John Heaven

Hi! I’m John Heaven. I live in Hamburg, Germany. It’s quite hard to tell you what I do in a nutshell, but much of my work concerns technology, especially web technology.

Within that, I produce words and actions.

Words

I used to think writing was something everyone can do. I’m pretty sure it’s something everyone can learn – and keep learning. Which is something I’m still doing, even though I’ve been writing professionally for several years. “Good” writing comes in many forms. One of the biggest challenges is accepting this and learning to adapt to other people’s preferences. Bad writing comes in many forms, too; identifying this and avoiding an anything-goes free-for-all is equally important.

I started writing and translating for advertising agencies around 2015, and since then I’ve taken on topics from tractor tyres (Continental) to kitchen appliances (NEFF, part of Bosch Siemens Haushalte).

Since last year, I’ve been working with Open Strategy Partners: a specialist communications agency for tech providers that need to talk about the value of what they do in a language that connects with the person in front of them at any given time.

Actions

Actions speak louder than words, although you’d be surprised how many actions precede a good text, speech or conference contribution.

My most conspicuous (recent) achievement in this vein has been organising FinForward in 2019, a one-day event in Hamburg for the European and international Fintech scene. I hesitate to take too much credit – the event truly was a team effort – but I facilitated a programme of compelling content and channelled our energy into an international-first event, based on insights from my past experience.

Tech

I’ve been interested in computers since my teens. My first memories of IT involve dabbling in BASIC and experimenting with the MS-DOS command line, while risking irreversible data loss at my parents’ expense. All while I should have been doing my homework or practising clarinet. A law degree, several jobs, a change of country, and 20ish years later, not much has changed.