10100 Unique Visitors and I almost missed it!

Thanks to my friend Michelle in Australia I realised that I have reached a new blogging milestone - 10 000 unique visitors and another 100 too.I used to get excited about every 100 new visitors and here I am I forgot to keep my eye on it. I've also seen what other bloggers have achieved so 10 000 doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore (!) I'm sitting here chuckling at myself over my ambivalence - shame blogspot does not do smiley faces.

The truth of the matter is that I just want to transfer this damn blog over to www.liveinsweden.se but I still have far too much work to do on the site before I am ready to do that.
What started off as a way of updating the family, my mum in particular, has turned into so much more. I love writing a blog and now realise I should have studied journalism instead of economics - oh well, such is life.

It is also fascinating to watch the stats and see how people behave on the net - seeing what people search for and how that leads to me, or who else out there is linking to me, is nothing short of totally fascinating. It is also interesting to see what links people click on and to see those who come back regularly and never click on any of the links I put up.And it has caught me off guard a couple of times too. I found out last night my sister-in-law must pop in here from time to time, and here I was thinking it wouldn't be of interest now I am not writing as many personal posts about the family. It has also had me in trouble with my mother when the occasional post has led to phone-calls to her. I've often wondered if I should have a "don't quote me and don't ring my mother saying you read it on my blog" disclaimer, just to keep me out of trouble. After all - a blog is personal, it is my way of experiencing the world around me. But a blog also teaches you about accountability, about being conscious of what you communicate and how it can be perceived.

One of the things I really like about blogging is how it has led to other things. It is a great way to develop your writing skills - practise, practise, practise. I have also put thought into the profile we create, who are target audience is, how we attract people and keep them, the balance between personal and general information, privacy issues and what our goals are with a blog. I say WE because I have had many interesting discussions with other bloggers and I find this whole area of modern media so very fascinating. I get to apply all the theories of marketing, and relationship marketing from studies in the years gone by and yet apply them in a different way, in a new world, to a new media. Love it!

Blogging also opens up your world to a range of new people and I can't help but explore blogs in areas that interest me. I have a couple of favorites and like to read the "life in Sweden" blogs, as well as those using their blog as a professional tool.
I encourage anyone who wants to build a profile for professional reasons, or has something they want to say to the world to start blogging and to keep blogging. You will work the rest out as you go along. You can even do a blog writing course! Click on the picture above to have a look at one.

If you don't have it in you to blog - then start a Twitter account - it takes a while to get a feel for what the point is but it is a whole new world and it is here to stay. It is a whole new way of communicating with people, both privately and professionally.

Both my blog and Twitter have, without any doubt, brought me closer to my nearest and dearest. That's the best bit.

Thanks Michelle!

Final Gala - tonight at Nalen.

Women in business strengthen Sweden.

Twitter and Business In Sweden

I wrote a little while ago about Twitter and ever since I became a Twitter groupy and spoken positively about it. It's kind of like when everyone joined Facebook. Friends and family in Canada nagged and I said "yeah, yeah, yeah" until I joined, not only Facebook but the nagging committee too.

And I have to say I still speak positively about Facebook - it has put me in regular contact with some people who were and are very dear to me. It has had a huge value in my life but ultimately I see it as a part of my personal sphere - even if there are some great company sites I still tend to keep it fairly private.

Twitter on the other hand offers entrepreneurs, organisations, companies, students, researchers etc etc a fantastic opportunity to have a voice in big wide world - at least on the world wide web. And there is a ton of material out there telling us why Twitter is good for business - Google it yourself!What is interesting to see is how Swedish companies are getting into Twitter and through Twitter this morning I found this blog listing the who's who of Twitter profiles. I'm sure the list of small business/entrepreneur profiles would be oh so much longer...

But you know when the big guys get into the groove it just might be worth looking at. It offers enormous potential to communicate with those who want to be kept in the loop - your open hours, your service updates, product updates, immediate problems or opportunities, what you need or what you can offer. I suspect it just might overtake our B2B and B2C communication. Check it out!

24 Hour Camp this time in Sörmland

Did you read my post about the 24-Hour-Camp or the Geek Girl Meet-Up and think, WOW, that's sounds like a real buzz - i want to go to one of those?

