I just spend 3 days in Sofia checking out the newest betahaus. And I have to say Alex&Alex and their dreamteam Elena, Rita and Irena are doing a great job!  (weiterlesen…)

Dear Makers,

the time has come for more DIY at betahaus: We will not only turn betahaus| café into the city´s very 1st fab café, we will also launch build or buy!

build or buy is a collection of DIY-products that you can – SURPRISE! – either build by yourself or buy prefab.

On the one hand, build or buy seeks to give talented designers from the people in beta community both a presentation and a sales platform for their ideas. On the other hand, it aims to encourage consumers to be proactive and to engage in the process of fabrication.

We will develop a workshop program on presented products, where everybody is invited to take part in and benefit from the satisfying process of production. Apart from the workshops, we will implement an online shop within the betahaus web page to sell the build or buy products.

build or buy is not restricted to any product-category. The only condition is AWESOMENESS! If you have a smart, functional, good looking DIY-idea and want it to be part of build or buy, please send a photo of your product to elizaveta@betahaus.de and we will provide you with all further information. Deadline is the 15th July.

We are so looking forward to your applications =)

Social Media Week is not too far away, and betahaus is getting involved in the international action: A part of the festival will take part in our local chambers.. Since we are fans of SMW we want to do more than just host a bit of it, but really get the community involved: So who of you is interested in holding a workshop between the 24th and 28th of September? Get up-to-date infos on the festival here.

Utopicus is an awesome coworking space in Madrid. In fall 2012 (Sept 19th – Oct 1st) they will send us awesome coworkers. Together with Rafa (founder of utopicus) we set up a little exchange program for them. They will work 10 days at betahaus | Berlin and find their perfect coworker match to start new projects or continue on actual tasks.

So now we need you to get involved. We are searching for 13 hosts in Berlin who will offer a place to stay in Berlin and guide the Spanish guests through the coworking jungle in Berlin.

Here are the profiles of the ones which will come over:

1.Javier Montañes: Hello my name is Javier Montañés and i´m partner and art director since 2002 in Mimetica Comunicación. We are a design studio based in Pamplona and we work in corporate design, editorial design and web/apps development. In 2010 I moved to Madrid and i started to work in Utopic_us looking for new clients and professionals to make a network to collaborate with because i think that the coworking is the best formula for the creative disciplines. Now we have our own coworking in Pamplona. In Berlin woluld like to meet other designers, illustrators and web developers to collaborate and try to develop joint poyects. Greetings!.

2. Beatriz Vasallo: I’m willing to broaden up my personal experience and my clients’ portfolio in translation and interpreting. I’m very attached to the German culture, as I studied for 9 years at the German School of Madrid (DSM) and, apart from that, I really love Berlin, it is one my favourite cities ever, so one could say this is really a dream project to me.

3. Javier Corral: Hi, my name is Javier. Would be nice to be there to stay in touch with theatre’s companies, audiovisual industries, and all relacionated with cinema or tv on the Berlin’s scene. I’m an actor, director an a theatre writer, I would like to show my differents spanish works there. In this moment I’m working in a theatre play about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf.

4. Maria Jose: My name is María Jose, and I am illustrator. So far I have illustrated children’s schools, rooms, logos, wedding invitations, clothes and accessories, flyers and many other things but my real dream is to illustrate stories for children. I am very exciting about this proyect between Utopic_us and Betahaus, because I think that in my time there, I could find some publishing house, editors, or just people who work in the world of illustration, that could advise me about this world. I would like to add that I am a big fan of travel books, so I hope to do a great one in my time there. I know this trip will be a great experience and will open new horizons in my mind. Thanks for everything, Maria José Gajate. If you want to see my work can find it on my facebook: Mariajo Ilustrajo

5. Pablo López: ”I’d like to collaborate with a Video Production Business doing recordings, edition and postproduction tasks. I’d also like to practise my German (my current level is A1, but it would be nice to improve it”

6. Maya: By taking part in this exchange, I intend to create medium and long-term professional bonds with fellow coworkers from BetaHaus, as well as experiment the cultural vibe of a truly artistic city like Berlin. It would be marvelous if I my skills as an artist could be of use to my new teammates; my strong points are traditional illustration, retro-game pixel art and fashion illustration.

