Say hello to Will

We’re big on a few things at giffgaff. Among those things are community, tech, and collaborating with our members.

Will is one member who helps us to ‘hit it for 6’, in each of these areas.

Not only is he the Editor of our forum newsletter ‘The gaff’. But he also writes articles for the main giffgaff blog, creates fun video content to share all sorts of information with members, and attends various tech events - representing giffgaff and staying up-to-date on all things tech.

Will is a real jack of all trades around here. And, he does this all whilst being a student in his second year of Uni too. What a legend.

Joining the community

Will joined the giffgaff community in 2015, when he switched to giffgaff for our flexible goodybags. But he soon discovered our giffgaff forum, and the community of members making use of it every day. “I later realised that giffgaff had an active community and this was a perfect fit for me!”

Will got stuck into things straight away. Helping other members with their questions in our ‘Help & Support’ thread and sharing content on our Photography board. He also got stuck into conversations across General Discussions, chatting about all things from favourite foods to cool new apps for the latest phones.

He soon realised that as well as having tons of fun - he was also able to earn rewards for helping out and joining in.

“Imagine my surprise when I found out that what I thought was just fun, was earning me payback, which was enough to cover my monthly goodybags!”

From observer to contributor

Will is very passionate about tech, and content creation in general. He was brought up as a musician, with his entire family in the music industry. And is interested in all different forms of technology, from computers to smartphones to cameras. In his spare time he is building up his kit to practice his video production and photography skills. A real creative.

He’s currently studying for a degree in Electronic Engineering, in Southampton. So staying in the know about recent tech trends is a real benefit to his studies too.

Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before Will transitioned from just helping members on the giffgaff forum, to writing for the giffgaff blog, and making videos for our YouTube channel. Now, 4 years later, he still does all of these things - but has also taken on a few more roles.

Over the years Will has worked on various projects with us. Including Video Missions. What’s a video mission? Well, a few years back we went out to members asking them if they wanted to help with fun, informative videos. Such as videos on how to use the giffgaff service. And Will was one of the first in line, to help us create them.

Then came videos for our giffgaff Blog, showing off the latest tech, tech trends and more. Our blog team reached out to Will and asked if he’d be interested in creating content with us. He jumped at the chance. And he’s being doing that for almost 3 years now, on and off.

From 2017, Will also took over the role of Editor for our weekly forum newsletter ‘The gaff’ - which keeps members updated on the best threads and latest giffgaff updates; things they need to know and content they shouldn’t miss out on. He has helped expand the team to 8 frequent columnists, who he now coordinates; spending a few hours a week editing and making sure everything looks good, reads good; and is ready to go out on time.

Taking his hobby to the next level

We’re all about collaboration and making mutual decisions with our members. To keep giffgaff as run by you as possible, we love working with members on projects where they can showcase their talents - and produce terrific content.

Will is a perfect example of a member that uses his talents and passions to make giffgaff work for him, and help us offer more to our members at the same time. So, of course, he was top of our minds when we thought about bringing members to tech events with us, and giving them a better insight into the behind the scenes of the tech world.

“One of my favourite opportunities has to be attending the Samsung Unpacked event in London, at the beginning of this year (2019). Samsung announced the Galaxy S10 series and the Galaxy Fold. I have also had the opportunity to see the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and the Note 10, one week before the public announcement.

On all occasions, this was to create videos for the giffgaff YouTube channel, but I’ve gained a lot of valuable experience in video editing and camera work through all of this. And had a lot of fun attending events with lots of other media guys, hearing talks I wouldn’t be able to otherwise!”.

Funding his video making

Last year, Will was able to use the rewards he gets from giffgaff to buy a camera and some microphones, to make up his own kit. And we’re really chuffed for him.

“My giffgaff contributions help me earn more money, that I can reinvest into tech. It definitely helped me with getting my camera bits. And as I’m at Uni, every penny helps. I can put my Payback rewards towards the important everyday things too. Like eating right and buying things I need for class!”

You’re welcome, Will. We love that on top of being able to shout about all the awesome work you do - we can help make life a little easier for you as well.

Opening the doors & lifting the lid

For Will, run by you means: “Feeling like my opinion and contributions are valued. Members all have an individual sense of power. I can make an original ‘Will creation’. Or another member can put their spin on things and do it their way. giffgaff truly is being run by us. In a little way, for a lot of members, but with a big impact.”

Will can see evidence of this in lots of things. From members choosing their own goodybags, to charity donations where everyone has a vote. But, as giffgaff grows, the possibilities for members to get involved grows too. And for Will, this has meant giffgaff constantly helping him to “open the tin” he’s in. Learning more, and improving his skills and knowledge each year.

“It’s definitely unique. I can’t really think of any other company that really interacts with its members, in quite the same way. There’s a genuine focus on that - its very cool. The fact it’s unique is what’s amazing about it. The fact that it’s only giffgaff that does that; that makes it special. Exclusive.”

Will is eager to join us on our journey over the next few years, developing giffgaff and doing even more with members. Especially as we begin to open our doors to more members (literally), and invite them in to giffgaff HQ on a regular basis. He is super excited at these new opportunities, and had some great feedback from members who have visited the gaff recently.

“We absolutely love it; meeting the team. And I want to emphasise that. A few weeks ago, as part of the Samsung day, I’d just done some filming. I dropped in to the giffgaff office for a few minutes and there was Karaoke and a group of the team were raising money whilst belting out their fav tunes. It gave the place so much character. Where else do you find that? It was great!”

Recently, the giffgaff [forum] (https://community.giffgaff.com/) had an upgrade too. We switched to a new platform which allows us to improve the experience and member engagement over there as well. Will loves the new platform and told us: “It’s going to be really interesting - hopefully we can get some tools to improve and increase what we can do. One things for sure, it’s super quick now, and a lot easier to use for new members.” Well, we love it too and can’t wait to do more with it, either.

With more opportunities now than ever before, the sky’s the limit for members to get involved in their own way, and make giffgaff even more ‘run by you’.

Will, you’re a top sport, and a true giffgaff hero. We can’t wait to see how we can build on what we create together, even further, in the future.