On Fire

„Visualise the moment in which you reach the end of your path!“ Once or twice per year, Irina and Valentin from Yoga-Team Berlin organise a magical ritual in and around an old granary on Rügen. During the so-called “Feuerlauf” (fire walk), the roundabout twenty participants spend 10 hours with intense preparation of meditation, energy work, body work and reflection before they walk barefoot across a ten-metre-long path of the glowing, no burning, 900 degree hot embers from a pile of wood burnt down during the day. Without this intense preparation, even experienced fire walkers suffer severe burns. But if the participants, one by one, start the path with their mantra and walk towards their personal goal step by step at the end of the fire, no one is hurt. The heat wave shoots through the body and catapults toxins and negative thoughts out. Each and every one arrives at the other side unharmed. And afterwards, everything is different. Because if you can do that, if you can defy the boundaries of nature with you own, weak and totally normal body, then anything is possible! Just like bald monks can split rocks with their foreheads and seem to defy the laws of gravity, firewalking shows us what can be done with the power of our minds when we manage to concentrate entirely on one goal. It’s difficult to explain. And easier to experience for yourself. Dates and information can be found at www.yogateamberlin.de. It will change your life. So, we’ll see you on the other side. Liebekannalles #Dubistperfekt
_____
Feuerlauf on Rügen | Yoga Team Berlin  | yogateamberlin.de | Photo: Yoga-Team Berlin

mmw_feuerlauf-8a909b2d33fc7a3b208aa5fd515d3a9b

Kategorien: Events | Autor: | Datum: 30. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , , , , Keine Kommentare

The Crowd On The Train

mmw_locomore

Slowly, slowly, the big city creeps out of sight. The frequency of the passing stations gets less, the grey slowly turns into a muffled green. A train ride as such is already a decelerating experience. Locomore is taking conscious and slow travelling one step further. Since December, the bright orange train compiled of upcycled 1980s train wagons is operating on green electricity between Stuttgart and Berlin and is bringing Berliners by choice home safely for the Holidays. While the ICE advertises speed, electric sockets at your seat and permanent wifi, Locomore attracts with fair and organic food, Neumarkter Lammsbräu beer and theme compartments in which you can travel with like-minded companions. With the business ticket you get more space for working, a comfortable cushion, newspapers as well as snacks and drinks. Managing Director Derek Ladewig already founded Locomore in 2007 with the goal of getting an alternative to the Deutsche Bahn on the tracks. It’s a little David-Goliath-story. But a romantic one. 1300 people invested 600,000 Euros via crowdfunding because they believed in the small, bright orange contender. The ticket prices are fair and cheaper than comparable offers by DB. For three months, the 500 seats have to be half-full in order to enable the expansion to Rügen, Munich and Cologne. A railwayman-Christmas-fairy tale, of which we someday hope to be able to say: and they railroaded happily ever after.
____
Locomore | Berlin – Stuttgart – Berlin | www.locomore.com | Tickets | Invest

Kategorien: Projects | Autor: | Datum: 30. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , , , , Keine Kommentare

Failure Is An Option

The first contract, the first client, the first million. Talk about success? Anyone can do that. But about mistakes? Admitting that you trusted the wrong person, bet too much money on the wrong horse, looked the other way for too long? Difficult. For almost eight years, the business magazine impulse has been asking successful entrepreneurs about their “biggest mistakes”. The long-time column about economic failure reaches its climax now with a collection of honest confessions. 91 stories of entrepreneurial errors have been bound on 244 pages, between two linen covers and flanked by personal black-and-white portraits: failure can be so beautiful. And so Manfred Maus, co-founder of the OBI markets, tells us about when he looked away as bribe money was flowing through his company. Or the former chairman of the board of Hannover Finanz recounts relying on overzealous managers. Architect Meinhard von Gerkan trusted shady clients. No path is a straight line, not even those that seem successful. An intimate, direct and informative book that makes the life experience of big names tangible to us. And because we, too, want to celebrate blunders, we’re giving away a copy of „Mein größter Fehler“ to the particularly stumble-prone amongst you. Send us an email headlining “TRIAL AND ERROR“ to hurra@muxmaeuschenwild.de.
____
Mein größte Fehler | 59,90 € | medien.impulse.de

mein_groesster_fehler_004

Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 30. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , , Keine Kommentare

