… but you can relax. This time we’re moving the office, not the system. So the service won’t be effected.

We have to say, since our last change of address many things changed. The number of people working here. The number of boxes we need to accomodate all our stuff. Computers, telephones, toilet paper, files, desks, scanners, protein shakes, espresso machine, copier, pennons, chairs, white boards, fans … moving has become quiet a project for  us!

But fortunately we have Petra, our Mistress of Moving! She organizes everything. With the help of a telephone, emails, memos, post-its, experience and talent she makes sure this doesn’t end up in total chaos. She created the perfect system: every team member gets ONE box for his or her stuff. What doesn’t fit in doesn’t move. It’s a bit like with carry-on luggage on a low-cost airline. You really have to think what you will need before you go. The rest stays. And so the new office will not be messed up with rubbish.

And there’s so much more she took care of: new telephone lines, setting up broadband internet, copying keys, ordering fire-extinguishers, informing friends and partners… wow.

Thank you Petra for organising this for us. We’ll all see each other Monday on the other side. Which is

Friedrichstraße 235-236 . 10969 Berlin . Germany

Above you can see some impressions. More to come next week. We’re excited!

Greetings
the aka-aki team.

It’s back! The stick-o-meter shows up in user list views

We are still busy with fixing problems resulting from our system switch. Last night we did another update and the following things should be working now again…

• self made stickers can be found using the sticker search
• delete your own profile picture
• iPhone: open new message directly from push notification
• block bulletins from stickers
• stick-o-meter is back in list views
• Java-Mobile-Software: special characters fixed
• no events from deleted objects in news feed anymore
• stickers without pictures (”empty stickers”) cannot be created anymore
• Java-Mobile-Software: “aki of the week” is loading again
• E-Mail notification if we have to delete something due to TOS violation
• Numbers of encounters corrected

We are still working on a number of bugs. But the list is getting shorter. Anyway, if you find bugs we are happy about an email to support@aka-aki.com

Thank you for your help and patience
the aka-aki team.

Last night I was attending Social Media Week Berlin and invited to take part in a panel discussion on community management.

Also taking part: Teresa Bücker (der Freitag), Nicole Paschke (PANORAMA3000 for NICK Germany), Nadine Freischlad (Jovoto) and host Thomas Kasper (Author, Editor-in-Chief Community Chip.de).

aka-aki didn’t really fit in this round. Most of the colleagues there were moderating comments on platforms, eg. news related or about a children’s tv series.

For aka-aki as a social networking platform community management is different. We do technical support and take action if people complain about other users and try to figure out the problem. But further than that, we do not control or even know what the users communicate about in our community.

As the host mainly asked questions about the issues he knows from his job, I had the feeling I couldn’t really contribute to the discussion.

But that’s often the problem with events in the social media universe. There are the same names and terms used for  things that are so different. It seems we need to define terms more. Find a common language. It starts with social media. What is that? It can be every platform that offers two-way communication. And what is a community? Can be a social networking platform, the readers of a blog, the users of an IM. So different things with so different problems and issues.

However, a big thank you to the organizers! Those events are important. Because if we want to find a common language than we have to meet each other on a regular basis. But maybe do more workshops first than panel discussions?

Greetings from Berlin,
Roman.

It’s the return of the aki of the week competition after the chaos weeks. And we took the opportunity to change the rules a bit…

Until now, every encounter with an aka-aki member or any other Bluetooth enabled device counted for the high score. From now on, you can only win with encounters with aka-aki members!

Well, this will make it harder. But on the other hand, the number of encounters you’ll need to win will drop! So there are new chances for everyone.

We will start the all new aki of the week round with a very special prize this week: we give away a 50 Euros iTunes gift card.

Every Sunday night at 10 pm CET we will announce the winner. Good luck!

Greetings from Berlin,
the aka-aki team.

The Mobile industry gang gathers in Munich these days. At the M-Days fair and congress. We sent Ralph, our Head of sales there. He will give a short presentation this afternoon.

Again, it wasn’t so easy to write a speech. With those events, it’s always the same problem. You never know who will be your audience. What do they know about mobile already. Do you have to explain to them what the App Store is? Or does everybody have an iPhone, anyway? Are they more interested in the technology?Or in the business model? Or the impact on social life?

In the end we decided to do a medley. What we do, how it works, how we want to make money and what we will do next: aka-aki games. See it live on stage today, at the M-Days from 2.00 pm.

Next week we’ll tell you how it went.

Greetings from Berlin and Munich
the aka-aki team.

… here at the office, of course. First thing first: aka-aki will probably run on the iPad. We’ve tested it on the simulator, didn’t work yet. But we expect only a few minor software changes to be made. We will figure this out when we have more time. But will this thing really be the next big thing from apple? Opinions among the team members differ. Some quotes from today’s lunch table…

“The iPad is more a device for consuming. Not creating.” (Gabriel, Head of Product)

“There are new possibilities! Because you can use it with many people at the same time, when it is placed on a table. Think of board games, for example.” (Sebastian, Development)

“It’s supposed to be the missing link between smartphone and notebook. For me, there’s nothing missing. The iPod replaced my Discman, the iPhone replaced my mobile. But it will be a challenge to market a whole new device class.” (Roman, Marketing)

“This thing will be a huge success. It’s the perfect computer for people who do not need a computer. My parents for example.” (Ralf, Support)

“I couldn’t care less. I want an iPhone, finally!!” (Simon, trainee)

Further, somebody stated: Steve Jobs can make so beautiful gadgets. But when it comes to sneakers he has such a bad taste. Like we saw again yesterday.

Well, infinite enthusiasm sounds different. But to be honest, we all would like to have one.

Greetings from Berlin,
the aka-aki team.

All the stickers gather in the same field and have a party. Nice for them, but annoying for you. Stop it!

The bug fixing makes efforts. Tonight we will update the system again to set the fixed bugs from the last days “live” and make them visible. Therefore we have to go offline for a while at 12 am. We expect it to take 30 minutes. Let’s hope the best. But it’s worth the wait. This is what should be working again tomorrow morning CET…

• return of the sticker wall on the website: stickers loading correctly again
• return of the aki of the week competition highscore
• search for stickers and users with an empty search field
• add own email address to complain messages
• see all pictures of recently created stickers
• delete own stickers
• e-mail notifications for new aki mail and requests (optional)
• correct time stamps for encounters and activities
• broken links direct to correct pages in new system
• answer sticker requests from website

And some minor stuff that is not visible from the outside.

Fingers crossed for our developers team working the night shift!

The aka-aki team.

After all the frustration in the last two weeks it is time for some cheerful stuff here. As you know, we are working on aka-aki games right now. A mobile location-based social game. On the website you can see video interviews with the artists involved and get an impression of how they work and create the game.

Now there are two new videos online. This time we visit our game designers Gabriel and Miguel. Enjoy!

And of course all the other videos are worth seeing, too. Visit http://games.aka-aki.com to get a preview.

The future is bright!
believes
the aka-aki team.

Sorry, but this post is not available in English

The last week our developers were fixing bugs. Almost around the clock. Now we are ready to set the bug fixes “live”. Therefore we have to re-start the aka-aki system.

This will happen tonight, 22nd of January at 0.00 am. We would love to tell you now how long this will take. But to be honest, after the chaos of the last days we don’t dare to give you an exact time range. Expect an hour of down time. If we really make it within the expected 5 minutes, we will be very proud tomorrow.

Greetings from Berlin,
the aka-aki team.