Sven Slazenger

About

Since 1997 I’ve been navigating the online world with my company Interlake. Here I’d like to give you some background on Interlake and the other things I do.

Interlake
Interlake is a digital change agent with its own software developers and cloud experts. With a focus on e-learning, Interlake has served customers in over 30 countries for more than 25 years. Interlake is among the top 1% of Microsoft partners in Germany and was the oldest Articulate software partner worldwide until we sold our Articulate business to TicTac Group in Sweden in 2022. I started Interlake in 1997 with Stefan Salzbrunn and we’re the only shareholders of the Interlake companies around the world: Interlake System GmbH, Interlake Media GmbH and Interlake LLC (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, USA).

Volucap
The Volucap Volumetric Studio in Potsdam is the first studio for the production of walkable film in the EU, the three-dimensional recording of humans. This is a joint venture of ARRI, Fraunhofer HHI, Interlake, Studio Babelsberg and Bertelsmann UFA. Interlake is a founding member of Volucap and holds about a quarter of the company. We started volumetric film production together with Microsoft in 1996, when I took the Porsche 911 head of design to Microsoft Research to make a life size hologram out of him that would later explain the evolution of the 911 design lines to the visitors of the Porsche Museum. Only one and a half years later our own Studio opened as the first one on the European continent. See the article on Volucap on LinkedIn.

MediaTech Hub Potsdam
When Interlake opened an office in Potsdam in 2008, the Babelsberg Film Studios were just that – a place for traditional media. From the beginning we tried to add technology to the ecosystem to move it beyond entertainment and joined forces with a small group of people to create an awareness for the much wider use cases of mediatech. Today, we’re the only MediaTech Hub in the 12-hub German De:Hub ecosystem and not only Netflix and Warner Brothers come here to create content. Meanwhile our 120-company one square mile of MediaTech Hub produces technology for content creation and distribution in e-learning, mixed reality and more for customers like Daimler, Lufthansa, Deutsche Telekom and many others. I’m one of the MediaTech ambassadors and the MediaTech Hub Management is based in our office. See the German MediaTech Hub interview with me on LinkedIn.

creditPass
Since 2003 my company Interlake operates one of the largest credit check platforms in Germany. creditPass is a joint venture between Interlake and creditPass and offers easy access to almost all data providers that have background information on individuals, companies and bank accounts. We also include terrorist checks and much more to payment services providers and large online shops.

In the past I’ve also been active as a board member of the Swiss German Business Club in Munich and of the Munich IT Association. With Interlake we also co-founded Metropolis VR and became a shareholer of Wonderlamp, a company producing a 3D authoring tool. Both of them did not survive.

Beyond digital

Working on the digital transition of our society to me also means taking responsibility for its influence on all of us, our culture, our behavior, our freedom. I believe it is necessary to regularly question how we define our consciousness in a time in which machines reduce our experiences into mathematical data. The digital world’s emphasis on speed inhibits reflection, it deprives us of time to think or reflect on context, contracting the space available to develop vision. We retrieve and manipulate information instead of contextualizing or conceptualizing its meaning. This has led to my involvement in politics and society as well as a few ventures and projects in the non-digital sector.

Digital Strategy Board of the State of Brandenburg
As one of nine members of the digital strategy board of the State of Brandenburg I was an advisor on the digital strategy of the state and the minister president Dietmar Woidke from 2018-2020. Together with one other company and representatives of universities and associations we jointly worked on a future for all of us that includes the human being as the center of the digital transformation of society.

Deutsche Pappebuch Gesellschaft
Love, quality, haptics, German printing tradition and ecological material meet the fascinating creativity of illustrator and designer Sarah Settgast. In December 2018 the two of us founded the Deutsche Pappebuch Gesellschaft to bring not only Sarah’s high end books to the world, but also start cooperations with other authors and in corporate publishing. Besides childern’s books we’re also conquering the art scene with ideas and printing that extends the traditional gallery and the artist’s work. We also started to publish immersive board books, including one with a holographic appearance of the German children’s song legend Rolf Zuckowski. See some of Sarah’s work as a designer on her Homepage.

Bundesverband der Dienstleister für Online-Anbieter BDOA e.V.
Since 2002 I’m a board member of the German Federal Association of Service Providers for the Online Industry BDOA. We promote education in the digital field and also focus on the context of the influence of the digital transition on democracy, freedom and the endangerment of the enlightenment. Our Colloquium Privatissime brings together great minds once a year for a one-day meeting to discuss these topics.

On a personal note

Potsdam
I could do my work almost anywhere on this globe, but like many others I chose Potsdam. This enchanted place that was once built for the German emperors, surrounded by many lakes, with parks and castles on their shores and just next to the bustling international hotspot Berlin is a unique combination of piece of mind, room for creativity and a mix of great minds that have moved here and that inspire me just as much as the nature around here. And there is so much motion in people’s minds around here, nothing seems settled, and it’s easy to move things here, maybe also because the place is so small. Not even 180000 inhabitants, though it feels much more like 30000 when you drink your coffee next to the market in the old center of town on a saturday morning. Come by and visit me. I’ll introduce you to the fine small sister of Berlin – I’ll introduce you to my Potsdam.

Boats
When I’m not traveling and not at work you often find me on my old 1920s motor boat (it’s electrified!) out on the lakes around Potsdam. Usually with a glass of wine, sometimes by myself, sometimes with company. This is my favorite spot to get a free mind, new ideas, or just to run my head idle. Feel free to join me. Every once in a while you also find me aboard Bark Europa, an old 1911 bark that sails the seven seas and Antarctica. I can truly recommend this experience, running the ship in 3 shifts around the clock, being part of the crew, on lookout or at the wheel in a starry (or rainy) night. Nothing blows your mind free in a better way.

Provence
Meanwhile you can find me in southern France on a regular basis. With a home base in Ménerbes in the Luberon I enjoy the very nice neighbors in the village and a little further away. And of course the many more sun hours – especially in winter – and the wine & food as well as the slow pace of the countryside and one of the most beautiful villages in France.

Most relevant things started with a glass of wine
This sentence has been so true in almost everything of substance that has happened in my life. After all, all business is people business and nothing beats a relaxed atmosphere, away from all the formal settings. I usually use my terrace on the lake for these occasions, but you can try this anywhere. Just move the meeting to the afternoon or evening, somehwere outside your office. That’s a good start.

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