Would you like to be listed as well? Only requirement is that you live in Europe, tweet 98% in english and don’t have a protected profile. Leave your twitter-url in the comments (and if your profile does not say which country you are from, please provide that as well).

• Belgium (3)
• Denmark (3)
• France (4)
• Germany (13)
• Ireland (10)
• Israel (3)
• Italy (3)
• Netherlands (2)
• Norway (3)
• Romania (1)
• Spain (2)
• Sweden (1)
• Switzerland (6)
• UK (47)

Please help spread the word:

Belgium

• bnox / Clo Willaerts (1248 followers)
  Marketing Manager IBU at Sanoma Magazines Belgium. Organiser of Brussels Girl Geek Dinners.
• rrradiogirrrl / Sigrid (542 followers)
  happy,internet addict,radio geeky, web 2.0 fan, reader, jr. product manager @ a Belgian television channel
• tamaragielen / Tamara Gielen (725 followers)
  Independent email marketing consultant

Denmark

• redsoda / Henriette (262 followers)
  rebel extraordinaire at play
• karinhoegh / Karin Hoegh (656 followers)
  journalist, podcasting consultant
• norwegianne / Anne (32 followers)
  Norwegian abroad

France

• tripalong / Nicola Williams (110 followers)
  Lonely Planet author, travel writer, editorial consultant & foodie: blogs stuff not in my guides
• CindyKing / CindyKing (3103 followers)
  Cross-cultural marketer & international sales specialist, aligning cross-cultural offers for international sales thru copywriting to open international mark
• clotildenet / Clotilde Dusoulier (1012 followers)
• coletteballou / Colette Ballou (93 followers)

Germany

• nicolemichele / Nicole Fornaçon (441 followers)
  American expat working for Oracle EMEA in Germany who loves social networking. Statements & opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Oracle
• Ronna / Ronna Porter (887 followers)
  Compelling branding and international communications
• ruxandraale / Ruxandra Alexandru (100 followers)
  psychologist in transition
• LoLoG / Lori Grosland (475 followers)
  You can take a girl out of Idaho, but you can’t take Idaho out of the girl…
• ulrike_reinhard / ulrike_reinhard (248 followers)
• NicoleSimon / Nicole Simon (6732 followers)
  Lead author of the German Twitter book, a Social Media Strategist helping companies make biz in Germany / Europe, Founder GirlGeekDinner.de
• lyssaslounge / Katharina Borchert (1286 followers)
• tomoniq / Monique Otter (31 followers)
• ullahe / Ulla Hennig (287 followers)
  Responsible for the website of the UdK Berlin. Amateur photographer. photoblogger
• lirontocker / Liron Tocker (358 followers)
  Blue eyes, big mouth. Coffee? Graphic Designer. I draw stuff.
• frankfurtine / Claudia Rauch (242 followers)
  Girl Geek working for KDE, loves networking, geek stuff, cooking, fashion and Liverpool FC
• vik_t / Viktoria Trosien (339 followers)
  entrepreneurial and startup-ish…. running Tiburon-TV.com + CEO of a german soccer portal, more at www.vindoura.com/about/
• notafish / Delphine Ménard (280 followers)
  intercultural musings, always learning, consulting.

Ireland

• PamelaFay / Pamela Fay (39 followers)
  Business Etiquette and Business Performance Management Coach.
• krishnade / Krishna De (4194 followers)
  Founder PodCamp Ireland,Vice Chair Association for Coaching Ireland, social media speaker, author, blogger, podcaster,executive career personal brand consultant
• JaciPrendergast / Jackie Prendergast (18 followers)
  Jackie Prendergast HR&Mgt Consultant: Strategy/policy; Change mgt/Realignment, Outplacement & Career Coaching, Executive Coaching, Employee Relations, I
• gita_m / Gita Malinovska (199 followers)
  Co-founder of company Agile Technologies Ltd (http://agiletech.ie). Geek girl, loves testing, networking and social media
• giftsandvoucher / Sian Maloney (376 followers)
  Managing Director of an online website that sells luxury gifts and vouchers on behalf of local Irish businesses and delivers anywhere in Ireland.
• MiriamAhern / Miriam Ahern (51 followers)
  Certified Management Consultant/Coach: Change Management. HR. OD. Business Network Management
• michadaly / michadaly (152 followers)
  Communications Manager, Social Entrepreneur and Journalist
• omahonydonnelly / omahonydonnelly (287 followers)
  Web Dev, Online Marketing, SEO from NY now living in rural Ireland
• lexia / Alexia Golez (741 followers)
  Limerick gal & blogger.
• PixieVonDust / Marie Boran (792 followers)
  I write about technology stuffs on siliconrepublic.com and gadgetrepublic.com

Israel

• ahoova / ahuvah berger (1055 followers)
  former new yawkah living in israel spilling cawfee and <3 technology www.jerusalemwinterball.com
• YaelBeeri / Yael Beeri (705 followers)
  Business: marketing, copywriting, social media, Web 2.0. Pleasure: art, music, books, photography, movies, friends, family, food, alcohol, travel, cats.
• Orli / Orli Yakuel (4524 followers)
  Go2web20 Co-Founder. Visit my blog @ http://blog.go2web20.net

Italy

• AmandaLorenzani / Amanda Lorenzani (1086 followers)
  Amused.
• ExpatCoach / Megan Fitzgerald (898 followers)
  Expat Career & Personal Branding Coach – Helping fellow expats to use their personal brand on and offline for professional & business success
• emmabird / Emma Bird (198 followers)
  Writer and owner of www.howtoitaly.typepad.com

Netherlands

• CleverClogs / Marjolein Hoekstra (1644 followers)
  RSS monger and OPML manipulator. Tags: custom search engines, firefox add-ons / scripts, online reputation management. Twitter radar http://sn.im/twitter_grazr
• jennalee / Jennifer (216 followers)
  New order PR Warrior, business angel, human being

Norway

• camillasandman / Camilla Sandman (32 followers)
  Norwegian at large
• troubalex / Alexandra Leisse (165 followers)
  Web Community Manager at Qt Software – among other things
• yojibee / Anne K Petterøe (851 followers)
  Having fun being a busy bee. ESME team member, SAP-Adobe Consultant, SAP Mentor, Sometimes Developer, Mac fangirl, Music & Fashion

Romania

• alina_popescu / alina_popescu (391 followers)
  Crazy about blogging, PR, marketing and photography

Spain

• mariasipka / mariasipka (601 followers)
  Aussie entrepreneur living in Barcelona obsessed with monetizing online communities and groups
• danielaarens / danielaarens (224 followers)
  German living in Barcelona – Marketing & Community Manager at Linqia, see also @modcom

Sweden

• luisac / Luisa Carbonelli (27 followers)

Switzerland

• DaniaGerhardt / DaniaGerhardt (90 followers)
• shyne / Carole Hofmann (273 followers)
  Entrepreneur, psychologist and social network strategy consultant.
• wisequeen / Donna Jackson /wiseq (1859 followers)
  Intercultural Trainer, Soc communications evangelist/ specialist, blogger, writer, independent lifesyle coach, http://www.wineloversworld.blogspot.com
• dannie / Dannie (213 followers)
  intense, ambiguous, degenerate and knotted. dual citizen of bosonia and fermionia.
• claudiafalt / ClaudiaFaltysBenassi (189 followers)
  e-/marketing, B2B, new communication technologies, teaching e-marketing to swiss tourism pros, French, Italian, English. Mobile business sol. www.sosoftware.com
• stephtara / Stephanie Booth (2232 followers)
  Anglo-Swiss, blogging consulant, loves her Indian cat. I don’t get Twitter on my mobile. Text +41786254474 instead.

