Xindanwei | 新单位 A new way of working | 一种新的工作方式

[lang_en]Interview &Translation / Alice Dong

1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, you are the first choreographer featured in Xindanwei People! Would you mind to introduce yourself a bit?

Sure. I am a choreographer, originally from Australia but I am based in Edinburgh, Scotland. I have been working in contemporary dance internationally for 30 years in areas spanning professional, educational and community dance. I have lived and worked in several countries and over the past 4 years I have worked on several projects involving dancers from Scotland and China.

2. Can you tell us about Janis Claxton Dance the award winning contemporary dance company you are the artistic director for and what you do for it?

Janis Claxton Dance is a contemporary dance company supported on a project to project basis by various stakeholders in Scotland including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, British Council and Confucius Institute for Scotland.
We make work for touring in small and mid scale venues and specialise in work created for unique public spaces such as zoos, museums and galleries. All of our work is research based. This involves various levels including movement, space, concept and science based research. Some of our most recent projects have been based on human/animal and mathematics/dance connections.
The company has a core team of 4 dancers including myself and we work with different artists for various projects including musicians, actors, costume, set, lighting and sound designers as well as dancers from China. We also consult with people such as zoo keepers and mathematicians as part of our research.
For the company I am the Artistic Director which involves wearing many hats and delivering at all levels of the process. On an artistic level I am involved in training (and inspiring) the dancers, igniting concepts, initiating and carry out research, directing rehearsals, choreographing the work, gathering and coordinating collaborators etc. I also am very involved with the management, publicity and production areas and work with my team to book tours, fundraise, write grants, produce publicity materials, manage budgets and deliver project reports. It is a large job remit and even though I am at the helm of it, it really involves a lot of collaboration and team work. Since being at Xindanwei I recognise a lot of parallels with the concepts of coworking, cocreation and Design Thinking. For example even though I initiate the concepts and research area, it is together with the dancers that we develop the movement material.

3. You have had an on-going relationship with Chinese dance artists and organizations and could you tell us about the experiences you had in collaborating with Chinese dancers for the Shanghai Expo, and with BeijingDance/LDTX ？

Over the past 4 years have worked with Chinese dancers on numerous occasions for projects in China and the UK. All of the experiences have been rewarding and exciting but my favorites have been when I bring dancers from the UK and China together for extended periods to cocreate together. The culture clashes and convergences inform the entire creative process and contribute to the work we make and over time we have developed layers of understandings, interpretations, misunderstandings that have been poetic, sublime, amusing, confusing and we have even developed our own Chinese/English dancers sign language!

4. As a contemporary dance practitioner what were the circumstances that lead you to coming to Xindanwei? What are your future steps?

I came to Xindanwei because I was a very lucky recipient of a fantastic fellowship called ICE (http://www.internationalcreativeentrepreneurs.com/ )This is a fellowship that identifies 5 leaders in the arts and offers us the opportunity to be placed in an organization outside of the UK for a 3 month period to work with inspiring leaders and entrepreneurs out-with of our usual filed of work and leadership. It is a fantastic to learn outside of my own field which I have been immersed in for 45 years! The fellowship offers opportunities to learn about leadership and entrepreneurship from a totally different perspective.

5. Thanks again for providing Xindanwei.com this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?

I feel very privileged to be working with Liu Yan who is such an inspiring leader, initiator and creator. Xindanwei is a great space to work in and through Liu Yan’s latest project Ask Lab, I am learning a lot. It’s very interesting how a choreographer can fit into Xindanwei and Ask Lab! I am excited about transferring skills back into my own creative process and hopefully creating new ideas and projects from this experience.[/lang_en]

[lang_cn]采访和翻译／ Alice Dong

1.欢迎来到xindanwei.com，你是新单位采访的第一位编舞艺术家，能跟我们介绍一下你自己吗？

当然啦，我是一个来自澳大利亚的编舞艺术家，现在定居在苏格兰爱丁堡。我已经在现代舞领域里工作了近有30年了，在此期间，就像陀螺一样在专业，教育，甚至是非专业舞蹈层面里穿梭扮演着不同的角色。我曾因为工作而在多个不同的国家生活过，而过去的4年里，我也因连续的几个项目而奔波于苏格兰和中国之间。

2.作为艺术总监，能跟我们说说Janis Claxton Dance这个舞蹈团队以及你在期间所做的一些努力吗？

Janis Claxton Dance是一个现代舞蹈团队，主要是由一个又一个的项目支持着我们的公司运作，而它在苏格兰有着多个股东，其中也包括苏格兰政府，创意苏格兰，英国大使馆，苏格兰孔子学院。

我们周游在一些大大小小的场地之间，将它们变身成颇具特色的公众场所，其中包括一些动物园，博物馆，或是艺术画廊。我们所有的工作铺展都基于一些列非常严谨的前期调查。最近我们的一些项目，很多都是有关人类/动物以及数学/舞蹈艺术领域的对接。

我们公司的核心团队有四个舞蹈家，当然这其中也包括了我自己。我们通常会和一些其他领域的艺术家就很多截然不同的项目进行合作，其中涵盖了音乐家，表演家，服装师，舞台布景设计师，灯光师，音效师，当然还有一些中国的舞蹈艺术家。我们通常也会对一些人群，譬如一些动物园管理者或是数学家做些调查，以作为我们研究的一部分。

我作为艺术总监，在这个团队里扮演着多种角色，在多个层面的工作上进行协调。从艺术家的角度来说，我负责培训或者可以说启发一些舞者，点出一些概念性的东西，发起一些调查研究并贯穿执行，同时我还会指导排练，进行一些编舞工作，安排合作者之间的沟通协调等方方面面。当然，在整个公司的管理，对外的媒介宣传，以及产品工作上我也是必须亲力亲为，我会和我的团队一起来制定安排计划，融资，申请研究基金，准备对外宣传材料，规划预算，提交项目报告等。我一直都团队中规划统筹，不得不承认确实是一项很庞杂的工作。

3. 据我们所知，你一直都有在和中国的一些舞蹈艺术家甚至是组织进行一些互通合作，那么你能跟我们聊聊你在上海世博会以及2012北京现代舞双周这两个合作项目上的经验感悟吗？

过去的四年里，我曾在中国与苏格兰的无数个项目里和中国舞蹈家有过交集。所有的这些经历都是有所得的。但所有的这些，让我觉得最得心应手的便是将苏格兰和中国的舞蹈家对接进行跨领域创作。工作里的文化碰撞随着时间的磨合，我们在这其中成就了全新的交流语境。

4. 作为资深舞者，是什么机遇让你来到了新单位，在此之后，你有什么规划吗？

我来到新单位完全是ICE (http://www.internationalcreativeentrepreneurs.com/ )，它每年都会评选出艺术领域的5为杰出者，进而为他们在英国之外的优秀组织里提供3个月的交流机会。在那里，他们可以和他们自身所专注的领域之外的一些极富灵感的企业家一起工作，获得启发。

5. 感谢你给xindanwei.com这个采访机会，在最后，有什么别的要跟我们的读者说的吗？
能和刘妍这样集聚领导力的创意人，策展人工作我感到非常荣幸，新单位是个很棒的办公地，通过跟进刘妍现在的这个问工作室项目，我受益良多。其实，想在想想真的是很不可思议：一个舞者是怎么能在新单位还有问工作室中有所参与！我有点迫不及待地想要将我在这里的所学所见带回到我原有的创作里，并有所突破！[/lang_cn]

[lang_en]
Interview &Translation / Alice Dong

1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, Please introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you’re from and you worked for Unilever，can you tell me about the experiences you had in working on brands like Knorr, Hellmann’s and Best Foods?

Hello Xindanwei! My name is Eduardo Sojo and I’m a mexican entrepreneur. For Unilever I worked in the marketing department specialised in wholesale and traditional distribution channel. The traditional channel in Mexico is very important. Much the same as in China there are a lot of small convenience stores that are family owned. My job was to come up with different marketing campaigns to help the wholesalers sell to the family owned convenience stores and ideas to help the convenience stores sell more product. We ended up creating a big network of little family owned stores. At the end we were able to track and improve their sales performance, improve the product placement, learn about their problems and how to help them solve their issues. Just after a few months the sellers started to engage much more with the brand and sales improved.

Working at a big company like Unilever helped me prepare for all of my future experiences.

2. What were the circumstances that lead you to coming to Shanghai?

I first arrived in Shanghai to get a Business Certificate from Fudan University. Before coming I heard a lot about China and its growth. But it wasn’t until I got here that I understood what everyone was talking about. I love the drive that everyone has to create new ideas and businesses. Without a doubt the “China Dream” has become something that everyone thinks about. After returning home and working as an international business consultant I decided to venture into a new adventure and create my own company.

