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	<title>WAYN Founders Blog</title>
	
	<link>http://founders.wayn.com</link>
	<description>WAYN Founders Blog - Pete Ward, Jerome Touze, Mike Lines</description>
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		<title>Introducing Icon Ibiza as our new VIP partner &amp; 27 million visits in the last 60 days!</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2010/introducing-icon-ibiza-as-our-new-vip-partner-27-million-visits-in-the-last-60-days/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2010/introducing-icon-ibiza-as-our-new-vip-partner-27-million-visits-in-the-last-60-days/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:49:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jerome</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Site Metrics and Updates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VIP Club]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[27 million visits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Icon Ibiza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new VIP partner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WAYN.com]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=653</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi everyone,
I hope you are well! It has been a few weeks since I last posted on here and thought I would give an update on some of our latest developments!
The last month will have been a very busy one at WAYN HQ having launched a new venture (WAYNDating.com) which saw already nearly 6,000 singles [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I hope you are well! It has been a few weeks since I last posted on here and thought I would give an update on some of our latest developments!</p>
<p>The last month will have been a very busy one at WAYN HQ having launched a new venture (WAYNDating.com) which saw already nearly 6,000 singles joining and we have only put the site live 2 weeks ago so this is definitely a great start! If you haven&#8217;t had the chance to check it out yet, please do so here: <a href="http://www.wayndating.com" target="_blank">www.wayndating.com</a></p>
<p>WAYN is still growing with thousands of  you joining us each day and Jan and February will have seen a record of over 27 million visits to WAYN.com &#8211; an astonishing number! Our latest release went live last week with our new &#8216;Intentions Broadcasting&#8217; project, allowing users to share what they would love to do and meet other WAYN users who share the same interests. We are going to keep on refining the offering in the next few weeks so please watch this space! We are also about to announce our new Iphone Application which is about to go live imminently, another exciting time for us and the community <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Finally, I thought I would also share you with that we have recently brought on a new Partner to our VIP Club:  <a id="s7_Ibiza_link1" style="color: #095ea1; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.wayn.com/profiles/iconibiza?tck=18417" target="_blank">Icon Ibiza</a>. Icon Ibiza is offering WAYN VIP&#8217;s tailor-made solutions to suit your every Ibiza holiday need. Whether you&#8217;re interested in finding the perfect sunset villa or getting VIP access to Pacha, Icon Ibiza can help.</p>
<p>VIP members will receive:</p>
<ul style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; color: #7d7d7d; text-align: justify; margin-left: 0px; padding-left: 20px;">
<li>Up to 50% off on Villas and access to the best hotels</li>
<li>Bookings at exclusive restaurants and beach resorts/clubs</li>
<li>Guest list entry / VIP access to the island&#8217;s top club nights</li>
<li>Concessions on Booking VIP tables</li>
<li>Concessions on Party Entry for guests</li>
<li>Concessions on limos, hummers and luxury airport pick-up</li>
</ul>
<p>To celebrate the new partnership, they will give one lucky VIP member the opportunity to experience the stylish and on the go lifestyle of Ibiza &#8211; the ultimate Ibiza experience for you and a friend&#8230;</p>
<p><em>The Icon Ibiza VIP Treatment Experience will include:</em></p>
<p><strong><em> </em></strong><br />
- Two flights from Europe to Ibiza,<br />
- VIP airport pick up,<br />
- Five nights hotel (four star Hotel Garbi),<br />
- Lunch at Nassau and Sands,<br />
- Sunset dinner at Café Mambo,<br />
- Club entry at Space, Pacha and Amnesia</p>
<p>We hope you will enjoy the benefits and for more information on Icon Ibiza, please visit their profile here: <a href="http://www.wayn.com/profiles/iconibiza">www.wayn.com/profiles/iconibiza</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-657" title="new" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/new.png" alt="new" width="380" height="303" /></p>
<p><em>Many thanks and safe travels!</em></p>
<p><em>Jerome</em></p>
<p><strong><em><br />
</em></strong></p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>WAYN Dating is now live!…</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:22:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>pete</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=638</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Hey folks,
I mentioned our our last blog post that we have a new service coming out that may surprise some of you, well that service in question is WAYN Dating (www.wayndating.com) and the service went live at 12pm GMT in the following countries:
US, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-639" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/wayn-dating-logo/" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-639" title="WAYn Dating Logo" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/WAYn-Dating-Logo.JPG" alt="WAYn Dating Logo" width="424" height="319" /></a></p>
<p>Hey folks,</p>
<p>I mentioned our our last blog post that we have a new service coming out that may surprise some of you, well that service in question is WAYN Dating (www.wayndating.com) and the service went live at 12pm GMT in the following countries:</p>
<p><strong>US, UK, </strong><strong>Canada, Australia, South Africa, Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Poland </strong></p>
<p>We announced the launch earlier this week to our members in these countries and have been hosting a countdown ever since, with the first 5000 members that join being offered guaranteed free membership for the first 12 months, and the following 45,000 that join guaranteed free membership for the first 3 months, whilst we introduce more tweaks to the service.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-640" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/countdown/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-640" title="Countdown" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Countdown.JPG" alt="Countdown" width="482" height="323" /></a></p>
<p>The premise of the site is to provide match-making based on doing what you love with someone you&#8217;d love to do it with. We recently surveyed over 8,000 of our members and found that the large majority of them said that what attracted them most of others was sharing similar interests and lifestyle&#8217;s whilst at the same time, acknowledging that opposites attract and that people are interested in meeting people that are from different countries or nationalities also. As a result, we have decided to launch a dating service with a difference, where you can share your interests and passions with others and meet like-minded people, without having to go through all those complex psychometric tests to find your perfect match, as in actual fact, it&#8217;s more fun to meet people that are not quite the same as you.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-641" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/wayn-splash/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-641" title="WAYn Splash" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/WAYn-Splash.JPG" alt="WAYn Splash" width="492" height="294" /></a></p>
<p>WAYN users can create an account very easily by simply using WAYN Connect, which will import your personal details as well as any activity interests that you have already added on WAYN. That way, you can search for other people that match your preferences on WAYN Dating who share in the same interests as you.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-642" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/interests/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-642" title="Interests" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Interests.JPG" alt="Interests" width="474" height="234" /></a></p>
