User Interviews

CircleMe User Interview #6: Andrew Neal

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‘A student, a screenwriter, a film director, and an imagination that can take you to more places than a long distance car-ride.’ With a bio like that, we just had to find out more about CircleMe user Andrew Neal! Since he’s a screenwriter, Andrew has built up a large collection of movies on CircleMe, nearly a third of his Likes are films! Want to find out more about him? Read on…

Andrew Neal's CircleMe Profile

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Andrew Neal, 21, a part time student in Oxford, Mississippi. I work as a screenwriter and, honestly, I couldn’t be living in a better place to do what I’m most passionate about.

Tell us three passions, what are your favorites? Why did you choose these three?

Writing: For many years, I’ve challenged my creativity to write something that others can understand. From poetry to screenwriting, it’s my life.

Movies: Over the Summer, I have managed to watch around three hundred movies. Everyday, I watch at least one movie.

Social Media & Interests: Have you noticed how quickly everything from technology to social networking is changing? I’m addicted to learning how our interests connect us with others through social networks.

Tell us something that you discovered on CircleMe that you loved and why.

Somebody recommended that I watch the movie, Monster. I’m glad that I took their word for it because it was awesome.

Monster

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

It would have to be water rafting. It’s a thrill seeking adventure of getting thrown around with friends on the rapid waters.

Rafting

How did you discover CircleMe? 

I discovered CircleMe during the Beta phase and immediately signed up. It was something that stood out, beautifully and well thought out design and an experience based around a user’s interests.

What do you like the most about CircleMe the most?

The smaller features that you don’t typically think about, but enhance your social experiences; such as voting on comments, trusting people, adding an interest to your to-do list and other small features that make it worthwhile.

Where do you see CircleMe in two years?

Everything that we do is becoming mobile. This is just the stepping stone for CircleMe. Anytime I go out with new people, I’m asked what I enjoy doing. Instantly, my mind goes blank and my thoughts start instantly racing. While I’m with people, I can whip out the cell phone, log on, and I have a variety of interests to share. In two years, I expect that the very heart and core of CircleMe will be invested in their mobile app. Interests can be shared in a more visual, real-time newsfeed of anything and possibly turned into a game for friends.

Want to find out more about CircleMe? Got any questions about the site? Send the friendly CircleMe team a tweet, wall post, or an email (info@circleme.com) and we’ll get right back to you : -)

CircleMe User Interview #5: Camille Chatras

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One of the coolest things about CircleMe is all the different people who are using it to add their Likes. We love finding out more about you, and our series of user interviews is a great way to discover interesting CircleMe users. Here’s a very interesting interview with Camille Chatras. As you can see from her bio, CircleMe is Camille’s very first social network! Off to a great start, we think ; ) She has some great Likes and we hope you enjoy finding out more about her.

Camille Chatras' CircleMe profile

Who are you?

My name is Camille Chatras. I’m 36 and I live in Paris, but I travel a lot because of my job (Germany, Italy and Dubai most of all).

CircleMe is all about passions and things people love. If you could only choose 3 passions, what would these be? Why these 3?

Three passions in my life? That’s very difficult!

Chanel: Well, first of all as you can see from my profile, I’m a big fan and customer of Chanel and everything Chanel-related: collections (both prêt-à-porter and haute couture), accessories, shoes, make up and perfume. I love to follow everything they produce on Vogue and other glossy magazines and, if I can, I go to their fashion shows (not that I work for Chanel, my passion is genuine!).

Cooking and wine tasting: I don’t have much time to do either of them, but I love to experiment with ingredients and to personalize traditional French recipes. My boyfriend and friends are always very happy when I have time to organize a dinner party chez moi!

Cooking

Camille loves cooking for her friends

Movies and Theatre: The genres, movies and spectacles I like are displayed on my CircleMe profile!

Tell us something you discovered on CircleMe that you ended up loving?