UK

• vikkispence / vikkispence (67 followers)
  About me for Twitter? I’m Ewan Spence’s long-suffering wife :P
• katyhowell / Katy Howell (578 followers)
  Obsessive online PR with intermittent attention to kids
• mseckington / Melinda Seckington (540 followers)
  The self-proclaimed Miss Geeky. Computer Scientist. Blogger. Geek Dinner and Girl Geek Coffee Organizer.
• girlygeekdom / GirlyGeekdom (1469 followers)
  aka Sarah Blow of the GirlyGeekdom blog and founder of Girl Geek Dinners… Techie, innovator, marketeer and geek!
• Natbat / Natalie (1421 followers)
  Clientside developer, Clearleft
• JennyFlintoft / Jenny Flintoft (543 followers)
  Helping others feel FIRED UP! about their work and life – whether you’re employed, self-employed, or just need a boost of inspiration – I can help!
• sportycarrie / Carrie Davis (20506 followers)
  The Sport Girl on the Chris Moyles Show!
• wealthcoach / Nicola Cairncross (1251 followers)
  Making Millionaires Since 1999
• amypalko / amypalko (1108 followers)
  Fascinated in everything with a limitless curiosity – I live in a state of constant intrigue
• JudithLewis / Judith Lewis (405 followers)
  Search Director; i-level.com; Journalist, Technology Weekly; Blogger, SEO-Chicks.com; conference speaker; all around sexy gal Email: judith.lewis@i-level.com
• ukdivorce / Jackie Walker (465 followers)
  Helping less than perfect relationships mend or end
• adriana872 / Adriana Lukas (457 followers)
  disruption on legs, networks, social web
• megpickard / Meg Pickard (133 followers)
  Public/professional updates for social/media botherer and all-round tea-drinking champion. Available for workshops, conferences, barmitzvahs…
• shanitomorrow / shani lee (345 followers)
  learning, communities, smes, arty stuff, chatting :)
• Sofia / Sofia (1911 followers)
• amanda / amanda rose (2915 followers)
  canadian living in london . co-founder of space-2 locations . events-minded entrepreneur . communicator who likes oxymorons . thinking global for @twestival
• LJRICH / lj rich (944 followers)
  Blogger, Technologist, Musician, Composer & Geek on BBC Click, Virgin & more. Concert Pianist, loves scifi, gadgets, chocolate, sushi & trivia.
• denisecox / denise cox (334 followers)
  Email Newsletter Specialist with European ESP Newsweaver. I am as passionate about email as the first day I sent and received one: 24 June, 1996
• workingnature / Allyson Proudfoot (1527 followers)
  I make ethical handmade soap and skincare under the brand name “Working with Nature” I also sell on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6654622
• emmapotter / Emma Potter (249 followers)
  PR consultant in B2B, tech and social media. Talk to me about Elsevier, Wadja and Flip Video.
• Christiane / Christiane Link (499 followers)
  German journalist living in London
• thenextwomen / Simone Brummelhuis (1077 followers)
  The Next Women, Business Magazine for Female Internet Heroes. News Interviews Startups Funding Profiles.Founder, entrepreneur, CEO, TV, Simone Brummelhuis.
• salena_newport / Salena Newport (1637 followers)
  Can’t help it, but I’m constantly striving for the ‘Ok, I’m where I need to be’ point.
• rachelclarke / Rachel Clarke (1419 followers)
  engagement, transmedia, digital, games, fun, marketing. Unlikely to follow back unless I know you
• shelleypearson / Shelley Pearson (44 followers)
  Franchise Expert. Entrepreneur junkie; Nuts & Bolts Business Lady; Wishes she could fly; Loves Jam Donuts
• JudithMorgan / JudithMorgan (343 followers)
  Business Mentor, Wealth Coach, Debt Counsellor, Property Investor, Serial Entrepreneur
• joannayoung / joannayoung (1161 followers)
  Writing coach, blogger, writer, lifelong learner, lifewide explorer
• IttyBiz / Naomi Dunford (2018 followers)
  Author of IttyBiz. Into helping solo-preneurs earn more and suck less.
• girlonetrack / Zoe Margolis (3113 followers)
  Sexblogger, author, geek.
• MelKirk / Mel Kirk (4645 followers)
  I’m a super social media butterfly that loves all things web apps, shiny and new :)
• Suw / Suw (1914 followers)
  Playing with computers.
• vero / Vero Pepperrell (1489 followers)
  Social Media Consultant, Blogger & Geekette
• AlisonW / Alison Wheeler (290 followers)
  Open source / knowledge GeekGirl who loves creating solutions to thought-impossible problems! Runs on UT+3 so hates UK mornings. 3xCTO, with MBA, now available
• marionryan / marionryan (245 followers)
  Website and blog designer,writer, philosopher and philanthropist and funny bird
• emmapersky / Emma Persky (518 followers)
  fuck. that. shit.
• PeoplemapsJulie / Julie Gibbons (1021 followers)
  Personality profiling, home educating, house exchanging, organic traveller – global business on the internet, preferably in flip-flops.
• _vio_ / _Vio_ (1046 followers)
  French 20-something geekette, living in London and working in Social Media. Oh and my name is not Valarie ;)
• hermioneway / hermioneway (1752 followers)
  gave birth to newspepper.com and www.techfluff.tv
• Barb_G / Barbara Gibson (9619 followers)
  Chair of International Assoc of Business Communicators (IABC), PR & communication strategy consultant, ABC, social media dilettante.
• Lesley_Johnston / Lesley Johnston (2052 followers)
  I’m an internet entrepreneur who teaches businesses to grow their business online through internet marketing.
• RachaelPhillips / Rachael (411 followers)
  By day I’m a publicist by night I’m a wanna be writer/blogger, photography & travel lover. Also in to the usual suspects – film, fashion & scandal!
• ananyah / Michelle (359 followers)
  I’m a 26 yr old female who grew up in Singapore & Kuwait but is technically Scottish even if the accent isn’t there!
• CathElliott / CathElliott (236 followers)
  Freelance writer and blogger,
• photogirluk / Jamie Klingler (653 followers)
  philly girl, relocated 6 years ago, poker, scrabble, softball and photography director of ShortList Magazine, and mom of puppy mcnulty
• LouiseBJ / Louise Barnes-Johnst (462 followers)
  Business Coach working with Small Business Owners who want more money from their business and more fun from their life!
• Julie_Moore / Julie Moore (189 followers)
  Nationally Acclaimed Tarot Reader & Clairvoyant. “The Celebrities Psychic”.
• Nadia_ / nadia_choudhary (129 followers)
  I dedicate my twittering life to Mark Shaw, he made me twitter! :) I’d also like to pay tribute to Ecademy, the blog page launched my cyber career.

Update: LinkedIn adds a more or less cheesy video named ‘next bus stop german’.

