Message from the CEO — Arne Peder Blix
After a record breaking warm summer, the Friend team has been able to take some time and focus. We have just completed an internal strategy workshop where we have planned the tactical next 6 months and make course corrections on strategy. This is rather complex work, as we have to coordinate efforts in three dimensions at the same time (Blockchain/ICO, open source dev-community and conventional commercial operations).
It is a pleasure to report that the Workshop has been extremely productive. The conventional business is doing well and we have a very exciting autumn ahead of us with many strong projects with great potential. We therefore have the sufficient stamina to continue to push for our ICO to be successful. One of the main outcomes from our internal process is that Friend, from now on, will be communicated as:
Friend | The Internet OS.
This is what Friend really is, and it is about time we call it by its real name!
It has taken us a long time to arrive at this team consensus. It may seem an easy decision for an outsider. I can assure you it is not. Over the last four years Hogne and I, and all of our team members who understand the real implications of Friend, what it is, what it can do and what it represents, have gone through several phases of realization, deeper contemplation and understanding of what we are doing.
I can assure you we have all approached this finalization of our messaging with the utmost respect and humbleness which such a conclusion deserve. To this extent, we have written a Medium Post which I invite you to read. Please help us spread this message and article far and wide!
We are now in the process of planning and executing a marketing campaign with our refined message, including articles, ads, a new web design as well as a stronger and much richer user experience online in our demo and much more (see below). We have timed this to coincide with what we hope will be a rising market, starting in the beginning of September.
We remain adamant about ensuring that the Friend Network ICO becomes a success and that we will reach hard cap before EndBlock. We will deliver what we have described in our Whitepaper. The team and the tech has never looked better, and we are ready for what will surely be a very exciting Autumn!
Developer update from Hogne / Thomas
After our Release Candidate 1 release last week, we have continued on our roadmap to complete FriendUP v1.2 Release Candidate 2. This new release will help us reach v1.2 Final in the coming months, which will power our first public cloud offering; the Friend Cloud.
As an aftermath of the RC1 release, we have started work on improving our Github repository such that new developers will swiftly find their place in our project. Additionally, we will do nightly updates which will automatically keep the Github repository up-to-date.
We are also working on a new Unified website, which will reflect on our three main focus areas; the ICO, the open source project and our commercial activity with Friend Cloud and Thin Client Replacement (private cloud). This should help spur activity and feed interest in our technology and solutions. The website upgrade will be fundamental, with invigorated content from our new marketing minds who have recently joined our endeavour.
The new website will make use of interactive Friend technology in several subsections, with the Go server prominently featured on the front page. There will not be any question about what Friend is. The tech team is working on making this Friend integration enjoyable for all visitors to our site.
Community Update
Friend Community has been updated with several bug fixes and improvements on user login and user interface. This is incremental improvements which will help new users coming to our platform find their way around our Facebook alternative for Friend users.
Media
We have published a new Medium article about “Friend — THE Internet Operating System”. This signals our adjustment in messaging and takes a clear stand, referring to our core values and mission.
Read more about Friend 1.2 here.
Events
We will be at Websummit in lisbon early November, come along and meet the Friend team there.
Join us on Social Media to follow our journey: Telegram,Medium,Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Discord, or our Website for the latest developments!