<p>Your preferences are highlighted on the homepage, as well as new members who have joined and who are on your Hotlist. It is very easy to add people to your Hotlist, which lets those you find of interest know that you like them. <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' />  You can also find out when those you have added to your Hotlist are online, so that you can chat to them whilst they are around.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-643" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/homepage/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-643" title="Homepage" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Homepage.JPG" alt="Homepage" width="482" height="378" /></a></p>
<p>To find out more, go to www.wayndating.com and check out our live BETA. It takes a few seconds to register your account and a few minutes to build your profile. We&#8217;d love to hear what you think? A full press release is available below:</p>
<p><strong>WAYN (Where Are You Now?) launches WAYN Dating in time for St. Valentine’s Day<br />
</strong></p>
<p>WAYN – the world’s largest travel and lifestyle focused social networking community with over 15.4 million members globally, has surprised many by announcing that they will be launching a Dating service called WAYN Dating, which is due to go live at 12pm GMT on St Valentine’s Day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WAYN Dating <span lang="PL">(</span><a href="http://wayndating.com/"><span lang="PL">http://wayndating.com</span></a><span lang="PL">)</span> aims to match-make people from around the world based on what they love to do. Peter Ward, co-Founder and co-CEO of WAYN remarks: <em>“This very much in line with WAYN’s new vision. WAYN is all about helping people realise their dreams, by meeting cool people to do fun stuff with, so it was a natural progression for us to consider launching a dating service that is tailored to helping singletons do what they love with someone they would love to do it with.”</em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">WAYN Dating will be revealed at a pre-screening this Friday at a glamorous party in London’s only rooftop Private Members Club – the Kensington Roof Gardens in Kensington, which will be attended by some well known celebrities both old and new. Peter Ward and Jerome Touze, the two co-founders of WAYN and WAYN Dating, will be at the event to make a special announcement and mingle with a select group of friends from the tech and media industry as well as WAYN members from around the world.<span lang="PL"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The co-founders are staying tight-lipped about the new service in the meantime, which will aim to provide users worldwide with a successful matchmaking <span lang="PL">facility</span> based on timing, place and desired activity<span lang="PL">; something that is already hinted on the WAYN Dating countdown page (</span><a href="http://wayndating.com/"><span lang="PL">http://wayndating.com</span></a><span lang="PL">) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jerome Touze shared:<em> “</em><em><span lang="PL">WAYN Dating will initially launch as a live BETA, with many unique and exciting features coming to the site in the near future. We’re aiming to </span>create an aspirational service that builds on the core values of what WAYN is all about, but in a dating context. It should be a lot of fun!”</em><em><span lang="EN-US"> </span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A recent Valentine’s survey conducted by the social network shows that from a sample of over 8,000 WAYN members (55% of which were single), 45% regarded shared interests and friendship as the most important criteria when looking for a partner. Also, almost half of those polled (46%) claimed that companionship, sharing similar interests and lifestyle were the most important considerations when looking for a relationship. Those without a sense of humor were seen as the biggest turn offs.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Ends</strong></p>
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<p class="facebook"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/" target="_blank"><img src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/plugins/add-to-facebook-plugin/facebook_share_icon.gif" alt="Share on Facebook" title="Share on Facebook" /></a><a href="http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://founders.wayn.com/2010/wayn-dating-is-now-live/" target="_blank" title="Share on Facebook">Share on Facebook</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>ICE Adventure 2010</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2010/ice-adventure-2010/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2010/ice-adventure-2010/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:08:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>pete</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=603</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WAYN has always been about bringing together like-minded people who love to travel, have fun, and meet new people. Well, from a personal perspective, Jerome and myself couldn’t have had a better experience in doing just that than the EPIC ICE Weekender that took place on the last weekend of January this year. ICE is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>WAYN has always been about bringing together like-minded people who love to travel, have fun, and meet new people. Well, from a personal perspective, Jerome and myself couldn’t have had a better experience in doing just that than the EPIC ICE Weekender that took place on the last weekend of January this year. ICE is the 4th installment of such an event. Whether it stands for Internet Conclave of Entrepeneurs or simply represents a bit of the cold stuff is not what&#8217;s important. What is though is the fun and adventure that we have just experienced with around 50 other entrepreneurs and like-minded people, in Argentiere / Chamonix, France for a weekend. In the true spirit of entrepreneurship, it was an event organized by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs and their like-minded friends, and was the quintessential example of what travelling should all be about – doing what you love with people that you would love to do it with.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-616" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/ice-adventure-2010/p1291093-2/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-616" title="P1291093" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P12910931.JPG" alt="P1291093" width="553" height="311" /></a></p>
<p>Back at WAYN base camp, we’ve been thinking long and hard about where to best take the future direction of WAYN, and one of the characteristics that really strikes a chord with us is the fact that it is not so much where you go that makes all the difference, but what you do and more importantly who you do it with. Where you are or where you plan to be clearly does have an impact, and us here at WAYN believe strongly that it is our duty to showcase some of the most amazing places in the world to visit and inspire you to travel to, but in reality, almost all the places around the world have something special to offer, but if you don’t know what to do when you get there or who to do it with, you are likely to have a fraction of the fun.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-615" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/ice-adventure-2010/p1290968-2/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-615" title="P1290968" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P12909681.JPG" alt="P1290968" width="553" height="311" /></a></p>
<p>Those of us who have been fortunate enough to experience travelling outside of your typical packaged holiday experience will know, that half the fun is in meeting new people along the way and experiencing things with them that you never expected, but in the end, made the trip what it is. Had I been in Chamonix on my own, with no ski’s, it would have been like dying of hunger and having a beautifully cooked meal sitting in front of me, whilst tied up in chains with no-one around to get me out. How many of us have stayed in lovely 4 or 5 star hotels, only to find that we have had a much better time, staying in a backpackers, purely because you meet fun people in the same boat who equally want to explore and do fun stuff in the location you’re in. Don’t get me wrong – I would rather sleep in a comfortable king sized bed in a luxury hotel, but if it meant being on my own with nothing to do – I know what I would prefer.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-613" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/ice-adventure-2010/p1280918/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-613" title="P1280918" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P1280918.JPG" alt="P1280918" width="553" height="311" /></a></p>