Well your chance just might be here!
The 24-Hour-Camp has inspired a spin-off 24-Hour-Sörmland, this time to be held in Nyköping, Katrinehom and Eskilstuna the weekend of May 29-30.

The basic idea is the same - entrepreneurs from the region meet and develop web-based services within 24 hours. The goal is to encourage more people to start web-based businesses, but also, perhaps more importantly to give innovators and enthusiasts an opportunity to both meet and exchange and develop ideas.

And take it from those who know! Lilla Gumman Karin says it is the most fun and most inspiring experience she has had and that you do not need to know how to program or use the term css in every sentence. A normal blog built on a free platform can also be the basis of a great business idea!

Successful Business Women Seminars in Uppsala, Kalmar, Karlstad, Växjö & Linköping

Next Monday will see the start of a number of seminars around the country offering solid advice and exciting examples of how you can be successful in business even in difficult times. Take the chance to mingle with old and new business acquaintances.
What sort of business thrives in difficult times?
Strategies from the small business organisation Företagarna reveals what works and how to turn your business around as a result of the crisis.

How do your customers think when times are tough?
Trend Analyst Ida Hult reveals what people really do when we are in an economic downturn, what we buy, what we pay for.

How do you sell yourself and how do you get paid well paid?
Sales Expert Ulla- Lisa Thordén gives simple advice which has a big impact on your profitability.
Program and prices
For the program, contents and prices - click on the following link to the town that interests you:
April 27th Uppsala


May 4th Karlstad
May 6th Kalmar
May 8th Växjö
May 13th Linköping
Members of Driftig.nu have the opportunity to attend this seminar which is sure to be both inspirational and a vitamin kick for business - at a discounted price (one that makes it more than worthwhile to join Driftig.nu).

Driftig.nu is a great Swedish resource for women in the early stages of starting a business. Membership is free and includes a regular newsletter, access to experts who write a wide range of articles, great information about what is happening in the world of small business, and a forum providing an excellent opportunity to ask questions, share advice and experience and an opportunity to both market yourself and network.
I have written before about Driftig.nu, Beautiful Business and Sofia Bergenstjerna and Frida Haavisto and have full respect for anything they are involved in.
So if you are worried about where your business is heading as times toughen up, in need of encouragement and inspiration or just starting out - sign yourself up for a seminar and get ready to network with like-minded women!

Looking for a competition in southwest Sweden to test your business idea?

Business ideas are a dime a dozen, I have met many who have one of two, and plenty who seem to have an endless supply of them. Unfortunately not everyone gets the opportunity or has the courage to take an idea through the steps and actually realise it, but then you don't need to start a business and launch into full-scale production either, not with the competitions that are available to budding entrepreneurs.


I discovered a new one a couple of days ago called MyMission 09 hosted by Brewhouse Innovation. This Göteborg-based incubator supports people in the start-up phase with business ideas in the creative industries.The goal of the competition is to bring focus to ideas, new thinking and potential. The winners are perfect for anyone starting up: start capital, office space, coaching, as well as a long list of special prizes from already established businesses.

The competition is open to all, regardless of age, gender or background. It is naturally not open to companies who already do business as described by the plan or idea in the application. It is permissable to submit several applications covering different ideas (independant applications), and teams may apply together. It is not necessary to submit a full business plan, but plans and ideas are limited to the creative industries.

So, does that get your brain ticking? Are you sitting on an idea? One that is close to the service and just waiting for some kind of springboard, or one that has been stored in the archives waiting to see the light of day?
If I have tempted you you need to act swiftly, the closing date is April 13th, just one week to go! Remember it does not need to be a full business plan, but the more thought you put in to your idea the better your chances. You will need to be able to navigate around the site in Swedish - and if you want to submit your application in English you might need to check with them first. Contact information is available on their site MyMision 09.

Best of luck to any budding entrepreneurs out there reading this!! Please let me know how things go.

Geek Girl Meet-Up March 28th

Heading to an all-day conference on Saturday, which was brought to my attention by fellow blogger & Twitterer Kiwi Raiha.

I feel a bit like a fake as I have never considered myself a Geek Girl and programming friends immediately spring to mind before any vision of myself does.....