Cheesy because most people in the video do speak with accents, especially the voiceover. While this is not that bad and may sound like a good idea, mostly you hear these kind of voices on badly translated informercials. It reminds me of these because if you watch it (even as non German speaker), you will note that it shows nearly nothing – instead of featuring some of the great advantages Linkedin may have to the user, it just repeats over and over again the notion of “are you in yet??” and ‘available in German’.

Which might work if Linkedin was already very well known in Germany but as mentioned in my other postings: Germans only know about what they have read about before in traditional media. If you are not available in German media all the time (media, not blogs) people don’t know about you. And then you need to do more than just “are you in yet?”. :)

Oh and of course I am curious if anyone can tell me which discussion group on Linkedin this link leads to, as I see it in my referrers but cannot access it. ;)

(End of update)

TC UK writes about “LinkedIn launches German site to take the fight to Xing“, writing about the significant growth of Linkedin and how few users Xing basically has. Missing the point once again: Of course in the general world wide market Xing looses out to Linkedin, but in the German market, Xing is the 800 pound gorilla, period. Did you ever wonder why all these great numbers from sites like Linkedin and Facebook never included one of the biggest markets in Europe? Germany has 82 million people living there, with over 60% of the grownups being online on a regular basis and it just ticks different to what you might used to be. For example who cares if Linkedin can IPO at any time when all of my colleagues are on Xing? [This of course is relevant to a site like Techcrunch, but not to the users of the system].

Let me first go into the more general aspects before adding more information what Linkedin says in German about their market ideas.

Why Linkedin and other services will fail

There is a lot of potential, but you need to understand the market and its dynamics. Then again, you get the list of things users are not satisfied spoon fed. It is really hard to to miss them. Not just the general complaints, but the complaints of dedicated, active, paying members on Xing who are ready to jump the ship. Pick up those and you get a head start in the game. (Then again, that would be smart.) Traditionally there is a simple approach to the German market, and it is never is a clever one. Most of the time, they just make a translation and try to tell everybody how awesome they are everywhere else, as if this is enough.

It is not. Me and others often wonder if they will ever learn. Take Facebook: boosting about their successes everywhere (including Germany), they fail to mention that it may seem like a success to have 2 million Germans in Facebook already but at the same time other new networks like “Wer kennt Wen” (who knows who) gained several million new members. It is embarrassing for them to claim how awesome they are when everybody knows they are not. Strongholds like StudiVZ who *have* the German market for young people, may be in problem because Facebook is the superior platform and StudiVZ is indeed a complete copy of Facebook 1.0. The German translation is a good step in the right direction, but it is not enough to transport american mechanisms to a german market. Mind you I am saying this as somebody who never had a StudiVZ account and never will have one.

With StudiVZ, you have an inferior to ‘the real thing’. Not so with Xing and Linkedin. Xing despite its many, many weaknesses still offers me *far* more than Linkedin ever will. Starting with superior search, superior address information, superior contact information – I have yet to see any other contact information on Linkedin than the mail address. Have a look at my Xing profile and see everything underlined – while you can only search as a premium member, everything in there is clickable = searchable. What you don’t see is the amount of contact details I get offered as a user to give to my contacts. Best offers are another example. Yes, the network is predominantly German / European based, but with a country of this size, it is far from being relevant that there are not *that* many users from all over the world. And Xing is not even really good at it. To give you another example: in the beginning they did not want to have the localized events, it was the demand of the users that forced this into xing (the current ambassador model was born out of this).

There are thousands of people cursing about Xing every single day – but still would take it in a heartbeat because it is better. I have been paying member of Xing since I started using in in March 2004. If I had to choose today which one to loose, Linkedin would go out first. But Nicole, what about your business contacts in the international world? Simple. They are on Facebook and there I at least have the phone number. Before somebody comes to claim that Linkedin works differently and real professional networks have the CEOs etc of companies – who are you kidding? Show me 100 CEOS who are active on such a platform and I bet you that nearly all of them have their assistants do the job.

In the world wide game Linkedin most likely is the winner, for the German market Linkedin will never be more than a “I am also in there because I have international contacts” network, no way a complete replacement for Xing. Especially not if they do not have a look at their competitors and its weaknesses. I mentioned StudiVZ for a reason: They try to get the finished students into another network called MeinVZ (VZ stands for Verzeichnis = directory and Mein equals My). The path after StudiVZ is MeinVZ or (if you want to be more professional) it will be Xing. Even Facebook is exotic to many.

Where Linkedin and other services can succeed

People will not leave Xing. Period. They may leave the premium membership, but they will not leave the mother ship of all contacts, especially not since Xing has contact information and Linkedin has not. Stop acting as if that would be the goal. You will not be the only one. But it can be the better one.

What Linkedin can do is be a new / second home to the many frustrated members with Xing who will likely also bring on their friends and colleagues. Meaning especially all the group moderators who have been asking, begging for years for features and another place to call home while at the same time not being able to move – because Xing is the de facto standard. This group will make an extra effort to get people over, and even the only slightly frustrated once will start to also use Linkedin in hope that this will force Xing to finally innovate on the things the users really want – and not gadgets.

Similar to Facebook the better strategy would be to take a look at these people who are running local events, seminars etc, and heavily make use of groups and events. If they pack up their groups and move, others will follow. Want to know what they are not satisfied with? The moderator group is full of these threads, and members of the group even make lists and track promises from Xing support. The complain thread about the ‘new event model’ is 86 forum pages long.

People will use different tools for different reasons

Being an early adopter just means being ahead of the rest. My world is connected and does not differentiate between different platforms as much as I ask for the right tool for the job. There are many things I really like about Linkedin (like recommendations, telling people when to contact you, some of the applications) and things which are missing. As people do differentiate between private and business, companies like Linkedin and Facebook should join forces for a market like Germany (or at least make an alliance) and work together with companies like Plaxo or Amiando and others to push the envelope in a direction the customer would want to go.

That is what people will pay for. Even in Web 2.0

Additional information:

(If you can read German, these are the relevant articles for you, I tried to put together the relevant elements in English.)

FAZ: Google trends clearly shows Xing in the lead
The article “Linkedin bringt deutsche Version” shows a lot of the google trend graphics, of which the relevant is the for the German market.

Kevin Eyres, responsible for Linkedin in Europe says they want to get German content onto the pages and make partnerships with German publishers for local content and especially job offers. This is highly relevant as the Xing model is a very expensive one but with their matchmaking also a successful one.

Focus Online: Not buying or cooporating with Xing
In Focus Online (“Wir würden Xing nicht kaufen“) Eyres is quoted in the headline with “we will not buy Xing nor cooporate” and claims that rumors about Linkedin buying Xing where only distributed by Xing and do not hold any truth. They are only interested in globally acting and thinking important business people and don’t consider active members to be as relevant for their platform than “Xing needs them to be”. Which basically implies that normal folks do use Xing while real bosses use linkedin – to which I again bring up the point that really important people have ‘normal folks’ to do such tasks for them.

Turi2 (“Linked-In startet mit deutscher Version Frontalangriff auf Xing.“) is the major media news service and has a lot of interesting comments about the comparison of Linkedin / Xing, especially about the american ‘spirit’ coming into the German market.

