Official Newsletter January 2010

Dear Ambassadors,

We can look back on an extremely successful year for the Ambassador Program! And this success is thanks to you and your combined efforts! From

the Oktoberfest in Germany through to gatherings in Indonesia and networking events in Spain and Turkey – You made it all happen!

We finally introduced a ticketing feature to enable the purchasing of event tickets on XING. We hope this will make it easier for you to organize and

professionalize your events. Two merchandizing packets were also sent out to Ambassador groups all over the world to help you brand your events.

The new year has got off to an enthusiastic and exciting start. Together we can continue to develop the Ambassador Program and drive innovations and new

ideas forward! We are looking forward to working with you!

Kindly,

The Ambassador Team

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Highlights of the Quarter

XING Qatar: Networking Event October (41 attendees)

XING Cologne: XING-After-Business-Party in der Vulkanhalle (1.440 attendees)

XING Valencia: VII EVENTO OFICIAL SOFA CLUB NET.WORK.XING VALENCIA (68 attendees)

XING Dresden: XING Regionaltreffen @ Times Square (176 attendees)

XING New York: meets at Gospel Uptown (39 attendees)

XING Moscow: XING LIVE! Moscow Member Meeting (114 attendees)

XING Antalya: Etkinlikleri: 1. Eğlence Günü (58 attendees)

XING Islas Baleares: Networking Event (181 attendees)

XING Aachen: Jubiläumsevent (54 attendees)

XING Singapore: XING Networking Evening (57 attendees)

XING Mannheim: Meet up at Steigenberger Mannheimer Hof (200 attendees)

XING Paris: Cocktail at Meridien Etoile (249 attendees)

XING Frankfurt: AfterJob Party in der KAMEHA Suite (373 attendees)

XING Oslo: 4th Monthly Dinner (27 attendees)

(This list is just an excerpt of events held)

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Ambassador of the month Adrianne George (XING Stockholm) I joined XING when it was called openBC. I lived in Brussels and worked for ZN.be. My colleagues there insisted that I sign up and start networking. XING has helped me make connections that have led to work for me. I have also met some very interesting people in the process.

My friend Lars Nordstrom recommended me to XING as an Ambassador of the Stockholm group. I took one look at what it meant to be an Ambassador and thought that I could rise to the challenge and enjoy the responsibilities at the same time.

I like organizing networking events for the Stockholm group. I get real pleasure out of helping people. As an Ambassador, I have been able to introduce members to each other and in turn they have been able to

help each other. I have also reached out to different businesses in Stockholm who have been receptive to supporting our events. Through these new connections I have even been able to facilitate new business for our sponsors.

Our group continues to grow and is an interesting mix of Swedes and expatriates from around the world. We have members who come from Africa, Asia, North America and across Europe. I am always pleased to hear from members who have acquired clients as a direct result of attending one of our events, and to hear how much they enjoyed networking.

In 2009 we were fortunate to be able to partner with the Scandic Malmen for four events. Other sponsors were Internet Marketing Conference who came to talk about Internet marketing and gave free registration to their Stockholm conference for one member, discount to entire membership; TMC Entertainment whose founder talked about the entertainment industry and gave free CDs and DVDs to all event attendees; one of our members gave us a Hatha Yoga demonstration with one of her students; The Hub talked about social entrepreneurship and their alternative work space and gave three months free office space to a social entrepreneur chosen from the group’s member base; and Startup Sales Systems talked about social entrepreneurship and gave free sales coaching to a social entrepreneur selected from the group.

I think XING gives its members a special experience thanks to the many, many groups spanning so many vast interests and industries, and the offline networking that strengthens social and business relationships.

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New faces to the program

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= Regional Ambassadors = Xperts

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Finally – a payment option for official XING Events!

One of the main issues in event organization are the so called ‘no shows’, people that register for the event but do not show up. Not knowing for sure how many attendees will end up coming, makes it sometimes impossible to perfectly plan and prepare an event in advance.

We are very happy to announce that we are finally able to offer you a possibility to sell tickets for your official events on XING! Since November you have a prepaid ticketing option when creating a XING Event. In cooperation with the online event management and ticketing platform amiando we have integrated a ticket shop into the event page.

On the left you can see an impression of an official paid event. At the bottom of the screenshot you can find the ticket shop. Having this ticket shop means that the user can purchase a ticket on the XING Event page right after he received your invitation. Subsequently, he will only appear on the XING guest list once he has successfully

completed the payment procedure. The ticket will immediately be sent to him via email.

It’s a very simple procedure for the event attendees. Nevertheless, for the event organizer it requires a few more steps. On the right you can find a screenshot of the event creation page. After having ticked the box ‘Official Event’ the gaps and boxes for the ticketing, marked with the two bottom orange arrows, appear.

By ticking the box ‘An admission fee will be charged for this event’ you can make your event a paid event. Below you can fill in the amount of the admission fee.