<p>Anyway, I think you catch my drift! Sometime’s it’s hard for people who haven’t ventured beyond the confines of their package holiday experience, or even travelled at all, to realize what they are missing. Most people who haven’t, have this perception that travelling on your own or even roughing it a little, is brave and they couldn’t think of anything worse, as they would miss all their home creature comforts and would be scared of not being able to cope out of the country – on their own. Well guess what – ICE may have been a group of 50 people, but each and every one of those 50 people came on their own, and made friends either on the trip, or in most cases on previous ICE trips. You have to start somewhere, and what better place to start than on WAYN, where you can not only find the people, places and activities around you or where you plan to go; Meet the people to do fun stuff with, and ultimately, share experiences, memories and realize your dreams with others.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-614" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2010/ice-adventure-2010/p1290947-2/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-614" title="P1290947" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/P12909471.JPG" alt="P1290947" width="553" height="311" /></a></p>
<p>With 15 million + members all looking to meet people from around the world, WAYN is like that virtual bar where everyone there is keen to make new friends, rather than give you a dirty look and question your motives for talking to them. I challenge you to find a more friendly, humble and diverse bunch of people on any other social network. WAYN is not perfect, and we have a lot of things that we are working on to improve the service for all our global members, and there’s a lot more we can do to attract others who may have been on WAYN in the past and / or moved on to Facebook and beyond, or even those who never even heard of WAYN. But for those of you who have ventured into WAYN’s world, and experienced this magic that I am referring to – please do your bit to share the love with your other friends and get them involved.</p>
<p>I hope all of you get to experience what you love to do (whether it be skiing, surfing, sailing whilst abroad, or even stamp collecting, cooking or watching movies, whilst at home) – with people you’d love to do it with. Go on&#8230; Branch out. It will be one of the best things that you will ever do.Trust me <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Stay tuned for an update on what’s coming very soon to WAYN and a completely new initiative that we are launching that may take some of you by surprise! <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' />  I will update you in a following post!</p>
<p>To see the highlights of this trip, check out the following video, which is dedicated to Rob Williams, a true entrepreneur who will remain in our thoughts forever and act as an inspiration for us all:</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="400" height="225" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9346338&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="225" src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9346338&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9346338">ICE&#8217;10</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3139244">Simon Prockter</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
<p>All the best,</p>
<p>Pete</p>
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		<title>An Insight into Nsyght.com</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2010/an-insight-into-nsyght-com/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2010/an-insight-into-nsyght-com/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:18:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jerome</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[New Technologies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[feeds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friendfeed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[geoffrey McCaleb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jerome Touze]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nsyght.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real time]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=576</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There has been a lot of hype as of late (and particularly at Le Web) on the latest services allowing real time information and particularly amongst real time search engines which aggregate your social feeds from various platforms. FriendFeed being an example (and acquired last year by Facebook)
Today, I wanted to go through a recently launched site [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>There has been a lot of hype as of late (and particularly at <a href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/541/" target="_blank">Le Web</a>) on the latest services allowing real time information and particularly amongst real time search engines which aggregate your social feeds from various platforms. <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com" target="_blank">FriendFeed</a> being an example (and acquired last year by <a href="http://www.facebook.com">Facebook</a>)</p>
<p>Today, I wanted to go through a recently launched site &#8211; <a href="http://www.nsyght.com">Nsyght.com </a>- a company based in London with an engineering  office in Ankara (Turkey). I have actually personally invested in the business (I should disclose this and be upfront) and what particularly fascinates me about the company is not only their great platform and what it already delivers and promises to &#8211; but also the true passion and great energy from their CEO and Founder Geoffrey McCaleb &#8211; they recently close on $200,000 of funding and have shown great momentum since going live just a few weeks ago. Let&#8217;s take a closer look&#8230;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nsyght.com">Nsyght</a> is a twitter and Facebook web client that allows you to aggregate, share, and search a users social graph in real time. Nsyght is similar to other aggregators like <a href="http://www.friendfeed.com">Friendfeed</a> and Cliqset, however it was primarily designed to allow users to use nsyght alongside their primary social networks, instead of seeking to be an outright replacement. Nsyght integrates with a number of difference services today like Facebook, <a href="http://www.digg.com">Digg</a>, <a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com">Stumbleupon</a>, <a href="http://www.flicker.com">Flickr</a>, <a href="http://www.vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>, <a href="http://www.delicious.com">Delicious</a>, and <a href="http://www.last.fm">Last.fm</a>, and plan to add more over the coming weeks.</p>
<p>The primary goal of nsyght is to allow users to keep in touch with their social graph &#8211; saving them having to log onto many services every day just to keep in touch. A social graph is not just a collection of friends or people you follow on one service, it covers your collective friends across all services that you use. So by providing powerful searching tools nsyght can give users the ability to actually find things of interest &#8211; even if they have a fairly active graph on Facebook, Twitter, and others.</p>
<p>Also, nsyght works really hard to add context to the real time stream along. Users can see photos and videos inline, view threaded discussions (even if that discussion did not take place on nsyght), simple facility to post, share/retweet and reply. Also users have the ability to filter their personal real time stream by video/photo, service, someone they follow, or even tag and search term.</p>
<p>Part of the power of social media is the ability to collaborate and share with a wide group of people. But, how many discussion are missed due to the speed of the real time web? Take this typical twitter entry:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-587" title="Nsyght1" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Nsyght12.jpg" alt="Nsyght1" width="533" height="338" /></p>
