How can a company’s “vibe”” bring together both in-house teams and freelancers?”

Bringing together the in-house team and freelancers Can I peek and see the rest?

Let's see, brilliant.How can a company's vibe bring together the in-house team and the freelancers?

Right, this is a big challenge at Código Nuevo, because honestly,we're a small team, just 17 people between Madrid and Barcelona, but it's true that at Código,we also work with 30-35 freelancers who are just as much of Código Nuevo as those of us who are on staff.

In the end, it's true that I come from another place where...

I mean, from another media outlet where I ended up absolutely terrified,because they made loads of hires all at once,which eventually ended in a huge layoff of 80 people, and I thought, wow,I don't want that situation to be repeated at Código Nuevo.

So my goal has always been to keep the team the essential minimum, and then, as new projects come in,we expand the team.

Everything is ultra-controlled so that nothing like what happened at my previous outlet happens again.

It's super complicated. How do you pass on the culture of the outlet,its editorial line, to people who aren't working internally or who only work on specific projects?

It's incredibly tough, because when it comes to: "Can we fit in...

this brand's project?" "How to convey to a freelancer?" "Where should their ideas be heading so that they align with the way we usually think?" There's a huge amount of work involved,showing editorial content,guiding the creative line in the collaborations we do with brands.

As we go through trial and error, depending on the project,we know, like, "This freelancer is great for these videos,this scriptwriter for these pieces." So it's also about getting to know the external team a bit, too.

And it's true that Código Nuevo has a team of project managers who always know everyone's workload, and there's this kind of magic in distributing the work knowing what each person will handle best.

It's incredible.Working in a media outlet is totally different from working in an advertising agency.

And it's true that when we try to bring everyone into the editorial line at Código, it's even harder.

So we always try to say: "Let's not judge these freelancers by their first piece of work, because it's really hard to adapt to our tone." So don't be too harsh,unless it's something majorly wrong.

So it's like, "Okay, is there skill? Willingness? Great." Didn't nail it first time? We'll give it another go.

Last year we had a case that I think really shows the values of Código Nuevo, it was during the DANA in Valencia.

The morning after that happened we were like: "We have to talk about it,how do we do it?

In digital media, working online,it's super easy to fall into sensationalism to get good results to make your outlet perform better through that kind of video.

Option one: what could you do to achieve that?I don't know if you remember, but loads of outlets were publishing videos of people drowning in the streets of Valencia.

It was like, "What now?Do we use those videos that will get way more attention?

What can we do from here?" I knew perfectly well, without even calling a meeting,that the team would never take that route, and instead they'd focus on:"How can we use our platform again to create something that may actually help without being able to do anything from Barcelona or Madrid?" Okay, we created a post, which I'm really proud of,because it's the most viral post in Código Nuevo's 11-year history:"How to help Valencia." It was a carousel with the official centers where you could drop food,donate supplies, or contribute financially.

I mean, it must have reached tons of people,but it was one of the first to come out. The outlet's number one post.

So the team's mindset, like, "How do we use this to help people, and let's not post the most disturbing footage we find," feels incredibly important to me and, again, I feel proud knowing that the team shares that vision.