3. Can you tell me about Link Global Solutions, the company you are the founder for and can you explain a little about it, what it is, and who it is for？

Link Global Solution’s (Also known as LGSTrading) main objective is to help the Mexican and Latin American entrepreneurs to develop their products, projects and aid them to make safe and profitable investments in Asia. In Latin America there is a lot of misconceptions about China. We work every day to try to change the view that entrepreneurs have about China and help them take advantage of the endless possibilities that exist in this country.We help companies decrease the risks that exists when doing business with a partner that you don’t know. We do this by helping them step by step in the development of their projects in China.

4. Of course a follow up to the previous question is，what prompted the idea for your company and what excited you to make you undertake it? Could you tell us what are your future steps?

My partner and I met the first time I came to China to study at Fudan University. We both left eager to start something together and to take advantage of the experience that we had. When we arrived in Mexico after a year of living in China, we saw all the misconception that existed in our home country about China. We were able to see that the main reason entrepreneurs view China as a threat and not as an opportunity was because of the misinformation and myths that existed about China. During our year long stay in Shanghai we also notice how a lot of Chinese people didn’t even know where Mexico was on a map. So we decided to work together to solve this problem.

In the future we want to build a more interactive platform and create new and innovative tools to help increase the business relationships between different parts of the world.

We are always looking for new and exciting ways to build bridges between Latin America and Asia.

5.You’ve also been part of the team that help your University win the National Export Award for Institution，Can you tell me a bit about the event, your experiences with it?

The National Export Award for Institution is given to private or public institutions that help entrepreneurs to develop their exports. Furthermore, they award the quantity of companies that emerged from them and are worried about helping our country to increase their exports. The award was divided into phases, and we were selected to present in the last phase because of our project and the growth we had within the business incubator of our University.

Our participation was to present our company and our export plans and projects. We were interviewed by the committee of the Foreign Secretary who evaluated all the projects and the relevance of our company. At that time, three cases were presented due to the importance of those products for Mexico: Machaca (dry meat), Tequila and Mezcal (All of these products are traditional mexican products)

After the final phase, we were recognized by ITESM Santa Fe (Our University) as one of the key projects presented in the final phase and thanking us for all our effort. They also published in their website our participation, which was important for them to obtain the Export Award given by the former Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa.

6. Thanks again for providing Xindanwei.com this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?

I would just like to thank Xindanwei. It truly is one of the most innovative companies in China.

If anyone has any questions about the Latin American market or wants to know more about Link Global Solution I would be glad to help you.[/lang_en]

[lang_cn]采访和翻译／ Alice Dong

1. 欢迎来到xindanwei.com，请跟我们介绍下你自己，告诉我们你从哪里来？跟我们你曾在联合利华的工作经历以及和Knorr, Hellmann’s and Best Foods这些品牌的合作？

大家好，我叫Eduardo Sojo Santos，我是来自墨西哥的企业家。我曾在联合利华市场部工作，主要负责批发和传统渠道配送。传统渠道在墨西哥占了很大比重。其实情况跟中国是有些相似的，我们也有非常多的小型自营便利店。我的主要工作就是通过组织各种市场活动让批发商能够和这些小商店的店家达成合作，当然我的工作还包括帮助这些自营便利店做销量。我们把这些小型的自营便利店连成网络，跟踪提高他们的销售业绩，改善他们的商品陈列位置，观察了解他们的经营症结，并着手给出解决方案。这样经过几个月的运作，销售商就会逐渐越来越多地参与到我们的品牌与销售中去了。

在联合利华的工作经历确实让我在未来着手自己的一些事情上理顺了一些思路。

2. 是怎样的机遇让你来到上海？

我第一次来上海是因为在复旦大学学商学，当然在来之前我就对中国近年来的发展有所耳闻了，但要知道，终究是眼见为实。我爱极了这里的一种氛围，每个人都在争相迸发新的想法，琢磨可行的商业模式，毋庸置疑的，这就是所谓的“中国梦”。后来我回到墨西哥，做了一段时间的国际商务咨询之后，我便开始决定要做自己的公司了。

3. 可以跟我们谈谈 Link Global Solutions吗？作为创始人，能跟我们说说它是做什么的？主要针对人群又是谁？

Link Global Solutions（也叫 LGSTrading）主要是帮助墨西哥以及拉丁美洲的企业家来开发他们自己的产品项目，同时我们也协助他们在亚洲进行低风险，高回报率的投资。我们试图改变拉丁美洲企业家对中国的刻板成见，让他们适时地把握商机。我们也有我们自己的一套方式来帮助一些企业在与不熟知的合伙人进行合作的时候降低潜在风险。经过我们这一些列的精心部署，拉丁美洲的企业家便可以在中国市场上步步为营。

4. 是什么促使了你开始现在的这个公司并全心投入？能顺便跟我们透露一下你们未来的规划吗？

我和我的合伙人在复旦相识之后，便是一拍即合，都想利用我们自己的经验来做点什么。呆在上海的一年之后，我们再次回到墨西哥，便是更加清晰的看到了拉丁美洲对中国的刻板成见，他们把中国看做是一种竞争威胁而非商业机会。当然，在上海的时候，我们也深刻感受到了中国人对墨西哥的知之甚少。那么既然是这样，我们何不做点什么来促进商场上的往来合作。

在不久的将来我们会建立一个更具互动性的平台，开发一种全新的工具来方便全球不同地域的商业合作。

我们一直都在找寻一种全新的方式来帮助建立拉丁美洲和亚洲之间的互通合作。

5. 你曾作为代表赢得了National Export Award for Institution，能跟我们说说这个比赛以及有关的这段经历吗？

The National Export Award for Institution是专门颁发给那些对帮助企业出口有卓越表现的个人或是团队。他们鼓励的是那些独立性很强，并对帮助国家出口有所贡献的个人团队。这个大赛是分阶段进行的，我们之所以被邀请到最后阶段是因为我们的一个项目以及我们在大学商业孵化器的帮助下所获得的突破性进展。

我们在这次的参与中向大家展示我们公司以及我们的出口项目，还接受了那些外交大臣评定委员会的采访。当时一共有三个项目因为对墨西哥的贡献度而被邀展示，分别是 Machaca, Tequila以及Mezcal (这些都是传统的墨西哥产品)

而大赛的最后关头，我们在ITESM Santa Fe的组织下作为其中一个最关键部分来做呈现，并能有幸得到在线的一些公开推广，也是因为我们帮助我们的所在大学赢得了由墨西哥前总统Felipe Calderón Hinojosa所颁发的出口奖项。

6. 再次感谢你接受xindanwei.com的采访，还有一些别的要跟我们的读者说的吗？

我真心喜欢新单位这个地方，它着实是中国最顶尖的创新企业之一。

如果在座的各位对拉丁美洲市场有什么问题或者是有兴趣知道更多关于Link Global Solution，我都很乐意和大家交流。[/lang_cn]

[lang_en]Interview &Translation / Alice Dong

1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, Please introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you got started in the field?

I come from Literature and poetry, studying Languages and Literature. I got involved in Internet of Things through the internet, interactive media, the transformative power of the web to put yourself in any place conceivable and build a story from that self chosen and self organised node. The Internet of Things is a moment of monumental change, like the fire or the book. I noticed it was only being build by one particular intelligence; an engineering mind. Indeed that is a key intelligence for IoT, but it can not be the only one. Any new world must be built with care, with love, with empathy, with honesty and thus with poets and philosophers.

2. As We all know that you gave great insights into the vision for the IoT on the Internet of Things World Forum Steering Committee event held on February 20-21，Of course a follow up to the previous question is, what do you think about IoT and how has it impacted or effected your life?

For me personally nothing much has changed. My mind is like a three year old child. I have always believed that everything is connected to everything. I do not need RFID to take an object seriously. I talked to a lot of people in my head before the Internet was invented and now I simply mail them. Things were always alive, as animals, plants and all living creatures or objects where energy has been invested because of craftsmanship, skill and expertise, like the tea ceremony. Do you need a database or a smartphone to tell you how to enjoy your tea and the art of tea drinking? Of course not! So let’s be realistic and so we see that there is a technological drift towards individuating objects that is very strong. IoT will not pass. It can not be stopped. But it can be steered.

3. You’ve also been one of the driving forces behind the Council, the hub for policy debate, practice and implementation of and on the internet of Things. Can you tell us a bit about it, your experiences with it, and how it got started?

