Thoughts - Thursday, February 12, 2009 9:48 - 1 Comment

Editorial We-Magazine Volume 02

WE´ll be streaming the We-Volume 02 launchparty live on WE-TV. Come and join us!

About this time last year I was in Los Angeles at the DIY Video Summit. And it was no coincidence that Henry Jenkins entitled his blogpost about the event ”From Youtube to Wetube“. Because everybody there was wowed by the ”WE“ and the windows of opportunity the internet was opening up – first for the creation of individual voices, then for a huge range of different ”WEs“. Each single WE carried by a common set of values and a shared culture. This collective enthusiasm then moved to the forefront of public attention last year, encapsulated in Obama’s “Yes WE Can!” – when a whole nation suddenly rediscovered its “WE”! And – what was even more striking – the whole world enthusiastically joined in and embraced this new change of attitude – a true cultural watershed that would have been unthinkable without the internet as a highly complex, all pervasive, intelligent network.

In late August 2008 we brought out the first issue of we-magazine. Our initial intention was back then – as it still is today – to document and highlight the process of transformation that has led to such a large variety of “WEs” since the growth and spread of the internet. In religion, science, education, law, arts and society, and obviously in business and finance as well. Our authors and interview partners are all people who work on the cutting edge of their professions who have understood the implications of the “WE” and who advocate an “Internet for the Good”.

So what’s been going on since the first issue of we-magazine?

To keep it short and sweet, the reactions and feedback we’ve had have been simply overwhelming and amazing. On the second day of publication we had no less than 47,000 diggs. Google Analytics showed that we-magazine was being read in a staggering 142 countries. technorati lists us on place number 43,220 of all blogs worldwide. We now have a translation in Arabic – thanks to Ayman Abdoul Naour – and also an edition in Chinese thanks to our partner yeeyan in China. That’s much more than we dared to dream of!

Our team has also grown a little – Bernhard Angerer in New York and Romina Oliverio in Toronto now blog for WE from their neck of the woods.

For all this my warmest thanks to each and every one of you!

Now issue no. 2 is ready for the press and we want to celebrate this by throwing a bit of a party. The Launch Party takes place on 13 February at HomeBase in Berlin and features a Creative Commons Panel with speakers from a TV channel, a software company, a music label and a Creative Commons expert who will be exploring the issue. There’ll be plenty of drink too as well as think cos we’ve taken care of that side as well! If you can’t be there yourself, you can follow the whole event in livestream on the we-magazine homepage on the net.

we-magazine also has a Creative Commons license which makes it free to download and the print on demand version can be ordered like last year from lulu.com! Go for it:-))

So, all that remains for me to say is to wish you a great time with our second issue.
Please be tolerant of any occasional spelling mistakes or typographical errors and take them in your stride – and please send us loads of feedback once more about what we’ve served up. We really appreciate it and take it very seriously!

Oh and please don’t forget – Spread the word!

On a personal note I am very pleased and satisfied with what we have achieved so far – all without a coordinated plan or schedule – things have simply happened.
But if they have, it’s only because love and dedicated passion have made them possible. That’s how it should be!

… WE love WE. And that’s how it should stay!

Ulrike Reinhard

And now YOU can download the free version of We-Magazine Volume 02 simply by clicking this picture:

Or get your print on demand version of We-Magazine Volume 02 right here:
We-Magazine Volume 02 on lulu.com

Enjoy!