cruel to be kind

The Twitter Book is finished!

Nicole Simon — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 08:03:00 -0800

In case you wondered why I was so quit and not very responsive over the last weeks, here you have the reason:

My publisher is putting on the final touches and I am waiting for the last chapter to proofread - but Monday should be the start of the printing. It is called "Twitter - Mit 140 Zeichen zum Web 2.0" which roughly translate to "get up to speed with Web 2.0 in 140 characters". Although the book is in German, over 40 million Germans online should be enough of a market. :) And who knows, maybe with the continuing success of microblogging the US partners of my publisher will rethink their decision and publish it in English as well. ;)

The book will be released mid Dec 2008 and makes a nice christmas present *hinhint* And yes, I tweaked the cover above slightly - they made me look really mean in the cropped image, so at least for here I give you a slightly better looking one.

Asking for your input

I already receive a lot of questions from users and the press, about best practice stories, tips and tricks and Howtos (due to which we are already looking into the 2nd edition). In case you yourself or somebody you know has a good use case / story around Twitter (or in a broader sense Microblogging), I'll be looking for input from the following areas:

for interview partners who want to share their experiences

general business cases / best practice from different industries

usage of these tools insides the firewall (SMB or enterprise)

tools and services around Twitter and Co.

links to articles and tutorials you wrote to link to them

or just a quick note about what you wished somebody had explained to you when you started. It may sound trivial but you would be surprised what people have questions about.

If you have an idea or a suggestion, especially with a focus on business and enterprise / corporate microblogging, feel free to ping me under "suggestions /at/ mit140zeichen.de" or @nicolesimon. These cases can be in other languages, but unless it is German, I would need the communication to be in English. ;)

Out of experience from the last weeks I'd like to add a warning: Just because you think your contribution is the best thing since sliced bread, but you might want to look at it from a more objective perspective. And blatant advertising will never fly.

Some lessons

I talked to some other authors and we all agreed that writing a book is like being pregnant. You start to understand pregnant women who say "I just want it out. Pop. Now. Please?!" At the same time, you start getting a feeling of 'the whole', you see how the structure manifest itself in your head as logical and even beautiful (I assume that is the part like with women finding their own baby to be beautiful no matter what, thank you nature). But I am truly proud of the result: on roughly 230 pages we explain what makes Twitter so special, how to use Twitter, what pitfalls to avoid and give an overview of some good stuff in the twitterverse. It is something both for beginners as well as more experienced users, and we made an effort to contain the biz buzz talk and marketing speak in one single chapter. And yes, the most often asked question was "will it be in 140 pages" followed by "how can anybody write a book about 140 characters?!"

Are there areas where I am grumpy with the editor for cutting or where I wished we would have explained it better, put more effort into it, started earlier etc? Of course. But my co-author and I already talked about how we are proud of what we (with a lot of help from others) produced. And want it in our hands. Now. The rest goes on the already long list for "baby 2.0".

One does learn a lot when writing a book, good and bad, about yourself and others. For example that it is really a good idea to have friends with certain talents, like proofreading and editing. A mentor and sparring partner for ideas. Or just somebody willing to spend time to have a look at it. Or somebody who can cheer you up. Also more practical stuff like make photos for the cover at the beginning of the project and not the end (when you look like a zombie). You will underestimate the time needed and overestimate your capabilities. The list goes on.

I am sure, every author can write a book about writing a book after his or her experience. But I also think that everybody has their own challenges - you need to go through it once to understand yours and then start your own list of "lessons learned, don't do that again" aka "improvements for the next time". As streamlining of processes is one of my strong areas I was probably better off and the fact that I know how to work smart with tools like Word, Latex and Batch files helped me tremendously.

And I know Twitter and the tools around it very well. As such, the structure of the book was easy, I 'only' had to cope with writing it. Originally I was approached to write the book alone, but it became clear to me after a while that it would be impossible, at least for the time frame intended. I was glad I could fall back on one of my best friends and make him my co-author. As we have been best friend for over a decade, he and I know each other pretty well in regard to our strengths and weaknesses (yes, we are still friends *g*).