It got started because Gérald Santucci, though leader on IoT in the European Commission proposed that I moderate the business oriented Forum Europe Brussels Conferences (now in its fourth year) in 2009. I then realised we needed a hub to show daily information on IoT for a wide variety of sources. Too often engineers only look at engineering information, artists and designers stick to their sources, sociologists tend to look at a history of technology that focuses on the negative aspects. I believe IoT is here to bring transparency, balance, honesty in data and information, knowledge and wisdom. It is a positive twist.

4. Could you also please elaborate a bit on how to make the right decision to create the best IoT solutions in societal, technical and design perspective?

We need one device, one platform, one App Store for one Sensing Planet. But that will take some time. Let’s begin by creating an EU device, platform and EU App Store, a Chinese device, platform and Chinese App Store….We will end up with 5 or 6 global zones. Middleware will translate between them.
Does this sound scary?
Yes.
But what is the alternative? That only rich people will live in smart cities and the majority of the population left without resources.
If we want a smart society, it must be for all.
The one device, platform, app store policy makes sure we can streamline all devices to become energy efficient.
The data coming from the platform must be open so anyone can make apps and sell services.

5. What were the circumstances that lead you to coming to China and what are your future steps?

I moderated the first Conference on IoT ion Beijing in 2010. Currently I am an advisor to IoT China 2013, Shanghai that will be held on June 4 and 5. Last year in the Fall I attended the IoT Conference in Wuxi. We also hosted the Chinese-Europe Symposium organised by SCC, Wuxi, the National Sensing Centre. It was a huge success. This week I revisited SCC and had a meeting with Director Ma. I have had very important discussions and will write a report about that soon to publish on Council and in the Newsletter of the EU project IoT-A of which I am Stakeholder Coordinator.[/lang_en]

[lang_cn]采访和翻译／ Alice Dong

1. 欢迎来到xindanwei.com，可以跟我们介绍一下你自己，从哪儿来又是怎么开始手边事的吗？

我是文学和诗词背景，学的是语言文学。我参与物联网是通过互联网，互动媒体，网络变革力量把自己放置在任何可以想象得到的地方，并通过自我选择和自我组织这个节点来建立了故事。物联网是一种可以带来巨变的时刻，就像是熊熊的烈火或是古今典籍。我猛然注意到它只能由一个极具智慧的工程师步步精致营造。这就是物联网的核心智慧，但这当然不是一个唯一条件。新世界的建立必须小心翼翼，充满爱心，与之有所共鸣，还需要真诚，诗意以及禅宗哲理。

2. 我们都知道您最近在2月20日- 21日举行的World Forum Steering Committee的论坛上对物联网的前景做了很深刻的阐述，那么在这里能顺便跟我们说说它对你生活所带来的影响吗?

其实对我个人来说并不曾有过多的改变。我就像个三岁的小孩，一直以来都相信物物之间总是紧紧相连。我并不需要用RFID技术去帮助我了解客观事物。早在互联网被发明之前我就一直在用头脑和人们交谈，而如今我便是简单的邮件联系他们。事物总是有灵气的，就像是动物，植物，这些所有有生命的物种以及那些人类注入了能量的客体，譬如茶艺。你需要一个数据库或是一个智能手机来和你的朋友分享怎么品茶吗？当然没这个必要啦！让我们回到现实中来，这样便能对重心从科技到个人的逐渐转移这一事实清晰可见。物联网不会成为过去，但是会有一个短暂的停顿，它是可以被操控的。

3. 您一直都是Council背后的主导力量，这个一个有关物联网政策讨论以及实践的聚集中心。能跟我们说说您是怎么发起Council以及其中的一些相关经历？

我开始做这件事情全是因为Gérald Santucci，欧洲物联网理事会的领导人，早在2009年的时候，他便建议我在欧洲论坛布鲁塞尔会议做中间协调。而后我便意识到我们其实一直都非常需要这样的一个集中地，在广阔的资源里展现物联网的日常数据信息。工程师常常只是死盯着工程信息，而艺术家和设计师又只是执着于他们自己的资源，社会学家偏向在科技史里只专注于其消极面。我相信物联网会带来数据，信息以及知识智慧的透明，平衡，和坦诚。这是一个积极的转变。

4. 您能告诉我们怎么从社会，科技以及设计的角度去找到一个正确的物联网解决法则？

我们需要一台设备，一个平台，一个服务于 Sensing Planet.的App Store。但是，这将花费一些时间。所以不如让我们先从这里开始，创建一个欧州的设备，平台以及欧洲的App Store，一个中国的设备，平台和中国的App Store…… 这样我们最终将会在全球范围之内拥有5到6个区域，而与此同时中间设备会在他们之间做翻译。
这听起来很让人吃惊吗？
是的
但是我们还有别的选择吗？只有有钱人可以在智能化的城市里来去自如，而大部分的人将一无所有地离开
如果你想要在智能化的城市里生活，那么它势必是服务于大众的
在一个设备，平台，应用商店策略必须确保我们可以简化所有设备，提高能源效率。
来自该平台的数据必须是开放给任何人来使用其中的应用程序和销售服务。

5. 您是因为什么而来到了中国，能跟我们说说您未来的计划吗？

在2010年，我在北京主持了第一届物联网会议。目前，我是2013中国物联网大会顾问，上海地区的会议将于6月4日和5日进行。去年秋天，我参加了无锡物联网大会，我们还在无锡国家遥感中心举办了由SCC组织的中国 – 欧洲座谈会，并获得了巨大的成功。这个星期，我重新拜访了SCC和Ma主任，顺便也开了个会议。在此期间有一些对我而言非常重要的讨论，很快我将会在Council上发表新的报告和而这也会作为欧洲物联网项目（我是这个项目的利益协调者）一部分发邮件分享出去。[/lang_cn]

[lang_en]Interview &Translation / Alice Dong

1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, Please introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you got started in the field?

Hello Xindanwei. My name is Michael Chang and I’m a free-lance creative technologist working at Google. I was born in Taiwan, and studied at UCLA in California. It’s been a long and twisted path, starting with doing programmable motion graphics at Motion Theory, then a creative director at Protohaus in Shanghai, before being called back to the states for work with Google.

2. We learned that you are working with the Data Arts Team at Google and make Chrome Experiments alongside some very talented creative coders on projects. Can you tell us about 100,000 Stars, the project you are working for and what you do for them?

Data Arts Team is a branch of Google’s Creative Lab, which handles all of Google’s marketing and branding. We do everything from internal design development, event graphics, and data visualization. For example, I was asked to create the boot-up animation for the Nexus One phone for Google. We’re also tasked with pushing the boundaries of what Chrome browser can do, specifically on Chrome Experiments where we ask developers to submit their “experiments” using the latest web technologies. The work that these developers do constantly surprise us. Internally we also make our own Chrome Experiments, such as when our team leader Aaron Koblin worked with Chris Milk on web music videos like ROME or collaborative art installations like Exquisite Forest which is currently on display at the MOMA in London. Our latest piece was 100,000 Stars. I spear-headed this visualization and worked with the team on implementation and the data-gathering.

3. Please elaborate a bit on your approach to realize your project 100,000 Stars. As you’ve been working on data visualization, can you also tell us the experiences you had for these years?

It’s a really exciting time to be doing data visualization especially now on the web where we can deliver some really rich 3D graphics with things like THREE.js (a webgl library). Data visualization has the power to show people things that are hard to imagine — we’re surrounded by really interesting, fascinating sets of data and yet it’s really hard to get someone to look at a spread-sheet or a graph. I personally think that data can and sometimes *should* be made attractive, such that we get the public to look at and understand the data. That’s always really challenging.

4. You’ve also been one of the driving forces behind Puny Human. Can you explain a little about this indie game studio, your experiences with it, and how it got started?

Several years ago my colleague and I wanted to play a sword-fighting game with gameplay that we had in mind, and unfortunately at the time no game studio made the game that we wanted to play. So in a moment of fearless (and possibly stupid) decision making we hit the road with studying up on game engines, and learning how to make a game from scratch. We didn’t go into it completely blind, we already knew how to animate, or model, or program — and so it started from a simple prototype of a game to what it was today. That was in 2008! So it’s been a long time now.

5. Of course a follow up to the previous question is, Can you explain a bit about Blade Symphony, what it is, and who it is for as well as your involvement in its creation?

