I am back from Cologne and Brighton having a short stop in Krefeld, before leaving for Freiburg and Bologna.
I used this time to select a few impressions from NightlyBuild 2016 and upload them for you.
Enjoy! Those from Reasons to will follow.
In about 3 hours I am going to leave for the third edition of NightlyBuild. I’m looking forward to meet a lot of people there. I haven’t seen Bruce for a while and, man, it must be ages ago since I’ve had dinner with Stephen in Amsterdam, which was the last time I’ve seen him.
I gonna take my camera with me to capture the vibe and moment at the event and you can later see what you have missed, when you visit my Flickr account.
If you attend yourself: see you there!
At the end of June, Marco Cedaro asked me, if I'd like to come and speak at From The Front in Bologna, Italy. I knew that this talk would take place during a time that is hectic already and not only because beyond tellerrand // BERLIN is close, but also because I attend quite a few events in September. But I always wanted to attend From The Front anyways and never made it. So I used this chance to be part of this event, even though I am now speaking and not only attending.
I planned to write my talk early, but it proved again, that I need this certain kind of pressure to get productive and therefore I just started working on the presentation beginning of this week. As I start to travel on Friday from Cologne to Brighton to Freiburg to Bologne, there is not much time left other than this week to finish it.
Marco said:
The conference topic is related to change and for us it would be really interesting for you to share your experience in organising tech events.
I gave a talk, where I spoke about insights of running my beyond tellerrand events at ConfConf, but felt like this would be too much detail for the talk in Bologna. Therefore I called my presentation “Change” and try to focus on the “why” and the motivation of running the events. It – of course – has something to do with the community we work in/for/with. But it also was my wish to change something in my life, when I started thinking of running the event.
This is the description of the talk:
Have you ever felt this strange feeling in your gut that tells you that a job offer you got is one you should better not accept? Or when you had a job interview, that you thought, you’d be quite happy when you are out of it again? Maybe also if you are in a position, where you feel good in general, but from time to time you think about changing something. Maybe because small things in your daily business start to annoy you, maybe, because you always wanted to do a certain thing … maybe it is time to change something an follow your inner voice.
This talk is about a personal story and how it led to somethings that I highly enjoy doing. Every day. But is also is about the importance of community and meeting people in real life.
If you want to join me on this little journey, grab a ticket and come to Bologna.
10 years ago my friend John Davey started his event called Flash on the Beach. By that time, I was running the Flashforum Konferenz (FFK in short) as a spin of from and the member of the German Flash community Flashforum. Sascha Wolter was speaking at this event and had a +1 to give away, which he gave to me. And I am glad he did, since i met one of my best friends these days, who was organising this event.
The moment John and I met and exchanged ideas and experiences of running an event and especially of running our events was, when John and I recognised that we are thinking the same way a lot. We spoke more often, he came to my events, I went to his (and I only missed one event in New York so far!) and we even started to travel around the world, attending other events to meet people and to somehow educate us. You learn a lot, when visiting other events - in a positive and negative way. It got to a point that it felt we were spending more time together than with our own family and people also attending or speaking at events assumed that when I was at an event, John would be there as well and vice vera.
John had, I think I can say this, the most famous and successful event of the “Flash world”. Around 1200 people attended his 3-day 3-theater festival of creative minds from various fields. Highly technical talks, mixed with amazingly creative session, this was what made a fantastic mix in terms of the content, but also the people coming to this event where always truly special. During those ten years, I met so many fantastic people at reasons and made a lot of friends and I always was and always am very much looking forward to the time of the year, when I travel to Brighton.
John made the decision of changing the name of the event from Flash on the Beach to Reasons to be Creative and Reasons To now. And what changed content wise? Not much I have to say and that is good! The focus of John always was on finding creative people and creativity has no limits and is not only reserved or present in the Graphic Design industry or the Design industry in General. People like Mario Klingemann, Jared Tarbell, Joshua Davis and André Michelle (just to mention a few of the long list) have shown and proven this. Sure, nowadays Flash might not be the tool of their choice, but it is not about tools anyways, but about technology someone chooses to express his/her ideas. So yes, the name of this event has changed, but the heart and the idea has not.
I myself always leave this event pumped with new ideas and inspiration. With new energy to try something different and to look into something I never thought of before. I always leave also with good memories about the conversations I had and the people I had these conversations with. And this is, when I think, I can say this is a great event.
Congrats, John, for a fantastic event and thanks for running this event for already ten years for us!