Saying that I am very interested in social media and the development of the internet, and almost all the topics on the agenda are extremely interesting.

The Web First on Internetworld
The change to thinking web before paper & how newspapers communicate through social media.
Miriam Olsson, Internetworld

Flash och 3D
Emma Nwaugo, talks about audio visualisation and Papervision as well as about her latest flash project, a quick game application in a whole lot of things I don't understand.....

From Idea TO Site With Wordpress And A Little Determination
Andie Nordgren shows how Wordpress can transform your idea to a site. With the right plugins and the right thinking Wordpress is a great system for much more than blogging. Build your own site on site, if you want, or just listen and learn.

Opportunity Capital
Venture capital industry rom the inside and what you need to know to get ahead.
Katja Lepola, Grädde Invest

From Idea To Mobile Service
Build your own service with tools from Mobilstart. Start immediately with a ready-made service or investigate your own solutions using Mobilstarts API.
Katrin Calderon, Telenor Mobilstart

10 Rules for Development of Services on the Internet
Paula Marttila

How I did a life report from the Pirate Bay-trials
Anna Oscarsson

Sociala media in large organisations - the culture is more important that the tool
Helena Lindh, IBM

The Apes' invasion of office life - technical and social toys
Paulina Söderlund Modlitba talks about her projects from MIT Media Lab. Monkey Business is about soft robots that can give a sense of what your colleagues are doing. GlobeToddler is a way form parents to communicate with their children through a soft toy that also lives in a virtual world.

Ada Lovelace and other stars from the IT heaven
Karin Adelsköld

Me and my beloved mobile!
I love mobile phones. Since 1994 I have had about 40 of them and tested over 100. I always have about 8 mobile phones with me which I change depending on what I am going to do. Get a peek into mobile passion taken to new heights!
Suzanne Fors

API and webhooks - what you need to know to understand the next level of the web
Andie Nordgren

The Future is Soon Here - media trends in the coming years.
Paulina Söderlund Modlitba talks about her work at Bonnier and the media trends they have identified for the coming years, as well as the challenges facing the media industry.

How do you create mobile content for girls?
I work as a project leader at Telia where girls are an important target group and one that we have started focusing on. We have created a mobile site for girls: http://m.tete.nu which is just the beginning of something I think is very interesting. I will speak a little abou how Tête evolved and what our intentions are for the future. I will talk and show material as well as ask questions and create a discussion if anyone wants to partake. If there are any applications, sites that you have created yourself that should be on Tête. If you want to see a Tête sms send one to 71160
Suzanne Fors

New Media - old organisations. A discussion about motivation and the spread of knowledge around social media.
A discussion about motivation and the spread of knowledge of social media.In my work I try to encourage colleagues and motivate why it is so important to keep an eye on microblogs and blogs as a part of the usual business intelligence, but often find opposition. What do you do to not lose heart and still have constructive and good arguments as to why it is important?
Sandra Jakob

Library 2.0 - lessons from an educational program about webservices for librarians.
Ingela Wahlgren talks about how the library world is taking on new web services through the use of course model 23 Things.

OPK 1998 – pre Geek Girls
Gitta Wilén and Lotta Holmström

Women + Computer games = True
Lina Eklund from Stockholm's University talks about her research of girls in the World of Warcraft and how girls react to games and the game world. Are you a gamer? Discuss the world of games and meet the rest of the game nerds at the Geek Girl Meetup in a discussion after the seminar.

Curious? If you can read Swedish you can follow the Meet-Up on the web.

Being Homeless & Finding An Apartment In Stockholm

Being homeless is not just about being a drunk or druggie, about being jobless and without a network - in fact it is pretty easy to end up homeless in Stockholm. That is because there are so few places available to rent, because they are rented for generations, because queues determine who can rent them and because rental contracts are valuable possessions that can be swapped, passed on and even bought and sold on the black market.

A friend of mine says that the annual fee of SEK 250 to be in Stockholm's Apartment Queue is good insurance - especially for any foreigner who might one day find themselves out on the street. Without a network, without family to turn to and contacts it is tough to find anything other than a sub-lease in Stockholm and even that can be extremely difficult. That makes life pretty tough if your relationship ends and/or living circumstances need to change - it is bad enough for the locals - even tougher for those from abroad who often have no idea where to turn.