Help from the outside

Let's start with the people who did not help much: I have to admit I was very surprised at how little (make that close to none) responses we got from the company behind Twitter, even simple requests for basic information where not answered. They must be flooded with requests, but you would think that a company - which btw is still looking for a business model - would have an interest in books being published about their service and at least answer valid requests going to their press department. After all, the publisher is an established real life publisher and not some print on demand service.

Luckily there were people who did help. First and formost of course my co-author Nikolaus Bernhardt . He claims the only reason I got him involved was so that he finally joined Twitter but that of course is not true *cough*. It helped tremendously to have the content judged by a Twitter newbie and while the structure and most of the content per se was done by me, it is only one part of a bigger equation. I could not have done it without him and he is a true co-author.

As it became clear that in order to make it in time for a christmas launch we would need some more help, I asked fellow Social Media Enthusiast Bastian Scherbeck to help out with the business chapter which he wrote alone (with the exception of the parts about internal microblogging and the guidelines for event twittering). Big thanks to him as well.

Of course there are more people involved. From a very dear and close friend who helped tremendously with editing and proofreading, my editor and the publisher, twitterers contributing their stories down to everybody by just asking questions like "what do I need to do if I want to use hashtags, do I have to register them somewhere first". All of that helped a lot.

What's next?

Although the writing of the book is over, the work does not end. First of all we will need to put all the information on the blog as we said in the book, following up on the questions and requests as well as getting back on track with the normal life and projects which had to take a bit of a backseat (note to self: don't do that again).

The two things which became (again) very clear to me when writing and collecting the stories and twitter sound bites was how much I like helping people understand how to use something like Twitter as well as how much I enjoy working with corporations and SMB. I have not decided yet on how I will persue these ideas in 2009, but I will be dedicating more time and focus on the topic of microblogging in general but also into how organizations and SMB/enterprise can use this internally and externally. Especially inside companies I see a lot of application and while you may call me crazy for dreaming of tweeting Abaps - if you ever have been working in a corporate environment and where depending on somebody else finishing their job after such an Abap, you know why this is a very good idea.

Being based in Germany I will of course have a strong focus (but am not limited) on Europe and I am already working on some workshop ideas for online and offline. But first I am going to recover a bit, and head for the next project, the preconference podcast for Leweb. Stay tuned! ;)

ps: once the text is ready, I will also link to the English announcement of the international Microblogging Conference in Hamburg, Jan 2009.

West Wing staff on Twitter

Nicole Simon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:16:00 -0800

The West Wing Well, is one of the very few shows I enjoy watching again and again, and as such, I am still a possible customer for new stuff around it. And of course I fall for the shows characters. As long as they are as witty as the show, I do not care who writes them, and neither should the producers behind it- they bring new joy for one my most loved tv shows which has ended. But I am still a possible customer for some all in one DVD sets ...

The West Wing folks I found so far:

Mr. President

Abbey Bartlet

Sam Seaborn

Donna Moss

Josh Lyman

Toby Ziegler

Matt Santos

Lord John Marbury

Bruno Gianelli

I am missing CJ and Leo?

After the success of the Mad Men Characters we will see how many other TV show producers pay attention about grabbing their shows characters on the service. But also they should have a look on how they can engage the audience through it much more. The new Twitter accounts combine two hot topics - politics and TV characters. With them, I might actually bare politics again until that election is over.

Come to Pitchcamp at Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin

Nicole Simon — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:48:00 -0800

During Web 2.0 Expo Europe a Pitchcamp will be hosted on Oct 21st, the Workshop day. Bringing together VCs and relevant media people the attendees of the workshop can learn more from how that world works or not. Selected startups will receive one on one coaching during it, apply now if you are interested.

For me personally, one of the most exiting parts of the expo is how it brings together so many different areas and groups of people. And although Berlin really is a melting pot and a hot city to be in (met several people who told me they are moving to Berlin because of it), not only Berlin but Europe has the problem of getting more in touch with VC and alike. Meaning not that it is hard to get in touch but it is harder to build a personal relationship and develop over time a rapport.

