In the beginning of 2011 customers started asking Danyel if he could give them an introduction to Prezi, which is where he came up with the concept of starting Prezi workshops. The first workshops were held in Danyel’s office in Muenster, Germany. Today he offers workshops in Germany, Switzerland and Austria! The workshops are public, but you can ask for private company workshops as well. Elferink teaches nearly every function of Prezi so that attendees can create their own prezis when they leave. “People bring their own laptop and they can use the things they learned directly [from the workshop]” Danyel explains, “Prezi is very easy to learn and understand”.

Not only does Danyel Elferink put together these amazing workshops, but he has also written a 91 page Prezi manual in German! He updates this manual from month to month to ensure that new features and tools are listed. Since April, more than 16,000 people have downloaded the manual! He is so involved with Prezi in Germany that he will hold a first ever German Prezi Night in Muenster either late summer or in autumn. There, startups from the region will be able to present their ideas, products and services using Prezi. In addition to this, Danyel will show some short tutorials and give people the chance for network. “ If the event is successful, we plan to have Prezi nights in other major cities around Germany” boosts Elferink.

In addition to the manual, organizing a huge Prezi night, and holding a workshop at least once a week, Danyel has become the newest Prezi Champion on our Community Discussion Forum. Not only does Danyel help other users with their questions and problems, but he has found solutions to his own issues within Prezi. Danyel’s great work on our forum has landed himself with the title of Champion of the Month!

GetSatisfaction Community Champions from Prezi are selected users who are very active on our discussion forum. They often share their knowledge of Prezi and give advice to the rest of our users. We only select users who we feel know a fair amount about how our product works, as well as users who write well though-out, educated, and most importantly friendly responses.

Q: What part of the world are you from and where do you currently live?

A: I’m living in Paris. The most wonderful city in France

Q: How did you first find out about Prezi and how do you use it?

A: I found an article about Prezi on a French blog last summer and I instantly loved it! But the fact is that I don’t need to do presentations in my job. I found out there was a need for French translations of Prezi’s guide so I started a blog to present Prezi and give help for French speakers.

Q: How did you become involved in the Prezi GetSatisfaction forum?

A: When looking for information about Prezi to translate into French, I was quickly aware of many things on the forum so it was easy to answer simple questions.

Q: In what area of Prezi (or what topic) do you feel you have helped the most users out with?

A: I first answered about basic “how tos”. I’ve been helping these past weeks with a lot of people confused by some changes they were not aware of. Finally, searching in the old posts, I also learned new things and now I can help with specific problems I never even encountered!

Q: Why do you think the GetSatisfaction forum for Prezi is a good communication link between our users?

A: As Roel said last month, people like to help. Just passing by and answering a few questions is something simple (when I have time…). I also think that a place to share ideas is needed, especially for a new application.

Q: What is your favorite feature to use in Prezi?

A: I love the fact that we are playing with a large canvas where we present things as we want, I love this freedom! But my favorite thing isn’t really a feature, it’s this new point of view that is offered. I must say I love also the fact that Prezi is growing and developers continue to “create” surprises!

Q: Tell our users one interesting thing they don’t know about you.

A: I like to offer things to Prezi users. When I saw people asking how to change colors for example, I began to make templates with assorted colors. I discovered flash and I’m learning how to use it to make little things. I love learning new things and sharing it

GetSatisfaction Community Champions from Prezi are selected users who are very active on our discussion forum. They often share their knowledge of Prezi and give advice to the rest of our users. We only select users who we feel know a fair amount about how our product works, as well as users who write well though-out, educated, and most importantly friendly responses. Learn more about how to become a Champion!

Ashley: “I never thought I would be moving to San Francisco, starting a brand new program for an amazing company, three months after entering an online contest the day before the deadline. Unbelievable.”

Ashley  is launching Prezi’s university Ambassador Program, which will give students the opportunity to evangelize Prezi on their own campuses and win great prizes.

Check out one of her prezis here

Travis: “I actually found out about the contest via Prezi’s Twitter account, and really entered the contest on a whim. [Prezi] enables you to tell your story in an innovative…captivating way…and as a design student, this was very exciting to me.”

Travis Hitchcock will be splitting his time between design work and assisting the Prezi support team.

Check out his winning prezi

David: “Honestly, I wasn’t focused on the prize…I only had in mind creating something cool and professional to share with people. A couple days after visiting the Budapest office, I was offered [a position] to become a freelancer and I didn’t even think twice!”

