Jana Herwig

Grew up in a village, left when I was 19 - not because I knew what to do, but because I knew I couldn't stay. Went to South Africa at 23 to defeat my fear of being alone and far, far away - learned using the web whilst planning to get there. That was in 1996. Been homesteading on the electronic frontier ever since. Freelanced and worked part time as a web developer, community manager/online editor whilst studying. Evaded the web agency business as the bubble burst when I was ready to work full-time. Worked as an online project manager for about a year for a consumer electronics company, then moved to Austria to teach media studies in English at a University of Applied Sciences. Relocated to Vienna in 2007, a city I love almost as much as I love Cologne. In the meantime decided that I'd never want to work full-time again. I don't need a car or a Mauritius getaway. Made a living as a corporate blogger for a Semantic Web Company, learning a lot about and learning to believe in the Web of Data. I know that Google searches for FOAF statements, so I wonder why Google doesn't offer FOAF files, too. In December 2008, I started work as research manager for the Dept. of Theatre, Film and Media Studies at Vienna University. Also in 2008, I commenced my PhD project on Digital Online Media - which explains the origin of my most frequently used nickname: digiom.

Where I grew up

Schenklengsfeld

Places I've lived

Rotenburg an der Fulda, Lambrecht/Pfalz, Schenklengsfeld, Gießen, Köln, Grahamstown, New York, Dornbirn