Life At Bonnier - March 2009

Simon Lindberg: Subcultures

Our GROW blogger Simon Lindberg enjoys a sporty weekend.

Almost everybody in New York City is from somewhere else. Since there are people from all over the world in this city—and a lot of people who can spot a good business opportunity—I can be sure that there will be a place to watch my favorite sport on TV. Before I came here, I was worried about how to be away for the three most intense months of the European football season. It turns out that there's a big football subculture in New York. Especially in the East Village, chances are you will see a lot of men (and some women) in football jerseys on weekend mornings.

Game On

Marcus Forsell, President of Bonnier Gaming, bets on the casual gamer.

Photo by Niklas Palmklint

When you walk into the Bonnier Gaming office in Stockholm, the first thing that you see is a black and white poster of Jimi Hendrix. The rock legend revolutionized music with his skill, his anarchic approach and his embrace of new technology. All three things could also be considered success factors for Bonnier Gaming.

Games aren't new to Bonnier. From the late 1930s until the mid-1980s, then-Bonnier-owned gaming company Alga had the rights to such classic games as Monopoly and Risk. Bonnier Gaming, though, deals with a different beast altogether—online gaming.

Shannon Mendis: Ice, Ice, Baby

From Florida to Finland: our GROW participant enjoys a real Finnish sauna with co-workers.

This week started out way cool. Literally. We went for ice swimming and the sauna on Monday with a group from work and it was amazing. This is yet another thing you can enjoy here when it's this cold!! Sounds crazy when I try to explain, but it's something I felt I HAD to try! Why not?

Maria Lanner: Sunny Side Up

From Stockholm to Melbourne: our GROW blogger swaps snow for sun.

My theme for today is the sun! Every year I wonder how I shall get through the dark winters in Sweden. I am not a fan of skiing, layers of clothes or any other winter activity. I don't really like to go on a sled either, even though it can be really fun sometimes watching Molly do it.

But this season, I managed the winter just fine! In December, I spent a warm week on th Cape Islands and now three months in Melbourne, Australia.

Lots of sun, Maria

 

Rachel Feddersen

A Week in the Life: the Parenting.com Director talks about giving moms a voice with Mom Congress.

Photo by Sarah Amato

Big day today. (Isn't every day?) First, I'm giving that presentation to the Parenting Group on the South by Southwest Interactive festival. But that's just a side project. Today's real focus is downloading all the information from the many staffers who attended Mom Congress yesterday and figuring out what will be most appealing and useful to our readers. In our weather report: still crisp (read "cold") and sunny. Note to spring: you're supposed to be here now.

So, anyway, for Mom Congress, some ideas include:

Maria Lanner: Fires and an Earthquake

From Stockholm to Melbourne: our GROW blogger in Melbourne marvels at the forest fires' effects.

So much can happen in Melbourne. One week, there's a storm notice via e-mail, and everyone packs up quickly, turns off the computer and goes home.  Another day, the temperature goes up to 45 degrees.  Another day it can drop to 20 degrees in half an hour.  And yesterday, there was an earthquake.

Tine Lund and the Locals

From Denmark to Australia: Our GROW participant mingles with the natives.

On Saturday I met up with one of my work colleagues, Gabby, at Rozelle Markets. It was another lovely day in Sydney and I looked forward to visiting a new part of the city. Rozelle is outside the city centre, about a 20-minute drive on a busy road with lots of cafes and restaurants. The area used to be working class, but now it is considered trendy. The markets were only small, held on school grounds. There was a woman singing, playing her guitar and creating a very relaxed atmosphere.

Simon Lindberg, Cramer vs. Stewart

From Stockholm to NYC: GROW blogger Simon analyzes U.S. media (and tries great paella).

Since I apparently have one reader (thanks Örjan) I'll start by commenting on his comment on the reaction of Seattle Post Intelligencer not being published anymore. I am not sure what Bonnier is saying about it and I don't have anyone like Dagens Nyheter legend Super Bo Gustavsson to discuss media with here in New York. There are more newspapers than Seattle PI which have stopped printing, and a few more that might go out of business soon, but as a regular news consumer I can't say I've noticed any indignation about it.

Rachel Feddersen, Babies Galore!

A Week in the Life: the Parenting.com Director turns thousands of cute baby photos into traffic gold.

Photo by Sarah Amato

Sunny and crisp in NYC. Not terribly spring-y yet, but way better than yesterday, when I was super-virtuous and went for a run before work in the 22-degree F wind chill. Although, actually, I'm guessing that temperature sounds kind of warm to the Nordic among you. I realize I'm a little weather obsessed, but I can't be unique; there's a reason that weather.com is so popular.

Meet Rachel Feddersen

A Week in the Life: the Parenting.com Director kicks a nutty week off with a bunch of launches.

Photo by Sarah Amato

Good morning! (It's still morning in New York, anyway.) When I enthusiastically signed up to blog for a week, it felt like my assignment was ages away, so far in the future I didn't even need to start thinking about it. But, as usual, time passed, and suddenly it's now, and I have nothing in the can ready to go. So everyone at Bonnier gets to hear about how nutty things are at Parenting.com right now, because that's all I got.