Life At Bonnier - Finland

MTV3 News Does Its Part for the Elections

By Bert Menninga on 2012-02-09
in
Finland's MTV3 gave voters the big and small picture in the recent presidential election.

Timo Haapala and Merja Ylä-Anttila. Photo by Hannu Puuko

Some nine months after controversial parliamentary elections in Finland, the country elected a new president last Sunday. And MTV3 was there all along for voters. "We have a responsibility as the biggest commercial channel in Finland," says Merja Ylä-Anttila, editor-in-chief for MTV3 News.

Avalanche of Awards

By Bert Menninga on 2012-02-08
in
MTV3 Wins big in the Golden Venlas.

In Finland, MTV3 was a big winner in this year's Kultainen Venla - Golden Venla - awards, the Finnish equivalent to the Emmys.

MTV Media and Design Capital Helsinki 2012

By Bert Menninga on 2011-11-30
in
When Helsinki celebrates as Design Capital 2012, MTV Media will be there as a partner - and as a key purveyer of design.

MTV Media will be one of the main partners of the Design Capital Helsinki 2012. The Design Capital Helsinki 2012 project has plenty to gain from the partnership, since Finns spend a total of seven hours a week watching MTV Media's TV channels and accessing mtv3.fi and sub.fi.

"MTV Media is participating with great enthusiasm as one of the main partners in the WDC Helsinki 2012 project," says Heikki Rotko, executive vice president at MTV Media. "MTV Media has a unique role in the everyday life of Finnish consumers.

Meet Jussi Hakanen

By Bert Menninga on 2011-10-06
in
GROW participant meets American TV - and alligators - when he trades Finland for Florida.

For someone who grew up on American pop culture, moving from Helsinki to Florida has been a dream come true. "All my life I've loved Happy Days, action movies, Springsteen, Seinfeld, Conan, NBA, HBO, etc.," says Jussi Hakanen, who is working at Bonnier Corporation for three months under the GROW program.

Meet Kerstin Schöfisch

By Tora Bonnier on 2011-07-26
in
Licorice, a chance meeting and new ways of working are three things GROW participant Kerstin Schöfisch will remember when she finishes a three-month stint in Helsinki.

What do flags and licorice have in common? They are both prominent in Helsinki, Finland, says GROW participant Kerstin Schöfisch.  "It looks like the Finns hang out their national flags in the streets every second day and I was always wondering what they were celebrating," she says. "Even my colleagues could not tell me. And the Finns seem to be crazy about licorice, as there is licorice ice cream, yoghurt, donuts, coffee, etc.

Meet Lauri Lampi

By Tora Bonnier on 2011-06-29
in
The distance between Helsinki and Stockholm isn't far for GROW participant Lauri Lampi.

For website nerds, says GROW participant Lauri Lampi, managing websites doesn't differ much between Sweden and Finland. Lampi, himself a self-professed nerd, normally works as a service manager at MTV3 in Finland but is spending the summer working for online sales and advertising company Bink in Stockholm as a product manager. "All this managing is basically taking care of various development projects and processes for different kinds of websites," he says.

Meet Tiki Murray

By Bert Menninga on 2011-06-27
in
GROW participant Tiki Murray brings greener thinking from Helsinki to Carlsbad, California.

When Tiki Murray decided to apply for the GROW program - moving to California for three months from Helsinki - she was worried that it might be difficult without a driver's license. But she didn't let that stop her. "I knew California would not have a good public transportation system," she says.

Meet Emma Halmekoski

By Bert Menninga on 2011-06-17
in
The voyage from Finland to Sweden may not be far, but it's been full of fascinating work and funny people for GROW participant Emma Halmekoski.

When Sweden lost to Finland in a hockey game where the two countries spar off against one another, Emma Halmekoski couldn't resist teasing her colleagues at SF Bio in Stockholm. But the Finnish Halmekoski, who is spending three months at SF Bio as part of the GROW exchange program, had to face her own teasing when Sweden beat Finland at soccer not long after. "My colleagues were giving it all back to me," she says with a smile.

Random Acts of Kindness

By Bert Menninga on 2011-06-16
in
Finland's Olivia magazine and its readers give something back with a different kind of volunteer project.

When Finland's Olivia magazine started up the Random Acts of Kindness project, the idea was about more than helping give readers an organized way to give something back to society. It was also about finding a way for Olivia's own staff to give something back.

Meet Tiina Tuomala

By Kim Oswell on 2011-04-19
in
Keeping the same job title, but living, working and speaking a new language in a different country is what excited Tiina Tuomala when she applied for a chance to “GROW.”

Since studying graphic design in England years ago, Tiina Tuomala hoped to one day have the chance to live abroad again. When she was accepted into the GROW program and found out Stockholm would be her new home from February to April, Tuomala made the decision to put her Swedish skills to practice. "One reason I applied for this specific position was so I could brush up on my Swedish," says Tuomala.