Blade Symphony is a third-person multi-player sword fighting game for the PC. You can switch to one of many fighting styles like fencing, Chinese Jian-Shu, german long-sword, kenjutsu, and even non-existent styles like break-dance sword fighting. I had to actually go out and study and train a few different sword fighting styles like kenjutsu and italian and german long-sword fighting techniques. Our team is about eight people with a support staff. Everyone is non-paid, which is sort of un-heard of given how big the game is. We did run a successful Kickstarter campaign and raised enough money to pay for the game engine we’re using, but not enough to pay ourselves. We’re pretty close to finishing though! The beta is coming up in February and a full retail release on Steam is looking pretty close this year.

6.Thanks again for providing Xindanwei.com this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?

There’s a lot of bright, inventive people at Xindanwei. I hope to get the chance to meet you![/lang_en]

[lang_cn]采访和翻译／ Alice Dong

1.欢迎来到xindanwei.com，请介绍一下自己，告诉我们您从哪里来，是怎么从事到现在这个行业的？

大家好！我叫Michael Chang，我在谷歌工作, 是个自由创意技术人。我出生在台湾，曾就读于UCLA。关于怎么开始进入到现在这个领域里，真要说起来，怕是个一波三折的故事，在回到美国为谷歌工作之前，最初在Motion Theory设计编程动态图像，后来又在上海Protohaus任创意总监。

2.我们知道你和一帮极富创意的编码师一起在谷歌数据艺术团队里参与到 Chrome Experiments的各个项目中去，能跟我们说说100,000 Stars这个项目吗？

数据艺术团队是Chrome Experiments的一个分支，负责处理谷歌的营销与品牌推广。我们参与其中全部的内部设计开发过程，以及图像，数据可视化等，譬如就像要求我设计谷歌Nexus One的手机开机动画那样。我们团队的所有人都致力于将Chrome的性能尽可能的向更远处推进，尤其是在Chrome Experiments，我们要求开发者用最新近的网页科技在Chrome Experiments呈现，而后来这些开发者持之以恒在做的这些事情也曾让我震惊。其实，我们自己也有一直在做Chrome Experiments，譬如我们的主管Aaron Koblin和Chris Milk合作像ROME这类的网页音乐视频，还有现在正在伦敦MOMA展出的联合艺术装置Exquisite Forest。我们最近的作品就是100,000 Stars，我主导了这次的可视化项目，同时也参与了其中的执行以及数据搜集。

3. 请近谈谈您是怎么来实现100,000 Stars这个项目的。您一直在做数据可视化，能顺便聊聊您这些年的相关经历吗？

做数据可视化这件事情的确是相当有意思的，尤其是现在通过网页可以用相当丰富的3D图片来表现，诸如THREE.js这样的。数据可视化在为人们展示无法想象的事物上有如神来之笔，我们一直都在被一些有趣的数据包围，但要让一个人去静心看一张电子表格或是图表却是很困难的一件事情。我个人认为数据有时候可以，甚至是应该被做得更吸引人，让大众都能主动去理解一系列的相关数据。但这常常极具挑战！

4.除此以外您还是Puny Human的创始人，能跟我们说说这个独立游戏工作室吗？您是怎样开始做这个工作室的？

几年之前，我和我的同事都想玩格斗游戏，并且有自己想要的一套玩法，可惜当时的游戏开发并没能开发出我们想玩的那种。所以当时就做了个大胆的决定（当然也可能是愚蠢的）要在游戏引擎上下功夫，学着怎么用scratch来做游戏。我们并没有进入到一种完全走不通的死胡同里去，而是渐渐学会了怎么去建模，做动画，编程设计。所以说现在手边的这个游戏最初也就是这样成型的。这些都已经是2008年之前的事情了，已经过去好久了！

5.当然紧接着的问题是有关Blade Symphony，它做什么的，以及您在这其中的参与体验？

Blade Symphony是一款适用于PC，基于多个玩家的格斗类游戏。玩家可以在多种格斗模式里切换，击剑，中国剑术，德国长剑，日本剑道，或者是其他一些子虚乌有的模式譬如霹雳剑法。我需要走出工作去实战学习这些不同的剑法，譬如日本剑道，意大利，德国的长剑。我们的团队有8个人，外加一个辅助支持人员，所有人员都是全全奉献在这个游戏里不拿任何薪资的。我们曾成功发起了一个Kickstarter项目，从中集资负担了游戏引擎方面的经费，却并不足以支持我们这帮人的劳动力。现在我们已经接近尾声了，测试版将在这个2月上线，Steam上的全面上线也将在今年紧锣密布地进行。

6.谢谢您接受xindanwei.com的采访，最后还有什么想跟我们的读者说的吗？

新单位聚集了一批绝顶聪明又相当有行动力的人。我很希望能在这里遇见你！[/lang_cn]

[lang_en]January Featured People: David Li

Interview &Translation / Alice Dong

1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, Please introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you got started in the field?

I am originally from Taiwan and moved to Shanghai from Los Angels in 2003. I have been a free software programmer and open source advocate for more then 20 years. I founded XinCheJian the first hackerspace in China with a few friends in 2010 on the second floor of Xindanwei.

2. You’ve also been one of the driving forces behind Startup Weekend. Can you tell us a bit about the event, your experiences with it, and how it got started?

Startup weekend is a event to help people get their startup ideas off the ground by making them focus on one idea for the whole weekend. These days, people are full of ideas of making startups but never go behind chatting about it. Startup weekend is designed to make people focus on one idea for the whole weekend with likeminded partners. I have participated in Startup Weekend as a mentor since it was started in Shanghai last year and become part of the organizing team when Liu Yan asked.

3. We learned that Chris Anderson mentioned you in his lasted book Makers: the New Industrial Revolution, Could you tell us something about it and what are your future steps in Xinshanzhai?

As one of the founders of Xinchejian and Xinchejian being the first hackerspace in China, I have been asked a lot about the connection between hackerspace and innovation in China. After a lot of conversations and researches, I have discovered the similarities between the global makers and open source hardware movement and the Shanzhai industries in China. They almost look like twin separated at birth. Lynn Jeffery of the Institute of Future in Silicon Valley organize a group of hackers around the world to have a conversation on this topic and some of my words in the conversation was citied in Chris Anderson’s latest book “Makers.” I was also invited to the announcement event of the Chinese version of Makers and had a great conversation with Chris on the topic.
Shanzhai as an open innovation model have served China well in the past and I think the sharing nature of the industry would also work well to bring China to the next innovation stage coupling the global open source hardware and makers movement.

4. Of course a follow up to the previous question is, what do you think about crowd funding and how has it impacted or effected the long tail market? 

Crowdfunding brings back the old face to face tradition of consumption. I know in detail not just the goods but the people behind the goods I am getting. Knowing that I play a part in making a new project or product reality is very satisfactory experience.
Crowd funding enables niche market in long tails to happen fast and lower the risk of the producers of the products for this market.

5.We heard that you are advocating urban farming, especially the use of hydroponic, aquaponic and aquaponic to actually produce food in urban environment. Could you say something about the aquaponic workshop you hosted this September?

I have been into urban farming for years and have discovered aquaponics, a method combining aquaculture and hydroponic to grow both vegetables and fishes together in a balance ways. The method is efficient and conservative in the use of resources such as water and fertilizers. I setup my first four square meters outdoor aquaponic this year and have enough the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, basils and other vegetables from it since summer. Aquaponics vegetables grow as fast as hydroponics with the full body tastes of the best organic. I got a chance to invited Chris Sharp, one of the global pioneers in aquaponic to Shanghai and gave a two days workshop. We have found a lot of interests in this and we plan to organize more workshop in the future to promote this healthy, fun and clean way to grow food.[/lang_en]

[lang_cn]人物（一月）：李大维

采访和翻译／ Alice Dong

1.欢迎来到xindanwei.com，请您简单介绍一下自己，说说您从哪里来，现在从事什么行业？

我是台湾人，2003年的时候从洛杉矶来到上海。我是个软件工程师，这20年来一直都提倡开源。2010年的时候和我的一些朋友在新单位二楼创立了中国第一个创客空间“新车间”。

2. 您是创业周末的组织者之一，能跟我们说说创业周末，并谈谈您是怎么着手开始这个活动的？

创业周末帮助人们着手实现他们的初创点子，一群人在一整个周末里因为一个点子聚集在一起。长久以来，不少人满脑子的创业好点子，却没能有机会一起讨论实现。而创业周末正是这样的一个平台，将你和志同道合的一群人聚在一起讨论实现初创点子。去年的创业周末我是作为导师参加的，今年在刘妍的邀请之下我参与到了组织团队中去。