One of the things I love discovering on CircleMe are the suggestions in the Explore section regarding books. Since I love to read in English, I really appreciate it. Also the books, music and movies I discover from other CircleMe users are always very useful. Before going to the movies my boyfriend always says “Look what you’ve got in your To-Do list!” He doesn’t want to use CircleMe though, because he doesn’t want to use any social network – this was the same for me before discovering CircleMe.

Books

Camille uses CircleMe to find interesting books to read

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

Cooking Thai food : -)

Thai Food

How did you discover CircleMe?

I discovered CircleMe because I read Forbes, and I read a great review on Forbes a few months ago.

What do you like about CircleMe the most?

The privacy on the site, item photos and the design. I also like how you can personalize your profile.

How do you imagine CircleMe will be in 2 years time?

More and more and more used than Facebook which, as I see from friends and family, is always full of crap : -)

Has Camille inspired you to tell us a bit about yourself? Got any questions about the site? Send the friendly CircleMe team a tweet, wall post, or an email (info@circleme.com) and we’ll get right back to you : -)

CircleMe User Interview #4: Brad Brooks

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We’ve previously spoken to CircleMe users from The Netherlands, from France, and from Guatemala. It’s great to speak to CircleMe users from all across the world, and as we found out in our infographic, the UK is one of the most active countries on CircleMe. This is a good reason to chat to one of users in the UK! So today we are sharing this interview with CircleMe user Brad Brooks.

Brad's CircleMe profile

Who are you?

My name is Brad Brooks. I’m a graphic designer based on the south coast of England in the lovely seaside town of Littlehampton. I also used to draw comics.

Brad Brooks

Brad drew his CircleMe profile image himself

CircleMe is all about passions and things people love. If you could only choose 3 passions, what would these be? Why these 3?

That’s pretty easy. My three passions would be Comics, Apple and Arsenal Football Club.

Comics: I’ve loved comics since I was a very small boy. I’m just obsessed with mechanics of how putting images into boxes and then putting them in sequence can be so evocative. As well as drawing them, I’ve also written about comics, including co-authoring a couple of books. I’m also fascinated about how they seem to be able to shift to meet the demands of new media models (from newspapers to books to screen).

Apple: I use Apple devices (Mac, iPhone and iPad) every day, both for work and for play, and I’m continually amazed about how well they work for me.

Arsenal Football Club: Arsenal not only stand for tradition and good sportsmanship, but under Arsene Wenger we play exciting, skillful football too. Players may come and go, but the Arsenal stands forever.

Tell us something you discovered on CircleMe that you ended up loving?

I’ve discovered lots of things that I’ve ended up falling in love with. As one of my passions is the internet, I’ve been particularly happy with the web app recommendations that CircleMe has shown me, and I’ve really gotten into Hacker News because of CircleMe.

Hacker News

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

I’d love to visit all of the street art that I’ve seen posted on CircleMe, particularly all of the Banksy pieces.

How did you discover CircleMe?

I downloaded the iPhone app and fell in love : -)

What do you like about CircleMe the most?
I love the sense of communal passion for the good things in life, and discovering new things to love. I’m also a big fan of the iPhone app. The UI of both the app and the site is attractive, intuitive and a delight to use.

How do you imagine CircleMe will be in 2 years time?
The same as today, only more so. I’m convinced the community will carry on growing, and with it, the engagement and utility of the site will only increase. It’s going to be exciting to be a part of it!

CircleMe User Interview #3: Rodrigo Hortschlaki

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As you use CircleMe, do you ever wonder about some of the users who are adding their Likes? We certainly do, and that’s why we’ve been bringing you interviews with a collection of some of the people who make CircleMe great : -) Today we have an interview with another great Circler: Rodrigo Hortschlaki.

Rodrigo's CircleMe Profile

Who are you?

My name is Rodrigo Hortschlaki, I’m a graphic design student from Guatemala City, Guatemala.  I also work as a content manager in a social media agency and love design, music and social media so much.

Rodrigo

CircleMe is all about passions and things people love. If you could only choose 3 passions, what would these be? Why these 3?