I made the mistake and started watching Stranger Things on Netflix. Of course I had to watch all 8 episodes nearly in one go. Don’t know exactly what it is, but this series somehow caught me. It reminds me of movies from the 80’s like ET, Back to the Future, Goonies or a Stephen King novel. Not only the way it is filmed and written, but also how the actors play, the dialogues, the typography and the overall feeling. Guess I was exactly their target group somehow.
Because I liked the soundtrack a lot as well, I searched for it and found a playlist on Spotify. On “What’s on Netflix” you can find a list of all episodes and related songs, which will we constantly updated as well. Furthermore I found an extended version of the theme song on YouTube.
In March I had a very lovely two hour Skype conversation with Aoife Reaper-Reynold, who interviewed me to write a story about customers of Tito. I use Tito for a long time to sell my tickets for my beyond tellerrand events and I am very pleased and happy with them and their service.
Yesterday Paul announced the new series, starting with my story, on their blog and I like what Aoife made of it.
For me it is nice to read the story, as I am able to look back on the time I run beyond tellerrand and see how it grew from an idea I had to a successful event.
But read yourself ;)
Last week I met Tobias Schwarz and Tilman Schenk in Düsseldorf. For the relaunch of the Host Europe website and brand, they asked Tobias to interview a couple of so called digital pioneers. We had a lovely chat about life, how work integrates with it, and all things that collide with these topics. I am using Host Europe ever since I started running my own website, which was when they still where called One-2-One and also answered a couple of questions, why it is like this.
Read the full (German) interview, which is part of a series, where more is coming soon. So far they list Rouven Kasten and me in this series, but also have Michael Praetorius and Susann Schronen ready to be listed.
Back in Freiburg for one day. #noclouds #münster
What I don't really get: Ikea calls back 36 million chests and dressers in the USA, because 6 children died. But how many children died because of gun accidents again?
I want to continue what I started with my first and second post about which events I’ll attend in 2016. This time it is the period from June to September, or in other words, the third quarter of the year.
As I mentioned in my first post already, there are a lot of great events happening and in addition to the lists I mention there, Jan Constantin created a new list with events taking place from June to December 2016.
With this said, I just want to mention that the list below is not a list with recommendations, where to go to, but simple a list of events where I attend and where you can meet me … I mean, if you want … ;)
From August 26th to 28th, another IndieWebCamp is taking place. This time in New York and I try to attend. I was not able to attend the IWC in Nuremberg this year, because it was too close to my beyond tellerrand in Düsseldorf and I was busy with final bits and pieces for it. I also wasn’t able to really attend the IWC in Düsseldorf either, because I was setting up beyond tellerrand. I am not sure, if I really will make it – New York is not cheap, you know – but I hope I gonna make it.
Registration is free and space is limited.
NightlyBuild is taking place for the third time. A one-day, or lets say, a one-evening event in Cologne, Germany on September 2nd. Tickets are only €49 and this year’s theme is “The Simplicity of the Web combined with the latest Technologies”. First speakers are announced and I am already looking forward to meet Stephen Hay again – haven’t seen him for a long time. MC of the event is Bruce Lawson and of course I am also always looking forward to hang out with him either.
This is going to be a big birthday party … festival … event – call it whatever you want. Fact is that, if you take Flash on the Beach, the precursor of Reasons To, then this event turns 10 this year. Can you believe this? 10 years and I did not miss a single one, which shows how much I like it. I think the mix of speakers is special every year, but this year, from September 5th to 7th, it is extraordinary. Just take a look at the line-up that is announced so far and you’ll see what I mean.
John also changed the format a little bit. In the past years it always used to be three theatres on three days. This year it will be three theatres each day in the morning and single track in the afternoon. Maybe that serves the wish of those, who only like single track events.
Another birthday party from September 12th to 13th: Smashing Magazine also turns 10! Of course this is something they want to celebrate in their hometown at their 5th SmashingConf in Freiburg. This is special not only because Vitaly and I started SmashingConf in Freiburg 2012, but also because you can expect a lot of nice extras during this conference.
A sad part is, that Cat, who was part of the team since 2013, just left the Smashing Events team. Good news though is, that she is now working for Shopify, a long time partner of beyond tellerrand, which means, I might see her even more than before ;)
The people behind the Typo Berlin conference are also setting up smaller events called “Typo Day”. One of them takes place in Cologne at the end of September. I am looking forward to it a lot. I think there are still tickets left for it.
That is what’s planned so far for June, August and September. If you wonder, why June and August look pretty much empty: it is Summer and holidays season and I am very much looking forward to spend time with my Family.
But then I am happy to meet the one or other of you at any of these events. If you happen to attend one, let me know and we might have the chance to catch up and chat during while having a drink …
Update September 26th, 2016: Added Typo day Köln