<p>10 minutes of what? Is she a masseuse? Chiropractor? Mechanic? With the context available from this entry, who knows? But with nsyght, they bring that context directly to you, so you can see the discussion thread from the very beginning:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-583" title="Nsyght2" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Nsyght21.jpg" alt="Nsyght2" width="553" height="387" /></p>
<p>Not only do we learn that Jeff Pulver is organizing a #140conf meetup in Chicago, but we can see that Liz is not a personal trainer, but a speaker! All this context would easily be lost in the real time firehose.</p>
<p>So context is great, but if you have an active social graph, all the context in the world will lock you away from &#8220;discovery&#8221; if not for search. This is where nsyght really shines. Unlike other aggregation services, the search is very flexible and can deliver complex search results even on &#8220;real time&#8221; data. Take the following example, a search for Google&#8217;s recent &#8220;Nexus One&#8221; phone, but here, we can filter the results to just show discussions:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-589" title="Nsyght3" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Nsyght32.jpg" alt="Nsyght3" width="813" height="443" /></p>
<p>If this is a topic that interests you, instead of just interacting with your direct friends you can actually go beyond your circle and interact with a wide variety of people based on your mutual interest in the Nexus One. Don&#8217;t just passively sit back and watch your real time firehose, actually roll up your sleeves and get involved, collaborate, keep in touch, and discover.</p>
<p><strong>Nsyght offers some very neat Features: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Web app for twitter and Facebook</li>
<li>Support for multiple networks: Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Vimeo, Stumbleupon, Flickr, Last.fm, and Delicious</li>
<li>Search your friends in real time &#8211; Update/Post, search, and filter your own personal firehose</li>
<li>Easily RT/share things you find with your graph from twitter or even from other social services</li>
<li>View discussions in threaded form and are searchable</li>
<li>Updates appear and are posted in real time</li>
<li>View videos and thumbnails inline and are searchable</li>
<li>Be notified via email when someone replies to you, even if the reply came from twitter</li>
<li>Register and login with your twitter or Facebook account</li>
</ul>
<p>There is also a screencast here for more information: Screencast: <a href="http://vimeo.com/8215145">http://vimeo.com/8215145</a></p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how these guys progress in the coming months, but thus far, it looks very encouraging &#8211; especially when comparing with the landscale as per below (source: Alexa / Quanticast / Crunchbase)</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-591" title="Nsyght competitive landscape" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Nsyght-competitive-landscape.jpg" alt="Nsyght competitive landscape" width="624" height="432" /></p>
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		<title>Last post of 2009 – updates and best wishes for 2010!</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/last-post-of-2009-updates-and-best-wishes-for-2010/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/last-post-of-2009-updates-and-best-wishes-for-2010/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:10:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jerome</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Site Metrics and Updates]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=563</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dear all, i hope you are well! So this will clearly be our last blog update for this year which will have been a busy one for us &#8211; many things have changed (for the best) at WAYN HQ, from a new site design, enhanced functionalities, a refocus on our global strategy and increased penetration [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left;">Dear all, i hope you are well! So this will clearly be our last blog update for this year which will have been a busy one for us &#8211; many things have changed (for the best) at WAYN HQ, from a new site design, enhanced functionalities, a refocus on our global strategy and increased penetration in the Tourism and Travel industry where we have gained major accounts with Tourism Boards. But 2009 will have been a year where we will have spent most of our time listening to our users, and collecting as much feedback as we possibly could. We have improved the user interface of the site and have added many functionalities enabling richer interaction within the community. Our latest addition, &#8220;Activities&#8221; is testament of that. Users can now not only plan where they want to go but also express what they are into and meet fellow WAYN members based on similar interest:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="Activities" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Activities2.jpg" alt="Activities" width="371" height="186" /></p>
<p>Since launched on December 4th, the rise has been spectacular, with more activities being added day by day, up to 35,000 activities being added daily as of late.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-567" title="activities daily" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/activities-daily.jpg" alt="activities daily" width="290" height="175" /></p>
<p>We are going to add more functionalities to this service in the coming weeks to refine the product even further and allowing users to better see the &#8220;matches&#8221; they have with other users!</p>
<p>But 2009 will have also been a year of focus on our VIP Club &#8211; we have been working hard to bring more Lifestyle benefits to our VIP members by signing up key Global Partners and more are about to be announced by the end of January 2010 so watch this space! So far, VIP Members can benefit from:</p>
<ul>
<li>Exclusive access to Quintessentially Membership and win the James Bond 007 experience</li>
<li>Free Global SIM Card – no more roaming fees on your phone when you travel abroad</li>
<li>Auto upgrade on Car Hires worldwide with Hertz</li>
<li>Free Lifestyle Card (worth £10) offering cheap travel money</li>
<li>Send 100 Free International SMS per month</li>
<li>See who likes you and others (New Feature)</li>
<li>Unlimited standard Gifts, Super Rates and Say Hello&#8217;s</li>
<li>Stand out from the crowd on search results</li>
<li>Browse in secret and create private forums</li>
<li>See who has read your messages</li>
<li>Customize your WAYN experience (turn off advertising and customised profile skins)</li>
</ul>
<p>As we realise that our VIP offering needs to be increasingly more compelling, we will be adding a number of benefits to our Lifestyle and Travel VIP Club which money simply can&#8217;t buy!</p>
<p>We are equally pleased to see the great growing trend in registrations &#8211; with more and more accounts being created every day &#8211; there are now nearly 10,000 of you joining the community each day, from over 193 countries &#8211; WAYN keeps growing and that&#8217;s the way we like it!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img title="New Accounts on WAYN" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/New-Accounts-on-WAYN.jpg" alt="New Accounts on WAYN" width="299" height="226" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">There is clearly plenty of exciting stuff coming up in 2010 which we will be announcing very shortly but for now, we would like to thank you for all the support you have given us throughout the year and would like to send you all our very best wishes for 2010!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Jerome, Pete, Mike</p>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:16:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>pete</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Conferences]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Activities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BizSpark]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BizSpark One]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Brogan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Geraldine Le Meur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Le Web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loic Le Meur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Square]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WAYN]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=541</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Greetings, after a memorable few days at Le Web!