Not that Pitchcamp will change that alltogether, but if you ever wanted to know how those VCs tick and how media people of popular techblogs react, Pitchcamp might be something for you. Robert Goldberg (Crossroads Ventures) and Ted Shelton (The Conversation Group) are playing hosts for a very intruiging three hour workshop during the Web 2.0 Expo Europe.

The official description says

Have you ever wondered how to impress an inscrutable Venture Capitalist, convince a doubting journalist or perfect the guaranteed door opener for a partner? Then this workshop is for you. Learn the inside scoop on how VCs, corporate partners and journalists think. Hear tips on how you can compellingly explain your business to each audiencewhether its raising money, trying to close partnerships, or getting attention from the media.

Watch as fellow entrepreneurs develop concise, and unique value propositions that generate fever and excitement in their markets. And personally participate with industry experts to find the best ways to position and pitch YOUR company.

But that is only part of what this is going to be about, read what Ted writes on his blog about it:

Pitch Camp! Or how much fun can we have in Berlin?
Are you coming to Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin at the end of the month? If you are, please join Robert Goldberg and I for our October 21st workshop on how to improve the way you tell your company's story to VCs, partners, and the media. Here is the link to the official session description where you will see the great lineup of folks at our panel:

Mike Butcher European Editor TechCrunch

Toby Copel Managing Director of Europe, Yahoo!

Matt Marshall Managing Editor and CEO, Venture Beat

Mehrdad Piroozram Managing Partner, iSteps Widget Ventures

Reshma Sohoni CEO, Seedcamp

Adam Valkin Head of Digital Media and New Business, Endemol

Yossi Vardi Investor and Entrepreneur

BUT HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART -- PAY ATTENTION
Sorry for yelling :-) Robert and I are looking for 8-12 startups that want to participate in the camp as the example companies (anyone can come and participate as an attendee of Web 2.0 Expo). These participating companies get

one-on-one coaching by one of our panelists

special prizes for participating and even better prizes for being the best

oh, and you'll probably improve the way you tell your story to VCs, partners, and the media!

Send an email to Robert -- robert(at)crossroadsvc(dot)com -- if you want to be one of the companies.

See you in Berlin!

There is also a Facebook event listing for it. Even if you are not one of the selected startups, I am sure this will prove to be valuable for all entrepreneurs to listen to this group, as it is very focussed on giving practical advise. (I think the english term is directly from the lions mouth? )

How to attend
If you like to join this, you will need a ticket for the workshop day (see the overview of tickets here). If you already purchased a conference only ticket and now would like to add the workshop day, you can ping them (see mail at the bottom of that pricing page).

I am not sure why, but it always seems as if the information about what ticket you need to attend the conference and or the workshop is confusing. Which i find irritating because for everybody in the business of having a tech startup they should be able to process information given in a table overview like that. ;o) So let me put that again differently:

you only want to meet people on site, have fun and hang out! Means you want to attend the expo hall and the keynotes: choose Expo Hall Only

you only want to attend the workshop day f.e. for Pitchcamp: choose Workshops Day Only

you want to go to the conference and to the workshops: choose Conference Plus Workshops

you do not want to go to the workshops but to the conference programme: choose Conference Only

As a special service for my readers, you can use the code webeu08gr26 for a 35% discount. ;)

Blogworldexpo 2008 - my slides and some notes

Nicole Simon — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:34:00 -0800

There is something else I really dig about speaking / giving workshops: The smile in peoples eyes when they come to you and tell you that your information helped them and made them understand "this stuff". (And it is probably not what the organizers like to hear, but I don't need huge audiences and am much more content to have a smaller audience and interact with them.)