Saying that, even if your number does come up in the queue there is no guarantee they will offer you the place - you often have to have a minimum income and they want references from previous first-hand contracts, not from sub-leases (???).

What makes the situation so much more difficult is that sub-leased contracts can only be rented out one year at a time, are often only rented to companies who vouch to pay the rent and the company who own the building or the housing association (if they are owner-occupied apartments) need to agree to the apartment being rented out. There is also the legal risk of the lessee claiming rights to the apartment once they have lived there two years which makes people hesitant. And if you own a building - don't think you can rent it out as you please - you have to conform to the housing associations regulations. Such is socialistic Sweden.

But change is in place and as I wrote in an earlier post, the law now allows for true ownership - which means people can invest in property and rent it out - making more places available for rent. While the law only encompasses new property I'm hoping the government will have the good sense to extend it to allow existing buildings to change their legal ownership.

Still, none of this helps my friend, who despite paying her apartment insurance is going to once again be homeless. In 4-5 years she has moved 4-5 times with her young children, spent countless hours trying to find a sub-lease, thousands in lost deposits (skummy landlords) and who knows how many days, weeks and months of stress at the thought of having to move again, or worse still, not be able to find a place. And now, when her number in the queue has come up (after years of being on it!) and she finally is offered a rental contract of her own, she doesn't qualify according to the income requirements, despite saving each month in the hope of one day being able to buy a place.

Today Metro published her story - hopefully someone out there will read it and offer both her and her children more stability, and peace of mind.

Twitter, Tweets & Swedish Bloggy

I joined Bloggy months ago but haven't really used it, nor understood what the point was. It is a Swedish version of Twitter, created by Jonas Lejon - a Swedish web entrepreneur who seems to have his fingers in a whole lot of pies and is behind a bunch of web-based services.

So I opened an account but left it to its own devices, I really didn't have a feel for it, what to write or who would even see it. That was until a couple of days ago.

In recent weeks I have noticed more and more bloggers are joining the micro-blogging trend, Twitter is being mentioned all around me and it has become more evident how people are using this service to communicate with their audience. AND, I have decided that I am going to add a Twitter feed to the www.liveinsweden.se website - it is a great way to update people on what is going on around me without having to write a full blog post about it. I also like the way they can all be linked together and update each other - blogs and microblogs.

So what is Twitter, Bloggy or micro-blogging? What this for an explanation.


I know what you are thinking - really I thought the same thing - at first it is a little hard to understand what the point is and how it can be used. And do we really need to have the small details of each others' lives? Do they matter? Are we becoming all the more egocentric?? Yes. Quite possibly.

But the reality is - it doesn't matter what we think - it is growing in popularity so we might as well understand it, even if we don't embrace it. After-all, what facebook user will deny that fb helps us keep in touch with people we otherwise struggle to communicate with?

And articles like this one in today's Metro (Swedish) that talk about the business use of micro-blogging make it all the more interesting - after all if Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama can do it - so can you! If you still need convincing read this interesting blog post - 50 ideas on using Twitter for business.

Beautiful Business Awards: Sweden's Business Woman of the Year.

Headed out last night to Parken on Söder as the temperature was dropping and lone snow flakes were floating to their final resting place. It was lovely to walk in and be handed a glass of sparkling rosé, be stopped by a fellow Våga Språnget member and stand and chat while listening to the most amazing harp player I have ever seen or heard. I never knew a harp could be played like that.

We were there for the Beautiful Business Awards , being held for the second year in a row and hosted by Driftig.nu and Örlings PriceWaterhouseCoopers, supported by Nutek who this year added a category to the competition.

The evening's moderators were comedian couple Anna Mannheimer and Peter Apelgren who welcomed the audience and continued to entertain with their antics throughout the evening.

In their own words Beautiful Business Award 2009 is a national competition aimed to bring focus to exciting self-employed business women so as to inspire Sweden to more sustainable business practices. The Beautiful Business concept is about inspiring business that is characterized by sustainability, innovation and ambition. It is a mindset, that is equally admirable whether it be governing business thinking or general human behaviour. It is business with a conscience.