3.我们听说克里斯·安德森在他的新书《创客：第三次工业革命》里提到了您，可以跟我们分享更多吗？还有我们都很关心新山寨的下一步发展。

新车间是中国首个创客空间，作为创始人，我曾多次被问及有关中国创客空间与创新力之间的关联。在进行过大量的调查和对话之后，我在全球的创客和开源硬件运动，以及中国的山寨产业之间找到了一些共通点。他们就像是一对孪生子一样。来自Future in Silicon Valley的Lynn Jeffery召集了全球的创客就这个话题做了一次研讨，而我当时所阐述的一些观点被Chris Anderson收录进了他的新书《创客》里。我曾被邀请到一次主题为中国创客观的活动，也就这个问题跟Chris有过深交。
山寨，作为一种开源创新模式在过去为中国带来了很大价值，我想这种在部行业内共享的特质也会很好地将中国带入下一波足以颠覆全球开源硬件以及创客运动的创新高潮。

4.接着上面的问题，那么您能谈谈您认为的众筹以及它对长尾市场所产生的效应吗？

众筹这种方式将人们带回到旧时传统的那种面对面的消费方式当中去，我知道在这种模式里我所获得的并不仅仅是物品，更多的是和物品背后的这个人取得了联系。在知晓这层含义之后，我每每在一个新项目或是新产品的制作过程里都会变得自足。
众筹让小众市场在长尾效应之下发展更迅速，也以此降低了生产者的生产风险。

5.我们听说您提倡城市农耕，尤其是水耕种植，鱼菜共生。能跟我们分享一下之前九月份您组织的一次有关鱼菜共生的工作坊吗？

我致力于城市农耕很多年了，它是兼具了水产养殖和水耕种植这两种方式来养鱼种蔬菜的一种平衡的法则。这是一种在诸如水，肥料等资源利用上传统有效的方式。就在今年我刚开始了四平米户外的小型鱼菜共生试验田，夏天过后便收获了生菜，番茄，黄瓜，罗勒还有别的一些蔬菜。鱼菜共生法培育的植物和水耕栽培的植物一样地道有机，生长周期也几近相同。我曾有幸拜访Chris Sharp，全球鱼菜共生法先驱之一，他在上海做了两天工作坊。我们在鱼菜共生这个话题上找到很多共同点，于是就计划着合作更多的工作坊来推广这种健康有趣又环保的农耕法。[/lang_cn]

[lang_en]Interview &Translation / Alice Dong

1.Welcome to Xindanwei.com, you are the first digital artist featured in Xindanwei People! Would you mind to introduce yourself a bit?

Thanks for having me, my name is Bernard Bolter and I am originally from San Francisco. I started my interest in creating art through painting back in San Francisco in the early 90′s and that sparked my interest in traveling, especially to Europe, where I eventually attended art school in the town of Utrecht, the Netherlands. I was taking more fine art classes at the school, while I was there, but this is when my interest in computers and the possibility of digital art began and I taught my self photoshop and web design. In 2000, I left Holland and moved to New York City and lived for about five years. I bought my first digital camera and began working on a couple of different series of artworks, that combined digital photography and painting on to a single canvas. With a group of New York artists I knew, we formed a group called Art Collision and organized a traveling art exhibit and showed our work in New York, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leiden, Baltimore, Austin and San Francisco. In time, I felt like returning to Europe and I moved to Amsterdam, where I eventually returned to school and attended the Gerrit Rietveld Art Academy. This time I stayed in Holland for about 5 years and in about 2008 I began work on my current project, the Digital City Series, which is my first completely digital undertaking. I am currently based back in San Francisco where I am working to show in Galleries and traveling, when I can, to photograph new cities for the series.

2.You’ve been working hard on the artwork and have had a couple exhibitions out here in San Francisco，Please elaborate a bit about it?

I currently have some pieces from the Digital City Series in a gallery in downtown San Francisco, Nieto Fine Art. There are a couple of large prints (4′ x 4′) and some small prints (16″ x 16″) in a group show there. The reception of the work has been really positive and this is probably the most established gallery I have shown in up until now, which is real exciting. And about two months ago I exhibited more of the series at a recently opened gallery in the city called Book & Job Gallery. This was my first solo show and I had 11 of the large format cites on display there. The exhibition was planned out to coincide with a Kickstarter campaign that I had launched and happened near the end of the funding cycle as a way to keep interest in the project going and help put the funding over the top at the end. It has all been real exciting and I am very pleased at the impact that the images had in the large format. It was always my intention to display them at the large size, but as it is digital work, the compositions are something that I’ve worked on a small screen for so long, it was nice to realize them at the intended size and see how they worked together.

3.Can you tell us about The Digital City Series, the photographic project of digitally constructed city portraits you launched? What prompted the idea for your project and what excited you to make you undertake it?

The Digital City Series is a project of mine that started in 2008 and is a series of composite city portraits from around the world. After I explore a city by skateboard and take as many panoramas of the city that I can get in, I eventually work out the composition on the computer and find up to three or four scenes that I can blend together into one seamless image. There are 25 compositions in the series so far. I think the idea for this project happened organically for me, and even though I didn’t fully realize it at the time, when I look back, it is a natural extension of all my previous work – even back to the time when I first started and would paint surrealistic landscapes with no training or schooling. I just decided to become a painter one day and started to paint, which has worked out in the end, but in my older years I wonder how I could have just thought that, but that’s the beauty of youth. The series, for me, has many layers and subtleties which have revealed themselves over time. On just the surface, I’ve had people see the work and really appreciate it, only to come back to another exhibition and realize that the work is not just one photograph, but a composite. I feel that it is through this kind of subtleness that you can create something that can give meaning and feeling to somebody each time they come back to the work. There are other layers I’ve discover, like how the compositions can have a universal appeal to people that have visited or are from each particular city and at the same time is a very personal journey of my life in the past 4 years. My original intention was to make a series of work that was at the same time beautiful and conceptual, which I feel is sometimes lacking in the art world today. Sometimes beauty is dismissed as being too easy in the art world and there becomes a separation between ‘art for the masses’ and ‘fine art’. On the other side, many people I meet that aren’t into the art scene, feel put off and excluded from art with a heavily conceptual base. In this world, it’s probably a hard path to try and please everybody, but I’ve had some really good responses to the work already from both sides of the fence.

4. We heard that you have gotten a Kickstarter project funded and coming to China to get some books made, would you be willing to share your thoughts and what are your future steps?

Yes I have and it has been one of the harder things I have done with my artwork. The way that you have to put yourself and your artwork out there in an all or nothing bid can be quite scary for an artist, but the response that I have gotten and being able to successfully fund the project has been really amazing. Kickstarter is not only a great way for an artist to raise money, which is important, but even more important for me, it’s a way to expand your reach and gain an international audience. Most of the support came from people that I know, but it was really amazing and inspiring that people from Europe and Australia pick up on the project. I am using the funding from the Kickstarter to make books from the series. The final intention of the series is the large format prints, but it will take time for me to find patrons that can afford the price of these prints and the books are a way for me to have an affordable item that people buy and support. This will allow me to take the large prints on a traveling exhibition, connecting back to the cities I’ve been to and visiting new ones in the process. I am currently in China looking to find a printer that can get the books made to satisfy my Kickstarter supporters. But I also want be able to print a larger run of books in the future and possibly be a book broker back in San Francisco for other artists that I think could benefit from this sort of art / business model.

5.Can you tell us about your coming joint exhibition in Shenzhen with a Chinese artist Da Huzi you met in the Da Fen Oil Painting VIllage and what you do for them?

After I started the series and had a couple of compositions under my belt, I was living in Amsterdam and heard about the Da Fen Oil Painting Village in Shenzhen, China. Da Fen is famous for it’s copy artists and I said to myself, I got to check this out and get some of my compositions painted in oil. I’ve had a few of the compositions painted and results have varied, but the experience has been priceless. I met Da Huzi through some people I knew and he ended up painting my Venice image, which turned out really good. As I got to know him, he showed me some of his original art and I became an instant fan. I just respect somebody so much that can work making money with painting and still have the drive to make their own original work. I just hope that by us having an exhibition together, I can help him get more exposure for his work in the west. I will leave for Shenzhen soon to make this happen.