When I submitted my usual session about "Think international" to BlogworldExpo I thought it would be a great idea to point out to the organizers Rick Calvert and Libby Durfee that there where other areas where this international angle would play well. Giving them a reason to put me on stage more than once, as an additional panelist or so in order to increase my chances of being accepted. A "take me and you get more than one" deal so to say. Little did I know that I would end up with three sessions - and only one of them I had material ready *cough*. :) As usual, the first time holding such a presentation is the hardest because after that you can refine the presentation and build on it - so if anyone like me to refine it for their conference, get in touch. ;))

Clicking with diverse Audiences
Togehter with three other panelists we tried to cover the area of clicking with diverse audiences and it surely was the most colorful of the panel - lifestreaming included. But it also had a slight drift towards talking about ethnicity, so it was not as much my area of expertise. Still it was an interesting session for me as there where many areas I had never looked into before. I hope moderator Hadji has the slides up for it somewhere and will link to it when they are available.

You might be interested in my older slides about A European view on Web 2.0 for the international angle.

My instructional sessions

Both of my sessions are geared toward beginners and the way I build them was to emphasize the basic principle behind things. I often see that users try to use tools but do not know in which direction to look for information and or how to combine tools. Once they understand the ideas and reasons it is much easier for them to get what they wanted. In the case below it is especially about the different types of traffic to your blog.

10 ways to build your readership
The last session of the last day I was surprised to see that many attendees but it only proved the point how curious and determine many of the visitors where to learn more about 'beginner stuff'. It references the presentation below and it is suggested that you have a look at this first.

10 Ways to Build Your Readership
BlogWorldExpo 2008, Intro To New Media Track
"If you don't know where you're going anything will do". There are more than ten ways to build your audience but where do you start? Do you need to do what the A-Listers use or can you ignore it? What are must haves and no-no's? Comparing different approaches, this session will give you a better insight from when to use which strategies and how to make them work for you.

This session is part of the "Intro To New Media" Track and geared towards professional and businesses use of blogs and podcasts.

View the presentation on SlideShare presentation.

Where Do Your Visitors Come From & What Do They Do on Your Site?
As mentioned in the slides, I love data mining, analytics and logfiles. My best friend and I spend extensive amounts of time geeking out about search engine results and log file analysis. You do not need to be that deep into the subject, but you should give that data a chance to make your blog more accessible and also more attractive to visitors and search engines.

Session description: Basic Analytics & Blog Monitoring 101
BlogWorldExpo 2008, Intro To New Media Track
Do you know where your traffic comes from and how you can use this information to increase traffic? Who is talking about you in the blogosphere? Or how many feed subscribers you have? In this workshop you learn the basics about blog monitoring and analytics: how to set up a simple blog monitoring (also called Ego or Vanity searches) and how to set up and use Google Analytics, a free yet extremly powerful tool for all your website traffic. This is also a good session for Podcasters to learn how to increase their listenership / viewers.

View the presentation on SlideShare presentation.

Livetweeting the results
Kind of by accident I enabled people to live tweet my session - meaning that I have a first slide with my links on it so that when you walk into the session you already see a bit of my URLs. This is more of an information than actually a promotion but it helped people to include my twitter name into their tweets about the session. As they are also a nice documentation about what other people thought where the to be remembered parts of the session, I'll include a copy of them below. (If one is missing, ping me).

With a special thanks to callkathy, AceMarketingonetakemovie, also thanks to everybody else who has done this (not only for my session), it helps others to be in two sessions at once! :)

onetakemovie: summary of how to grow your audience: be passionate. be yourself. conduct outreach. have fun! - @nicolesimon #bwe08

AceMarketing">AceMarketing: @nicolesimon great presentation, thanks for having slides

seoadvice: @nicolesimon thanks for pointing out the importance of SEO, category focus, and other tips on building blog readership #bwe08.