The competition awards Business Women of the Year, Service Developer of the Year and Challenger of the Year and is open to all women who have started or are running a business full-time. The first step is the nomination with the second being an application filled in by the nominees. It follows the BBA structure and requires the nominees to motivate why they are worthy of the award according to the following categories:

Sustainability: The company must be run with a long-term concept in terms of profitability, environment and ethics.
Innovation: The business shall be characterized by innovation and creativity in some way whether it be product/service, the approach, the industry, distribution channels or market.
Ambition: The individual shall have a strong involvement, great courage and strive from growth.

This year an amazing 1731 women were nominated with 432 of those submitting competition applications. Of those 62% have been running longer than 3 years and 60% are limited companies with 34% or the women born in the 60s and 24% in the 70s. All regions of Sweden were represented with 34% coming from Stockholm and 14% from Västra Götaland.

The evening progressed and the 12 finalists and their businesses, selected by a jury, were presented and interviewed. Following on, last years winners Lingon & Blåbär presented their company and talked about what the award meant to them. We then mingled, snacked and drank more wine before the awards were presented.

Business Women of the Year 2009 went to Nina Ottosson of Zoo Active Products AB who designs, manufactures and sells her dog toys to 25 countries around the globe. Click on this link to see her products and watch an interview (Swedish) with her here. It was no surprise to see Service Developer of the Year awarded to Kristina Theander of Middagsfrid. Kristina and her staff deliver cleverly packaged and planned groceries and matching recipes to health conscious households in Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö. She takes away the what are we going to eat tonight stress in busy households.

Business Challenger of the Year was awarded to three women: Petra Wadström of Solvatten, Jeanette Gorosch of Nannynu! and Britt-Marie Gyllensvaan of Utbilda.nu. This award brings recognition to relatively newly started companies deemed to have great potential.

Some of these women I have read about in business magazines, all of them were incredibly inspiring. They talked about the hard work and the determination that it took to get them where they are. It was wonderful to hear their stories and how thrilled they were to be nominated. Here is the whole list of finalists:
Nina Ottosson - Zoo Active Products
Jessica Löfström - ExpanderaMera
Mia Karlsson-Jonsson - Rex Bar & Grill
Bitte Ljungström - Vidilab
Petra Hammarstedt - Servicestaden
Katinka Bille Lindahl - LifeStone
Karin Bryskhe och Anna Stenstam - Colloidal Resource
Kristina Theander - Middagsfrid
Karin Almqvist - VICTRIX
Veronica Boxberg Karlsson - Better Business World Wide
Marianne Möllstam - Synergon
Veronica Hedenmark - VH Assistans
This fantastic award is the brainchild of Sofia Bergenstjerna and Frida Haavisto of Beautiful Business - themselves both very inspiring women. Fantastic that they have taken this opportunity to support both women and entrepreneurs.

Årets företagare - Business Person Of The Year - Stockholm.

While on the subject of business and networks I thought I'd mention Englishmen Jonathan Kirby and Martin Charlton who were awarded Business Person Of The Year 2008 for their Live It Experiences AB.

Their business concept is based on the fact that it is becoming more and more difficult to buy presents for people, so instead of buying someone a thing, you can get them an experience. They have gathered the best experiences Sweden has to offer and when you have chosen, ordered and paid for your gift an attractive Live It box is sent out with photos, booking information and a voucher.

Not only is it a great idea but the award was won by two non-Swedes. Both these guys are love-refugees, married to Swedes, and have been here for 8 and 9 years. Nice to know there is potential for all to be award-winning business people! Well done guys!!! After thier initial start in 2005 they now have 14 employees and have an annual turnover of 40 million SEK - not bad for a couple of English blokes!

Företagarna Stockholms Stad is a part of a national business organisation who present this award each year to a person/people not only for their accomplishments but also because they through their leadership are a good role-model and ambassador for small business people. are able to show extra creativity and are enterprising. They also need to be profitable and the owner/s must be actively running the company (SvD article).

According to the article Stockholm has 50 000 - 60 000 business owners, which makes for quite a few nominations. The winners are now candidates for the title of Swedish Business Person of the Year 2008. I'll hold my thumbs for them (and cross my fingers).