1. Design:  Because for me design is a diferent way of living.

2. Music: As Shakira says “Music is the soundtrack of our lives”,  I don’t know who I would be without any music in my life.  It’s terrible just to think of it :S

3. Social Media: 3 years ago when I was watching a Facebook keynote, someone came and told me I was wasting my time watching this stream and bla bla. Now I can say “JA! JA!” to that person, now I work with Facebook and many other social networks, its such a new way of work which I’m enjoying so much.

Tell us something you discovered on CircleMe that you ended up loving?   

I discovered a book called ‘Logo Design Love‘ by David Airey. It’s such an amazing book, I think every graphic designer should read it.

Logo Design Love

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

Well, each time I see Milan, Berlin or Barcelona in my Likes I start thinking about my next trip in 2013. Hopefully I can be there in December of next year  as that’s my personal goal.

What do you like about CircleMe the most?

What I love about CircleMe is how easy it is to use, and the variety of Likes you can find here. You can also find interesting people to talk to.

How do you imagine CircleMe will be in 2 years time?

I think there are gonna be new, different and exotic ways to Like things here. It’s gonna be great!

Rodrigo on jetty

And there we have it, now you know all about Rodrigo. Want to find out more about some CircleMe users? You can view past interviews here!

Are you a CircleMe user looking to tell us a bit about yourself? Got any questions about the site? Send the friendly CircleMe team a tweet, wall post, or an email (info@circleme.com) and we’ll get right back to you : -)

CircleMe User Interview #2: Vadim Vichniakov

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It’s time to post another interview with one of our CircleMe users! Previously our first CircleMe user interview was with Dick Stoppels, now it’s time for us to have a chat with another member of the CircleMe community : -)

Vadim's CircleMe profile

Who are you?

My name is Vadim Vichniakov, I’m a french business school student (SKEMA, merger between ESC Lille and CERAM). Russian born (Moscow) I came to France when I was 11 years old.

Vadim

Here’s Vadim in true world citizen mode

CircleMe is all about passions and things people love. If you could only choose 3 passions, what would these be? Why these 3?

1. Technology, IT, Social Media: I can’t even explain how it came to me. I strongly believe we are living an extremely exciting technological and social media revolution. I deeply want to be part of it.

2. Music: because it’s a way of living, I’m quite eclectic about it. For instance when I work I usually listen to some classics but I can switch in a blink to some inde, rock, electro… it depends, I believe there’s always appropriate music for fun, work, dancing, etc.

3. Traveling: I had the chance to live in Moscow, St Petersburg, Paris, Juan les Pins, Shanghai.

These three because I can’t conceive living without discovering new people and cultures… I’ve always traveled, I’m kind of a “worldwide citizen” ahah!

Tell us something you discovered on CircleMe that you ended up loving?

I discovered the Visual.ly service, thanks to a suggestion.

How did you discover CircleMe?

I discovered CircleMe thanks to one of Robert Scoble‘s tweets about social media trends.

What do you like about CircleMe the most?

I like the UI, its neat design and simplicity. Most of all it can be an incredible source of inspiration.

Paris CircleMe user meetup

Here’s Vadim second from the left at our recent CircleMe meetup in Paris. Click the image to find out more about the evening :- )

How do you imagine CircleMe will be in 2 years time?

I believe CircleMe will gain a big community and become a famous social network. Big groups could be interested in acquiring its workforce and patterns (Google: to improve their the Google+ UI / Facebook: to enhance “likes” and “interests” experience)

Are you a CircleMe user and want to share your story like Vadim did? We’d love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@circleme.com and stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook for more user interviews : -)

CircleMe User Interview #1: Dick Stoppels

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Here at CircleMe we love chatting to our users and finding out more about them, which is why we organize so many user meetups! So we had the idea of posting some interviews with some of our users so that you too can find out about the different users that make the CircleMe Community great! First up is Dick Stoppels 🙂

Hi, who are you?

My name is Dick Stoppels, 48 years young/old, born and raised in Uithuizen. That’s a village near the Waddensea, way up north in the Netherlands. As well as my professional job as a digital printer operator I call myself a freelance graphic and web designer. My wife and I have 3 children, born between ’83 and ’94.