6. Thanks again for providing Xindanwei.com this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?

Just want to say thank you for the opportunity and thanks to the readers for checking out my project. Please feel free to contact me about anything, maybe some advice about a Kickstarter you would like to start or any questions about the Digital City Series. And in the end, if you happen to come across some dude skating through your town, jumping off his board, taking a bunch of pictures for a panorama, jumping back on the board and riding off down the street – you might just know whats thats all about now. Thanks again everybody.[/lang_en]

[lang_cn]采访和翻译／ Alice Dong

1. 欢迎来到xindanwei.com，您是新单位人物专栏里采访的第一位数位艺术家！不介意向我们大家介绍一下自己吧？

大家好，我叫Bernard Bolter，来自旧金山。我当前的一系列创作都要在90年代我刚回到旧金山开始说起，当时一趟又一趟的旅行，激发了我对艺术创作的兴趣，尤其是在探访欧洲的旅程里。我曾在乌得勒支（荷兰）求学艺术，当时我修了很多关于美学艺术的课程，这也是我的兴趣点转向电脑的开始，当然这也为我开始数位艺术提供了可能。我当时自学了Photoshop还有网站设计，在2000年的时候，离开了荷兰，搬去了纽约住了有5年之久。在那里，我买了我自己的第一台数码相机，并开始大量地创作各式各样不同的作品，我将数字图像和绘画同时呈现在同一块帆布上。那个时候，我和不少纽约的艺术家一起，共同组建了一个叫做 Art Collision的团队，并在纽约，阿姆斯特丹，鹿特丹，莱顿，巴尔的摩，奥斯汀以及旧金山做着一些列的艺术巡展。后来因为我极力想回到欧洲，继而搬到了阿姆斯特丹开始了在Gerrit Rietveld Art Academy的求学之路。从那开始，我便在荷兰待了又差不多5年，而后的2008年我开始现在手头的这个Digital City Series项目，这也是我第一个真正意义上从头到尾全力经营的数位作品。如今，我又再次回到旧金山，把一部分作品展示在那里的画廊并再次开始旅行，去为我的系列作品添进新的城市。

2.您一直都有在不断的创作并在旧金山有一系列的展览，可以跟我们说说吗？

目前，我在旧金山市中心一个叫做Nieto Fine Art的画廊里有一些Digital City Series里的作品在展出，作品以大幅的（4英尺）和小幅的（16英寸）为一组一组相结合的形式呈现。在我做过展览的画廊里面，这个画廊不可不说是迄今为止最棒的一个了。另外，就在两个月之前，我在一个叫做Book & Job的新开的画廊里开始了新系列的展览，这也是我首次的个展，有11个大幅的城市作品在那里展出。这个个展也是为了配合一个在Kickstarter上发起的项目，其实那个项目已经接近尾声了，这个个展的另一个目的就是为了持续吸引大家的关注增加集资。其实此次个展非常有意思，我对大幅作品的呈现效果也很是满意。我一直都很希望我的作品能以大幅的形式来展现，但是作为数位作品，向来我都只是将他们放在小屏幕上来进行创作，所以当我看到自己作品以大规格的效果来展现的时候，这种视觉体验真是棒到了极致。

3. 你能跟我们谈谈Digital City Series，这个用数字图片的形式来构建城市的项目？究竟是什么激发了你最先的创作意图，又是什么不断地驱使你去一心创作？

Digital City Series这个项目是我在2008年便着手开始的。这是一个涉及全球，以拼接合成的形式来描述城市的系列作品。我曾踏在滑板上，以我的视角去探知城市，尽可能多地去拍各个城市的全景照片。而后，我在电脑里将这些照片里3到4个的景毫无痕迹地拼贴到一起，以让观者能够在一个景象里看遍一整个的城市。目前为止，我一共做了25个复合作品。要说起这个项目的灵感来源，我想应该是取于我自身，尽管当时我并没有完全意识到这会是个不错的想法。如今回想起来，这却是我过往作品的一个自然延伸，甚至是回溯到我早先年，在完全没有任何专业学习之下所创作的那么许多超现实主义的风景画。我曾在决定要当画家的那天起便开始一心画画，现在想来那个时候的我也终究是实现了这当初的心愿。当我年长一些的时候，我便质疑自己那个时候为什么就只想做个画匠这么简单，但这不就是年轻的美好吗！这一系列的作品，于我而言，延展出无数极为丰富的层次和细微之处，它们都在漫长的时间里渐渐展露自己。从最浅表来看，有这么许许多多的观者前来看我的作品，并且真心欣赏它们。再回看到我的另一个展览上，我开始意识到一件作品并不单单是张照片这么简单纯粹，其实更是一场遇见与连接。每每回看自己的这些作品，都可以通过这种细微的奥妙再次创作出一些新作品并赋予其意义和感知。在另一些层面上，我也有所探寻，譬如这种有关城市的图像拼接怎么才能够去吸引到原住民以及那些和我一样也曾有过到访经历的观者，当然这些作品于我而言是过去4年里非常私人的经历。我最初的意图是想创作出兼具美感与概念化的作品，因为我意识到这在当代艺术里还是一个有所欠缺的部分。有些时候，美感这种东西在当代艺术里往往很容易被略过，它被生生地作为“大众艺术”和”纯艺术“一道分隔。从另一个层面来说，我所遇见的很大一部分人并不能走进艺术的感官世界里去，他们束缚在一种固有观念里，疏离和排斥在艺术世界之外。总之，我选择了去尝试一条很难走的路，去取悦所有人，但就目前来说我也确实从各方面都收获了让自己颇为欣慰的反馈。

4.我们听说你之前在Kickstarter上面的项目很成功，此次来到中国也是为了新书出版的事情，能跟我们分享一下你的想法和近期的一些规划吗？

是啊，这大概是我创作过程里最艰难的一部分了。将自我以及全部的作品交由旁人的孤注一掷，不知结果如何，对一个艺术家来说确实是件很心慌的事情。但当我得知项目成功的时候，连我自己也感到震惊。Kickstarter对于一个艺术家来说不单是个很棒的集资平台，同时也是个拓展全球观者群的途径。我知道所有的支持不外乎是来自于人，但当我得知支持我的人里有远远来自欧洲和澳大利亚的时候也确实备受感动和鼓舞。我把从Kickstarter上筹到的资金，用于将我的作品装帧印刷出来。那么，对于我这一系列的作品，最后一个颇想做的环节就是把他们一一用大规格的画幅展现出来，当然这需要找到合适的支持，所以目前来说如果在线下零零星星得有人愿意买我装帧印刷好的书籍成品也可能积少成多地达成我这个心愿。那样的话，我便可以带着我所有的大幅作品，在与之相对应的城市里挨个做巡展，于我而言，这不单单是故地重游，也是我开始全新的旅程并添进新的元素来。这次来中国的另一个目的就是找到地方来把我先前装帧好的作品以书页的形式印刷出来，供大家在Kickstarter上支持我。再说的长远一些的话，我想或许我会要把我的这套书再印更大一号的规格，也或许在多年之后当我再回到旧金山的时候，我会想成为一个艺术书籍方面的经纪人，让更多的艺术家在这种商业艺术兼顾的模式里获益。

5.能跟我们说说您近期和中国艺术家大胡子在深圳的联展吗？

在我开始手头这一系列创作的那会儿，我还住在阿姆斯特丹，当时我就听说了深圳的大芬美术馆，听说了那里以仿制而闻名，我决心自己亲身去一探究竟，也想把自己这一部分拼接而成的数字作品用油画的形式表现出来。当时我去到那里，也做了一番尝试，最开始的到访经历确实有些让人失望，直到我通过一些朋友遇到了大胡子，他完成了我对威尼斯数位作品的油画呈现，不得不说的是，视觉效果确实让人兴奋。在我们逐渐熟络了之后，他给我看了很多他的原创作品，我几乎是对它们着了迷。长久以来，我一直对那些能够靠绘画维生并有持久动力去进行创作的人，心生敬畏。我当时就迫切地希望我们两个能有机会办一次联展，我可以帮他在西方获得更多的关注。所以不久之后，我便要赶赴深圳去做这次的联展。

6.谢谢你能给xindanwei.com这个机会来做这个采访，还有什么能跟我们的读者分享的吗？

很高兴能有这个机会在这里跟大家分享我的一些经历，也感谢所有有心看过我作品的读者。如果大家会对Kickstarter上的项目有什么建议，对我的系列作品有任何疑问，尽可以通过新单位联系我。最后，如果你曾恰巧在你所在的城市里遇见一个踩着滑板穿过来穿过去，时不时地跳下来，拍几张照片的家伙，现在你大概可以知道竟是怎么回事了吧。：) 谢谢各位。[/lang_cn]

[lang_en]Interview &Translation / Alice Dong

1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, and we are honored to have you as our chair member! As you worked in Microsoft, can you tell me about the experiences you had in working in Microsoft?

This is James Even Chen, as been a training program manager for customer service and support department at Microsoft (Asia Pacific), my duties conclude training needs analysis, designing curriculums and train the trainers with product and program knowledge and related soft skills, trainer performance management, also develop trainers through coaching sessions.

2. What were the circumstances that lead you to starting your project TA workshop and what excited you to make you undertake it?