Even further below you can insert the URL of the amiando event. By doing so, you can link the two events together.

The creation procedure became slightly more complicated as you need to set up two events, one on amiando and one on XING. Afterwards you need to link and synchronize these two events.

We have created a manual where this process is explained step by step. This manual can be downloaded in the group ‘Event Ticketing’ that was created especially for this purpose. Please find the group by clicking here.

In a nutshell, here are the most important questions and answers:

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Who can set up a paid event?

At present, only Ambassadors can set up paid events. It is technically linked to your status. Therefore, only official XING Events created by an Ambassador can be paid events.

Where can I get support and send my queries about the ticketing option?

We have created the group Event Ticketing. Employees from XING and amiando can be found in the moderation team. This ensures quick and thorough replies to any problems you might encounter. This group is also there for you to discuss topics regarding any aspect of the ticketing tool. Please join the group by clicking here.

Where can I download the manual?

Please download the manuals by clicking here:

English manual (pdf)

German manual/video (mp4):

Registration at amiando Creation and integration of the events

In what languages is amiando available?

amiando is available in German, English, Spanish and French. If your national language isn't one of these, you can still integrate the ticket shop in English. Prices, VAT etc can be defined separately when creating the event.

What fees apply when making use of the ticketing solution?

Euro zone: 6% + 0.40 € UK: 6% + 0.40 GBP Switzerland: 6% + 0.60 CHF US: 6% + 0.60 USD

New on board: The Xpert Ambassadors

Nelly Liebrecht tells us about the Xpert Ambassador Program: Last summer we expanded the Ambassador Program by bringing the new concept of Xpert Ambassadors to life.

So, who are the Xpert Ambassadors? Well, they are not only experts in a certain discipline, but also natural networkers who engage professional communities in an industry-specific context, making business networking even more relevant via frequently organized industry-specific networking events. You can recognize an Xpert Ambassador by the blue icon in their profile and can browse through the growing list of Xpert Ambassador Groups here.

At first, our aim was to activate the largest and most active industry-related groups, moderated by really well known experts in particular sectors. So far, 22 industry-related groups have been launched in Germany, Spain, Turkey and Italy – from Media to Banking through to the IT and food industry. To date, more than 500,000 XING users are active in industry-specific Xpert groups, utilizing the opportunity to expand their professional network and share insights and experiences about the issues that affect their specific sector.

A number of offline Xpert events have taken place. Here are just some:

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Stephan Heinrich, Xpert Ambassador of The Selling Group, organized a XING event at the Porsche Centre at the Olympia Park in Munich. Johannes F. Woll Xpert Ambassador, took the opportunity to bring professional members of the Media

und Publishing group together at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

So, what next? Over the coming year, we are planning to add new industry-specific groups, moderated in different languages and based in various different countries. In doing so, we hope to enable our members to exchange information and meet experts online and offline, as well as to search for competent experts and be found as ‚an expert‛ in a particular professional context.

‘Firsts’ can be candidates for ‘unforgettables’

It had not been long since the launch of Xpert Ambassador Program in Turkey. The program, which started in early October with the XING Official Sales Group XING Satış, began to bear fruits offline and online before the year had come to a close.

The 1st official Xpert event in Turkey on December 23 was not something that the XING Turkey team could miss! Days before the event, my mailbox was already full with messages related to preparations. The group moderation team, along with our energetic Xpert Ambassador Taner Özdeş, were very keen to make sure this first event became one of the ‘unforgettable events of 2009’. They announced the event early enough to ensure that anybody wishing to attend had sufficient time to schedule their program.

They made it clear to all those invited what and what not to expect from this first meeting and reminded all attendees to bring their business cards if they intended to make a good start to a long-term relationship with Turkey’s leading sales professionals. The organization was planned down to the very last detail by the moderation team, including a press release sent at the beginning of the week to increase awareness outside of XING and social media, very appropriately used to acquire new members for the group.

And then came the Wednesday. There was a tangible sense of tension in the air: Are the invitees going to turn up? Are there going to be good conversations and exchanges or will the weak attendance make this impossible? We too were excited and apprehensive as it was going to be our first official Xpert event in Turkey and its success would dictate the success of those future events to come.

So the day pass and evening arrived. We left our office – which is on Asian side of Istanbul- at 6.30pm to arrive at the Good Mood Lounge – which is in a very central location on the European side – a little before the start of the event at 7.30pm. At that point, I should add that Asia and Europe is not as far as some of you might be thinking. If you are lucky enough, crossing the bridge can take less than five minutes; but of course there are times when you might be unbelievably unlucky. Just like us on this evening. Stuck in the middle of a traffic jam watching the minutes go by without moving very far at all, it took us nearly 90 minutes to drive from one side to the other, while our tension grew. Has anybody arrived? Is everything in the Good Mood Lounge going fine?