EdGarrison: #bwe08 @nicolesimon says that blogs should have an editorial calendar just like magazines, i.e. prepare for important dates, events, etc.

onetakemovie: good tip : have an editorial calendar - mark important dates so you can write ahead of time / "prepost") - @nicolesimon #bwe08

onetakemovie: be reliable. be consistent in schedule - at least 2-3 times a month / maybe more. manage expectations - @nicolesimon #bwe08

AceMarketing: @nicolesimon taking about making sure you use ID3 tags on your podcasts to help people find it easier, and offer notes on the podcast.

onetakemovie: "and please please please use ID3 tags!" - @nicolesimon #bwe08

onetakemovie: same thing applies to podcasts: pick a format and stick with it. be consistent in delivery and length. - @nicolesimon #bwe08

AceMarketing: @dan_patterson she'll have a slide presentation on slideshare.net/nicolesimon

onetakemovie: Split up blogs to be topic-centric and attract more visitors. Search engines are happier with topic-centered blogs. - @nicolesimon #bwe08

AceMarketing: @nicolesimon talking about dosh-dosh as a niche type blog...blogging on a niche is easier to get readers...keep posts niche oriented.

onetakemovie: be recognizable and authentic. use a photograph. be consistent. use the same one in all sites - @nicolesimon (echoing @mattdickman) #bwe08

onetakemovie: social bookmarking services can deliver more interested visitors than search engine ranking improvement attempts - @nicolesimon #bwe08

callkathy: is anyone live tweeting @nicolesimon's session? Want to be there, but need to be here. :) #bwe08

Genuine: @NicoleSimon picking out you tweeters! We need you for International flavor of the IBNMA

callkathy: loving all the screenshots @nicolesimon is showing of actual blog analytics data. I get it now. #bwe08

callkathy: not all traffic is equal. number of pageviews alone is misleading. need to understand your users and viewers. @nicolesimon #bwe08

callkathy: Ego/Vanity searches: Your personal clipping service for yourself. Good thing to do. @nicolesimon #bwe08

callkathy: webceo.com web tracking/ranking tool recomended by @nicolesimon. Check it out! (Check yourself and your competitors) #bwe08

callkathy: @nicolesimon: When gathering data on your blog, store it localy. You can get current data online, but not usually historic data #bwe08

callkathy: Next up: @nicolesimon on Where do your visitors come from (in room 219) #bwe08

onetakemovie: "just be aware that there is a world there outside your door, and that they may be reading." - @nicolesimon #bwe08

onetakemovie: American attitude towards sex and things related befuddles @nicolesimon - "I'm European. I'm not that prudish." #bwe08

onetakemovie: "colloquialisms like 'whole nine yards' - nice to explain these once in a while for the benefit of those who don't know" @nicolesimon #bwe08

onetakemovie: date and time issues abound, according to @nicolesimon - calendar widget problems : U.S. week starts Sunday German starts on Monday. #bwe08

onetakemovie: btw, crueltobekind.org is @nicolesimon 's blog #bwe08

callkathy: RT: @betsyweber: In session @ #bwe08 bout diverse culture- @nicolesimon rocks! She's great for an Int'l prespective. highly reco her blog

trishussey: RT @betsyweber: In session @ #bwe08 bout diverse culture- @nicolesimon is rocking! She's great for an Int'l prespective. I highly recom ...

betsyweber: In session @ #bwe08 bout diverse culture- @nicolesimon is rocking! She's great for an Int'l prespective. I highly recommend her blog

To see all the other stuff which happened around the Blogworldexpo, I suggest having a look at the twitter search for bwe08 as well as on friendfeed! And see you again next year. :)

Blogging Web 2.0 Expo Europe and how to bring the European Community closer together.

Nicole Simon — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:29:00 -0800

(yes I admit I basically post this to make it easier to share content on the Tech in Europe Friendfeed room. Yes I know.)

[updated - added the link to the Girl Geek Dinner asking for a date you would prefer, added berlinwebweek and closed the link to the blogging programme entry. :) ]

As most of you hopefully know, the Web 2.0 Expo Europe is coming back to Berlin on October 21 til 23rd - but that is not all there is, because there is a whole lot events going so. So much in fact that I am not sure how I will survive them all.

international Barcamp Berlin 3 (still places for international visitors)
Facebook Dev Garage
Ignite Berlin
Techcrunch UK Meetup (is there a date yet)
Girl Geek Dinner Berlin (needs a date, your preference?)
yet unannounced parties

