KLEOS - Key Persons


Andreas M. Braendhaugen

Andreas M. Braendhaugen holds an MFA degree from Stanford University in product design, and a BA from the University of Oslo. A recurring question in his work is how media technology affect political developments and societal transformation. His academic career has been eclipsed by an ambition to apply design methods in territory usually confined to other disciplines, such as public policy, media, and international relations. As a dedicated generalist, he has worked with a diverse set of public, private, and academic institutions, most recently Autodesk Inc, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, and the Design for Change Center at Stanford.

Howards Rheingold

Job Titles:
  • Analyst
Howards Rheingold is an eminent pioneer, analyst and innovation facilitator in the area of social media and online culture since the early 80ies. He coined the term "virtual communities" (1987) and was one of the first to focus, analyze and publish about the phenomena related to the socio-cultural dimension of online media. Over the last decades he has successful worked as Internet strategy and social media consultant with companies from a variety of sectors (esp. media and technology), as well as educational and public sector institutions.

Johannes Graef

Johannes Graef, studied English and American cultural studies, communication and politics. Before his studies he collected considerable experience in the fields of journalism and event management while working for radio sunshine live and he still writes irregularly for the "How to-Magazine". Furthermore he deepened his competence in event- and project management during the past seven years through his work for AKT Zwei, where he was involved in the planning and on-site production of large trade fairs for customers like Alfa Romeo, FIAT, Lancia and Smart. While working for TRIAD Berlin on a strategic communication-consultancy for Deutsche Telekom he became acquainted with the topics of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Social Responsibility and brand ethics. Ever since he is keenly interested in exploring the role of business in society. Especially the integration of societal stakeholder needs in business strategies in order to gain a win-win situation. This interest was fostered through his successful work as CSR-consultant for the charity project *Stars of Tomorrow.

Michael Hodel

Michael Hodel began his career in 2000 in Berlin working as a brand consultant for clients like Renault, Kraft Foods or the West LB with the crossmedia-agency "im stall" / TBWA Berlin. In 2002, he joined the dmmv (German Association for Multimedia and Internet), one of the biggest associations in its field in Europe. As an expert for e-commerce, e-marketing and European projects he was responsible for several internal & collaborative projects. In 2002 and 2003, Michael was the representative of the German Ministry of Economics at the German Pavillion of the E3 Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California. From 2004 to 2005, Michael was Marketing Consultant at the online media and marketing agency Spacedealer. After having worked as Concept Director for McCann Erickson in 2005, Michael is now running his own company called Astraco in the field of media concepts, information architecture and strategy in Berlin.

Peter Bihr

Peter Bihr, is a digital native working as a freelance consultant for Web 2.0, Weblogs and Social Media. For his clients, he develops and deploys online strategies to foster relationships of value with their stakeholders, customers and communities. Before, he studied Communications and Media at Freie Universität Berlin and University of Sydney and holds masters degrees of both universities. He also worked as an editor for several small online magazines, and blogs about the topics Web 2.0, Social Media and digital life on his private weblog thewavingcat.com. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany.

Thomas Praus

Job Titles:
  • Online Consultant, Project Manager
Thomas Praus is an online consultant, project manager, passionate blogger and DJ (stylewalker.net), he studied business and communication in Berlin and Barcelona. He published books about organizational identity and weblogs, Second Life's importance for education and weblogs as challenge for pr and marketing. He worked for several online agencies, an e-learning company and in music journalism. Currently, he is Director Concept for Panorama 3000 and lives in Berlin, Germany.