija.si

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INITIATIVE + VISION

YOUTH CENTERHow to revive a youth scene in a small town? How to engage youth to self-organise and make youth organisations one of the strongest development partners of the municipality?

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2008 - 2013

Challenge:(s)• establish a progressive bottom-up

youth center in a town with almost non-existent youth activities

Solution(s):• lead by example - activite student club

and leave it to younger generations when at peak performance

• always defend and propose new proj-ects and activities

• create a distinct public image• develop an ongoing dialogue with lo-

cal stakeholders and decision makers• coordinate youth groups in order to

establish a strong network• work with architects and social work-

ers to renovate and revitalise the venue• see beyond the existing, engage others

in the greater vision

My role(s):• motivation• persistence• innovation• engagement

More:www.mcidrija.si

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LEADERSHIP + EDITINGTBI MAGAZINECommunication is a never-ending challenge. Young entrepreneurs and activists of Idrija have been facing the challenges of “being misper-cieved”, “being unheard”, and “not taken serious-ly”. With the establishment of a high-quality mag-azine featuring youth-led initiatieves we managed to change public image and became thought lead-ers of local community.

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2012 - ...

Challenge:(s)• communicate the vision and activi-

ties of ambitious and entrepreneurial young people to relavant stakeholders

Solution(s):• start-up a magazine about youth of the

city• create a diverse team of journalists, de-

signers, photographers - all volunteers• ensure the sufficient funding for one

high-quality issue per year (400 cop-ies)

• create a distribution strategy with the aim of changing public perception of youth

My role(s):• editing and proofreading• coordination and organisation• strategy• financials and reporting

TBI magazine received SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD at POMP Forum 2015 competition for The Best Slovenian Content Marketing Project.

More:www.tbi.si

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BRANDING + STRATEGY

THE IDRIA LACEFor centuries, Idrija lace has been a synonym for quality, prestige and an established reputation. Unfortunately, after WWII it bacame viewed as a thing of the past, grand-mothers and obsolete. Our aim was to revive this old tradition and create a new contemporary brand.

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2014 - ...

Challenge:(s)• revive the 300 years old tradition of

hand-made lace-making

Solution(s):• create a modern luxury brand with

distinct contemporary visual identity• connect young designers with elderly

lace-makers• develop new products and use lace for

new purposes (e.g. dream catchers)

My role(s):• coordination and leadership• strategy and branding• marketing and sales• packaging design

More:www.theidrialace.comwww.theidrialace.com/shop

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EDITING + COORDINATIONVOICE OF BUSINESSFuture of decades old Voice of Business magazine, published by Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, all of a sudden depended on me. At that time I was 23.

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2011 - ...

Challenge:(s)• communicate the activities and po-

sition of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia to its members and stakeholders

Solution(s):• engage employees in writing con-

tent-rich and informative articles about their activities

• report from main national business events

• conduct interviews with state minis-ters, businessmen and MPs

• invite though leaders and business gurus to write columns

• (partially) finance the magazine with adverts

My role(s):• executive editor• selecting topics on entrepreneurship

and business• editing and proofreading• coordination and contacting authors• conducting interviews with state min-

isters, businessmen and MPs

More:www.gzs.si

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MARKETING + WRITINGCONTENT CREATIONFor the past 4 years I have been writing articles - in Slovenian and English - for content marketing projects for several large Slovenian and interna-tional companies: car manufacturers, banks, hotels, insurance companies, retail chains ...

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OPINION + RESEARCHPAPERS AND EDSArticles and papers in scientific and professional journals, chapters in books on youth policies, columns in local newspapers, and talks at simposiums ...

For more articles in English follow me on Academia: Matevž Straus

Book:Local Youth Policy (chapter on Mobility Policies)

B.A. Thesis:Public Space and Creativity: A Case Study on Idrija

M.A. Thesis:Slovenian Cities of Culture: From Unreasonable Goals to Strategic Planning and Management

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TRAVEL + EXPLOREON THE MOVEI have travelled a great deal: Scandinavia, the Bal-kans, Central and Western Europe, the Mediter-ranean, Russia along the Trans-Siberian Railway, Nepal and Eastern and Northern China.

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Matevž STRAUSwww.matevzstraus.si

LinkedIn: Matevž StrausTwitter: Matevž Straus

Academia: Matevž Straus