Jürgen Schepers

Jürgen Schepers is a trained journalist, with a proper internship and editorial work. And because that wasn’t enough, he also started doing PR, Marketing and events for film studios and distributors, TV, fashion, clubs and lifestyle magazines. Today, he’s responsible for the creative industry at the Chamber of Commerce in Berlin and heads a committee with approx. 40 entrepreneurs aiming to position their interests in politics and administration. Which makes him something like the advocate of the DNA of Berlin. In the magazine Berliner Wirtschaft, he regularly writes about exciting companies (like MMW) and entrepreneurs (like our Julia), he hosts, he gives talks, he plans and organises events, specialist conferences and exhibitions.  And on top of all this, he is founder and chairman of the Medienliga Berlin-Brandenburg (a media football league), in which 32 teams – from Flux FM to Vice Magazine, Der Tagesspiegel to X-Filme – play football in two leagues, fighting for promotion or against relegation, for the championship and the cup. And last, not least he heads the Peter-Christian-Schlüschen-Stiftung, a foundation for young photographers in sports, one of the highest paying awards (10.000 €) in Germany. A word, Mr. Schepers.

Name: Jürgen Schepers
Age: Baby-boomer-generation
Home: Berlin
Profession: Journalist
Shoe size: 41
Favourite author: M. Houllebecq, B. Vian, T. Mann, R. Willemsen… and currently Kate Tempest („The Bricks That Built The Houses „), a terrific book.
Contact: j.schepers@web.de

How creative are Berlin’s entrepreneurs?
With over 30,000 companies and an annual turnover of around 16 billion euros, Berlin’s creative industry belongs to the supporting pillars of our economy. That is, by the way, more than the digital industry and the start-ups. That says it all, really.

The most exciting celebrity you’ve ever met?
Mick Jagger as a film producer and Helmut Newton as set photographer.

What would you do without a computer?
I would enjoy being offline, relax and realise that life works without a computer as well. From experience I can say that’s really true and everyone should take some time off like that now and then.

Which moment changed everything?
When I returned from Spain and landed in Berlin, more or less by chance.

Which problem would you like to solve?
That in Berlin – despite the economic boom – every third child is still living below the poverty line. That poverty among the elderly has been existing for years, but isn’t being actively tackled… and the aggressiveness of drivers in Berlin (I ride a scooter).

A penguin wearing a sombrero comes into a bar and says:
Can you change your whole life in a day? (based loosely on Edward Norton in „25th hour“)

Your favourite swear word?
Vollpfosten (German for something like a total spoon)

How can someone impress you?
By not taking themselves too seriously and not succumbing to every hype, but questioning things – especially regarding spreading opinions in digital media.

What would you like to be better at?
Being more patient and cooking. I can hack the basics, though.

What would you cook for us if we came to visit you at home?
Because I will have run out of basics, I would take you out for the (in my opinion) best sushi in Berlin made by the probably only Turkish sushi-chef of the city.

What are you most afraid of?
That our thinking is too black and white and we might forget that beside the digital world there is an analogue world on which our cognitive capabilities, for example, are based.

When was the last time you tried something new and what was it?
At the beginning of this month, I went to Ireland to learn to surf. It was fantastic and I’m going to keep practising. Straight away, but somewhere warmer… However, Ireland really is a beautiful Island.

What should no one know about you?
It’s enough if only a few people know that.

Which question should we have asked you?
Why the avant-garde / subculture is so important for Berlin in general and particularly for the creative industry. Because it is the breeding ground for new things and without it, Berlin wouldn’t be where the city is today – we have to preserve that!

Last words:
I like people who don’t need to have the last word.

mmw_schepers-1-fb34dd527896374f06e3b67a1ba943bd

Kategorien: People | Autor: | Datum: 30. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , Keine Kommentare

When The Sky Comes Up At Night

mmw_ivo_von_renner-6b46cab33fa31b4798a01147aebbd0d9

„Things stay with me until they have been all looked-up” says Hamburgs iconic advertising photographer Ivo von Renner. He has spent almost his whole life taking pictures, for all the greats, but shows no signs of growing tired of them. Because looking means sensing, remembering, collecting impressions and feelings. Luckily, his family shares the artist’s passion for collecting. From all his travels – which were pretty many in three decades – Renner wrote personal lines on innumerable postcards to his wife and, later on, his sons. This colourful, collaged mail packed with intimate and sometimes secret messages (his beloved didn’t even comprehend the implied proposal on one of them until she had a second look) was kept and treasured by the recipients. And now the sender himself has put them together in a personal book that takes us on a journey around the world that makes us yearn for wide open spaces and undiscovered places. And brings us really close to the photographer, traveller and friend Ivo von Renner. In over 200 post cards, the seemingly insurmountable distance between home and wanderlust becomes smaller. And the pictures, at the same time, document the world and Renner himself. “Dearest Cecil”, he writes, “Mami says you want a picture of Papi. Well alright, here it is! Love, Papi”. We’re giving away a copy of „Aus der Entfernung zu euch“ hot off the press to the most yearning amongst you. Send us an email titled “DEAR MUM AND DAD, THE WEATHER IS GOOD, I’M FINE” to hurra@muxmaeuschenwild.de.
____
Ivo Renner: Aus der Entfernung zu euch | Distanz Verlag | 34,90 €

Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 30. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , , Keine Kommentare

Love Over Fear

On Monday evening, we were sitting together at our MMW Christmas party, looking back on the past year and thinking about which things we wanted to tackle next year and how to go about it, when – push message by push message – news about the events at Breitscheidplatz reached us. We stopped in our tracks, contacted our family and friends, spoke about our feelings. We didn’t break off our Christmas party, we kept going. Different than before. Calmer, humbler. „What is your personal goal for the year 2017?“ was the question a projector beamed onto the wall. Everyone kept their answer to themselves. Together, we want to contribute to supporting love, understanding, responsibility and constructive cooperation, to eliminating borders in our minds and to making humanity move closer together again. We are sad and our thoughts are with all victims of violence and terror everywhere. At Christmas, we celebrate love – to our dearest but also to our neighbours. We wish for the strength, for you and for ourselves, to resist anger and rejection and to hold on to love. #loveoverfear

mmw_loveoverfear

Kategorien: Own Stuff | Autor: | Datum: 21. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , Keine Kommentare

Party Makes Sense

mmw_refuge

Berlin is lively, colourful, crazy. Berlin parties, Berlin laughs, Berlin dances. Even now, especially now. Not to face reality with the bass-line of ignorance, not to suppress or to desperately demonstrate. Just for our own good and sometimes, for the good of others. Our friends from the Prince Charles are giving a party that perfectly combines zest and sense: refuge. Danceable electronic club sounds – by Avalon Emerson, Matrixxman and San Soda, amongst others – are going to bring Bechstein’s former staff swimming pool to the boil. And give, by the by, refuge. Because all of the money spent by the party crowd that evening goes straight to those who invest it best. Without any deductions whatsoever, the dosh goes to the Berliner Obdachlosenhilfe for the benefit of the homeless, the social relief organisation Give Something Back to Berlin and the internationally operating Médecins sans Frontières. As we know from our charity concert within the framework of the Haitian Heroes photo exhibition, the Prince Charles has always been a good place to give beneficence a colourful face. Because conscious partying is more than just a catch phrase. We wish you a meaningful advent!
____
refuge | 21.12.2016 | Prince Charles, Prinzenstrasse 85F, 10969 Berlin  | Facebook

Kategorien: Events | Autor: | Datum: 21. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , , Keine Kommentare

Extra Me-Time

If you follow the moon cycle, the year only counts 354 days. The remaining days are outside of time. They are the 12 Days of Christmas, a phase in which all is possible, the laws of nature don’t apply and the gateways to other worlds are opened. Says mythology, at least. We can make use of these old beliefs. From December 24th to January 5th, we can step into other worlds and into ourselves. Understand the time around the turn of the year as a time to pause, to have a look back and a look ahead. Bele Irle accompanies people in change processes and has drawn up a modern tool for contemplation from her own experience and traditional customs: her ebook takes us through the 12 Days, giving us impulses for thought, for exchange, for pausing. Topics like time quality, values and wishes, valediction and new beginning are wrapped into questions. Each person can engage in these questions in his or her own way. Take notes, draw directions, put together the new year from them. Because these nights might not be as mythological as they sound. They are a chance to, very gently, fall out of time for a moment. We’re giving away three eBook packages to the particularly moved amongst you. Send us an email headlining ‚DAY AND NIGHT ‘ to hurra@muxmaeuschenwild.de.
____
Rauhnächte | Dezember 24th to January 5th | 25 €| Registration | www.rauhnaechte.net

mmw_rauhnacht-777c5d40f145453c4a690134ea329767

Merken

Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 21. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , Keine Kommentare

