Locals creating platform that allows content creators to collaborate easily

Do you remember the old days where the set of people you would ever know were those geographically close to you? Yes, you could have pen pals from across the world but that was a a silly little pastime. Communication tech and the internet in particular really shook that up.

It still feels like magic to me when I work on the same document with someone located elsewhere. Some among us are working for companies located in countries they would not be able to locate on a map. That’s sorcery right there.

This is all good news for the creatives out there. I remember Jah Prayzah saying his collaboration with Patoranking started out from an IG DM. Next thing you know, verses were being swapped out and the musicians only met to film the music video.

That worked out alright but the reality on the ground is that collaboration on the internet is still very much a convoluted process. Ask a graphic designer who has had to work on a project with other creatives and they will tell you that the process involves multiple apps, each with its own drawbacks and restrictions. Some even demanding subscription fees.

One may need to send some emails via Gmail, some files via Dropbox, communicate via Slack and/or WhatsApp and receive payment when all is said done via PayPal. All this for one project that could end up paying $20.

For a creative based in this Zimbabwe of ours, that can be a nightmare. So, some local creatives decided to do something about it.

CollaboMe: A platform for creators to collaborate

CollaboMe

One of their taglines is ‘bring everything in one place.’ That says it all.

CollaboMe is an open source platform for creatives that aims to provide a streamlined solution for collaborative work.

On CollaboMe, creatives will be able to send files, communicate, meet other creatives, find new jobs and receive payments among other things, all from one platform. We can all see how this solves the multiple apps and problems described above.

The element of finding jobs comes from CollaboMe also helping link creatives with established institutions. These institutions, which include NGOs, often seek the services of creatives and it is the lucky, connected few that have been getting those sweet corporate gigs.

CollaboMe wants to be the go between, allowing corporations to find new and exciting creatives and giving even creatives just fresh off the press a chance to work on huge projects.

To start, CollaboMe will be doing the project management on such corporate funded gigs themselves. This is until a good solution comes along for ensuring user run projects won’t fail to pay the creatives they engage.

However, creatives can still look for other creatives and collaborate on their own stuff. So, creatives won’t be limited to the contact book they have built up. The whole of Zimbabwe, Africa even, will be accessible to them via CollaboMe.

This is something CollaboMe is excited about. The opening of doors for creatives to collaborate with talented people they never knew existed. We could all do with the widening of our circles, more so the creatives.

Payments

The other major headache is that of payments in Zimbabwe. For the funded projects, CollaboMe will be using a token system where users earn tokens for jobs done. They can then redeem cash for those tokens. CollaboMe looks to use all available money transfer services like EcoCash and InnBucks to distribute the funds.

See, the problem is that it is sometimes a hustle for creatives to receive money into services like PayPal. You know the whole Zimbabwe problem. CollaboMe will handle receiving that money and creatives can walk up to the nearest Mukuru for example and get their money.

How that will work, technically, is still not crystallized. We know that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe will have

Work in progress

CollaboMe is not quite primetime ready, it’s still baking and the platform is not live yet. You can register though. The CollaboMe team is actually asking for any feedback on how best to set up the platform.

So, if you’re a creative or just have ideas on how they can make the platform a gamechanger do get in touch with them. There are discussions still being had on IP protection and many other technical stuff.

Some creatives thought a creative should not get new corporate jobs until they complete the ones they got to avoid a situation where superstar creatives hoard jobs. These and other issues are still being discussed.

The payments solution we talked about is still very much in the early stages and there is still plenty of brainstorming to be done to come up with the best solution.

If you have ideas, get in touch with CollaboMe: info@collabome.org.zw or 0778906438 or Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram.

Good idea if executed well

I think if executed well CollaboMe would be great. Right now we will have to wait to see how it all pans out, the beta is slated for release in November and so we don’t have to wait too long.

Even if we set aside the corporate funded gigs, a creative would still be served well by CollaboMe. However, that’s not always enough. When people have a somewhat working solution it can be hard to get them to try something new. So, CollaboMe will have to be creative on how they market the platform.

There is no ready payments solution and if they come up with one, they will own the market. However, this particular aspect is the one that’s hardest to solve for. The RBZ keeps a tight leash on all things money.

CollaboMe looks to make money from the platform, especially from project management but there is a social good element to it.

There’s a Shona saying that goes, ‘we shall see where the walking stick and the snot apple fall.’ CollaboMe is throwing its cane into the snot apple tree and we hope they get some juicy dohwes to fall.

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