Our first chat this month is with Bjorn from Eisenach, a large historical town northeast of Frankfurt, Germany. Bjorn is an avid technology user and admits “being fascinated with computers, the Internet and telephones since early childhood.” He was actually searching for new technology online when he first read about Moovit on a website for new apps and tech, and says, “The Live-Directions feature first roused my interest, since it has happened to me that I slept right through my stop before.” A tale we can probably all relate to in our shared public transport experience! Bjorn has previously contributed to other online communities, and was therefore happy to join the Moovit Community with the aim of “enabling the app’s service for the people of Eisenach and visitors alike.”
Perhaps Bjorn’s previous experiences in other online communities prepared him for the Moovit Community because he instantly made mapping on the Editor look like child’s play. He joined the Community in December of last year and within 4 months quickly became a mapping pro. He mapped Eisenach’s full transport system of 73 routes with a total of 815 different trip variations! Because of Bjorn’s commitment, passion and natural inclination for participating in online communities, he was invited to become the Community Ambassador of Eisenach. We asked Bjorn if he feels if anything in his approach to the Community has changed since he became an Ambassador, and he replied, “Yes, absolutely. I try to take advantage of any of my free time to talk to new community members, talk to people about Moovit at bus stops and even tell bus drivers about the app.” Indeed, Bjorn is the local champion of fellow Eisenach residents using the valuable information in the app he mapped.
Bjorn tells us that moving forward he is looking forward to arranging Community meetings in order “to exchange views on issues and hear suggestions.” Bjorn, who was originally an electrician and then subsequently re-trained to become a process manager in the vehicle registration department, is also kept busy with his other volunteering activities. Impressively, Bjorn has been a volunteer firefighter for 7 years and is now also a medic with the German Red Cross. Bjorn’s tremendous zeal for volunteering and civic participation is extraordinary and on behalf of the people of Eisenach, we would like to say a huge thank you for always looking after others before yourself!