All events can be found on the page: http://berlinwebweek.de

Would like to be part of that crazy week and network and more?
Together with Techweb and O'Reilly Suw, Steph and myself have setup a cool blogging program which will hopefully bring in a great batch of content about and around the expo over the next month. Even more importantly to me: It will bring the European Community way closer and make them exchange thoughts, ideas and dates for barcamps and more! :)

Steph has written about it in french and Suw has the post about it in English, in a nutshell:

The way the blogging programme will work is that well ask participants to do these few things between now and 6th October:

publish at least 4 Web 2.0 Expo-related blog posts, podcast episodes or videocasts, e.g. announcement of the event, speaker information, speaker interviews, or any other event-related stuff

encourage readers, friends, and/or community to register for the event

display the Web 2.0 Expo logo on their blog, with a link to the registration page, until the day of the conference

We think thats pretty easy, but to help you along, well provide participating bloggers with:

event badges

a 35% discount code to share with readers, colleagues and friends

access to information about the event suitable for re-blogging, such as announcements and speaker information/interviews (when possible)

be added to the official blog roll

In return, bloggers will get a full conference pass that to either use themselves or give away to readers.

There is more of course and if you like to join I have set up a simple google form with some question, so if you are interested please add yourself. There are some fields asking you about blog post examples (in case you already did something similar you could show them to us) or to provide a bit more information about you in case it may not be that obvious why you are a good fit for this program. We're kicking things off on Tuesday September 9th with latest admission a week later.

I am especially still missing some swiss and austrian bloggers. ;)

(removed link as programme is now closed for accepting)

Backtype: Scraping comments without your consent and trying to monetize it.

Nicole Simon — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:00:00 -0800

It is one of those ideas where you say 'yeah right, why did no body else think about this".

TC reports about Backtype, a Twitter for comments:

Theyre a blog-comment focused startup - founders Christoper Golda and Michael Montano are for the first time aggregating all comments from millions of blogs into a single, searchable, parsable stream. Think Twitter for all comments on the web.

A quick check shows that yes indeed they scraped a lot of websites. Which I don't remeber agreeing on.

I left the following comment on the article (instead of rearranging the same sentences here i copy and paste it):

Especially as you are funded, you are in it for the money. Where is my share of you using my content without proper licencing rights?

Basically, you are scraping my content and display it without my consent. The fact that I comment on a blog like this or conciously add content through a site like discus does not make my content fair game for anybody else to scrape.

Do I see this to be useful? Yes. Is it a valuable ressource once filled? Yes. Could you have made a database from all those nuts early beta testers and how they handed over their blogs? Absolutly.

Am I amused to find my content in there displayed in a fashion I do not agree without being asked first? Absolutly not. Even less so as there is no way to opt out of where you should have asked in the first place.

Even more so since you yourself take protecting 'your' content seriously. From the T&C

"All trademarks not owned by BackType that appear on this Site are the property of their respective owners, who may or may not be affiliated with, connected to, or sponsored by BackType. BackType-originated content included on the Site, such as text, graphics, logos, data compilations and the compilation of all content on the Site, is the property of BackType and its licensors and protected by US and international copyright laws. Except as set out in these Terms, no reproduction of any BackType-originated content is permitted without written permission from BackType. User-posted content is copyrighted, and any use or reproduction of user-posted content must comply with the terms of the respective license(s) and must include a label indicating such license."

btw this makes me rethink my idea to move my word to a more 'scrapeable' plattform like wordpress.

The thing probably rubbing me off the most is the clear statement on what they want to do with contetn you leave on their sites while at the same time doing the opposite with 'your' content. Even more so 'it's licensor'.

Now I know that I am no guru in data mining, but I know that most people have no clue about it. Even worse: No imagination about what is possible. There is a built in business modell for brands and more to have a company like this scan comments left on your site for information they would like to know and compile. Which per se is not a bad thing, I am all for business.

But it is done behind your back, using your ressources and in the end content you provide on other sites to make money off.

Second, it does expose your behaviour on the web. Are you sure you want that for others to see? Do search your name for a moment and see how far back it goes. Basic rule: Everything which can be traced and data mined will be. (It is not as if it suddenly hits me as 'oh my god I never knew that. Quite the opposite.)