Added Linklist from my German posting “LinkedIn versucht den Markteintritt (Reaktionen auf Englisch und auf Deutsch)“:
Additional english links:

• Guardian: LinkedIn continues European expansion with German launch
• Techcrunch: LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman: “We Can Go Public Any Time We Want To”
• Phillip Schilling: Where are you going, Xing?
• Will Big Fish In a Small Pond Survive?
• Can social software “work” in Germany?
• theinquirer: LinkedIn geht bewusst auf Xing los
• Achtung, Maybe? LinkedIn to Take on German Xing Network
• Pro Parkistan: LinkedIn.com – Fast Growing due to Global Recession
• crueltobekind: Linkedin taking the traditional approach in Germany and why that will fail (as usual)

German links:

• Wiwo: Linkedin-Angriff auf Xing "Es wird eine Weile dauern" (Interview)
• Netzzeitung: Xing bekommt ernsthafte Konkurrenz: LinkedIn vernetzt nun auch auf Deutsch
• heise: LinkedIn startet deutschsprachiges Angebot Meldung vorlesen und MP3-Download
• Golem: LinkedIn nun auch auf Deutsch – Nutzerzahl in Deutschland soll sich bis Jahresende auf 1 Million verdoppeln
• Manager Magazin: LinkedIn auf Deutsch – Neuanfang im "nuklearen Winter"
• W&V: Schlagzeilen LinkedIn lernt Deutsch
• ZDNet: LinkedIn startet deutschsprachige Plattform
• FTD.de: Angriff auf Xing Dossier Linkedin spricht jetzt Deutsch
• Futurezone ORD: Business-Netzwerk LinkedIn nun in Deutsch
• Meedia: Business-Network: Der Angriff auf Xing beginnt LinkedIn startet in Deutschland
• Netzwerte 09: Verliert Xing den Anschluss ans Web?
• Tapio Liller: LinkedIn: Eine Lokalisierung ist noch keine Markterschließung
• executivesearchconsultants: Launch Linkedin Deutschland – ca. 140 Jobangebote zum Start
• netzwertig: LinkedIn startet deutsche Version mit älterem Vergleich Xing vs.LinkedIn
• create or die: LinkedIn greift Xing an
• silicon.de: Xing-Konkurrent LinkedIn jetzt auch auf Deutsch
• pixelfol: Business-Netzwerk LinkedIn in deutscher Sprache
• Styropor: LinkedIn endlich in Deutsch
• weblike: LinkedIn.de – Xing Konkurrenz LinkedIn startet in Deutschland
• Blogwave: Ich war 5 Minuten LinkedIn Mitglied
• Sevenmac: Der Kampf ist eröffnet: LinkedIn spricht deutsch
• Digitalnext: LinkedIn startet nun auch deutschsprachige Plattform
• basicthinking Interview: Der neue Xing-Technikvorstand Michael Otto hat keine Angst vor Linkedin
• Handelsblatt Interview -LinkedIn-Chef: „Ich wäre gerne Barack Obama“

Also:

• Rivva search (german techmeme): Linkedin or Xing
• Techmeme search Linkedin or Xing
• Google Blogsearch (international): Xing or  Linkedin

You can read the full mail here I have attached the complete mail and put the link on how to receive DM by mail plus some remarks / questions below that. [As by experience from myself and others Twitter does not answer questions if mailed to them it is easier to ask you this …].

Set up Twitter to send messages by mail
Most people I know do not use Twitter with a higher userbase than the suggested 10 friends, but do use SMS for direct message receiving. This can be replaced by receiving the messages via E-Mail which you can switch on in the Settings ("Direct Text Emails: Email when I receive a new direct message").

For replies summize search via mobile feedreader is your best option.

Prepaid cards to finally work in the US?

I’m sending you this note because you registered a mobile device to work with Twitter over our UK number. […]
Our challenge during this window of time was to establish relationships with mobile operators around the world such that our SMS services could become sustainable from a cost perspective. We achieved this goal in Canada, India, and the United States. We can provide full incoming and outgoing SMS service without passing along operator fees in these countries.

I did not choose that number but you forced me to do so, but that set aside – does this mean the US T-Mobile Prepaid cards finally work with twitter? You may remember my problems around this as not only receiving but also receiving SMS was not possible.

Also it would suggest that while I am in the US (or India and Canada) I should be able to reset my number to the US system and receive / send SMS for free?

The mobile phone providers who would not see the light …

We took a risk hoping to bring more nations onboard and more mobile operators around to our way of thinking but we’ve arrived at a point where the responsible thing to do is slow our costs and take a different approach. […]

It makes more sense for us to establish fair billing arrangements with mobile operators than it does to pass these high fees on to our users.

I am not sure what "our way of thinking" is, but to me this is very clear: You send SMS, you pay for SMS. It is a bitch to negotiate with all the mobile phone providers and to charge your customers for this, but basically we could have told you that from the beginning. Different to the US for example, I never payed for any normal SMS I receive because in Germany you do not pay for that other than a Premium SMS.

Rather than ‘letting them see the light’ we did suggest early on to work on a system for charging the user. For a short time it looked like they experimented with it, as I described in Twitter to monetize by credit based system?

Hint: Taking the unevolved US market as a basis for how the SMS business works around the world is amusing but not a good biz modell …

The mobile interface will get a DM tab then?

He goes on to recommend using the mobile interface which – as you might remember – up til today do not even provide you with a usable interface for seeing your replies or your DM. You can test it out by pointing your browser to m.twitter.com (click on "view twitter in standard" at the bottom to go back to normal). It is not that we want to use API restricted clumsy twitter clients but we have to as the mobile interface is not working properly.

I guess it is on purpose, the "we tried to work with mobile phone providers as we believed they would pay us" idea instead of having a usable interface idea …

btw biz:

Hey folks, if you want to discuss this with us, we have an open thread on our Get Satisfaction forum.

I have no intend to register myself an account there just to send you some feedback …

Some reactions (it is fun btw to watch the “twitter and sms” search on summize)

As expected, TC takes the number from the mail to put a price on it in “Twitter Ends SMS Support In UK; Says Costs Up To $1,000/user/year“:

“We’ve arrived at a point where the responsible thing to do is slow our costs and take a different approach” they said in the blog post.

Next up: a revenue model.

Mike Butcher in TC UK “Twitter cuts UK SMS – there goes another business model“:

It may come as a surprise to non-Silicon Valley American’s but not everyone in Europe has an iPhone or is on unlimited data plans. SMS still rules in Europe and makes any update services far more available to the mainstream.

VentureBeat correctly puts the blame on the mobile phone providers “Twitter kills SMS service in some countries over costs. Will someone kill SMS already?“:

Look, SMS is great in that it connects so many people around the world. But the fees associated with it are an absolute joke. It’s a very small amount of data yet carriers seem to think it’s okay to charge an arm and a leg for it. In the United States, AT&T switched its policy with the iPhone 3G to no longer include any text messages in its plans for the device. Now, if you want to send messages it’s $5 for 200 of them. That is ridiculous when you already paying for “unlimited” data.

@Tudor Davies:

Twitter now officially sucks ass! The removal of SMS updates could kill it real quick in Europe :(

@hellobabul:

@jtonline @mbites @dilan SMS costs Twitter a fortune (esp in UK), but stop’n core services is daft. Makes it pointless & another IM client.

