My company turns one! When I set up The Waving Cat GmbH as a company, my main goal was to use it as an umbrella, an organizational backend and communications device, for the various interests and projects I pursue – for fun and profit. Along the line, I also fine tuned the mission for The Waving Cat as…
…exploring the impact of emerging technologies and helping apply the insights of innovators through consulting, conferences and publications.
And that’s exactly what’s happening. The formats and teams change, the mission is the same. For me that’s super exciting, and I feel lucky and privileged that I get to work and live this way. Thank you all!
It’s hard to believe how quickly this year flew by. And yet, when I just skimmed my records, it’s even more unbelievable to me to see all the things that happened in just a year. More importantly, to see that these things have legs, so to speak, and are going places.
A stack of t-shirts from my conferences. <3
Even more importantly, it’s great that nearly all of them have been happening in close collaboration with people I admire and love working with:
- Co-founded #iot/maker/hardware conference ThingsCon with Max Krüger, Simon Höher and Emanuel Schwarz, and brought it into its second year, incl. a local event in AMS
- Written a booklet with Max Krüger: The Indie Conference Organizer Handbook (TICOH)
- Published two issues of #iot print magazine Connected with Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino/Designswarm
- Co-directed one NEXT Conf and am working on NEXT 15 with Monique van Dusseldorp
- Co-organized, and subsequently handed over to a new team, iOS developler conference UIKonf with Matt Patterson and Chris Eidhof
- Became co-chair of Interaction 16 with Sami Niemelä of IxDA Helsinki
- Started an executive briefing on emerging tech, The Imaginary Unit, with Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino and Patrick Tanguay
- Came up with a simple test to determine which client projects to accept and engage with, the Client Work Triangle Test
- Worked with old and new clients ranging from corporate R&D to agency to industry association to to think tank to government.
- Became a startup mentor with Highway1 and Hardware.co, and an ambassador for Highway1
- Published nine or so articles, interviews or publications of some sort
- Gave about ten talks in Germany, Japan, US, UK and the Netherlands.
What a year. Here’s to the next one!
