Hallo Iris,

ich weiß nicht inwieweit du über die Geschehnisse hier in Wien bescheid weißt (kommt wahrscheinlich immer darauf an auf welchem Teil der Erde du dich gerade tummelst ),
aber hier wird seit Donnerstag der Audimax der Uni Wien von einigen/vielen StudentInnen bestetzt (die Bildende ist bereits seit Dienstag besetzt). Das ansich ist vermutlich nicht so spannend, ABER das was für dich von Interesse sein könnte ist, dass das ganze meiner Meinung nach – für so eine kurze Zeit – ziemlich gut von der Social Media Seite her aufgezogen wurde:
D.h. zuerst gab es eine Demo, dann wurde der Audimax besetzt und kurz darauf gab es eine Website, einen Blog, es wird ständig getwittert, es gibt eine facebook-Seite und einen Live Stream (immer wenn ein Plenum abgehalten wird bzw. vorhin gab es gerade einen Vortrag von einem englischen Professor). Verschiedenste Leute posten auch immer wieder Fotos auf flickr (Stichworte: unibrennt, audimax) Abgesehen davon ist seit Donnerstag jemand vom Standard vor Ort und beschreibt das geschehen beinahe viertelstündlich.
Diese Online-Aktivitäten und die Kontakte der Studierenden haben dazu geführt, dass es mittlerweile Solidarisierungen aus dem In- und Ausland gibt und die ZIB bereits darüber berichtet hat.

Roughly translated, this is what she said:

Hi Iris,

not sure how much you know about what’s happening here in Vienna at the moment (probably also depends where in the world you are;)), but the Audimax (the big lecture hall at Vienna University, it holds about 1000 students) has been occupied by a growing number of students since last Thursday. That’s not that exciting, but what might interest you is how this has been organised using Social Media: first there was a demo, then the Audimax was occupied, shortly after there was a website and a blog, people are constantly tweeting, there’s a facebook page and a live stream (each time there is a discussion). People are also posting pictures on flickr (tagging them unibrennt, audimax). Since Thursday there has also been someone from Der Standard there who is covering what’s happening, almost every fifteen minutes.

There online activities and the student’s contacs have led to international and national student solidarity, and the ZIB (the evening news on Austian National TV) have also covered the occupation.

Marion also sent through some links.

http://freiebildung.at/wordpress/   –> blog with all infos and the student’s demands

http://audimax.ie.bagru.at/           –> the website of  the student base, where twitter, live-stream and chat can be found
http://twitter.com/Unibrennt          –> Twitter account
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Audimax-Besetzung-in-der-Uni-Wien-Die-Uni-brennt/158948343468  –> facebook page
http://derstandard.at/fs/r1035/Uni –> Der Standard coverage
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/unsereuni   –> Live stream

Check them out if you want to follow this, I think it is really very interesting in terms of how fast movements can get media coverage with no big PR force behind them. And how quickly things can spill into mainstream media. Cheers Marion for the interesting news!

We are just about to catch up with Ernst Gossner, whose film South of Pico is screening again this afternoon. If you are in Graz or surroundings, go check it out – I have yet to see it but I hear great things about it.

Alexandra and I will be talking to Ernst about how he is getting his film out there – not only in the festival circles but also which other channels he is utilizing for his distribution. It is all research at this stage… Filmies – stay tuned for a new site – we’ll be launching our development blog very shortly.

One evening he met up with a friend for drinks in a London pub. His friend, Hugh MacLeod, a former advertising executive, was a passionate blogger. Hugh’s Gaping Void blog was already one of the most read European blogs at that time. Hugh suggested that Thomas should start a blog, writing about the craft and work that is being put into a bespoke suit. He would help him market this new blog called English Cut by teaching him how to best use this channel and by linking to him (to get traffic to the English Cut blog).

What happened next was phenomenal: after blogging for only three months, hundreds of bloggers had written about English Cut and linked to it. Furthermore, the sales of Thomas’ exquisite suits exploded: Thomas used to go to New York City a few times a year to sell his suits to American clients (and because he likes Manhattan). He used to sell 2 to 5 suits at the most. When he returned 10 weeks after he had started blogging, he sold 20 suits and 8 sport coats, which was more than he had ever sold before in a whole year.

Thomas’ blog didn’t only directly increase his sales, it also enabled him to form relationships with influential people that would further promote him in other channels (one of them being PR consultant David Parmet) in 2005, who introduced Thomas to a range of clients on a New York trip, knowing Thomas only through the blog).

These days Thomas can go to any place he likes and clients will find him. All he needs to do is publish when he is going to be there and people will come.

When I first read this story in Robert Scoble’s and Shel Israel’s book “Naked Conversations” (which is a great read – if you are interested in a more detailed account of this and other success stories, get it out from your local library or buy it here) I was highly impressed. It added another great case story to my research and my observations about Social Media: these channels enable anyone with access to the Internet to communicate directly with a number of people that share an interest in what you’re saying. They have real effects on your life and your business, and chances are high that these effects will be positive in nature.

On a personal note: While researching this story I fell in love with the suits, and so I contacted Thomas to find out if he also makes Ladies’ garments. I really want to buy one from the first few (thousand) bucks I earn this year. He wrote back saying that he usually only makes Ladies’ suits for his clients’ wives or girlfriends, but if his new apprentice works out, he would be happy to make one for me. This might just perfectly coincide with my flow of funds and my next trip to London (after this one in a couple of months…).

Source: Scoble, Robert / Israel, Shel: Naked Conversations. How blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006.