Bio
Erwin van der Zande (1971) is an editor slash reporter slash copywriter. He really digs new media, popular culture, and, well, basically everything in between.
Starting out writing for lifestyle magazines Erwin switched to the internet in 1994. He launched e-Wave, the first Dutch electronic newsletter covering the online world. He continued his reporting at Planet Internet as the sole editor of Shift for two years. Early 1998 his netzine made national headlines offering music downloads for free legally. Erwin went on to co-found BitMagic with Michiel Frackers and Francisco van Jole among others. At the time of his departure in the fall of 2000 the netcaster had 250,000 users in 170 countries. A year later he teamed up with publisher Frank Bierens to create teenage we-zine Spunk, which partnered with NRC Handelsblad in 2003, Vassallucci in 2004, and is still flourishing.
For three years Erwin was a creative duo with Edo Schoonbeek. They specialised in online productions, both editorial and commercial. Among their projects were the one-page site of the Volkskrant section Dag in Dag uit, a viral website for the Dutch Postbank called Langzaldielenen.nl, and the editorial content at the late e-cards network Grapes which excelled in short format media. Edo is currently part of Buro Renkema.
Individually Erwin was a columnist for WebWereld, @Home, and Dzone, and a contributor to newspaper De Volkskrant, webportal Planet Internet, and the magazines Emerce, Carp, Torch, PC Zone, Blvd., Net, and De Journalist. Here you’ll find a small archive of some of his articles. They’re all in Dutch though. He also wrote creative copy for bureaus and studios such as Submarine, Draft, Allegro, and Tribal DDB. In 2003 he was chairman of the jury Interactive at the ADCN Reclame Jaarprijzen. For several years he has also been a member of the Dutch Bloggies jury and is currently part of the annual Spin Awards jury, celebrating creativity in interactive communication. He contributed to Geek Chic the Ultimate Guide to Geek Culture which was published in June 2005.
Nowadays Erwin is editor-in-chief of Bright, a crossmedia brand covering innovative lifestyle. Its bi-monthly magazine he co-founded with publisher Oscar Kneppers was first published in February 2005 and is distributed in the Netherlands and Belgium (circulation: 25,000). In March 2006 its daily weblog Bright.nl won a Dutch Bloggie as Best Newcomer. In December the same year the first edition of the future fest BrightLive was launched. In December 2007 a second website was launched, featuring original video programming, at Bright.tv. Currently Bright contributes weekly to newspaper DAG, BNR Nieuwsradio and syndicates its content to Dutch press agency ANP.
Erwin also starred in In the Ban van het Ding, a weekly 8-episode Dutch tv show in which viewers got a glimpse of cutting edge digital technology on its way into their lives. The show was broadcasted nationwide by the VPRO and produced by Dahl TV and Bright.
For kicks he occasionally acts in commercials of which the one for Unox is most renown. He lives in Amsterdam, together with graphic designer Yke Bartels and two Norwegian forest cats.