I was learning psychology to enrich my professional skills (training career) and also to fulfill my personal interest (willing to understand more about what’s behind and group dynamics – social psychology), then I started by learning positive psychology and Transactional Analysis, also known as TA – it’s a very good framework which with a set of tools for self awareness, personal growth and even organizational (culture) transformation. I read a lot of books on transactional analysis then and especially one of them is, Transactional Analysis for Trainers, which was written by Julie Hay. I had some questions and I wrote email to her, asking for clarification… I realized this is the field very close to my current experience, it’s also so practical and useful, I’d like to invite her to China to host the TA workshop, sharing this great learning and growth opportunity with those who may be interested in.

3. Ahh, the projects(TA workshop in China) sound very interesting, Could you tell us more about Professor Julie Hay and elaborate a bit on your approach to realize your project.

Professor Julie Hay – she lives near London, and she is the visiting Professor in Middlesex University. There’re Transactional Analysis professional communities around the world; and one of the schools – Developmental TA – was originated from her thoughts. Not only she was the former President of ITAA and EATA (International and European TA Association), but also the former president of European Mentoring and Coaching Council. (Now President of ICDTA) I think we can all benefit from her rich experience (over 35 years) in these fields – training, coaching, supervision etc.

4. Thanks for the introduction! It’s very impressive. What do you think about developmental TA and how has it impacted or effected your life?

Developmental TA focuses on personal growth and unleashing your potentials, which was widely used in coaching and supervision. The more I learn and practice it, the more I want to share my happiness and how useful it is, with other people. That’s one of the reasons why I’m introducing the workshop (http://ta-today.com) into China.

5. Of course a follow up to the previous question is, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced in developing this projects And why you choose to start up your business in Xindanwei?

The biggest challenge is that, I need to find the people who has interest on this. I plan to go to the places and forums where my target audiences (trainers, HR managers, and coaches etc.) gather – and promote it. Also it seems that we care more about hard skills (e.g., how to make a PPT) and not so much on “soft” things such as positive psychology and T.A. etc. But instead, if these “soft” things been resolved, our inner Child and creativity can then be fully unleashed.

6. Thanks again for providing Xindanwei.com this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?

Despite the topics on Transactional Analysis (my favorite one ), I also like to discuss and share with you on various topics, like jazz and classical music, operating systems, e.g., iOS, Mac, Linux and even FreeBSD. You can find me in xindanwei and we can have a short talk. [/lang_en]

[lang_cn]采访和翻译／ Alice Dong

1.欢迎来到Xindanwei.com，很高兴您能成为我们的椅子会员！之前您在微软工作，能谈谈在那里的工作经历吗？

我叫James Even Chen，之前我是在微软亚太区客户支持部，做培训项目经理，包括培训需求分析，设计课程，培训我的培训师，管理培训业绩，并且应用教练技术帮助培训师成长，等等。

2.是怎样的一个机遇您开始了现在的T.A工作坊并一心地去经营？

为了在专业上进一步发展，和满足自己的好奇心（想进一步了解那些现象的背后是什么……和团体动力 – 社会心理学）我专门去学了心理学，并接触到了积极心理学和沟通分析T.A.。它是一个很有意思的理论和实践体系框架，有一套简明易懂的方法，来帮助个人觉察、带来成长，甚至也可以应用于组织和企业文化的转型。我阅读了大量的相关书籍，其中一本是Julie Hay的Transactional Analysis for Trainers, 我有一些问题，于是我就写邮件过去问…… 渐渐的，我认识到，这个领域和我的专业经验如此接近，而且非常有用，我想要引入她的T.A.工作坊，和更多的人来分享这个学习和成长的机会。

3.T.A工作坊听起来真的是非常有意思！您能简单跟我说说您的老师Julie Hay以及工作坊的经营之道。

Julie Hay教授，她住在英国伦敦附近，是Middlesex大学的访问教授。TA沟通分析在全球有很多专业的团队和众多的从业人士，其中一个学派－发展性沟通分析，就是她所创立的。她不仅仅是ITAA和EATA（国际、和欧洲沟通分析协会）的前主席，也是欧洲教练技术委员会的前主席。（现为国际发展性沟通分析中心（ICDTA）主任）我想，我们都可以从她的这些领域内的丰富经验中受益良多：培训、教练、督导等。

4.谢谢您的介绍，真是让人启发不少！您是怎么看待发展性沟通分析的？它又是怎么影响您的生活种种的？

发展性沟通分析更注重人的成长，和潜力的发挥，这些在教练技术和督导领域被广泛应用。我学的越多，实践的越多，就越想和更多的人来分享，它是多么的有用，和我从这学习当中所得到的乐趣。它也是我引入这个工作坊 (http://ta-today.com) 的原因。

5.接下来我们想知道您在做这个工作坊的时候遇到的最大的挑战是什么？那么，您为什么选择了新单位来作为您创业的起始平台？

最大的挑战就是，我需要找到我的客户。计划是走入客户的圈子，去他们（培训师、人力资源经理、教练等）经常聚集的场所和论坛去。
还有一点，我们似乎更注重硬件／技能方面，比如说，如何做一个PPT，而不是那么重视一些“软”的方面，像积极心理学和沟通分析这些。然而，如果这些方面的问题解决了，我们的内在儿童的能量、创造性才能更充分的被发挥出来。

6.谢谢您给我们这个机会来采访您，那么在最后，您还有什么想跟新单位读者说的吗？

除了沟通分析方面的话题（当然是我的最爱），我也很喜欢和大家分享一些关于爵士、古典音乐，还有操作系统方面的内容，比如iOS, Mac, Linux，甚至FreeBSD。你可以在新单位找到我，我们可以找些有趣的话题聊聊。:-)[/lang_cn]

[lang_en]

1. Welcome to Xindanwei.com, Please introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you’re from and how you got started in this field?

I am very glad to have this opportunity to introduce our design studio. My name is Zhang Jin, a professional industrial designer working in Shanghai. After graduation, I have been working in companies and also as freelance designer.Now I founded Moodian Industrial Design Studio with some friends.

2. Can you tell me about moodian industrial design, the studio you are the founder for and what you do for them?

The Moodian Industrial Design Studio is divided into three parts… industrial design, concept design mainly provide outsourcingdesign services for factories and companies,and graphic design inludes enterprise image planning,setting up the CIS system for newly created companies and graphic design outsourcing for enterprise. In addition, we also provide creative gift to office
.Now we are still thinking about how to bundled the studio’s business bundled together better .

3. What do you tell clients who are unsure of what they want?

We will try to help our guests comb through the ideal requirements from the professinal point and with great patience.

4. From your perspective what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a independent  designer?

What is the most important and attractive for independent designers is freedom, which many people earnestly aspire to. I belive that independent designers should be more social because they can benifit from communication with people and expand their network.

5. What are your future steps?

The first step is to sustain the stable development of our company,and then seek cooperation with factories to develop and sellsome new products.We would like to build our own brand.

6. Thanks again for providing Xindanwei.com this opportunity to interview you. Any final thoughts for our readers?

Xin Dan Wei is a good platform where I can get to know more similar entrepreneurs here and share our ideas and experience.I would love to make friends here and share our experience. Please feel free to contact me! [/lang_en]

[lang_cn]1.欢迎来到Xindanwei.com，请跟大家介绍一下自己，能不能告诉我们你来自哪里，是怎样的一个机遇开始现在手边事的？

很高兴有这样个机会介绍我和我们的事务所。我叫张晋，我大学学的工业设计专业，大学毕业后也一直从事的这一行业。我在公司里做过工业设计师，也做过自由设计师，现在和朋友一起创建了摩典工业设计事务所。

2.能不能告诉我们更多有关摩典设计的信息，作为摩典设计事务所的创始人，能不能告诉我们你们都在做些什么？

摩典设计事务所主要分为三部分，工业设计，概念设计和平面设计。工业设计和概念设计主要是为工厂和公司做一些设计外包服务，平面设计主要是做企业形象策划，为刚建立的公司做一整套的CIS系统，也为企业做平面类的设计外包等等。另外我们还在做办公室创意礼品的销售，现在也还在思索怎样更好的和事务所的业务捆绑在一起。

3.当您遇见一些对于自己的需求没有一个明晰思路的客户，你是如何跟他们沟通的？

这是常有的事，客户对于设计要求的不清晰和随时的改动也会影响设计后期的推进。所以刚开始的沟通很重要，从专业角度科学耐心的帮客人把理想中的要求梳理出来。

4.以您个人的经历，作为一个独立设计师，个中的酸甜可以跟我们说说吗？

独立设计师首先很自由，这是很多人都向往的。但是也需要更强的自制力和严谨的计划。我觉得独立设计师更应该走出来多与人沟通，沟通让人获益，也能将人脉散布的更广。

5.可以跟我们说说你将来的一些计划吗？

先让公司稳定发展，接下来会和一些工厂合作，将一些产品共同开发销售，争取做成一个品牌。

6.谢谢您接受Xindanwei.com的采访，还有什么想跟我们的读者说的吗？

新单位是个不错的平台，可以认识更多的类似的创业者，大家分享各自的创业构想和心得，因为创业的起步是很孤独的。我也希望在这里认识更多的朋友，欢迎大家随时来找我交流。[/lang_cn]

[lang_en]1. Please introduce yourself. Where are you from? How you got started in the current business?
Hi, thanks for giving me this opportunity of sharing with friends at Xindanwei. My name is Siwei ZHU and I’m managing editor and co-founder of TasteSpirit.com, an online wine magazine in Chinese. I spent my undergraduate years in Shanghai Jiao Tong University and then studied in TELECOM ParisTech and HEC Business School in Paris for computer science and digital business strategy.