Women Entrepreneurs & Networks in Sweden & Stockholm

Went to the Venture Cup Inspiration For Women night last night and was truly inspired. I heard just what I need to hear and picked up a few ideas, some food for thought. The two speakers were Karin, founder of Grooming - Sweden's only grooming company aimed exclusively at men, and Caroline, co-founder of FUNtasi Fabriken whose goal is to bring dance to the people.

It is always interesting and inspiring to listen to others who have started a business and share their experiences - the good and the bad. And with only about 33% of Venture Cup applicants being women the organisation does what it can to encourage more to enter the competition and these women shared their thoughts about the difference between men and women in business.

Karin advised us to be clear in our communication, rather than talk around things as women often do. She also suggested that women are better at building relationships, and that this is something we can benefit from. She then went on to offer three very simple, practical, yet valuable pieces of advice:

1. ask questions and opinions and listen to those around you, but most importantly, listen to yourself
2. use your own network - talk to the people you know, rather than running around town mingling at different events and building up a very superficial network
3. have patience and perserverance. It takes much longer than you think it is going to. Hang in there - it is the same for everyone!

Caroline suggested we

1. have plans, long term and short term, but have a long term goal.
2. picture a number of potential scenarios right from the beginning and have a plan for how you will deal with them, that way there are no surprises.

Both before and after the speeches there was time for mingling. It is not that easy to stand amongst a bunch of strangers and mingle, in fact I don't enjoy it at all and I find it SO much harder to do in Swedish. So I was quite pleased to hear advice point number 2 and I go to these events mostly to hear the speakers - it really helps keep me motivated and focused on what I am doing.

There are a ton of business networks and organisations around and while many of them have events aimed exclusively at women, there are also a number of women-only networks around. If you too need inspiration and motivation, want a place to seek advice or companionship or are just curious about what others are up to, check out the following links:

Carpe Competencia - Sweden's biggest network for young academic women.
Driftig - Sweden's biggest online network for women who want to or have started their own business.
Kvinnliga Företagare - online meeting place for women in business.
Shenet - a network for women who want more out of their working life, bringing focus to female stars in business and inspiring others.
Göran - a network for women who want to share experience and advice on how to achieve balance in their personal and professional life.
KvinnorKan - an organisation promoting equal rights, obligations and opportunities for men and women.

Venture Cup Öst

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. We pretty much over the jet-lag and early morning awakenings, the kids are back at daycare, Ty has been back at work almost a week and I'm sitting here saying - where was I?

Thankfully I have a Inspiration Night for Women to go to tomorrow night, put on by Venture Cup Öst. VCÖ is, according to their own website, a business plan competition with the objective to stimulate entrepreneurship and to increase the founding of new companies in the eastern part of Sweden. Anyone with an innovative concept who wants to start a business is welcome to participate in Venture Cup, free of charge.

Just what I need, a little kick-start, enthusiasm and inspiration.

Australian Day In Stockholm Nov 29th

If you are jealous because I'm heading Down Under in a week then you can get your own taste of Australia tomorrow at the Australian-New Zealand Friendship Society's Australia Day event.

It is being held at BaraVi Bistro Bar,
Skånegatan 59 in Stockholm from 1.30-4pm.

Here is the program for the day:

• Information about the Society "Travel Society for enthusiasts" by President Erwin Apitzsch.
• Concert with Australian-inspired folk music by Lars Wallin and The TribeLars (highly recommended).

Have a go on a didjerido with Lars Wallin.

• Time for mingle and to meet the national board of the Australian-New Zealand Friendship Society of Sweden.
• Lecture: "Guide tips for a great day in Sydney" by Thorolf Andersson.

Opportunity to become a member in the Society for 150:-/year.

I was active in this board and the Scandinavian board for about 5 years - so what can I say - it is a great organisation with lots of great Aussie-Kiwi enthusiasts and Lars Wallin is a fantastic didj player!!
Bookings are to be made to asalofvendahl@hotmail.com but if you are in the area on Saturday it would be well worth your while popping in to say G'day!

