Back from the mountains
October 30, 2009
Yes, we are back from yet another trip up into the mountains, with a lot of strategic finetuning and great new ideas for Amazee to become even better! And for your sore eyes there are new team pictures coming up. The old ones are rather, well, old by now, so we took advantage of Michael’s amazing photography skills and have him shoot us in the sweet mountain landscape of the Bernese Oberland. Look out for those pictures!
Living in a magazine!
October 21, 2009
That was a pretty cool lunch break today. Geraldine Belmont, founder of Yonic, an NGO which operates in Brazil, paid us a visit and told us about Yonic’s activities in the Bahia region of South America’s biggest country. Afterwards we found out that both she and our own Dania are on the cover of the new edition of Annabelle, Switzerland’s number one women’s magazine! This editions topic is “New Generation” and highlights innovative men and women from all backgrounds. Browsing through the magazine, we found our respective articles next to each other. Nice! Be sure to go out and buy Annabelle, if you are in Switzerland!
10th Web Monday Zurich
October 20, 2009
It was another happy gathering at yesterday’s 10th Web Monday. Onstage: Johannes Reck with GetYourGuide.com (search engine for activities experiences) and Pascal von Rickenbach from StreamForge (peer-assisted streaming).
For more impressions visit the project mag – and for those of you interested in the Next Web Monday Zurich: It will take place on 30th November (venue/host still to be defined) – speakers will include Prof. Manfred Vogel who leads the Computer Science department at FHNW and Panoramio. Feel like hosting the event? Leave a note in the Wall of the project. See you.
Hot Chuchi action, anyone?
October 16, 2009
Yet another startup business has survived the intense Chuchi heat! Last night witnessed another installment of the Marketing Chuchi (Chuchi being the Swiss German word for kitchen), a regular meetup of Marketing pros from the Swiss startup scene. This time around it was Gbanga‘s turn to sweat. Matthias Sala, CEO and co-founder of the mixed-reality game provider talked about a massive campaign in cooperation with the Zurich Zoo, which was all over town this summer. His findings: The Swiss advertising business still is quite conservative and mobile gaming solutions as marketing tools will have a hard time on the market for some years to come. What that means for Gbanga we’ll have to wait and see, but it seems they have a couple of aces up their sleeves!
Is politnetz.ch the next “Arena”?
October 14, 2009
Last night we hosted the first ever Politikforelle, a new, regular meetup of people interested in politics and the online world living in Switzerland. The Politikforelle (the political trout, don’t ask …) wants to find answers to the question, how the virtual world is changing the way in which we participate in political processes down here in Switzerland (and elsewhere). First special guest was Andreas Amsler of the Swiss deliberation site politnetz.ch.
After a short presentation we had a very intense and thorough discussion of how people exchange (political) views, how they organize according to interests and what the future role of political parties will be. While some of us believe that political parties will be around for a while, if maybe not in the shape we know now, others see more single charismatic leaders in the future.
As for politnetz.ch there were a lot of ideas for more direct deliberation, easy participation in discussion processes and the role the site can play in arranging political agendas. Some even saw politnetz.ch as a rightful successor to the popular Swiss TV show Arena, a political debate program which has become somewhat rusty over the years. – All in all the first Politikforelle was a great success and we are very much looking forward to further installments! Stay tuned!
Want a discount for SOMESSO 2009 in Zurich?
October 9, 2009
Following a successful debut in Zurich last year and a great conference in London earlier this year, SOMESSO Zurich 2009 (www.somesso.com) takes place at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue on 2-3 November 2009. This edition’s exclusive focus is on leveraging Corporate Social Media in the Finance sector.
As social media is becoming a mainstream communication channel in every industry, what are the most urgent opportunities and challenges that lie ahead the Banking & Finance industry? By focusing on Social Media in Finance & Banking Somesso Zurich 2009 will inspire, educate and equip Banking & Finance pros who feel ready for a new way of connecting to their clients and audiences.
Day 1 (Nov 2) is reserved for exclusive Finance Masterclasses on the topic Web 2.0 / Social Media and its application to business collaboration. The program is provided by Web 2.0 University from Silicon Valley, CA.
On Day 2 (Nov 3), thought leading Keynote speakers from the US and Europe will meet at the Conference to present on best practices, tools, shifting corporate culture, as well as how to define, deliver and adopt a social media strategy in your organization. A concluding roundtable discussion focuses on innovation topics such as Social Banking and Social Finance. Goes without saying that SOMESSO Zurich 09 also offers outstanding networking opportunities.
Confirmed speakers include SAP, Headshift/Dachis Group, Ficoba, Visceral Business, Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken and XING. For a full speaker overview and agenda please visit www.somesso.com.
SOMESSO offers Amazee users a 20% discount for the Finance Masterclass on November 2 or conference on November 3 via this link: http://www.amiando.com/somessozurich09.html?discountCode=20discountAMAZEE. Participation is limited on both days, so hurry up if you’re interested!
Yesterday I met with Spiderman
October 8, 2009
For the first time I joined an INet Basel event yesterday evening – and it was worth every minute. Prof. Thomas Scheibel came in from Germany to present his team’s innovation: the productio of artificial spider silk. His grand tour included an introduction to bionics and a good overview on the challenges, qualities and potential appliances of spider silk. Did you for example know that a thumb-thick roap made of spider silk could (theoretically) stop a Boeing 747 land on an aircraft carrier? Amazee!
The Internet is a brain
October 7, 2009
Ever thought of the similarities between the Internet and your brain? In Wired for Thought, brain scientist and entrepreneur Jeffrey Stibel draws the parallels between neurons and websites and explains why the Internet is more than just a series of interconnected computer networks. According to his publication it is emerging as the first real replication of the human brain outside the human body. Find this idea provocative? Then waste no time – it’s an easy read.
(Image: courtesy of Paul de Koninck, www.greenspine.ca)