@Peter Price

Well done Twitter, you’ve burnt through your cash by sending texts… what a shame you couldn’t do the maths. Your VCs must be very proud…

At FriendFeed, our goal is to make content on the Web more relevant and discoverable using a combination of social mechanisms and innovative technology. This is a big problem, and we’re just getting started. We’ll be continually improving FriendFeed for years to come as our technology, our user base, and the Web grow.

If you are a simple person, that may very well be. As in ‘if you only speak one language’ or ‘do not have a lot of input’ or “nothing to do” or so. Yes, I am grumpy and it is not just about the language thing.

To show you what I mean by that is have a look at my friendfeed. you might notice something unfamiliar in there, especially the lower part. That are links to my german blog. Which is part of what I publish online, so it is a valid entry. But as much as you (most likely) do not want to see German entries, I do not want to see anything except English and German.

Shall I now go on and add

• my german and english amazon wish list?
• my german and english twitter?
• my german and english bookmarking service?
• my german and english audio or video?
• my english and german shared readers entries from google?
• my stumbleupon link which receives partly german, partly english entries?
• an entry every time I add something to the english upcoming or the german venteria?

I think you know where that is heading.

Why can’t I define in my profile which feed is in which language?
Why can’t I say in my profile “only display these languages”?

Btw usually people with this problem just add the english stuff and be done with it. Nonetheless, there are more than enough people who speak more than one language.

That set aside, where did I read it would be so superior to Plaxo Pulse? Well, with Pulse at least they understood the “i do not want to see this” part. Note the ‘subjective I’ part.

I for example do not want to see twitter, jaiku or pownce entries on such thing, as they are chatting. I don’t want to see social bookmarking links, because the people I am likely to subscribe to will do this heavily, so it will just be a mad stream of things which I can handle much better in each application, thank you. I do not want to see any kind of last.fm like stuff, I just don’t care. And Amazon wish lists? No thanks.

Why oh why do developers always like to think about including stuff, but never about a decent way to exclude it?

I don’t want more, I want better filtering, better options of managing the information and making better use of it. One may say it is for the more casual user, and for them it may be great. But even they in some years will face the problem heavy user are at today …

Come to us and interact with us
The same as with Plaxo and many others, Friendfeed wants me to comment on their site, do interaction at their database. How many services am I supposed to be following? When will startups realize that there is the chances of them being the superior player are extremly slim and as such trying to lock me into their service is just plain annoying?

*sigh*

At that moment I just saw the error message, but now I think they will be testing that way to monetize soon. It also makes sense now to first increase the user base to a critical mass and to get them addicted, and then find a way to charge for it.

I am not denying twitter a way to monetize it, I am just curious if they will manage to set up a system which will not screw up. I assume that it needs to be a system charging me to send out messages (but then I am going to be more careful about what I send to the world) or depending on my user base (1K users per 1 credit).

It has been done before
Back 20 years ago, I had my first encounter with Chat, in a pre-internet system called BTX (comparable to Minitel in France). Many may look back with desire to the days because then there was working micropayment plus the killer application: chat rooms. And it was monetized too: For every message you would send or receive, you were required to pay money.

Today we kind of have the same with SMS: In America both parties pay unless you do have a unlimited plan, in Germany for example the receiver never pays unless it is some premium subscription thing (I even receive SMS for free in roaming).

The net crowd however seldom uses SMS, we do use online chat / IM systems from our mobile phones if at all. Twitter probably changed that more than others, but only because it resembles something obviously unknown to many: the system of a chat room on IRC.

Why a chat room is a different conversation than IM
With an IM system, I need to talk one on one – and you would not just ping a person and throw in some comment if you would like to start a conversation. In a chat room though you can: With your usual crowd, you either see somebody picking up the conversation or you don’t. It is okay to just join a channel and say “Stupid / Great day!”.

I never understood why all IM systems neglected this absolute basic lesson from IRC, and only later would include “group chats”. To this day most systems like Skype etc do not have the feature set of IRC clients from 10 years ago!

Why Twitter is more convincing than other IM systems
As IM systems are based on fancy stuff, they all either require some installation or flash on websites. Too slow and not usable for many. Entering Twitter: Simple web page, simple registering process, interactive badges for the website to display the conversation, mobile access.

It is simple enough, yet does exactly the opposite of what IM does: enable group chat. Given, in a very clunky way and everybody is screaming – wait for it – for functionality one knows from IRC (separate channels, ignore and highlight), but way better than the rest. It is faster than SMS as it allows for group messaging, and it gives me online access as well.

Will users pay with a per credit system?
I started using it due to group pressure ;) about a year ago and like many others my blogging has declined as the attention span goes down with chat. Which btw is one of the reason I stopped using IRC and am often not plugged into Skype, and only rarely into Gtalk – it is a distraction to me.

Twitter is a guilty pleasure, but also easy to set up for events and other uses. The last numbers I received where like 750K users, but as I alone have 5 users and I know of many others who do the same, I would guess the real number lies lower than this. But still, it can grow especially if they manage to position themselves as a working group SMS system.

What could work
Twitter is giving me some value and to a certain degree I will be willing to pay money for it, but I doubt they can monetize it as much as for example mobile carriers earn on SMS today. SMS earnings depend on people not caring that they pay something like 20-40 dollar cent per message over here; or they have an unlimited data plan.

I am assuming that Twitter would go with something similar: Credit based for lower output and a flat fee for heavy users. How much is twitter worth to you? 5 dollars per month, 10? Free to use together with a plan from mobile carrier XYZ or as an added benefit package, preparing the users for even more spending on their mobile phone bill?

I use Twitter mainly from the web page and the mobile web page, as the SMS alert system is not easy enough to control and setup, they have limited it to 250 SMS anyway, suggesting I will be able to by a package with more SMS.

Which leads me to the usual:

The international question …
Up until now, everything I wrote above makes perfect sense for the American market. And American carriers. They are already paying for Twitter, either through receiving SMS cost or part of their data plan. Yet I know a lot of people who are not in the US and who use Twitter extensively. I can only imagine that Twitter – as most other US based companies – will be blind towards the implications running around this issue.

Yes, SMS alert is way more expensive when sent internationally – which for example is why many people use the mobile option, it is way cheaper for me to go on a data tariff than send an expensive SMS to the UK to update my twitter. (Due to the US system of how SMS works I also receive my twitter SMS on my German mobile phone number in roaming mode, as it does not cost me anything, but my US prepaid will not receive those …)

My assumptions
Charging money changes the dynamics
It will be the question how much users value the convenience of Twitter charging money or if they will start using other systems like Gtalk pushed to the phone. Currently there is no reason to go to another system, but charging money changes that fast. I only can imagine that they will be able to bill for credits to send out messages, as otherwise a lot of people will unsubscribe from most of their subscription list as well as to everybody just blabbering.

Other mothers have nice looking sons too
Second, we may be locked into Twitter as no other service provides the convenience, then again, services like Jaiku exist. They are not as sexy now – but adding a credit charge to twitter makes a tool like Jaiku suddenly waaay more interesting.

Ad sponsored twittering?
In the past, Twitter has highlighted events where somebody more or less commercial uses twitter to do mass updates to spread out information. Will I be able to buy credits to spam x thousand users with this demographic soon? (People have wondered about the 20 missing characters, but this is used for “says xxx”). Or just a general blast for all the users not paying money to Twitter, or both credits for sending and receiving advertisement?