7. Gonzalo Larregueta: We are about to launch an online platform (www.loudart.es) for spanish artists (illustrators, graphic designers, etc) to have their portfolio and own shop online, and our idea as well is to create a community around it. We will produce the products (prints on art paper) and ship them on behalf of the artist. I´d love to learn from similar activities in Germany and get to know a bit the art scene in Berlin for possible future cooperation with artists, art communities, galleries, etc.

8. Raul: This trip to Berlin is a great opportunity to live a life experience with my teammates, knowing how to work there, participate on an interesting project to suit my abilities and increase the network to improve employment opportunities. Thank you for this opportunity!

9: Mathew: My name is Mathew and I am a graphic designer and web developer. At present I work mainly in online development, working primarily with WordPress, HTML5 / CSS3 and JQuery. Apart from breaking into the Berlin labour market, I would like to get to know the city, the people, and perhaps even make a life there.

10. Mario Avellaneda: Why do I want to go to Berlin?? Well, first of all, I think it is a great opportunity for all of us to exchange ideas with creatives from another culture in a real work situation. The second reason is because I know there are some people in Berlin developing some interesting projects in the digital publishing industry, which is the field I’m working on. A mag called ASIDE is the first real experiment to create an iPad magazine fully based on HTML5, and its creators are from Berlin. With that example, what I want to say is that I’m absolutely sure there are incredible and very enriching people in the Betahaus, whom I can learn from, exchange thoughts, and, off course, have a nice time together… having a little party ’cause Berlin is also about having fun!!! See ya there!!

11. David Maroto: I would like to introduce myself, my name is David Maroto, I´m a
photographer focused on movement photography, cinemagraph for advertising
and magazines. davidmaroto.com I would like to contact with designers, advertising agencies and travel journalists, I´m also a travel photographer for magazines. My personal work is based on the sequential photography to create multimedia installations. I should highlight “Circuito Emocional” http://www.davidmaroto.com/emotional_circuit.html, this is an exhibition I did for the “Spain Art Fest” in Times Square in New York and “Light Stalker”  at the Instituto Cervantes of New York.

12. Paco Gramaje: “I m Paco Gramaje I´m an audiovisual creative and I have my own studio in Madrid,I am searching new connections, collaborators and experiences in my favourite city outside Spain”

13. Wilhelm Lappe: “I would like to introduce myself and I’m emailing you because I would like to meet entrepreneurs in Germany.My purpose is to exchange points of view, and I’m hoping for this to be a first contact that may evolve into a long-term collaboration.I’ll be in Beatahaus coworking spaces, but I’ll be happy to meet you wherever you suggest. We could simply have a cup o coffee and speak in a relaxed environment.My web and profile are in Spanish, so I’d like to give you an idea of who I am: My name is Wilhelm Lappe an entrepreneur in Madrid, Spain. My project is emprelab (www.emprelab.com) and we work with organizations (such as business schools, foundations, government institutions) that help entrepreneurs, and we also work directly with entrepreneurs. Basically we provide training and services in different areas including business plans, productivity, presentations, or investment projects. Additionally, I’ve been the co-organizer of Iniciador Madrid, a non-profit initiative which purpose is to promote networking among entrepreneurs. We organize two events per month: one of them includes a conference followed by networking, and the second one is a workshop. I take part in different events dealing with IT industry, entrepreneurship and internet or web 2.0 in Spain. Therefore I have a significant network with more than 3000 contacts here. Currently it is my purpose to meet entrepreneurs around Europe and have this network grow.I think European entrepreneurs have an excellent opportunity to make their companies grow in a familiar environment and in countries nearby. I’ll be very pleased if you have 45min to 1h to meet. If we don’t have the chance to meet this time, we can always keep in contact. Thanks for the time you took in reading this email, and I truly hope we are able to meet soon.”