CircleMe is all about passions and the things people love. If you could only choose 3 passions, what would they be? Why these 3?

Mmmm, 3?  To me there’s a slight difference between passions and things people love. But anyway, here’s my list.

1. Listening to music.

2. Acting.

3. Designing

Why these 3? Well, that’s hard to explain in a few lines but I’ll give it a try.

Music.

What music? I listen to a wide range of music. Pop, rock, classical, country, punk, hardrock, rock ‘n roll, musicals, folk, Dutch music, americana, instrumental etc. etc. Names? Well, first of all music from Bruce Springsteen. This man and his E Street Band have made so many different kinds of music during his more than 30 years career, there’s music for every mood you’re in. But the best part of them is the way they play and bring the music. If you’ve ever been to one of his concerts you know what I’m talking about.

Unfortunately I can’t play an instrument myself. I’d like to play guitar or piano, but the 6 weeks I tried to play trumpet in a fanfare were enough to let me know it was better not to go any further in my musical career.

So I absorb music as much as I can. When we’re attending a live concert, the most important thing for me is that the artist/band/performer has fun in what they are doing. I prefer a false note above playing “on the automatic pilot”.

There’s a kind of music for every mood you’re in and music can do things to me that almost nothing else can do.

Acting.

I’ve been acting since 1981. Mostly with a group of people from the neighborhood. Three years ago my wife, me and 3 of our best friends started our own theatre group. We have been playing together from 1990-1996 in a acting group. In 1996 that group broke up, but now and then we did some things together. And since 2007 we started to come together for Sinterklaas. That’s the Dutch Santa Claus (well, almost) and on December 5th he celebrates his birthday, but he is giving presents (to the children) instead of receiving. The tradition is that he comes with his steamship from Spain.

And he arrives (with his staff “the Zwarte Pieten”) in Uithuizen by boat, and after his arrival there’s a big show. With a big group of volunteers (about 35 people) we organize this entire arrival and show. And after a few years of doing this event, we founded our own theatre group. Our name is “Opnieuw”, this means something like “over again”.

With Opnieuw we’re making theatre shows for children. We produce everything on our own. The story, the songs, the costumes and the set. That’s something I really like to do, so this is absolutely a passion.

Designing.

This is a passion that’s very much related to my profession. Since primary school I like to make and design things. The schoolpaper, posters, cards for special occasions. And for about 12 years I’m designing and hosting websites. I did a lot of work on the PR for his new CD and the theatre tour that followed on the release of his CD for a good friend of ours. And now I’ve been asked to do it again for his new album and tour. Oh yes, absolutely a passion.

Tell us something you discovered on CircleMe that you ended up loving?

Well, that’s hard to say.  I’m using CircleMe in the opposite direction. I create my own likes, and go looking for people who have similar likes. And when I found those people, I checked what else they like. And so I discovered (or actually found more about) the Avett Brothers. In the Netherlands they are almost unknown, but I like their music.

Tell us something you saw on CircleMe that you would love to do one day?

Oh well, not anything that exotic, but meeting people I found on CircleMe. I’d like to go to those meetings like you had in Rome and Paris and meet the people behind and around Circle Me. Cause that’s a thing I like about Circle Me, there are people behind it that are really interesting. That contest that was going on a few weeks ago is a good example of it. I made some colleagues interested in CircleMe, and my daughter too. I ended up in the top 10 so I got this CircleMe T-shirt. When I asked if it was possible to buy a shirt for my daughter (she ended up #11) they sent me an extra one for her.

Dick and his daughter proudly wearing their CircleMe T-shirts

What do you like about CircleMe the most?

There are two things about CircleMe I really like. First the interface and second the community behind it. People who are trying really hard to make something out of a great idea. And when you’re giving feedback or having questions you get a really fast response. But the “look and feel” of the site attracted me the most. And after using CircleMe for a while it’s the way you’re able to meet people with the same likes.

Are you a CircleMe user and want to share your story like Dick? We’d love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@circleme.com and stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook for more user interviews : -)