Table Talk

mmw_cover_the-kitchen

Merken

So this is how Christmas is done right, isn’t it: You sit down at a big table with your nearest and dearest, feast without limits, drink too much, discuss and waffle on, hug each other, forgive each other one or two things that happened in the past year. Cheeks are aglow, the next course is served, the napkins are stained, the floor is covered in wrapping paper. When the last candle has burnt down, the hearts are still on fire. If you look at it that way, everyday is Christmas at Studio Olafur Eliasson. Up to 90 people sit down to eat lunch together daily at the Icelandic artist’s long table. And now, we can all be part of it. The favourite 100 vegetarian recipes have been put together in one fantastic book. On the one hand, this book makes you want to organise a gigantic room with a looooooong table for yourself and invite all your friends (the recipes are adaptable for groups of up to 60). On the other hand, this creation inspires all kinds of thoughts revolving around eating and cooking. Because ‚The Kitchen‘ is more than a cookbook. It tells the story of the studio and presents people who are passionate about culinary arts. It confronts with ideas about working and eating and shows how closely these two aspect are tied together. You can’t study on a full stomach? Fiddlesticks. The best ideas are born when we sit down to eat together!
____
Studio Olafur Eliasson The Kitchen | 39,95 € |  |  www.knesebeck-verlag.de | www.olafureliasson.net

Kategorien: Products | Autor: | Datum: 21. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , , Keine Kommentare

Philipp Westermeyer

The 2 Minute Interview

Philipp Westermeyer is a Rockstar. And he belongs to the family, in every way. He would probably describe himself as an entrepreneur from Hamburg and a man of action in media and marketing. We could leave it at that. One could, of course, mention that he created one of the most important platforms for media and digital marketing there is: Online Marketing Rockstars. That his festivals, like the Online Marketing Rockstars Festivals 2017 coming up on March 2nd and 3rd, belong to the greatest and most inspiring formats you can and should visit in Germany. That not only is he incredibly clever and fast when asking the right questions, but he knows how to answer them gracefully and honestly, as our little interview shows. That he, as father of twins, also functions in double player mode in private. As we said, one could mention all that. Or we can just let him speak for himself. Here, down below or via the Online Marketing Rockstars Podcast. Because you can listen to that for free at iTunes and Soundcloud. P.S. If you want to give Philipp cordless ear phones now (see below), please make sure to coordinate that with all other possible candidates. Otherwise he’ll end up with three pairs.

Name: Philipp Westermeyer
Age: 37
Home: Hamburg
Profession: Entrepreneur
Shoe size: 44
Favourite event 2016: Online Marketing Rockstars Festival
Contact: info@onlinemarketingrockstars.de

Define ‚Rockstar‘!
Someone who does things differently than most others would. Sometimes because he has talent, sometimes because he has ambition, sometimes because he has neuroses, whatever.

Which moment changed everything?
Back in the day when I used to drive to the station with my father to buy magazines. That’s when ‚Media and Marketing‘ became my thing.

What is the biggest problem of your generation?
Difficult, perhaps political disillusionment.

What will change in digital marketing in 2017?
Hopefully more advertising in podcasts, in our own at best… probably joined by a better understanding of content marketing, everyone is trying out and learning there at the moment.

Do you prefer being host or participant?
Both, I do enjoy being host but I also really like going to events.

Which company would you have liked to have founded?
Very many… From the big film studios in the US to modern companies like Xing. Many things about the interface between media, entertainment, networking and marketing are exciting. I like observing US entrepreneurs that aren’t that well known here yet, for example Peter Guber.

What can we twist you around our finger with?
Good content, no matter the topic.

What would you do without the internet?
Probably newspaper and magazine business. Classical media, I guess…

Which superpower would you like to have?
I’ve never thought about that, but if there’s something I can help people with or make the world a better place, I’ll take that.

What’s your desktop background on your computer at the moment?
Black with lots and lots of files on it…

Oh and, PC or Apple? Or does one just ask Android or iOS now?
I came to Apple about two years ago.

Do you have any ideas for presents?
Tickets for the OMR 2017 for business partners maybe? ;) Personally, I would like some cordless earphones with a microphone, probably quite popular at the moment.

What would you cook for us if we came to visit you at home?
I’d order something at my favourite Korean restaurant.

When was the last time you tried something new and what was it?
I try new things in sports all the time. I’m trying to learn a handstand, for example, but for at least 12 months now. I learnt to jump rope in the last months as well, definitely easier…

What would you change if you had the power to?
Probably something to do with the communication between cultures or environmental issues. Luckily, I’m very content with my own life, so it would be a greater topic.

What should no one know about you?
There are many people in Hamburg that believe I used to be a good football player once, because I’m okay at indoor football… Let’s just say they shouldn’t talk to my old friends from home about that.

What question should we have asked?
I like thinking about the future of marketing and media, you were a bit coy there.

Last words:
„Seize the day and enjoy life!“ So banal, but still, it can’t do any harm. :)

Merken

mmw_pw2-d3312cb6c8f819cd040483a112b1fa2d

Merken

Merken

Kategorien: People | Autor: | Datum: 21. Dezember 2016 | Tags: , , , , Keine Kommentare