Jerome and I were in Paris this week for what has got to be the biggest conference covering the web and social media that I have ever been to in Europe. Over 2,000 of the leading people from the digital media world, representing nearly 50 countries, turned [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Greetings, after a memorable few days at <a href="http://www.leweb.net/" target="_blank">Le Web</a>!</p>
<p>Jerome and I were in Paris this week for what has got to be the biggest conference covering the web and social media that I have ever been to in Europe. Over 2,000 of the leading people from the digital media world, representing nearly 50 countries, turned up to mingle, be inspired and hopefully learn something new.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.leweb.net/leweb/about"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-542" title="Le Web audience" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Le-Web-audience.jpg" alt="Le Web audience" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>
<p>The theme of this year&#8217;s event, which was celebrating its 5th year, was the real-time web. And as Hermione Way posited on her recent <a title="Your last ever Twitter post" href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=221541351982&amp;ref=mf" target="_blank">Video blog</a>, you can&#8217;t get more real-time than Twitter! The tweet stream which was being displayed alongside the speakers for most of the conference sessions was moving so fast that you could barely read it. It&#8217;s amazing though how people will still post their tweets for their 3 seconds of fame and to foster engagement amongst their followers.</p>
<p>I think we can all learn a lot from what <a href="http://www.twitter.com">Twitter</a> has achieved.  What on the surface looks like a really simple user interface, is in reality an powerful broadcast and engagement platform that has taken the world by storm. We were fortunate enough to hear from the inventor of Twitter, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dorsey" target="_blank">Jack Dorsey</a> who is also acting Chairman. Jack was a great inspiration and I found the story behind what led him to invent Twitter very enlightening, as it touched on the importance of knowing where people are and what they are doing.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com"><img class="size-full wp-image-546 aligncenter" title="twitter_logo" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/twitter_logo.jpg" alt="twitter_logo" width="335" height="123" /></a></p>
<p>Here at <a href="http://www.wayn.com">WAYN</a>, ever since the beginning we have always believed in the potential value of real-time engagement based on your whereabouts and activities and we are busy working on a variety of capabilities that will hopefully unlock some of the value being demonstrated in this area, but more as a compliment to the way people use sites like Twitter and <a href="http://www.facebook.com">Facebook</a>, rather than instead of. I look forward to announcing more on this in the New Year, but in the meantime, check out our new <a title="WAYN Activities" href="http://www.wayn.com/activities" target="_self">Activities offering</a>, which is one of the first in many steps we are taking to broaden our appeal beyond travel.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wayn.com/activities"><img class="size-full wp-image-547 aligncenter" title="Activities" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Activities.JPG" alt="Activities" width="590" height="359" /></a></p>
<p>Jack’s new invention – <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/01/square-jack-dorsey-launches-paypa/" target="_blank">Square</a> – is quite simply – ingenious! Soon, we will all be able to transact with others via our mobile devices without having to be set up as a business merchant with companies like Natwest Streamline. Instead, you will be able to get your Square adaptor and raise all the money you need from your friends, family and fools to set up your next bootstrapped venture by simply asking for their credit card <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/jack_dorsey_talks_square_at_leweb.php"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-548" title="square_transaction" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/square_transaction.jpg" alt="square_transaction" width="350" height="351" /></a></p>
<p>There were many other highlights such as people like <a href="http://www.chrisbrogan.com/">Chris Brogan</a> reiterating why culture is so important, along with many other amazing speakers who are helping to change the world. I could go on for ages and I’d be only scraping the surface, but there is one other aspect that I really wanted to add a  special mention to, and that is the folks at Microsoft Bizspark. Microsoft can often get a bit of bad press from the early adopter community as many entrepreneurs see them as the slow moving giant that can’t compete with the cachet of Apple for example. However, when you consider the fact that Microsoft remains the world’s largest software company, that is to be expected. However, for WAYN, Microsoft represents an important enabler for our business and many people tend to forget that many of the world’s leading technology stacks rest on a Microsoft based platform, like ours does.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark/"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-549" title="BizSpark_StartUp" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/BizSpark_StartUp.jpg" alt="BizSpark_StartUp" width="211" height="93" /></a></p>
<p>The Microsoft BizSpark program is a fantastic example of how Microsoft are working with a number of start-ups to help them succeed. Particularly those on <a href="http://www.microsoftstartupzone.com/Partnering/Pages/BizSparkOne.aspx">BizSpark One</a>, which helps accelerate the growth of high potential start-ups like us, through nurturing a one-to-one relationship with Microsoft. The reason I am “bigging” these guys up is because they really pulled out the stops for us this year to show their support. It is thanks to them that we were bestowed the privilege of attending Le Web as they sponsored our tickets and also gave us access to our own booth, like all the other BizSpark One companies. And last but not least, and certainly most enjoyably – they helped put on the best parties at Le Web, which brought everyone together and strengthened relationships, which can be priceless. They even had the brands of their BizSpark partners flashing up on the screens in this trendy boutique that housed us for the Drink Tank after party on the closing night, which was a nice touch. For those of you who are keen to find out more about the various perks you get as a BizSpark partner and would like to take advantage of their various technology platform benefits on Micrsoft SQL and Azure cloud computing for example, you can <a title="Microsoft BizSpark" href="http://www.microsoft.com/BizSpark/" target="_blank">find out more here</a>.</p>
<div id="attachment_550" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 550px"><a rel="attachment wp-att-550" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/541/48559881_le-web/"><img class="size-full wp-image-550  " title="48559881_le web" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/48559881_le-web.jpg" alt="48559881_le web" width="540" height="359" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Peter Ward and Jerome Touze at the BizSpark One Stand at Le Web 2009</p></div>
<p>That about wraps it up for this instalment. Le Web, as <a href="http://loiclemeur.com/">Loic Le Meur</a> said himself “has become a platform” for us tech and new media geeks from around the world to benefit from. For me it was great to see some of the familiar faces from across the internet sector. Le Web has definitely morphed from a European event to a Global one and represented one of the top 5 trending topics on Twitter, generating over 100,000 tweets. Hats off to both <a href="http://twitter.com/geraldine">Geraldine</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/loiclemeur">Loic</a>, for pulling it off! They definitely learned from most of the mistakes from last year. My only one complaint?.. Why couldn’t the food be as good as the <a href="http://www1.nespresso.com/precom/home_uk_en.html?xtor=SEC-89">Nespresso</a> coffee? <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Roll on next year&#8230;</p>
<p>Pete</p>