David has already started collaborating on custom prezis with our Prezi design team including prezis for SXSW and TED.

Check out David’s winning prezi here

You too have the potential to work for Prezi! Enter one of our contests and we might select YOU as the next Prezi team member.

Roel wearing his Prezi t-shirt

Get Satisfaction is Prezi’s open community discussion forum, where our users share best practices, ask questions, and report issues related to their work with Prezi.  For the month of March our Prezi GetSatisfaction Champion is Roel van der Plank. He has 311 stars and replied 1307 times to the Prezi community!! This month we asked Roel to tell us a little about himself…

Q: What part of the world are you from and where do you currently live?

A: I live in a small town in the middle of the Netherlands, a small country in Europe between Great Britain and Germany, with relatively many active Prezi users.

Q: How did you first find out about Prezi and how do you use it?

A: I found it by accident. At the time (middle of 2010) I was working on a project in Amsterdam and read a blogpost on the client’s local intranet. In that blogpost, someone described a situation in which they taught people to use Prezi as a tool to present themselves to potential employers. Never having heard of Prezi before, I searched for it on the internet, found it, tried it, and was instantly addicted ;-0

The last time I used Prezi professionally was when using it to present the ‘winner’ of a local contest.  The next time I am going to use Prezi is this coming Thursday, to present something we call a ‘praatplaat’ (which translates poorly in English; literally an image used for talking.) It’s a single image which is used for describing (e.g.) the basic functionality of the system. In this case the image contains some hidden information, only visible when zooming in using Prezi.

Q: How did you become involved in the Prezi GetSatisfaction forum?

A: I played around with the Prezi software and saw the potential. On the forum I recognized a few questions that I thought I could answer, perhaps freeing some time with the Prezi team to work on new features.

In those early days, the presence on the forum by the Prezi team was mainly from developers who (presumably) answered questions next to working on the prezi software themselves. By taking some load off their shoulders, I hoped that they would get more time implementing the features I desired ;-0

Q: In what area of Prezi (or what topic) do you feel you have helped the most users out with?

A: In the early days, the documentation was much more limited than today, and simple things like selecting objects could be confusing. There was a period in which people got into trouble for ‘losing’ objects (making them too small and hence reaching ‘the end of the prezi universe’). Nowadays there are many safeguards implemented in Prezi to prevent this problem from occurring, but I remember fixing many prezi’s by making a copy, looking for hidden objects and enlarging them, and letting people copy it back.

Q: Why do you think the GetSatisfaction forum for Prezi is a good communication link between our users?

A: The ability to let your community participate is a good thing. People generally like to help, and people who were once looking for help can later become regular responders, ‘champions’ on the forum, and maybe even prezi employees (and NO, this is NOT a solicitation!). Getting that pat on your shoulder ‘Thanx! Really helped’ goes a long way ;-0

Q: What is your favorite feature to use in Prezi?

A: I guess other people like the sharing features, like Prezi meeting. I personally like the basic functionality of zooming in.

Q: Tell our users one interesting thing they don’t know about you?

A: Well, I grew up in the Netherlands & Norway, got my PhD in theoretical physics, live with 4 females (one girlfriend, our two daughters and one cat), and I am the developer of the UNofficial Prezi player for Android.

But all this is probably either not interesting for the casual reader, or already known.
What people may not know is that the ‘avatar’ I use at the GetSatisfaction forum is the icon of freemind, my favourite mindmap tool. What I would REALLY like as a Prezi feature is the ability to import (simple) freemind mindmaps to a prezi.  That would really make it useful for me.

You too can become a Prezi GetSatisfaction Champion! Help out other users or get involved in community discussions and we might select YOU as the next Prezi Champion.

TWPC founder Bennett Yang & Vera Li

The event took place on the campus of National Taiwan Normal University, and featured seven different speakers who gave 10-minute prezi talks.  Over 100 people attended.  The topics varied from creativity, web 2.0 to interculture. The audience enjoyed the night with inspiring prezi talks, having a dialogue with speakers, and receiving a small but special gift, a “Prezi” button.

TWPC kicked off “Prezi Night Taipei” off with the greeting video of Peter Arvai, CEO of Prezi.Then, seven invited speakers gave their short prezi talks one after another. Ideas and insights were shared and spread.