My personal conclusion?
Whatever they do, I expect them to be stupid enough to only work with / for the American market. Which may lead to an increase domestically, but neglects the millions of possible users internationally. This will lead to international users switching to local copycats or other competitors like Jaiku etc. Been there, seen that.

That aside, it will depend a lot on what they are charging. I am not sure yet what I would pay for it, but the one thing I know is this: As soon as they are starting to charge money, I will start demanding features and stability.

How much will you pay for Twitter?

Additional Link:
NYT: If You Can’t Let Go, Twitter puts the users of Twitter in a very narrow demographic and even if just a small sample, not at all with the teenage crowd, the most likely to go bezerk over a service like this.

Today: The separators comma and point for numbers.

As you know, I like conferences because they are usually the easiest way to get to know people. As such I was interested to see that there are some search oriented conferences coming to Germany (I am an Analytics and Logfile addict of course), and had a quick look at the price of the "Emetrics Marketing Summit". And to my surprise, the regular price  is just 2 Euros, great!

What happened? Obviously somebody native english worked with this for the regular price, and a non native, non aware editor did the editing for the rest. Because all the other prices are correct – at least to my eye. Well kind of, because having the Euro in front of the price is also specific to the dollar.

Different to English, where the separator for thousands is comma and the decimal point is a point, for me the decimal separator is a comma and the thousand separator is a comma. Which is why also the so called CSV files (=comma separated values) is a semi-colon separated file in German usage.

Do you want the brain of your customer to signal "Error!!!" on your prices?

Application which require me to enter numbers the english way run against two things. nearly 4 decades of training how my mind works. Even reading these figures is confusing in a way – because the brain is trained to notice exceptions, it is additional effort to process this number. Do you really want customers to pay extra attention with a "warning, something is wrong!" sense to prices?

What I read out of "We have 300,000 users!"

My brain does not parse this as three hundred thousand but 300 at first. After a split second though I get the addition. Although you may think different, this is preferred over using the number 3000000, because that takes more time to get the information, like in see, think, get annoyed and using the mouse to count the numbers.

The effects of that are deeper than you might think.  

• How do you enter your numbers?

  I would guess with your numeric keypad. Have a look at it – what do you see next to your zero?

  If it is a point, imagine what it feels like to have a comma there and be required to enter the list of numbers in the table above. The reason why the separator is there and not both point and commas is simple: Everything processing numbers like spreadsheet has special, automated formatting to your value.

   

  In examples from the currency formating tab from Excel

   

  • #.##0,00 € means: Format the number with two decimals and separator per thousand with trailing Euro sign.
  • [$$-409]#.##0,00 does the same with American Dollar style – notice the dollar in the front and not back
  • [$€-1809]#.##0,00 this is the format for Euros in Ireland notice the front Euro

   

  There is no special number assigned to the first formatting, because these infos come from a German Excel and it would be weird to the eye to see this kind of formatting – which is why Microsoft only displays these information with other currencies. In the file of course it gets marked with "Germany".

• How do you order one and a half?

  If I want to order 1.5 times of something, I will enter by default 1,5. This already lead to many cases of "do you want to order 1500 items" – which is why a confirmation page before sending the order is so important.

• How do you copy and paste values?

  Copy and pasting values between applications is a very frequent operation. If I want to work with numbers or sheets I get from others, I need to c&p those values. If there is no difference between the display of a number (1,000,000 but internally the value is 1000000), this will not work.

Why Google and Microsoft rule the market.

"But I did not know about it! Now it is too complicated to implement." If this is your answer, I am sorry but you did not do your homework. It is also one of the reasons why so many applications never really make it out of the small American market and why companies like Google and Microsoft are so successful over here: Besides the reqally superb localized versions of everything Microsoft  (I know, due to the size of the German speaking market), Google is one of the few competitors to ‘get’ it.

Best example: Google Spreadsheet. I dismissed the first version immediately because the numeric keypad problem is one of the first things you test on such an application. And low and behold it was useless due to expecting the numbers separated by point. But quickly this turned and now Google Spreadsheet is the default place to have an online spreadsheet.

In both cases there are large companies behind these efforts, but honestly: you can learn a lot from them and apply it to whatevery you are making.

(Speaking of learning from each other – could the Windows Live Writer Team please pay a visit to their colleagues and make sure I can set a default language per blog in regard of spell checking? Thank you.)

Do you have other stories around these separators? Please share. :)

Three very different events, but all of them “want” international speakers and attendees.

If you plan to attend the event in Berlin or Hamburg, I suggest you try to add more time to your visit, either to connect with the local (startup) scene and or attend additional socializing events.

As all of these events mean travel for most attendees, there is a tendency to start the evening before the event. (Hanover is a different beast, and if you want to go there, you should know what you are doing. )

• Enterprise 2.0 Summit plus Enterprise Open
  “Exclusive insights from best practices and international keynotes give an overview about the status-quo and the future of this topic.”

  Cebit may not be everybody’s dream ;), but if you are in the Enterprise biz, chances are you want to have a look at some vendors and have some appointments anyhow.

  Info: Website, 4th March, Cebit Hannover (use the code E20FRIENDS for a special price of 150 Euro, limited), no upcoming link yet, Facebook Group

  Enterprise 2.0 Open

  Additionally to the Enterprise 2.0 SUMMIT there will be an open platform for sessions on presenting and discussing the “Enterprise 2.0″ topic.

  The “Enterprise 2.0 Open” on CeBIT Sunday will offer the opportunity to further deepen knowledge, best practices and discussion on Enterprise 2.0. It is a Barcamp-alike event at the upcoming CeBIT 2008.

  We encourage everybody who is interested in the topic of Enterprise 2.0 – a more grassroots organizational approach for enterprise information and process management – to participate in this event.

  Info: Sunday, March 9th, Hannover, Free to attend, upcoming, Facebook group

• re:publica’08 – The critical mass
  A conference for the cultural and social aspects of Web 2.0 (including a tendency in Germany to be ‘non commercial’), republica is a bit different.

  But nice and interesting; especially if you want to get a feeling for the non commercial German blogosphere and especially the Berlin crowd.

  Info: Website, April 2nd-4th, Berlin, no price yet, upcoming link, Facebook group

  From the English announcement:

  From the 2nd to the 4th of April 2008 the re:publica’08 conference, subtitled “The critical mass”, takes place in Berlin. After the huge success of the April 2007 “re:publica – Life in the net” with over 700 participants, the cultural and social aspects of web2.0 is again on the agenda.

  [...]

  “When we talk about ‘Critical Mass’ today we do not mean the concept from nuclear physics” says Johnny Haeusler from spreeblick.com. “It is the number of participants in a network at which the user group begins to grow exponentially, acquiring a momentum of it’s own.” These chain reactions and the effect of social networks on daily life, on economics and politics will occupy the guest of re:publica’08 for three days.

  Markus Beckedahl from netzpolitik.org adds: “In 2008 the re:publica will be significantly more international than in 2007. Interesting speakers from other countries are being invited to discuss the global aspects of social media and the digital society. We plan to again have up to 100 lectures, workshops and discussions”

  I will be there with a workshop in German about how to not despair about bilingual activities like blogging and twittering. If you have any stories about that, feel free to send them to me. ;)

  Additional activity: Frasier night after republica.

