We started working together at the Kallithea Cultural Association. We took on an organisation with no funds, very little equipment and more work than four people with full-time jobs had any sensible reason to accept. We organised it, built a programme of classes, activities and events, and discovered that we rather liked the way we disagreed: creatively, persistently and usually until something useful emerged. When we left, the sensible choice was to rest. We formed a Social Cooperative Enterprise.
So we created 325 mainly as an official excuse to meet every Monday and pretend we had a plan. The roles were not invented during an organisational workshop; they already existed in practice. We later added titles and Board positions because, eventually, even controlled chaos requires minutes.
the Anchor
Head of Finance & Legal
He is the calm force and the only voice of reason left on this planet. The right person to keep us in order. He manages the budget so well that money often gets frightened and hides in spreadsheets to escape.
[email protected]the Architect
Head of Planning & Construction
He builds structures so perfect they make physics feel insecure. He is always late to give time a chance to mature—something most people mistakenly describe as a “delay.”
[email protected]the Artisan
Head of F&B & Procurement
He creates food far too beautiful to eat, yet far too delicious for a museum. To Vaggelis, “cookies” are something you have with coffee, not something quietly tracking you across the internet.
[email protected]the Accelerator
Head of Communications & Partnerships
He plans for the future, because that is where most of “tomorrow” is kept. He pushes the 325 engine to run faster than reality. He is a marketing magician who could sell a glass of water to someone who is drowning.
[email protected]
the Artist
Head of Sales & Artistic Affairs
Actor with a particular talent for sales and alternative mathematics. For Gerasimos, “the three of us” can describe a group of five people without much difficulty, preferably all of them named Vaggelis. Trusted with many things. Bringing the keys is never one of them.
[email protected]325: HOW IT WORKS
Antonis carried out exhaustive naming research. None of his suggestions were used. Vaggelis took roughly three seconds to propose “3 to 5”. The rest of us agreed, which remains the fastest collective decision in 325 history.
“3 to 5” became 325 and later acquired an inconveniently logical explanation: three pillars, two goals and five stages.
That is still how we work. An idea is tested against finance, legal structure, space, construction, food, procurement, communications and partnerships, receives the objections it deserves and leaves in better condition. Not always faster. Considerably harder to collapse.
The A-Team does not do everything. It simply makes sure nothing is left without an owner, a direction or a respectable excuse.
HELLO
According to the laws of physics, you’ve reached the bottom of this page. The next logical step is to talk to us—unless you just enjoy scrolling through screens of dimmed black and space green.
