Interview: Mark Elbertse and Hans Mestrum, Tulip Computers - May 11, 2005

In this latest in our series of For Immediate Release podcast interviews - complimentary to our regular "Hobson & Holtz Report" bi-weekly shows - Shel and Neville enjoyed a 24-minute conversation with Mark Elbertse, Chief Executive Officer, and Hans Mestrum, Trendwatcher, of Tulip Computers NV headquartered in Amersfoort, The Netherlands.

Our conversation centered on Hans Mestrum and his blog, Hans on Experience - a personal business-focused blog (and one of the high-readership blogs in The Netherlands), but clearly and prominently described in and linked from the Tulip corporate website.

Following an introduction by Mark about Tulip and its business, we talked about how Mark and Hans see blogging as a tool for communication and building connections with customers, employees and others. They told us how Hans' blog is helping visitors gain greater awareness of Tulip, seeing the company as a technology leader. Mark shared his thoughts on how a blog could be developed as an effective communication channel for building relationships with shareholders. Hans spoke about how he manages his time for blogging as a normal part of his job and evangelizing the medium at Tulip. Finally, Mark shared his advice to other companies about corporate blogging.

Download the conversation here (MP3, 9.8MB), or sign up for the RSS feed to get it and our future shows automatically. (For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need software such as the FeedDemon RSS aggregator, or the free ipodder or DopplerRadio).

Interview Segment Time Points:

• 00:01 Neville - intro
• 01:17 Mark talks about Tulip Computers, what the company does and its market position
• 04:52 Mark on how he sees blogging as a new communication technology and the goals for Hans' personal blog
• 06:14 Hans on his blog as a window on society and trend watching and as a tool to connect and share
• 09:44 Hans on how his blog might evolve, not as an advertising tool
• 11:00 Hans - visitors to his blog are wide ranging including Tulip customers
• 12:06 Hans - raised visitor interest in why he is blogging: they see it as innovative and have a broader view of Tulip
• 13:01 Mark - we are more visible now and the blog helps us project a position as a technology leader
• 14:45 Mark on extending blogging at Tulip, the learning curve, and on thinking about blogging within the company and communicating with shareholders
• 16:21 Mark with more on thinking about building relationships with shareholders and the regulatory and other issues regarding blogs
• 18:37 Mark - 80% of his time is involved with communication
• 19:15 Hans on managing time to blog and how he does it, and his blog as a social networking tool to communicate and build relationships - it's a normal way of working
• 21:06 Hans on evangelizing blogging at Tulip
• 21:47 Neville - interview summary
• 22:31 Mark's advice to other companies about blogging - try it, innovate and experiment
• 23:06 Neville - wrap up

Links for the brands, individuals and companies we discussed or mentioned in the conversation:

Tulip Computers, PaceBlade, Commodore, Yeahronimo Media Ventures, Hans on Experience, Blognomics, Macaw Nederland, Business Week cover story on blogs, CEO Blogs List.

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel's and my podcast blog.)