Andrew John Hobsbawm (born 12 June 1963) is an entrepreneur, writer and musician from London, England. He co-founded Online Magic, a British

new media New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...

company, which was acquired by

Omnicom Omnicom Group Inc. is an American global media, marketing and corporate communications holding company, headquartered in New York City. Omnicom's branded networks and specialty firms provide services in four disciplines: advertising, customer re ...

in 1997. Hobsbawm is also a founder of

EVRYTHNG EVRYTHNG is an internet of things (IoT) software company based in London, with operations in Oregon, New York, Beijing, Minsk and Switzerland. The company delivers real-time data and actionable information about “smart products” featuring a di ...

and Do The Green Thing. He is a member of the

British Interactive Media Association The British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) is a not-for-profit industry body representing the digital industry in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1985, BIMA is a membership organisation primarily made up of digital agencies. It has offices in ...

’s Digital Hall of Fame.

Early life

Andy Hobsbawm is the son of the historian

Eric Hobsbawm Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work. H ...

and Marlene Hobsbawm (née Schwartz) in London, England. Hobsbawm attended sixth form college in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada, but did not go on to university to obtain a degree. He joined a rock band, Tin Gods, after leaving school.

Career

While playing with Tin Gods, Hobsbawm responded to a newspaper ad soliciting entrepreneurs, which led to a position at magazine publisher APT Data. During his tenure at APT Data, Hobsbawm formed Internet Publishing with Eamonn Wilmott to develop the first European e-zine, PowerPC News. Hobsbawm and Wilmott co-founded Online Magic, a leading British

company in 1995. Online Magic became the first international web agency and developed the first website that covered a British general election, GE97.

’s Agency.com invested in Online Magic in 1997 and acquired it in 1998. Hobsbawm, who had served as president of Online Magic, was appointed Agency.com’s chief creative officer for Europe. Hobsbawm became chairman of Agency.com Europe in 2004. He left the company in 2009. In 2007, Hobsbawm co-founded Do The Green Thing, a social networking site for encouraging people to lead greener lives, with Naresh Ramchandani. In 2008, Hobsbawm presented Do The Green Thing at

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

. His lecture was later included as a TEDTalk. In 2011, Hobsbawm co-founded

, a

Web of Things Web of Things (WoT) describes a set of standards by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for the interoperability of different Internet of things (IoT) platforms and application domains. Building blocks The WoT building blocks provide a way to i ...

software company.

Bibliography

Hobsbawm has written articles for ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'', the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. He was also a weekly columnist on the new economy for the ''

''. He is a co-author of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

’s'' Brands and Branding (). Hobsbawm has also written three

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

s entitled "10 years on: The State of the Internet a Decade after Mosaic", "Small is the Next Big Thing: The Size and Shape of Commerce and Culture" and "Product Relationship Management: Turning physical products into owned digital media."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobsbawm, Andy 1963 births Living people English people of Polish-Jewish descent English businesspeople English Jewish writers Musicians from London Writers from London