Now, tell me, where can you see that you can delete this comment? Don't think it is relevant? Have you ever asked somebody to change or remove a comment because of any reason? Good luck with changing it on this site and followers to come. Oh and its licencors.

btw: If you think you have nothing to "hide" you just have no imagination.

International Barcamp Berlin 3 (Oct 18/19) - registration will open this weekend

Nicole Simon — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:04:00 -0800

Happy to announce that the international Barcamp Berlin 3 now really happening. "Why, was that in question" you might ask? Jep, because it is not easy for an event this size to get a venue. Congrats to the guys securing it!

No time for guesses? ;) It is the main representative office of the Telekom, a building with a long history. Between 300-500 people from all over Europe will come together and judging by last years success, it will be bigger even this year.

The complete information from the newsletter about when, where what can be found at the Barcamp Berlin blog. You will need to register for an account on the Barcamp Berlin 3 network and notification will go out with a newsletter.

Like last year, the event is put on this specific date as the Web 2.0 Expo Europe 2008 returning to Berlin again which puts a special emphasis on the international visitors. To accomodate these, there will be a special block reserved:

We are also holding back some space for international visitors. If you are an international visitor and if you are on the waiting list, than please contact us at international@barcampberlin3.org. We will try to put you on one of the international guests spaces then.

Meta:

If you like to blog about it, please use the tag bcberlin3

take one of the logos to spread the word

follow the Twitter user and see what others are talking about

add to the usual suspects: Upcoming and Facebook

Twitter stops sending SMS effective immediately, users have to go on cold turkey

Nicole Simon — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:08:00 -0800

That is the the kind of unpleasant mail you do not want to see in the morning, although it was to be expected. Twitter will cease sending out SMS that is if you are not living in "Canada, India, and the United States", but even then it gives you an outlook on what to expect for these countries.

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":

Weve 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 Americans 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. Its a very small amount of data yet carriers seem to think its 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 its $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...

twitter downtime during blOgher - not a good idea

Nicole Simon — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:36:00 -0800

i am sitting at blogher (today finally with twitter equipment), on a great panel i would like to share a lot of. but twitter decided to take a 'short' outtime

"Twitter is currently down for maintenance.
We expect to be back in a couple hours. Thanks for your patience."

currently nearly 1000 women are at blogher, many of them seem to be in love with twitter.

they are in media, marketing and more and now is one of the times when they would WANT to twitter. a lot. instead they will not.

my question? who schedules a downtime during such a conference?!

San Francisco, here I come!

Nicole Simon — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:51:00 -0800

I will have a short visit to San Francisco from 14th til 22nd because I will be speaking at Blogher about "Blogging with a global perspective". Not only am I am looking forward to event, but also about how many people I will have the chance to reconnect with.

See my planned events below - if you have anything more as suggestion, please feel free to ping me. Direct message on twitter hopefully will be delivered to my normal german mobile phone.

Additionally (please try that first) this number hopefully works again: +1 702 6356 027. Please note that my online access most likely is limited unless I find wifi. ;)

And now wish me luck that 3h at ORD really will be enough. ;)

Stowe Boyd - Reboot 10 interview

Nicole Simon — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:04:00 -0800

"It is not all sunshine and flowers" says Stowe (meaning his talk), and the several problems with recording this interview should have been a warning for me that the editing would not be a walk in the park either. Let's just say that while I am extremly unhappy to release this last interview so late, I am more than grateful that I managed to recover the pieces (and keep most of my hard drive). nuff said.

We start from semi-international conferences via the obligation of web culture to do something for the greater good via "do not switch your brain off" to farmer's markets and the bottom two billion. And even if this sounds strange, it is definitely worth a listen even when reboot is over.

Download MP3 (41 min, 24 MB)

The name of his talk is "Web Culture: Individuality, Belonging, and Scalar freedom":

Free.... Are we? Free to do what, exactly?