An extra special thanks to everyone who came out for the event, and to Bennett Yang and TWPC for making it possible.

Videos from the event are here.

I have lived most of my life in Glasgow, Scotland. It’s a city which over the last decade has seen a well documented darker side outshined by it’s growing reputation for fostering creativity and the arts. Check out these subculture pioneers from themusic, fashion, arts and craft scenes to see what’s been changing attitudes in Glasgow recently.

It’s a new Scottish culture that I have lived and love, and one which I knew I’d miss greatly when I accepted a position at Prezi (a decision also based very much on heart) and relocated to their Budapest office. I was unsure what to expect from this Eastern European capital…

Luckily many of my co-workers have managed relocation to this town before me, and they have been incredible in opening my eyes to what Budapest has to offer. My French-Caribbean colleague recently hosted a night out to see “the world’s leading kitchen appliance rock group” Hurra Torpedo at the A38 boat.  It’s a venue that’s just been voted the best bar in the world by the Lonely Planet guide in this reader poll. It may well be deservedly so, the experience of listening to upcoming new bands whilst taking in stunning night views from it’s mooring on the River Danube makes for a most memorable evening.

A38 Boat

Another great place I discovered (through some new Hungarian friends) is Szimpla Kert, a venue with an artistic, bohemian vibe whose deceptively small entranceway opens into a large courtyard of several bars, dancefloors and performance spaces. Incidentally, Szimpla came in at the number 3 spot in the same lonely planet poll.

Szimpla Kert

An impressive performance from Budapest in gaining global recognition for it’s nightlife, but perhaps both of these venues have simply been good at crowdsourcing votes, as I’ve also enjoyed great Prezi nights out at Keksz, Fogas haz and Instant, all wonderful “ruinpubs” that have cropped up in disused building spaces in the heart of the city and all offering music, art and fashion in as healthy doses as the drinks they pour. And if I ever feel homesick I can always visit Caledonia Budapest, a Scottish bar that does very authentic Haggis, Scottish whiskies and ales whilst English Premier League football fills the TV screens.

I’m enjoying my time here in Budapest and so far my experiences have been as vibrant and exciting as anything my home town has to offer. Each day I can’t wait to explore more of this city with my new friends and colleagues.

Chris Connick: Curriculum Designer @ Prezi

1. Inspiring your team is important. Keeping up-to-date and informed on our various projects challenges and successes throughout the year encourages us to exceed our goals and find new ways in which we can improve.
2. Routinely track your carbon usage – you can see how we have been doing in the chart below. We’re happy that Prezi’s footprint hasn’t kept pace with other aspects of the company’s rapid growth (see here) yet we know there’s more we can do in 2012! Our estimated figures show a moderate increase from last year’s 150 tons to this year’s 215 tons, with the majority impact coming from business trips.
3. We still strongly believe that the projects we work on should match the following criteria: a) the ability to easily contact the people who are running the project, b) the project should jointly create social change and economic development in addition to CO2 offsetting.
4. Based on our criteria we decided to continue to support this stove project. It’s a project we’re devoted to as it works toward long-lasting change: a) families who get a stove can benefit from dramatically improved health, b) local entrepreneurs and the families receiving the stoves are fully involved in implementing the project, and c) each stove can last for about 10 years and each stove can save about 2-3 tons of CO2 / year.
5. To put a figure on this in terms of carbon offsetting, the math is as follows: 215/(2.5*10)= about 8-9 stoves = $2,200 USD

Based on many discussions with our edu users we’ve been working to create a community site where teachers and students can talk, share and learn how to use Prezi in education, from the smallest grade school classroom to the biggest Harvard and Stanford auditoriums. We are now pleased to introduce Prezi U, a dedicated community site for all things Prezi in education.

Visit Prezi U for access to diverse content on using Prezi in education for all levels– from Kindergarten to University and beyond.
Prezi U is a hub for your prezis, ideas and experiences. A channel to submit your own content and receive feedback, engagement and new skills from other Prezi U members.

On Prezi U you can:
1. Submit your own educational prezis to the dynamically growing edu library, which covers diverse topics and subject areas categorized by schools and curriculum.
2. Engage with others in the forums, or search for answers to your questions about Prezi in education.
3. Submit articles about your experiences using Prezi in education.

Visit Prezi U today.  We look forward to meeting you in our new community, and we can’t wait to see what you create!