EM is moving to G Building: ‘The new location could provide us with new stories and encounters’

This summer, the renovation of the Tinbergen Building will kick off. The part of the construction where the editorial office is currently located will be demolished. So EM has to move. Gunneweg says: “When we moved in, we knew this was going to be temporary, but due to the postponement of the building’s renovation, we ended up staying much longer than intended. Which was nice, because this was one of the best locations we have ever had.” For about five years, the newsroom has had the space on the corridor between Theil and Tinbergen as homebase.

Now EM has to make room and the editors are leaving to the G Building. To be fair, the editorial staff had to get used to it when it became clear what the new location of the editorial office would be. After all, the G-building is not generally seen as a premium location on campus. But Gunneweg mainly sees new opportunities: “We are surrounded by a number of study associations and study workplaces. We are – even though it feels like a remote corner – in a lively place where many students walk in and out.”

The new office in the G Building is not the most visible location and it is smaller than the one in Tinbergen. “But I just see it as, there’s a very nice German word for that: Tapetenwechsel (literally: changing carpets). A nice break, a change of scenery. That’s how we should see it. And it might just provide us with new stories and encounters.”

Erasmus Magazine has moved four times in the sixteen years Gunneweg has worked here. The advantage of moving so often is that each time EM is visible in a different location each time. “That is very important for Erasmus Magazine. Being in a place where people can easily find and see us. So that people can walk in if they want to ask or tell us something. Our editorial office is more than just an office. We also record EM TV there.”

For journalistic purposes, it is important that people can walk in. Gunneweg has experience of workplaces where that is not the case. “When I did my first internship as a journalist, at de Haagsche Courant, it was in an office building in the Plaspoelpolder. That’s kind of no man’s land between Delft and Rijswijk. That’s where the publisher, the print shop and also the editorial office were located. As a city newspaper, that’s not really where you belong.”

EM’s editorial office also went through tough times when it was seated in room AT-57: “We were muffled aside somewhere in a corner of the campus and our window view was away from the campus, instead of onto it. Fortunately, we were only there for a year.” The G Building may be less fancy than the Erasmus Building but it is a lot more visible.

But the new location will also be temporary, as plans for the demolition of the G Building have been around for years. “The aim is that after the Tinbergen is renovated, when there will be more space on campus, we will have a permanent visible location”, Gunneweg says.

Moving house also comes along with nice things. Like a reason for a ‘spring cleaning’. “It is a great time to tidy up completely and empty all those boxes”, says Gunneweg. A lot of old papers and notebooks have already disappeared into the dumpster. “We take less and less stuff with us each time.”

And once the move is over, a well-deserved housewarming party is on the agenda. “We will see if we can organise something with the other residents of the G Building (including EFR and Recruitment days). After all, EM is famous for its get-togethers. So others can enjoy that too.”