14. Carlos Geijo: Strategic & Interaction Design for Internet based digital services & products. Through stakeholder and user research and keeping into account any technological constrain, I can help you find a balanced solution to get your goals accomplished designing a digital experience that delight your users.This solution can be a Website, Webapp, a tactile interface, mobile/tablet app. I can manage the complete project execution or support its implementation. I like to put a strong emphasis in designing products and services that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional.I’ve been involved with design, art, technology and science since I was very young.When I was a child, I was always drawing. I had an Internet connection when people were not aware of its existence, before that I used to connect to private BBS (Bulletin board systems). I’ve used MSDOS and assembled computers myself.I’m used to work with interdisciplinary teams of people, including coders (Assembler, C++, PHP, .Net, Ruby, Java… so I’m aware of the technologies involved in technological projects, I’ve used to code in the past too), film producers, photographers, engineers, illustrators, musicians, etc. I also like arts, I’ve painted portraits, and I’ve also created a short 3d animation that was featured in Ars Futura.I believe all this activities and people that I’ve been involved with help me to have a holistic view that integrate the artistic, the technical and the social. This view is useful when leading digital design projects.

15. Elena de Miguel, founder of mmmfood.Elena de Miguel has been working in the fashion business as an apparel-designer, product manager, team manager and cool-hunter for twenty years. In that time, she has developed some other activities such as interior designer. She has also collaborated with advertising agencies. At the beginning of 2011, Elena founded eMMM studio, her own design company, which merges fashion and interior design, teaching, and the organization of gastronomic events. Such events are run under the brand mmmfood, a 100% natural catering, where design and ecological products blend into five-sense experiences.Nowadays, Utopic_US and mmmfood have launched a new venture: mmm_US a new-concept bar where you can enjoy creative, unexpected gastronomic experiences throughout the day. The exchange with Bethahouse is a great opportunity for Elena to take profit of Berlin’s culture, and co-working benefits.

If you can offer a bed or sofa where they can stay from Sept 19th to Oct 1st and you take some of your time to connect them with some of the best coworkers in this town please send us an email and we ll match you! Contact: madeleine@betahaus.de

WHAT: 1^st Fab Café in Berlin

WHERE: betahaus| Berlin     

WHEN: Soon! Oh, so soon!

As you could have noticed in one of our May blog posts, we were very inspired by the idea of Fab Café, which opened in Tokyo. Thought. -> Done! We got together with friends, experienced users of 3D printers and creators of cool stuff, and.. HERE WE GO! Our secret agent has already made his way to Holland, ordering one of the best 3d printers available at the moment.

In couple of days it`s gonna be delivered to betahaus. As soon as we get it in our hands and give it a welcome hug, the party will get started. We are going to combine this great prototyping and making technology with the best coffee in the world (which we truly know how to make). Your prototype will be printed out while you are having a cup of delicious coffee. The main idea is to provide wide accessibility to such a great invention as a 3D printer. After years of improvement, these machines have finally reached the optimal level of simplicity and reliability. So it`s the exactly right time to expand the number of its users.

The 3D printer will be there for both, professional designers and those, who just would like to try it out. As well as printing your own invention, created in Blender, Sketchup or 123D (and so many more) vector program, you could also pick up one of the models in Thingiverse or out of our 3D-model-selection (which we are creating at the moment). Simultaneously with Ocra`s arrival, we will start holding workshops on how to use it.

So, we are very excited about getting this project started. Until then, if you have any particular wishes, suggestions or questions regarding the Fab Café, let us know via comment!

Ciao,

Your betahaus team.

The Rails Girls inspired us! The ability to write code is a much needed skill these days, and we wanna learn it too. So we are thinking about organizing a 2-day event, in which everyone gets an introduction to Ruby on Rails and web development. (weiterlesen…)

Great news! The awesome betahaus| Sofia Team is almost finished with the construction phase. During the last weeks they worked hard. This Saturday, 2nd June you are all invited to celebrate the big opening of betahaus | Sofia with them. (weiterlesen…)

Friends of betahaus, soon we ll transform our café into a virtual soccer field. We ll show every game of the EM during the next weeks. Of course there will be also lots of BBQ and cold beer. So come and join us for the European Championship.

Yourz betahaus | Team

PS to get in the right mood check out the coworking cup