I am interested in exploring the conflict between web culture's tribal aspects -- exclusion of the 'others', the power laws, the mob mentality of fads, herd behavior, taboos -- and the value of deep bonds that can potentially transcend race, language, gender, and culture. Freedom cannot be unattachment.

Our web cultural ethos has be be based on something deeper than self-interest. The web brings us a sort of freedom, but we become ensnared in each other at the same time. I want to explore the known universals of human cognition, and pull out some of the threads about the universals of belonging and examine the bright and dark that can arise from that.

It may be that to be free, we have to accept the traps within us, and unsnare ourselves through web discourse and post-national, glocalized identity. We are like a recovering alcoholic: a kind of freedom, but one where any joy is tempered with doubt.

his reboot page

his blog

he is @stoweboyd on twitter

Follow what other twitter users are saying using the tag reboot10 on summize and tweetscan. (make sure to check both, as they are often broken).

[Link for the podcast feed - if you subscribe in itunes, be careful to adapt the settings or you only will get one episode per day!]

Francesca Birks - Reboot 10 interview

Nicole Simon — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:17:00 -0800

Francesca Birks is a analyst with the Foresight group at design and engineering consultancy ARUP in London UK.

She and I talk about her work and what a foresight analyst does, how destilling information is relevant, how her area of engineering and technology is on a different time scale than for example the internet as well as about her topic of "structure versus freedom":

Structure vs Freedom: An exploration of the dynamic relationship between freedom and structure in the fields of architecture and engineering.

How do structures create freedom, and when is freedom constrained by the deliberate imposition of structure? When does architecture reinforce its own cultural bias instead of supporting the community interactions at play?

Quick and dirty abstract + links
[please feel free to add helpful comments :)]

her proposal: "structure vs freedom an exploration of the dynamic relationship between freedom and structure"
her reboot page
her blog

Download MP3 (26 min, 15 MB)

Follow what other twitter users are saying using the tag reboot10 on summize and tweetscan. (make sure to check both, as they are often broken).

[Link for the podcast feed - if you subscribe in itunes, be careful to adapt the settings or you only will get one episode per day!]

Ianus Keller - Reboot 10 interview

Nicole Simon — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:04:00 -0800

Ianus Keller is questioning if you still are able to collect images / impressions or if you are too focussed on the computer, the net and social tools.

You might remember Ianus from Reboot 2006 when he presented "a low cost version of the Jeff Han / Surface table", which is called Cabernet.

He and I talk about collecting visual impressions and getting inspired by it (or not). Misqouting him a bit, but Ianus basically noted that interaction designers like to zone out of the physical space - and not even touch it. For them there is not much more physicality than the laptop and their mobile. Also he shares how his work with Wacom worked in expanding their business from hardware to more.

Download MP3 (46 min, 27,7 MB)

Quick and dirty abstract + links
[please feel free to add helpful comments :)]

his proposal: "Hardware as (free) service - The impact of free, web and social on electronics manufacturers"
his reboot page
his blog
he is @ianus on twitter

Some links he shared:
A longer research movie:

movie by a visitor while I was demonstrating Cabinet:

you can also see an early version of the micropresentation I will try to give at reboot:

Follow what other twitter users are saying using the tag reboot10 on summize and tweetscan. (make sure to check both, as they are often broken).

[Link for the podcast feed - if you subscribe in itunes, be careful to adapt the settings or you only will get one episode per day!]

Ton Zylstra - Reboot 10 interview

Nicole Simon — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:16:00 -0800

Ton and I talk about why we should "speed up awakening to the effect of internet and mobile communications", the benefit of the pro active role of citizens, intuitive ways of perceiving information and how the Eurocup is reminiscent of the old race of nations. ;)

Quick and dirty abstract + links
[please feel free to add helpful comments :)]

his proposal: "New Complexity, New attitudes, skills and Tools to match Or how we can speed up awakening to the effect of internet and mobile communications"
He also suggested "arduino workshop Build your own ambient devices" and "Facilitators Pool - A pool of volunteer facilitators to help you create your session"
his reboot page
his blog
he is @tonzylstra on twitter