Trendgalan 2008

is an event arranged by So Stockholm and Maria Forssén with an aim to promote people, companies and phenomenon that are ahead of their time and have the potential to conquer the world. Trendgalan celebrates entrepreneurs and entrepreneurialism in an endeavour to encourage entrepreneurialism and bring forth good role models.

The speakers were many. They were eager to share their viewpoints,they were inspirational, informative and thought-provoking.
And as always, with any event organised by Maria Forssén - you don't walk away empty-handed. The goody bags given out always leave me thinking she must have a fantastic network of people ready, willing and able to support her projects!

U.S. Election

Many Americans and non-Americans alike are concerned about the coming presidential election in the US. Here is a chance to follow events up close, with a friendly group of people, refreshments, entertainment, media coverage and more! Order your tickets from Ticnet now! It will be a night to remember!Click on the picture for a larger view. Information distributed by Ampersand.

Ampersand is an informal Stockholm-based network for editors, copywriters, technical writers, translators, journalists, teachers and communication consultants who pretty much work exclusively in English. We offer networking events, professional development seminars and issue job bulletins as they come into headquarters. As energy accumulates, we will do more to develop the market for professional English language services. There are currently more than 350 people on our distribution list. To add yourself to the list, just send an email address to ampersand@battisonpartners.com.
Do not call. Operators are not standing by.

Beautiful Business

Today I came a long to the Fair purely to listen to Sofia Bergenstjerna and Frida Haavisto tell their story. Despite having been a member of their www.driftig.nu for about a year I knew nothing of the story behind it.
After completing their university studies these girls did not follow the flock into well paid graduate positions but instead carved their way to a successful future, a future with a difference. These two southerners (based in Göteborg) started with nothing but energy and a desire to be entrepreneurs. A year later they had a very successful and very popular event with over 10,000 visitors (flea market) behind them and were ready for their next challenge.

The final result: Beautiful Business, with the founders being perfect role models for their company. Today their concept consists of :
➢ a book with inspirational stories about women in business
➢ www.driftig.nu with 4,000 members they are Sweden’s largest network for women running their own business, or wanting to
➢ consulting
➢ inspirational seminars
➢ a speaker network Beautiful Business Inspiration brokering other inspirational female speakers
➢ A Foundation to support women setting up businesses in developing countries
➢ Beautiful Business Awards sponsored by Örlings PricewaterhouseCoopers

Along the way they have broken laws, faked their identity, exaggerated the truth, gained publicity for their fair booths, resulted in the creation of a new law, bribed journalists with chocolate and paid their accounting fees with muffins!!

Driftig (www.driftig.nu) translates to enterprising and there is no doubt they describe themselves. According to Sofia and Frida, enterprising women have self-confidence, courage and the ability to turn adversity into prosperity. They are clever marketeers, sales-sassy and have a solid, potentially original business model. Do you know anyone who fits this description? Voting for the 2009 BB Award is open until November 10th :

Sofia and Frida are unconventional, inspirational and very much a source of Beautiful Business!

Launch of another network

New networks seem to be popping up all over the place, and women focused on business seems to be a popular theme. Tonight is the launch of Nätverk Göran in Stockholm.


There is a funny story behind this network, or at least the name; apparently a study showed that there are more men named Göran in CEO/MD roles in Sweden than there are women in those roles. Thus was born the Göran Network - as an inspiration to society as a whole.

While the network has been around in southern Sweden since 1999, popular demand has led to the extension of their services to Stockholm women.

The network is invitation only and aimed at women who want to contribute to a society where engaged and courageous women get a chance to take up space - and who actually do it. The network is a source of inspiration and a resource, both privately and professionally.

Their activities consist of an active website, meetings, a mentor program, distribute grants and The Göran Prize which is awarded to a women who has successfully managed to establish balance in her life (private vs professional).

While I had intended to go along to the launch tonight sick kids the last few days have meant I just haven't been getting enough work done - so its time for me to get stuck into it!

I'm sure it will be a success, and that tonight is just the beginning. Now I wish I was there....... Mmmmmm......... define balance in life.......

Shenet, Vulkan & Bloks

I had a good laugh at the Shenet event last night. I wasn't so sure that I could be bothered going along but in the end decided if nothing else it was a good excuse to get out away from home and away from the computer - to meet real people, or at least people in real life.