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		<title>To move or not to move.. why is it always a nightmare when hardware is involved..</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/to-move-or-not-to-move-why-is-it-always-a-nightmare-when-hardware-is-involved/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/to-move-or-not-to-move-why-is-it-always-a-nightmare-when-hardware-is-involved/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:01:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>mike</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=485</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is actually my first ever post on the WAYN Founders forum, not because I have not wanted to speak out and stay the silent one, but really because I just did not think that anyone would be interested in listening to the mundane rattling’s of a day in the life of a Social Network&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is actually my first ever post on the WAYN Founders forum, not because I have not wanted to speak out and stay the silent one, but really because I just did not think that anyone would be interested in listening to the mundane rattling’s of a day in the life of a Social Network&#8217;s techy problems on a generally business focused blog! Besides, Pete &amp; Jerome just love talking more than I, so I am happy to let them <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>However, a few months back we had to think fast and hard about what to do with our ever soaring hosting costs in the Big Smoke (that is London for those of you not from the UK) and I thought perhaps it would be interesting to share some of the thought processes we went through about how to combat the seemingly &#8220;recession-immune&#8221; Data Centre industry in London.</p>
<p>I say immune really only because it seems that even with the banks pulling out loads of servers and cutting IT budgets left, right and centre that there is plenty of people all to willing to quickly fill the gaps they leave, naturally, meaning that Collocation costs have not stopped increasing in many areas.</p>
<p><img src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/IMG_0614.jpg" alt="Full Cab" title="Full Cab" width="500" height="667" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-528" /></p>
<p>First a little history of WAYN Tech. Being a London based business we have always kept our IT infrastructure close by, thinking that the niceties of having it close by should a major failure occur would outstrip the increase in cost, add to this the fact that we started in 2003 when the &#8220;Bubble&#8221; had not yet been repaired from the burst around the millennium there was actually a ton of space available, and it was going quite often for a song.</p>
<p>We started out life hosting our entire site on a single IBM rack mounted server with a small ISP based in the Docklands, we did not really hang around too long though as they seemed to enjoy downtime a lot more than we did. OK, we did not have many users at the time but nonetheless it is not the way you want to go, so we eventually migrated our hardware to another small ISP based down in Biggin Hill of all places, in fact it was the same ISP where FriendsReunited was born, that is how I got to know about them really as in my previous incarnation I was the Sysadmin for FR. I had a excellent relationship with the owner which I have maintained to this day so things worked out well for us there overall. We actually continually hosted equipment with them from circa 2004 right up until a couple of months ago, although we had migrated the vast majority of kit to another more traditional Tier 1 Data Centre based in the City of London in 2007, we kept some equipment with our original provider for off-site backups. Unfortunately, we had simply outgrown them.</p>
<div><img src="/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/IMG_0625-Large-Small.JPG" border="1" alt="" /></div>
<p>When our contracts for our main ISP in the City were coming up for renewal earlier this year we thought it would be wise to reconsider things, especially given the tough economy, it made sense to try and find a way to cut our costs without impacting the service. Of course, the ideal scenario was to simply negotiate a cut in price with our current ISP, as I am sure anyone in the business will tell you moving Data Centers is an absolute nightmare, and usually a huge impact with downtime. However, since they hadn&#8217;t raised the prices in the previous 2 years there really wasn’t very far we could go with this, so we had to move our feet and start looking around for a better deal before it was too late and the contracts renewed!</p>
<p>We looked at a lot of sites, I would go as far as saying we probably looked at every single Data centre in the UK that was big enough and well connected enough for our needs. We also looked in to Europe, however, being very IBM focused on our hardware we were left with a dilemma of losing warranties on all our existing equipment if we took it out of the UK, given that we have paid a premium for top quality hardware we didn’t really want to shoot ourselves in the foot and write off a large chunk of that value! Next time we have to think about buying a large chunk of new kit though it is something we will definitely reconsider, although the Euro&#8217;s strength against the pound is diminishing the savings rapidly.</p>
<p>Eventually, we narrowed our options down to 2 sites in London, one near Birmingham and 2 in Manchester. We set up a bunch of tours and I jumped in the car and did a Tour of the sites to check them out. I didn’t really need to visit the ones in London as I had been in them before and pretty much knew what they were all about. To cut a very long story short we eventually had to choose between a site in London, which was cheaper but not so much, or a site in Manchester which was attractively priced – but 4hours up the road.</p>
<p>The Datacenter in Manchester was a company called <a href="http://www.ukgrid.net" target="_blank" title="UKGrid">UKGrid</a> which had recently filled up their data floor, but was in the middle of building out their second floor. I liked this site because it was based very close to Telecity which meant we could pick up internet feeds from any of the big providers we liked, the infrastructure in the building was of a high standard and the Data Centre seemed to be professionally run, with a couple of respectable clients on site that gave it more credibility. We was also able to spec out our cage exactly how we liked it, which made life a lot easier for us to migrate things like for like.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ukgrid.net" target="_blank" title="UKGrid"><img src="http://www.ukgrid.net/images/logo.gif" border="0" alt="UKGrid" /></a></p>
<p>One of the biggest things I think I noticed is that there is a significant difference in prices from one Data Centre to the next, indeed some were over 100% more expensive than our current facilities, and some were as much as 40% cheaper, yet I could see little difference between them to justify the different price points &#8211; in the end I think that it is clear that some facilities are just able to demand a higher price and get away with it &#8211; perhaps this is why our Banks have no money left!</p>
<p>We migrated our equipment in early September, witht he help of a specialist removals company. We had no choice but to shut down the service for 24 hours, which would have been more like 72 hours if we had not used the removal firm. Being the paranoid type we decided to move our core database server ourselves in the back of my car, and sneaked a Google Latitude enabled smartphone with GPS in to their van to track them &#8211; this was a brilliant idea as we could keep a really close eye on progress and make sure we met them on site bang on time.</p>
<p><img src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/IMG_0533.jpg" alt="Crazy Switches" title="Crazy Switches" width="500" height="667" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-531" /></p>
<p>We had some fun and games getting our kit up to the new suite ont he first floor, firstly because there was no lift (no joke!) and we eventually had to rope our empty racks up through the window! It sounds a bit cowboy i know, but it was a 100x easier than trying to squeeze them up the stairs and a lot faster than dismantling them! The data centre would normally provide a forklift for the job, but given we was moving in at 7am on a Sunday the forklift firm wasnt interested in getting out of bed.</p>
<p>Overall, the move was very smooth because it was well planned and well executed with a lot of man power on hand, moving equipment from one building to another is always tricky but movinf it from one end of the country to the other is another level of complication. However, with good planning this can be overcome and the savings to be had simply cannot be ignored. We managed to get our kit moved and back online withint 24 hours, which we felt was a great success.</p>
<div>
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/IMG_0492-Large-Small.JPG" border="1" alt="" width="500" />
</div>
<p>
<strong>My top tips for migrating datacentres, especially when they are far apart:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Invest in a thermal Label printer &#8211; you do not want to be decyphering peoples handwriting mid migration!</li>
<li>Label EVERYTHING, every cable, every server, every plug, cabinet and anything else you can think off. Its a godsend when it comes time to put it all back again, even if one network cable is the same as another its just a great way of ensuring you connect everything right first time, especially when your severly sleep deprived!</li>