• next 08: Get realtime
  From Berlin to Hamburg, Next probably is the largest event after DLD and also comes with a limited ‘friends’ price.

  Hosted by interactive agency SinnerSchrader, there is a strong orientation towards conversation, marketing and agencies.

  Info: Website, May 15th, Hamburg, limited friends price 190 Euro, upcoming link, Facebook group

  The program
  The next08 theme is “get realtime”. We ask why your customer is realtime – and you need too. Which brands are realtime brands. How agencies become realtime. What the way from E-Commerce to Realtime-Commerce looks like.

  Conference language is German and English – depending on the country of the speakers. New: moderated discussions, workshops and speedpresentations after lunch.

  The Participants
  We are looking forward to 1,000 participants from all sections of the economy: Marketing directors, project managers in companies and at service providers, start-ups and other independent internet professionals, agencies, investors, blue chips and visionaries.

  Registration
  Registration for friends of the next08 is now open. We are starting with a limited amount of tickets at a special rate of a 190 Euro for friends. This rate is below the costs of the conference in order to allow as many people as possible to participate.

(Disclosure: I work with kongressmedia which organises the Summit and am advisor to Sinnerschrader for the Next conference.)

The two most relevant aspects: getting better at the ‘lingua franca’ as well as embracing international exchange not only on the virtual level.

There are many people who do not understand why one would go to events, because they only look at the content of an event – which should be done, but it is not everything. Every time I go to a new place (and I intend to go to a lot of new places) I meet people who help me to grow in several ways, and I hope I can give back and help them grow as well.

One objective for 2008:
Get people into Germany as well as getting more of those Germans out of the country. To let them mingle and learn from each other, help them succeed and foster relationships. I have always been doing this, but I want to push this even further with a special focus on the European exchange.

Basic strategy for convincing the non German speakers:
“There is an huge, untapped market. They don’t know most of the stuff you would assume they do and many of them could be tempted to speak English. And they do have money.”

The reason to get more people to come over is simple: Broadened horizons on both sides, and ‘infecting’ the local scene with the urge reach for the stars instead of just the remote control. (

This would be the easy part. The more important part though: get those Germans out of their cozy, German only, secluded sphere. Of course there are a lot of Germans already immersed in the English sphere, but ‘we’ tend to stay only there. And don’t push the others to follow.

To give you an idea: You still can be a very popular, well respected blog and be admired for your sources and insight. All you need to do is give the highlights from Techmeme some hours later.

Dear Germans: Get a grip of what is happening out there
This is going to be the harder part, as many do not understand why one would take up the effort to travel somewhere outside of Germany, especially with the misconception of it being way more expensive than doing something in Germany. The timing seems right, because 2007 clearly marked a year where more Germans did their first baby steps on some international events and seem to be interested to do more. Basic advice for the monolingual, not English native speakers has to be “get your ass into the English sphere and get an idea what is going on in the world”

I will probably reach out to many of you for information like “do you know of events in Europe which are good for international attendees” or “what are the topics you are good at presenting”, but probably also information like “you do blog on topic X, please name your favorite 5-10 postings about this”.

Most of my own proposals for events and workshops at events will be around these topics, as well as what I am interested in facilitating opportunities for others. If you have any ideas how this can be achieved, I would be happy to talk to you, this includes but is not limited to events.

One condition though with all of it: It has to be in English, at least in greater parts. Because that is the language we do communicate.

Suggestions and comments as always welcomed.

Over the last weeks, I spend more time than I probably should have listening to classical music. ‘Watchlistening’ to be more precise, because I spend the time on youtube. And after looking through so many interesting examples, going through comments, finding so many fans, experts, idiots, some of them diving into political issues and other of topic activities, I am now ready to spend money.

Money for you, dear industry, to satisfy my aroused need of wanting more input.
Ready to spend some money on quality input. Structured input, from experts, well selected and adjusted to my interests and level of knowledge. Not so much on any expert, but the ones who are “similar to the ones I liked before”. I would like to learn about classical music, easy starting and then go on from there. The field of classical music is so wide, that this could be a customer relationship for the next decades.

And you know what? My aunt got her iPod because she could not stand any more the “music” in the gym and rather would like to listen to opera. Even though she got no DSL she would be in the mood for buying new music when she encounters it – so I could download her some media, burn it on a DVD and send it to her – she could then go on and buy the real CDs. (No worry there for you dear industry btw – she likes arias, and I hate them.)

And she has a lot of classical CDs already – still she might be in the market for new, undiscovered stuff. You, dear music industry could have a new customer, get one of the lost ones back and get more out of an existing customer. Both waiting for your suggestions, ready to lay down money. And still you screw it up.

I don’t want those boxes but you make me prefer them!
I do want to get rid of DVD and CDs. They take up space and get dusty. I rather have a little booklet which I receive from you, with a code, where I can a) have secure online access to my bought goods for backup and b) download them to enjoy them on wherever I would like them to hear. To be more precise – completely digital with backup would be fine as well.

But rather than taking advantage of the new media channels, building up a true digital inventory, and get rid of costs for packaging / logistics / vendors / etc and use direct access to customers you actually try to screw me over and charge me nearly as much for online access than you would charge me sticker price for the sold goods. You might not have noticed, but one does seldomly pay sticker price in the store. And with DRM you reduce my freedom to do with this as I like to do or am used to doing it from CDs.

So I would buy DVDs and CDs on my preferred shopping mall, called Amazon. Except that I would have to ship them over at a ridiculous price and also I can’t play them because of the regional code. The German Amazon does not even offer this! Neither as a UK import (which is the same regional code) nor as a normal offering. So even if I would be interested in buying, I can’t. At least not until I made my DVD player region free. I think you call this one deadlock?

Profits are falling, poor industry!
With so many reasons not to buy (and I only scratched on the surface) every body is fast to point out that the reason for the diminishing profits of the industry lies in the fact that new artists suck, there is no good music, no good new singer / songwriters – but you know what?

While this is true for contemporary music, it is not for classical. The last time I bought a CD in the last oh 10 years? was one album of a podsafe music band who was able to provide me with a download and I rather gave money than really ‘buy’ an album. I am procrastinating putting my existing CDs onto my computer but should because there is one I would really like to give a away though the rest I don’t even remember. I even still own LPs which are except a small handful of albums are space waster.

‘Normal’ people start getting there as well. Putting their collection on MP3 players and suddenly relisting to music, know how to make a ringtone out of if – they are slowly getting there. And file sharing but much more portals like Youtube and alike are places to “watch” TV and watch music.

So far nothing new. And yet, I feel like I would love to go out and shop today. Classical CD to be precise.

I don’t shop anymore – though I did a lot when I was younger
While my first cassette was a mix of terrible 70s music (it was white with blue label and my grandpa bought it for me – from Ti Amo til Theo wir fahr’n nach Lotz) I was six or eight. My first LP came to me with my own stereo, and was a best of Abba. Along came a bit of money and I still have about 1,5 meter of LPs. My first ever CD, bough in 1985 or so was a recording of Beethoven’s 5th – little did I know back then the role of this composers relevancy to the CD. (The second was a maxi of the Cure’s Lullaby).