I set my steps in the wine industry really by coincidence. During my study in France, my Database class professor happened to be a famous wine critics of Le Figaro newspaper. And I followed his oenology classes from time to time during my study in France. Since then I fell in love with wine and the rich culture behind it.

2. What prompted the idea for your project and what excited you to make you undertake it?
Six months before my graduation from HEC business school I worked as a journalist for 36kr.com, currently a leading tech blog in China. But back to then there were only 5-6 members in the team. I witnessed the vision and the growth of this energetic and promising new media startup. This experience inspired me to create an online wine magazine for Chinese wine lovers and professionals.

3. Can you tell me about TasteSpirit.com, the website you built up, and what you do for it?
TasteSpirit.com is an online wine magazine providing authentic and stylish content for wine lovers and wine professionals. I started this website with my partners and the partnership of Le Figaro in France. At the booming period of Chinese wine market, we hope our focus on high quality content and good design can establish a strong brand and recognition of TasteSpirit.com.

As I have experience and knowledge of both Web product development and wine, I works as managing editor and product manager of TasteSpirit.com.

4.  You worked in wine tasting, can you tell me about the experiences you had in working on wine tasting?
People not in the wine industry may fantasize it as a work of epicure. Well it truly is. If you don’t enjoy your work and life, how can you work for telling people how to better enjoy their lives? A wine critics’ job is to use his or her trained taste and knowledge to eliminate bad wines and recommend good wines for customers. Wine tasting for me is always a journey of adventure. The domains of wine and Internet share one thing in common that I love very much: there are always so much to learn and everything is changing so rapidly. Both of them satisfy my curiosity and passion for learning new things. Wine is a work of art which reflects the characteristics of its vintage, soil and the personality of the man who make it. A bottle of wine is alive and it evolves constantly like a human being. The age can bring a good wine polish and complexity, just like what it does to a man or woman.
However, wine tasting has its occupational hazard too. Some times I need to taste more than 50 wines during an afternoon. I have to spit out the wine each time otherwise I could be too drunk to do anything.

5.  As an entrepreneur, what’s the biggest challenge for you? Finding the idea? Finding the team? Or finding the investment?
During my time at 36kr.com I interviewed and met with a lot of entrepreneurs. My observation is confirmed by my experience from my own startup.
I think entrepreneurs never lack good ideas. And the investment comes as a natural result if you do most of the things right as the eco-system of startup-VC develops rapidly in China.

Team is vital for startups and it’s something you can only get with chance and time. But fundamentally the only and final challenge for an entrepreneur is this question: How to find a sustainable and ideally scalable business model with your resource? If you find one, how to execute it? This is a challenge that an entrepreneur faces repeatedly during his or her adventure of creating a business.

6. Final thoughts for readers?
I’ve spent some time in incubators and accelerators in Paris and Silicon Valley. That’s why Xindanwei caught my attention at the first time I saw this concept of sharing in China. If anybody is interested in talking with me during a cafe break or lunch, I will be waiting at Xindanwei with pleasure.
And you can also find us on weibo which is providing interesting content of wine culture. And you can also find my articles about startups and the Internet on 36kr here. My personal weibo.[/lang_en]

[lang_cn]1. 请你跟我们介绍一下你自己，来自哪里，是怎么开始手边事的?
大家好，很高兴新单位能给我这个机会在这里跟大家做分享。我叫朱思维，是知味葡萄酒杂志这个中文在线杂志的主编和联合创办人。

我在上海交通大学完成了四年的学业之后有在巴黎高科国立高等电信学校计算机科学以及电子商务。进入到葡萄酒这个行业里来纯粹是出于偶然的一次机会。在法国研修期间，我的数据库课程教授恰巧是费加罗报的知名品酒师。之后在法国我也有一直选他的酿酒课程，久而久之得就对葡萄酒文化着了迷。

2. 我们想知道的是，究竟是什么促使你来做知味葡萄酒杂志的？
在我正式地从巴黎高科国立高等电信学校毕业之前的半年时间里，我一直都在以记者的身份为中国的一个互联网和新媒体的科技博客36kr.com工作。当时我们的团队只有五六个成员，我开始注意到了这一批奋发进取的新媒体创业者的成长前景。这样的经历致使我为葡萄酒爱好者以及专业人士在线创办自己的中文葡萄酒杂志。

3. 可以跟我们介绍一下知味葡萄酒杂志嘛，还有你们都有在做些什么？
知味葡萄酒杂志是一个在线平台，为葡萄酒爱好者和专业人士提供最实效权威的评论。我和我的几个合伙人开始了我们的平台，同时也一直保持和法国费加罗的合作。在中国葡萄酒市场蓬勃发展的时期，我们致力于高质量的评论文章以及最人性的设计，以此来建立我们的品牌，提高认知度。
由于我同时擅长网站开发以及葡萄酒品评两个领域，所以我在知味葡萄酒杂志担任的是主编以及产品经理这样的两个职位。

4. 您是从事品酒行业的，那么能不能跟我们谈谈你在这个行业的有关经历呢？
即便不是葡萄酒行业的人也都会为这门讲究味觉体验的艺术而着迷，诚然，若不是乐享生活与工作，又如何能去以自己的方式引导别人来更好的享受生活？一个品酒师所要做的就是用他专业的眼光去剔除那些品质拙劣的，将那部分高质量的葡萄酒引荐给消费者。品酒对我来说也是另一种形式的探险之旅。品酒和在线分享都有令我钟爱的共通点：事物总日新月异，其间又总是有那么许许多多值得去深入探究。他们不断地刺激着我的好奇心和求知欲。葡萄酒本身就是件艺术品，它身着酿酒师的品行和灵魂。同时，葡萄酒也是件活物，如人的进化般持续演变着。年代的更迭将葡萄酒不断润色，也赋予其多变神秘的特性，正是应了“年年岁岁花相似，岁岁年年人不同”的古语箴言。

当然，品酒这个行业也有它的不可预知性，有时候我需要在短短一个下午的时间里尝遍50多种葡萄酒以作挑选。我每每不能将这些酒一并饮尽，否则一个烂碎如泥的我将不能正常地继续任何事情。

5. 作为一个传业者，你所面临的最大挑战是什么？找到思绪，构建自己的团队，以及融资，哪一部分会最为艰难？
在我为36kr.com工作的时间里我，我遇见也采访过很多初创者。我的意见是，在自己的创业过程中坚信自己的经验。我始终相信创业者都不缺乏好的点子。如今在中国，初创风险投资的生态有很好的发展态势，如果能把大部分的事情都把握到位的话，融资是一件自然而然的事情。

团队对于一个初创起来来说是一个至关重要的部分，但也是可遇而不可求。但是对于我们这样的初创者来说，最最基本的一项挑战就是：
在仅有的资源库里，怎么去探寻一个持久有创新力的商业模式？即便是找到了，又如何才能去运作？这个结点是每个初创者都会反反复复遇见的。

6. 那么，在最后您还有什么想对我们读者说的嘛?
我在巴黎和硅谷都有在创意孵化基地各自的待过一段时间，这就是为什么新单位会在第一时间内吸引住我的眼球。最后，如果在座的各位还有谁想在午餐或是茶歇跟我聊聊的话，我随时都很高兴在新单位与你们碰面。当然，你们也可以在微博上找到我，提供有关葡萄酒以及有关文化的评论文章，有兴趣的也可以在我的个人微博上面找到我，另外，在36kr上也能找到找到我写的有关初创者的文章。[/lang_cn]