<li>Create a good decommision/reccomission plan, and lable any boxes of cables or equipment clearly so you know whats what and dont start opening every box searching for a specific cable. Any special cables or connectors should be packed seperatly so they dont get lost. Your not going to be able to replace special connectors in the middle of the night &#8211; so anything that isn&#8217;t available from your high street computer shop needs extra TLC!</li>
<li>Get a specialist removals firm to do the moving, they&#8217;re not always cheap but the costs can be easily offset with the reduced downtime and a reduction in risk.</li>
<li>Have as many people on site as possible when it comes time to put things back together again, the more hands the better you just cannot underestimate the amount of work involved</li>
<li>Prepare a backup plan &#8211; what if an important server fails?</li>
<li>Servers do not like being turned off and on, they really like to break when they cool down after having been switched on for months (or years), so make sure you shut them off for a good hour before you remove them.</li>
<li>Get lots of food, energy drinks, warm clothes!</li>
<li>If you move ALL your hardware, make sure you have a place to host a holding page. If you host your DNS and MAIL servers, you should have a temporary replacement for them as well. You can use a cloud (Amazon S3 etc) and/or OpenSource software for that, or pay someone to take care of it. Because we own our own IP ranges, we was able to switch them over to temporary servers at the new site in seconds, but not everyone can do that and remember DNS can take a long time to update around the world, your customers will already be upset your offline but they will be even more upset if they get blank pages and no explanation!</li>
<li>Plan ahead &#8211; what should be racked and launched first. You do not want to end up in a situation when all hardware is up and ready, buy you really do not remember where have you put main firewall <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </li>
</ul>
<p>If you plan well in advance you should be able to migrate without too much hasstle. There is good, reasonably priced colocation space out there but it wont always be on your doorstep so dont be afraid to move further afield.</p>
<p>Mike Lines<br />
Chief Technology Officer</p>
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		<title>WAYN Interview and Getting to Plan B</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/wayn-interview-and-getting-to-plan-b/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/wayn-interview-and-getting-to-plan-b/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:57:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>pete</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=475</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi guys,
I thought I would let you know that I was interviewed by Clare from the Up Group which you can now read here:

The interview covers some of the latest thoughts on WAYN&#8217;s positioning but moreover provides a short overview of the WAYN story to date with some anecdotal references to the current market and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>I thought I would let you know that I was interviewed by Clare from the Up Group which you can now read <a href="http://theupgroup.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/an-exclusive-with%E2%80%A6-pete-ward-co-founder-of-wayn-com/">here</a>:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theupgroup.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/an-exclusive-with%E2%80%A6-pete-ward-co-founder-of-wayn-com/"><img class="size-full wp-image-472 aligncenter" title="WAYN Interview_UpGroup" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/WAYN-Interview_UpGroup.bmp" alt="WAYN Interview_UpGroup" width="463" height="446" /></a></p>
<p>The interview covers some of the latest thoughts on WAYN&#8217;s positioning but moreover provides a short overview of the WAYN story to date with some anecdotal references to the current market and who I am impressed with in the space.</p>
<p>For a more comprehensive set of recommendations for start-ups both new and existing, I thoroughly recommend you take the opportunity to read a book written by one of my former tutors at London Business School when I was participating in the Entrepreneurship Summer School Program there back in 2002. His name is <a href="http://faculty.london.edu/jmullins/">John Mullins</a>, and his latest <a href="http://www.getting-to-plan-b.com/">book</a>, only just released, covers what I think is perhaps some of the most important set of lessons on how to test the feasibility of your business idea and more importantly, get from your Plan A idea to a Plan B winning strategy through a combination of learning from the best out there and coming up with something novel, and adjusting your business plan accordingly. His book is called: &#8216;Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model&#8217;:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.getting-to-plan-b.com/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-474" title="Microsoft Word - Chapter 10 MK to JQM Feb 2.doc" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/GettingtoPlanBCover1.jpg" alt="Microsoft Word - Chapter 10 MK to JQM Feb 2.doc" width="360" height="547" /></a></p>
<p>It draws on years of experience and research both from John and his co-author partner in crime: Randy Komisar, a Partner at <span style="font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.kpcb.com/">Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp; Byers</a> </span> &#8211; one of world&#8217;s leading VC firms. In fact, many of the things I learned in the program are referenced and built upon in this book, making this one of the best investments you will make, so if there&#8217;s one entrepreneurship book you buy this year &#8211; make it this one! To find out more, visit the following website: <a href="http://www.getting-to-plan-b.com/ ">http://www.getting-to-plan-b.com/ </a></p>
<p>John is also available to do talks on the subject for those of you organising events in entrepreneurship. Feel free to contact him directly via his website.</p>
<p>Cheers,</p>
<p>Pete</p>
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		<title>WAYN on Intruders TV</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/wayn-on-intruders-tv/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/wayn-on-intruders-tv/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:21:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jerome</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Press]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Intruders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=403</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi everyone, hope you are well!
As I attended the Microsoft  BizSpark conference last week, I got the opportunity of delivering a speech alongside James Caan from Dragons Den as well as Richard Moross from Moo cards as well as an interview with the guys at Intruders TV 
In this interview, I shared the insights and challenges facing our company and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi everyone, hope you are well!</p>
<p>As I attended the Microsoft  BizSpark conference last week, I got the opportunity of delivering a speech alongside <a href="http://www.james-caan.com/" target="_self">James Caan </a>from Dragons Den as well as Richard Moross from <a href="http://www.moo.com" target="_blank">Moo cards </a>as well as an interview with the guys at <a href="http://www.intruders.tv" target="_blank">Intruders TV </a></p>
<p>In this interview, I shared the insights and challenges facing our company and some insights on how we took our sales team in-house after long term outsourcing to agencies and why taking feedback from ‘your elders and your betters’ is worthwhile and how to tailor ad engagements to generate strong participation from your community and value for your advertisers.</p>
<p>You can see the interview here:</p>
<p><iframe style="border:none;height:241px;width:428px;" src="http://www.wayn.com/intruders.html" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"> </iframe> </p>
<p>Speak soon!</p>
<p>Jerome</p>
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		<title>Technorati to Glitterati?</title>
		<link>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/</link>
		<comments>http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:15:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>pete</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://founders.wayn.com/?p=375</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Entrepreneurs take a VIP trip to Ibiza&#8230;
What happens when you pluck 15 of London’s most promising young entrepreneurial talent, and whisk them off to the emerald isle for a lifestyle retreat they will never forget?&#8230;
I guess we are about to find out!  