Over the years I did purchase quite a lot of CDs and LPs, and yes I still remember when an LP costs 16 Deutsche Marks while a new CD today roughly costs I think about 40 Deutsche Marks. But since nearly a decade my purchase has dropped to nearly zero and this is not because of file sharing or exchange with my MP3 player or anything – it just stopped to be interesting to have new albums. The ones I did buy where some few presents for family.

Oh! There is great stuff out there I did not know about!
So with this history, why am I suddenly in the mood for actually buying CDs? Because over the last days I spend time on Youtube comparing different recordings of different conductors and artist. I looked at recordings from past time and current, hopped from comment to comment to see discussion and learn about new names of other artists. Jumped from Beethoven to Bach to Brahms, from Karajan and Bernstein to Horowitz and then to Billy Joel’s Root beer Rag.

Learned about a recorded piano roll of Rachmaninoff himself so we can hear him kind of play like he was alive today, was reminded again that nobody except singers with German on a native level should ever sing German especially not Beethoven’s ninth at the end, discovered interviews with Yo-Yo-Ma and and and.

“Ode to Joy” is a perfect example of what Youtube can do. Just taking the final part … it may not seem different to you to listen to this recording to this during the opening of Nagano but for me there is such a difference as a native speaker and lover of this part – clearly understandable in the first one, mixed together and kind of uncomprehensable in the second. [Though I have to admit that the interpretation of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Georg Solti I own is much worse. For the reader knowledgabe of German I am just saying 'froide schäner gütterfanken' brrrr. ]

Paul Potts, the mobile phone seeling guy who got everyone scared on Britain’s Got Talent when he said “I want to sing opera” but then just blew away everyone when he sang Nessun Dorma – he may not be as thrilling to a person knowing about opera, but this one is sending chills down my spine every time I see it. This one of Luciano Pavarotti is supposed to be ‘better’ and even I as an amateur can hear some differences – still I listen to this and enjoy it, but the one of Paul Potts chills me more.

Maybe it is the people cheering? Why not listen to Pavarotti’s last performance of it during the opening of Turin 2006? Or maybe you would like to see a recording of tenor Mario Del Monaco?

From there it is easy to jump towards actor Dudley Moore. Hm? Yes. Your may remember him as an actor, and when you read “Dudley Moore Beethoven Sonata Parody” you rightfully expect the worst. But interestingly, he does play piano very well.

I would like one Bernstein please, extra educational

Which got me into another cycle of going listening to piano and then to cello. And so forth. Liking Leonard Bernstein for no particular reason, I remembered his teaching on television, some black and white stuff. Amazon has it.

“Leonard Bernstein – Young People’s Concerts / New York Philharmonic (1961)” on nine discs, or “The Unanswered Question – Six Talks at Harvard by Leonard Bernstein (1976)” on six?

This is the internet age. I would like to see a bit more about what I am about to buy. No preview, no peak into it … why not?

From the descriptions, I would choose the Harvard lectures from the above, but spending around 90 dollars on this without knowing what that is seems not really a good idea.

If I would be responsible for anything which ships products being sold on the net, it would be one of the first things to find somebody to fill up all those metadata with everything useful a customer could want to know about this product. Photos, content, additional information, everything.

So back to Youtube. And of course there is an example there.

Hm. Not very convincing. It may be a horrible set of the the whole discs, but this is what I have to base my judgement on. How about the other series? Just have a peak look into “The latin american spirit 1″:

Much better. I will have some more digging to do. But in the meantime, this “Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna/Bernstein in Vienna: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 comes at a much cheaper 17,99 dollar and seems to be related to this!

This could be my next impulse buy! Could be, because this is Amazon.com only and Region 1 again. But back to the topic and the title – as you can see from my writing above, it is not really the music industry per se I am willing to spend money on / with.

It is about content, about expertise, about making collections for me, catering towards my interest, my level of knowledge and my preferred way of consuming media.

And this is something, which you can automate. Program. Run sophisticated enhancements on. Dear music industry (and let’s not get started with the video industry), can you please look at what Google and Amazon are doing right and just implement this? You would do mighty fine with that. And earn money.

If you only would take a look and prepare for the future. Because this is not going to go away.

And if you would excuse me now, I have to look into custom regulations on how much I can order from the US and how much I have to pay additionally, get an unlock for my DVD player and study how long it takes Amazon to ship at the cheapest price …

Short version: web2open website up, communication from twitter to facebook are up, mark the dates in your calendar for week full of events in November and think about submitting a talk / session. Oh yes, and come and have fun with the rest of us.

And: If you have any kind of connections or contacts to a good venue in Berlin for the Barcamp, please get in touch with me or the organizers!

One of the hardest things these days is setting up a stringent and useful way to distribute information about an event like web2open, and I hope I have them nearly all covered now. ;)

In case you have not heard: web2open is an onsite event during the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin. Even if you did not consider going to the full conference – and for the purpose of having you as a full time attendee to the web2open that would be wonderful ;) – you should grab yourself a full expo pass and hop over to Germany because there is a lot of fun and experience waiting for you.

So, what is happening during that week?

Week? Yes week, because the fun starts Friday.

Barcamp and Podcamp Berlin 2 going international:
The plan is to start friday Nov. 2nd with a pre party to Barcamp and Podcamp Berlin, which despite other Barcamps in Germany is going to be an international Barcamp. Only problem so far: To find a venue for 400-500 people. If we don’t find one, we would have to scale that down to like 200-250 visitors and that would be a shame.

Berlin is the capital, but there are not many big companies in Berlin. Something like a bigger company with a cantine would be great, and give the sponsor of such a venue the chance to really meet up with Europeans.

upcoming: Barcamp Berlin 2 & Podcamp Berlin 2

First Girl Geek Dinner Germany
On Wednesday the 7th we will have the first Girl Geek Dinner for Germany, which will be great as already a lot of women are coming. If you are interested in attending please set yourself to attending on the upcoming link so I get a feeling for how big the venue has to be. I will update with more information later.

web2open / O’Reilly Web 2.0 Expo
The main events, starting on Monday evening with an Ignite session as well as the first keynote, until Thursday evening.

upcoming: Web 2.0 Expo Berlin
upcoming: web2open Europe

web2open

Which pass should I register for
Either you go for a full conference pass – please go and check out the options on the conference site – or you go for a full expo pass. If you would like to do so, go to register for a full expo pass and use the code MLYEBEAA to get it for free.

With this “full expo pass” you will be able to attend web2open and the Expo itself, Ignite and the keynotes.

Stay up to date
Most of the information about this event will be happening through the web2open.eu web site and the twitter channel. I have also set up a facebook group.

Don’t forget to enter yourself into the wiki attendee list

Looking for:

Besides really desparately looking for a good venue for the Barcamp, I would like to encourage you to get up and speak at the event. Perhaps even as a “pre set speaker“?

I think it is a great way to practice but also get in touch with interesting Europeans and perhaps even Americans and Asians.

And I would love to get in touch with more European Barcamp organizers, perhaps we could manage to use the roundtable room at least in one session for “Running Barcamps in Europe – chances and challenges”.

More later on the other channels. And if you have something nicer for a logo than this:

that would be wonderful, see here for more infos. ;)

;)