Quite often I’m asked for some examples of what my work consists of, and of some projects I helped get off the ground.
A little while ago, I started collecting some of these things on a single page: Things I’ve worked on.
I tend to update that page pretty infrequently. But here’s a current snapshot since I just did update the page for the first time in quite a while.
It’s a quick overview of some of the bigger or more interesting milestones in my work. In other words, these are some of the things I’m a bit proud of, and that can serve as a glimpse into what kind of stuff I like working on.
If you wonder why there are so many events in there, it’s quite simple: While most of my work used to be for clients and it doesn’t feel right to claim any credit for those, most of these events were more or less direct results of my initiative. Since I tend to explore topics that interest me through the vehicle of events or writing, these projects listed here can give you a glimpse into the topics I’ve been focusing on over time.
UIkonf
Berlin’s first English-language iOS developer conference. Co-organizing this as an independent event with Matt Patterson and Chris Eidhof since 2013 (website)
Makers Make
Making should be easier: Currently an early stage company, Natasha Carolan and I co-founded Makers Make to allow independent product designers more easily to get from idea to market. (website)
The Alpine Review
I serve as Editor at Large, Europe, for the print-only, bi-annual magazine The Alpine Review. At The Alpine Review, we “assemble emerging signals, connections and patterns and tie them together with the people, places and things that draw our attention. A compendium of ideas for a world in transition.” In my own words, a mag by our tribe for our tribe.
Ignite Berlin
Ignite is a global event series with an interesting format constraint: For 5 minutes, speakers get to talk about a topic they are passionate about, and their slides automatically forward every 15 seconds. It’s both inspiring and entertaining. I’ve been organizing Ignite Berlin since 2010, first with Matt Biddulph, then with my collaborators Claudia Rauch and Yasmina Haryono. Enlighten us, but make it quick!
NEXT Berlin
I’m the Program Director for NEXT Berlin, one of Europe’s leading (and biggest) web conferences. In previous years I’ve curated several stages at NEXT, too. Disclosure: NEXT are a client of mine.
Report: A Glimpse Into The Future
At Third Wave, I wrote this report on the macro trends shaping the years to come. It’s a little forecasting project based on input of the fantastic Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Dannie Jost, Georgina Voss, Mike Arauz, Sami Niemelä, Stefan Erschwendner and Tamao Funahashi. It is available in full length here: A Glimpse Into The Future
Dossier: The Quantified Self
At Third Wave I co-authored this extensive dossier about the Quantified Self. It was an ongoing series that aimed to both give an introduction into personal analytics and to dive deeper into the implications and relevant issues. Available here: The Quantified Self
Third Wave
In 2010, I co-founded Third Wave with two partners, as part think tank, part digital strategy consultancy. Among many other things, Third Wave published an extensive series on the Quantified Self and a glimpse into the near future, and organized Cognitive Cities Conference. I left in 2012 to pursue other interests.
Cognitive Cities Conference
Cognitive Cities Conference explored the future of connected cities. I organized this independent conference along with my partners at Third Wave and a bunch of friends in 2012 to look at the future of cities & technology, and how both fields interface. We had a number of fantastic speakers ranging from a Sci-Fi author to MIT researchers to data viz folks. We also put together a CoCities Salon in Amsterdam. More about CoCities in my blog.
TEDxKreuzberg
Twice, in 2010 & 2011, I co-organized TEDxKreuzberg at Betahaus Berlin. Inspiring talks in a cozy setting. Read my blogposts about TEDxKreuzberg here.
Atoms&Bits Festival
Atoms&Bits Festival was a conference and festival to celebrate the maker culture and what we might call the “post-digital” today: An event to explore the intersection of the digital and physical world. Organized in 2009 by a loose group of local technologists and activists (my blogposts here).
Online Election Campaigning (SPD/Jusos 2009)
During the German federal elections 2009, I was the external strategic lead for the SPD (social democrats) youth organization’s online campaign. We focused on giving young voters the tools to engage their communities and spread their messages. Disclosure: This was client work.
Weblogs & Political Journalists
Way back in 2006, I wrote my masters thesis about the role of blogs for the work of political journalists in Germany. (Full text here. Spoiler: At the time, blogs weren’t relevant for political journalists in Germany.) It was part of my MA in Media & Communications at Freie Universität Berlin, and was graded 1,0 (the German equivalent of a straight A). I also co-authored a text book on virtual worlds for UOC Barcelona together with my friends Max Senges and Thomas Praus.
