June 3rd, 2011 Part1 @ Munich, Germany
BISS is Hildegard and Hildegard is BISS. Without knowing her, you can’t get a membership of International Network of Street Paper. I always look for her hug whenever I join INSP annual conference.
As I expected, she welcomed me into the office of BISS with a big smile and THE hug!
You could say that BISS is the most stable street magazine in the world. I always wanted to ask her what was the secret. As soon as I popped up the question, she answered, “The reason is that I always put vendors first, not the organization nor profits.” At first, her answer sounded too idealistic, but a day spent with her made me think that idealistic idea was the most realistic and practical.
Concept of BISS consists of three pillars; firstly, there are employed vendors. After working for them one year, a vendor can choose to be a part-time employed one, who needs to sell 400 magazines monthly. Once he or she gets self-confidence to sell 400 copies above monthly, a vendor could choose to be a full-timer with the salary of 1150 euros, who needs to sell 800 magazines monthly. According to BISS, none of the employed vendors failed to sell those amounts of magazines.
“Full-timers pay tax too, and I suppose they are the only people who are delighted to do that,” Hildegard smiled. They seem to be proud of contributing to the society. 46-year-old, Martin Berrasoh is one of the full-timers, who lives in a flat with his companion dog, Maya. He has been selling BISS magazines for 13 years, and got hired nine years ago. “I have just bought a used guitar. Listening to my favorite music at home, it’s such a blessing time to me.”