Nicknamed “ICE:09” (Ibiza Conclave of Entrepreneurs), which represents the third in a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p align="center"><strong><a rel="attachment wp-att-376" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/ibiza1/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-376" title="Ibiza1" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Ibiza1.JPG" alt="Ibiza1" width="551" height="202" /></a>Entrepreneurs take a VIP trip to Ibiza&#8230;</strong></p>
<p>What happens when you pluck 15 of London’s most promising young entrepreneurial talent, and whisk them off to the emerald isle for a lifestyle retreat they will never forget?&#8230;</p>
<p>I guess we are about to find out! <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Nicknamed “ICE:09” (Ibiza Conclave of Entrepreneurs), which represents the third in a series of retreats organised for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs, this particular trip is the one that I have decided to host, with the help of one of the leading concierge services on the island &#8211; Icon Ibiza.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-377" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/ibiza-5/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-377" title="Ibiza 5" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Ibiza-5.JPG" alt="Ibiza 5" width="538" height="86" /></a></p>
<p>Given that I am in charge of spearheading the launch of a new aspirational VIP platform for WAYN’s own collection of jetsetters, I thought it only good and proper that I sample for myself what some of our VIP members will be gaining access to, once we have partnered with some of the top lifestyle partners out there. It also happens to be my birthday today so can you blame me for wanting to make a weekend out of it? <img src='http://founders.wayn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-378" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/ibiza-7/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-378" title="ibiza 7" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ibiza-7.JPG" alt="ibiza 7" width="508" height="137" /></a></p>
<p>ICE:09 is all about getting some of my mates together from the industry to show them why Ibiza rocks. But for me, this weekend is also about finding the right lifestyle and travel partners to work with, to ensure that our VIP members will be getting access to some of the best perks around.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-381" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/wayn-vip-logo/" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-381" title="WAYN VIP Logo" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/WAYN-VIP-Logo.JPG" alt="WAYN VIP Logo" width="510" height="199" /></a></p>
<p>The group of Young Guns I am taking with me are going to be a tough crowd to please, particularly given that they represent a hand plucked selection of the tech crowd’s movers and shakers, who will have high expectations. By enlisting the help of Icon Ibiza &#8211; one of the top concierge services in Ibiza, I&#8217;ve got Icon’s founder and former Club Promoter &#8211; Charlie Chester doing what he does best, which includes turning the techno geek into glitzy chic.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-382" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/ibiza-4/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-382" title="Ibiza 4" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Ibiza-4.JPG" alt="Ibiza 4" width="515" height="325" /></a></p>
<p>Charlie Chester: These guys are going to be blown away. Icon Ibiza is all about showcasing the best hidden finds in Ibiza, gaining access to the top events that are happening, and doing it all with a bit of panache and style. I’m confident that Pete and the gang will be smiling from ear to ear. I&#8217;m also looking forward to upgrading WAYN&#8217;s VIP members to experience a similar treatment when they also come over&#8230;&#8221;</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-383" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/ibiza-6/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-383" title="ibiza 6" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ibiza-6.JPG" alt="ibiza 6" width="511" height="332" /></a></p>
<p>Some of the entrepreneurs that are joining us for this weekend to remember, include:</p>
<p>- <a href="http://www.luciantarnowski.com/" target="_blank">Lucian Tarnowski</a>, founder of <a href="http://bravenewtalent.com" target="_blank">Brave New Talent</a> and <a href="http://www.wayn.com/profiles/OneYoungWorld" target="_blank">One Young World</a> Ambassador</p>
<p>- <a href="http://blog.rummble.com/team/" target="_blank">Andy Scott</a>, founder of <a href="http://www.rummble.com" target="_blank">Rummble</a></p>
<p>- <a href="http://www.makeyourmark.org.uk/inspiring_stories/curious_generation" target="_blank">Charles Baybutt</a>, founder of <a href="http://www.curiousgeneration.com" target="_blank">Curious Generation</a>, <a href="http://brandslive.co.uk/" target="_blank">Brands Live</a> and <a href="http://therarecollective.com/" target="_blank">the Rare Collective</a></p>
<p>- <a href="http://www.ugame.net/users/zr0/" target="_blank">Sam Mathews</a>, founder or <a href="http://www.ugame.net">Ugame</a></p>
<p>- <a href="http://www.playfire.com/Rebon" target="_blank">Kieran O’Neil</a>, founder of <a href="http://www.playfire.com">Playfire</a></p>
<p>- <a href="http://younoodle.com/people/alicia_navarro" target="_blank">Alicia Navaro</a>, founder of <a href="http://www.skimbit.com" target="_blank">Skimbit</a> and <a href="http://www.skimlinks.com" target="_blank">Skimlinks</a></p>
<p>- <a href="http://younoodle.com/people/andre_parrie" target="_blank">Andre Parrie</a>, founder of <a href="http://www.protopage.com" target="_blank">Protopage</a></p>
<p>- <a href="http://www.meetup.com/minibar/members/7087333/" target="_blank">Alena Dundas</a>, founder of <a href="http://www.gymboo.com" target="_blank">Gymboo</a></p>
<p>- <a href="http://yiannopoulos.net/" target="_blank">Milo Yiannopoulos</a>, Contributing Editor, <a href="http://uk.techcrunch.com/" target="_blank">TechCrich Europe</a></p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-384" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/ibiza-3/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-384" title="ibiza 3" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ibiza-3.JPG" alt="ibiza 3" width="510" height="156" /></a></p>
<p>With press coverage being lined up and some filming for a production company that are covering what happens on the island other than clubbing, which is looking to be commissioned for Channel 4 or Channel 5 in the UK, I am confident that with the help of Charlie Chester, we will help morph those going from the technorati to the gliteratti, overnight. I hope to do the same very soon for our very own WAYN VIP members.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-385" href="http://founders.wayn.com/2009/375/ibiza-8/"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-385" title="ibiza 8" src="http://founders.wayn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ibiza-8.JPG" alt="ibiza 8" width="519" height="192" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Keep it locked to this channel, to find out…</strong></p>
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