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It was just past 8pm when we finally stepped into the room. A cosy, medium-sized venue full of smart guests having conversations at their tables in groups of four or five, with others moving from one table to the other. XING roll-ups were welcoming everybody at the entrance to the mall, including those who not know anything about the XING Xpert program. From that first moment we all knew that the evening would turn out to be a success.

After some initial introductions and small talk, our Ambassador Taner Özdeş made a short welcoming speech together with his team and invited everybody to join in the Premium draw by placing their business card in a bowl provided. The winners of the free Premium months on the evening were of course very pleasantly surprised with this added bonus. This also meant of course too that non-group members attending could be invited to the group using their business cards the very next day.

Networking for a good cause in Spain

Christmas is a very special time, one characterized by numerous activities supporting the common good. Networking events are no exception, and several charity events were held in Spain over the festive period as a result.

On December 11, the XING Valencia group organized a charity meal to collect toys for an organization in Valencia aimed at helping single mothers. Organized by XING Ambassadors Esteban Rodrigo and Juan Antonio Galindo, the event brought 40 attendees together in support of this good cause. A total of 80 toys were collected during the meal, which in turn were given to children living in the Santa Isabel home in Valencia.

Another charity activity launched by Ambassadors in Spain over the Christmas season is a virtual event organized by XING Aragón to raise money for ADIFANE in aid of underprivileged families. There were two ways to participate in the event: as a "standard" participant by donating €10, or as a "VIP" donor for €20. All proceeds from this event were set aside for projects by ADIFANE to help families in need living in Zaragoza.

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Meet XING: Daniel Silva Yanez

Team Leader Customer Care – Quality & Security

Who’s in your team?

Barbara Swiderski, Jasmin Penkert, Stephan Kerlin, Torsten Michalek, Horacio Coronado and Catherine Bazabas.

The Quality & Security team forms one part of XING’s Customer Care department. The whole Customer Care team (including international subsidiaries) is much larger (between 35 and 40 employees). We are a mixture of full-time and part-time employees, plus international students. Our team is made up of employees from over ten different nationalities.

Who do you support and how do you know you’re keeping them happy?

Our main objective is definitely to keep our members happy, support them as best we can but also explain the regulations and codes of conduct on XING to them.

What issues are you dealing with that might not be that obvious to everybody?

In terms of regulations, XING members are sometimes not clear how they should behave, especially when trying to find new contacts. In fact, we do only have two really important rules on XING. Whenever you contact a person: a) personalize your salutation (Dear Mr./Mrs., etc.) and b) refer to the content in the person’s profile. If someone is not interested in what you offer, or you cannot find any connection between you and that particular person, then you should not write to him/her.

My team is particularly special because…

… they have to deal with all the critical issues (those that violate our Terms and Conditions) that occur on XING:

a) Dealing with complaints (spam message reports, contact request reports) b) Changes to basic data (first name, last name) c) Monitoring of all kinds of reports due to any fraud on XING d) Monitoring of events, Company Profiles and job posts e) Incidences of stalking

We want to provide members with high-quality business profiles and high-quality business content. Our main goal is to make members feel safe and especially to provide them with the necessary tools to get in contact with us whenever they require assistance.

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Upcoming Official XING Events XING Vienna: Networking Ski Wochenende (January 9-10)

XING Pune: January 2010 Meeting Plans (January 10)

XING Xpert Distribution & Sales: 1st meeting in Stuttgart: XING Xpert Ambassador Gruppe Vertieb&Verkauf (January 12)

XING Nuremberg: ***Feuer und Eis*** Wintergrillen unter Sternenhimmel (January 14)

XING Live Hamburg: XING CrossTable Dinner im Maritim Hotel Reichshof Hamburg (January 14)

XING Communidad Valenciana: 00I EVENTO CLUB NETWORXING SOFA CLUB 2010 (January 14)

XING Paris: NEW YEAR XING Cocktail (January 14)

XING Singapore: Mark your diary: Xing networking evening (January 15)

XING Xpert Further Education: Humor im Coaching als den Erfolgsmotor - Die Ausbildung (January 16)

XING German Network Brussels: XING Hüttenparty in Brüssel (Wezembeek-Oppem) (January 16)

XING Hanover: 6. Hannover-Unlimited-Networking-Dinner (January 19)

XING Göttingen: "Göttingen Network" Tennis-Turnier (January 23)

XING Cape Town: Cricket for Dummies - Cricket Explained - What is Cricket? (January 23)

XING Stockholm: XING Stockholm Welcome 2010 Networking Event (February 2)

XING XPert IT Connection: ITC-Netzwerktreff Bergstraße (February 3)

XING Frankfurt: XING Frankfurt meets PALAZZO (February 4)

XING Cologne: XING Karnevalsparty auf dem Rhein(February 13)

XING Stuttgart: XING-Dinner "Wine meets Chocolate & Cheese"(February 22)

(This list is not exhaustive)