And I'm so glad I did!

Shenet is a Stockholm based women's network with a strong emphasis on culture and entrepreneurialism. As they say themselves their goal is to promote talented women wanting to make a difference, create change, leave their mark in history and inspire others to do the same. Their target group for members is primarily women with an academic education in a decision-making role either in their own company or employed.

The events always have a theme with guest speakers and seem to cover a broad range of topics and interests. While many, many of the events have seemed interesting I have only been able to prioritise three so far.

Annual membership is a measly 495 sek (+V.A.T.) the first year and 395 sek after that! Now where else can you be a member for that amount, enjoy a glass of wine and something to eat, listen to interesting speakers and leave again with a goody bag? They must have a lot of sponsors!

Now that I have promoted Shenet I have to tell you about last night's event.

Linda Skugge from Vulkan was the guest speaker, actually she was interviewed by Maria Forssén, the founder of Shenet. Linda's concept is a publishing platform that makes it possible for anyone to load up a PDF file and thus publish their own work. As the author you pay nothing, you decide everything, you keep the royalties and make no committment . The books are at this stage only available in pocket format, A5, soft cover but there are more choices are in the pipeline.

Once the printing price is established you decide how much you want to earn from each book and Vulkan take 25% of your margin, then add 6% V.A.T. and voila you have your price. Direct people to your book so they can order directly from the site and watch the sales tick over!

It is a great concept and I can think of many, many people who could benefit from it. I can even think of a couple of different ways I could use it - after all it costs nothing to load it up and if no-one is interested you have nothing to lose. My only criticism would be that the information is only available in Swedish - don't these companies realise how much more attractive they would be if their services were made available to a wider audience?

Following on from this interview was one of Vulkan's authors, Maria Agrell. This zany woman was a thoroughly entertaining speaker and it was great to listen and laugh as she talked a mile a minute, describing her life and experiences as a Swedish expat in Spain. Maria is both an established and a popular blogger who used Vulkan to publish her posts in book format, thus making them available to all her admiring fans. As of last night she had sold an impressive 23 copies of her blok!

Don't worry if you have never heard the word blok before - neither had I and strangely enough I couldn't even find a definition in the Swedish Wikipedia(!)

But clearly book + blog = blok.

Fun, fun, fun & just what I needed.

A glorious autumn day

My day started with a breakfast meeting at Stockholm Business Region and a presentation, based on independent research, about where Sweden stands when it comes to international investment compared to other European cities, the forecast for investment and the current trends.

This was followed by a presentation about "Cleantech" and how strong Stockholm, and Sweden are in the race for investment opportunities. It was inspiring to hear that we are one of the strongest countries in the world in environmental terms and that the number of people coming here to see how things are done, will grow.

Unfortunately I didn't take any notes during either of these very interesting presentations so I dare not relay too much back to you. While I was a little tempted to ask for copies of their slides, I chickened out...

Afterwards I went up to Kulturhuset (The Culture House) and couldn't help but notice the massive Vision 2030 sign above the entrance. It is kind of like when you meet someone for the first time and suddenly you find yourself bumping in to them all over the place. Well, Vision 2030 seems to be everywhere I turn at the moment.


I sat in the library for a couple of hours and did some work.
It has free internet connection and a fabulous view.


On my way out I headed down past the current Stockholm Bygger (Stockholm is building) project at street entry. I love models and I particularly love this one of Stockholm. It would be a great place to bring relocation clients to give them an overview of the place and help them get a feel for the different parts of town.

Looking down Sveavägen to the Kulturhuset and beyond, from Wenner Gren Centre.

Across Djurården to Gamla Stan and beyond.

From Globen in the south, looking north.

Then I headed off to Kungträgården and had lunch in a particularly popular restaurant at the end of the park. I met with some of the women from Mums In Sweden, caught up with a few I know and met a few new faces. While the food was ok.... the company was great and the weather was perfect. Sitting outside was divine, it is amazing how you appreciate the small things in life after a few cold, wet and windy weeks.

Tell me this was not a magnificent view from our table??

Let's hope this glorious weather holds up for just a little bit longer.