Notes

Sirenia by Felix Braden

Once more Felix Braden has released a very tasty typeface over there at Floodfonts. It is called Sirenia and feels very organic.

The whole set contains 1270 characters and includes many decorative elements as well as swash variations. I really like the warm look and feel and can’t wait to give it a play for the right purpose. Maybe already for next beyond tellerrand in Düsseldorf ;)

But have a look yourself and see how nicely Sirenia looks and feels.

Photos from SmashingConf New York 2022

This was the first year back in New York after 2019. And here is my set of photos from Smashing Conference 2022 in New York.

Trailer 3 of “This Is What I Want To Do”

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I can’t believe someone would ever create a film about what I do. Totally excited, but equally afraid to see how it turns out in the end and what the story line of the documentary is.

How that all started? Well, there are those two guys. Their names are Andreas Brüggemann and Stefan Nitzsche. They both are lovely people. And they decided to make a documentary about what I do – beyond tellerrand. I think that is crazy 😳. But also nice and I am humbled. And excited.

See Trailer 3 of the film here:

I am on Vero

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Totally forgot about the platform for a while. I had reasons not to be on it back then, but now Vero seems less broken than things like Instagram.

So, I am on Vero to post photos. Let’s connect!

Inclusive Design 24 (#id24)

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Three weeks before I ran beyond tellerrand in Berlin Léonie wrote me to ask, if I’d be up for co-hosting this years [Inclusive Design 24] online event. Of course I am!

The event takes place on September 22nd and even though it is the 17th birthday of my son at this day, I will find a couple of hours to co-host the show. I am looking forward to a full day of interesting talks from people like John Allsopp, who is speaking about inclusive online events or talks like “Power and Participation in Research” by Catherine Collins. You can find all so far announced presentations in the schedule of #id24. Looks great, doesn’t it?

The whole event is completely free to attend and runs for 24 hours (hence the name). You can also already subscribe to the playlist of the event on YouTube. And if you have a question to any of the presenters, then follow @id24conf on Twitter and ask your questions here.

Thats’ it. See you on September 22nd!

ZDF Filmed a Short Documentary about Janis McDavid at beyond tellerrand

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During beyond tellerrand in Berlin the ZDF has been in the house and followed Janis McDavid before, during and after his talk.

You can watch the short clip in the ZDF Mediathek and maybe you spot yourself in the film ;)

Working Products Conference

Teaser image for the event Working Products in Hamburg
The Working Products Conference takes place on September 15th and 16th

For beyond tellerrand I often team up with other events and we help to promote each other. The reasons are as easy as follows:

  • There are a lot of other interesting and good conferences taking place all around the world
  • Topics are covered that we don’t cover or don’t cover in such detail and depth
  • Nice people run and attend those events
  • Attending other events widens your horizon

This time I’d love to introduce you to an event taking place 15 and 16 September 2022. It is called Working Products, exists since 2016 and topics are agile product development, product management and product culture amongst others.

If you are someone who is responsible for digital products, like a product manager for example or a product owners, then this event is something you should have a closer look at.

👉 Information and registration

10 Years of Smashing Conference

Photo showing two people – left Marc Thiele with a microphone and right Vitaly Friedman
Ten years ago Vitaly and I started Smashing Conference

In 2011, on the very first beyond tellerrand conference I ran, Vitaly Friedman was part of the line-up. We had just got to know each other and met for the first time, when we did a road trip to the New Adventures Conference in January 2011. Together with Stefan Nitzsche, Andreas Dantz and Bastian Allgeier we hit the road in a van and drove from Essen to Nottingham. I remember interesting conversations, great fun and only have vivid memories of this adventure and caught a few of these memories in photos.

A portrait shot of Vitaly Friedman looking to the right
A photo of Vitaly, taken on the ferry to Dover.

I was planning my first beyond tellerrand event also during this time, which was about to happen in November 2011. Vitaly was planned to be one of the speakers. He came and spoke and we became good friends. During beyond tellerrand in 2011, towards the end of the show, Vitaly took me aside and told me how much he loved the atmosphere and energy and asked if we two should start an event together under the umbrella of Smashing Magazine. And so we did.

In September 2012, we kicked of the very first Smashing Conference in Freiburg and I am happy that we continue this each and every year. Happy to be part of this adventure and to have met Vitaly.

Thanks Vitaly, for all the years of friendship, fun and the excitement we share! On to more adventures …

Why We Create Podcast – That was Fun

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A picture showing me, Marc Thiele and some assets like lines and dots next to Why We Create, which is the titles of the podcast
I have had the honour to be invited to the Why We Create Podcast – great fun!

From time to time I get invited to an interview or asked to speak or, like this time again, to be a guest in a podcast. Often times the inviting people ask me to speak about what I do and how it all started with beyond tellerrand and I usually think ”Why should anyone be interested in this and what could I possibly talk about, that wouldn’t bore people to death?”

For some reason it seems to be interesting, though, and the feedback usually is really nice. Same counts for the last podcast I have been invited to, which is the Why We Create Podcast. I really enjoyed the conversation and could not stop speaking about events, community and why in-person events are important.

One reason, why it was such a great fun and so easy to chat about the things I do is, that Megan Davis (who runs the Wacom Experience Center in Portland) and Chris Diego made it so easy. They made me feel welcome and the best part was, that it was an in-person interview. Megan and Chris were in Düsseldorf and at the Wacom Experience Center Düsseldorf that opened not too long ago and where we held the beyond tellerrand Warm-Up before the Düsseldorf shows for the last times. It was wonderful meeting them face to face and recording this podcast while having a coffee with them.

If you want to listen to the podcast, do it here or at any other platform where it is listed

About Why We Create

Why we Create is a podcast brought to you by the team at the Wacom Experience in Portland, Oregon. In this podcast we'll be exploring the behind-the-scenes stories from artists, inventors and the daringly creative. Join us on this conversational adventure while we share stories with artists and creators from every corner of the world.

My Events Are My Passion

I just re-watched the two trailers that Andy Brügemann and Stefan Nitzsche released before the pandemic for their documentary about my beyond tellerrand (@btconf) events. And even though it feels strange to listen to myself or knowing there is a film to be released about what I do, I have to say, that I said many things that are still and always counting for me. I love to run these events from deep out of my heart and I am excited for what is coming. Despite the tough times all event organisers experience right now. Because the majority of people I know who run events, do it because it is their true passion. Thanks for each and everyone supporting this for more than 10 years now.