Impact Hub Amsterdam was founded in 2008, being one of the first in the wider global network, back when it was still called "The Hub". It first opened its doors in November 2008 at the Westerstraat, a popular location in the western part of central Amsterdam. In 2013, it was re-located to the area of the Westergasfabriek in Stadsdeel West and rebranded as “Impact Hub” (following the global rebranding process). End of 2016, it plans to relocate again to the east side of Amsterdam. Today, Impact Hub Amsterdam (IH Amsterdam) has a total of around 350 members, as well as a wider network of partners and followers that participate and/or cooperate in programmes.
By locating at the Westerstraat Impact Hub Amsterdam found its first physical space to occupy. This not only entailed going from an ad hoc community to a community with a home but also materialized the goals, practices and roles of the people involved.
After realizing they could not provide the consistency and maintenance of day-today practices need, the co-founders decided to hire a manager. The Impact Hub's staff went from being based on volunteers to a paid staff with a professional background.
In 2013 the global network of 'the Hub' was rebranded to 'Impact Hub' to emphasize the common network aim of accelerating impact. This rebranding informed the local rebranding process of IH Amsterdam and turned how the Impact Hub is experienced by individuals.
Rebranding to Impact Hub Amsterdam provided an opportunity to take the business to a different level as a more service and program oriented business through developing incubation and acceleration programs. This distinguishes the IH-AMS from other similar initiatives.
The relocation to Westerpark went hand in hand with the (global) rebranding process. Moving to a new space enabled a longer desire to further developing the business and helped overcome barriers in order to do so that were posed by the prior building.
After much confusion IH-AMS was confronted with the ending of the lease of their building at after their landlord had changed from the municipality to a commercial party. This disrupted the development and management of IH-AMS and forced them into a next level.
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