Elfriede Nitzsche
Digital Strategies & Project Management
E-Mail-Adresse
letschat [at] 11i.online
My workplace:
Seitwerk GmbH
Uffing am Staffelsee
My path
Originally from the US, I have been living in Germany since 2002, after a short period in France.
Through my music studies, specifically bassoon performance, I developed an intrinsic work ethic early on. I know what it means to put in the hard, detail work and the reward it brings. It was always my goal to combine my art and academics in whatever I do, which has led me to many fascinating jobs. My first contact with digitalization was between the film and music industries in the early 2000s. Since then it has been the main focus of most of my professional positions. I have learned how to truly optimize for digitalization. My professional career has been diverse, colorful and for that reason fascinating. Because I was lucky enough to see so much and work with such fascinating people, I have collected vast experience in a variety of industries.
Professional Development
From the US to France to Germany ...
2001 - 2002
Life in France
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1996 - 2001
Life in Boston
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2002
MH Records
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2003 - 2005
Double Fun – Music for Motion Pictures
2005-2007
Engel & Völkers Immobilien
2008 - 2011
teleschau – der mediendienst
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2010 - 2011
Travelzoo (Europe) Ltd
Mixing being a mom and musician and enjoyed every second of it.
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create digital products
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new business development
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key account management
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digitalize products
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project management
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manage product development
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key account management
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new business development
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key account management
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acquisition
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project management
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manage product development
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key account management
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music licensing
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contractual monitoring
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concept creation
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project management
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tour management
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languages
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life abroad
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college
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various jobs
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bassoon performance
Through contacts, I became a part of a pilot project to apply Travelzoo's business model to the German culture and entertainment industry. It was a great experience, in which I once again learned an immense amount about business development and what digitalization means within the culture and tourism industries. It was a success in that I was able to win new clients, create fascinating deals and create enough business so the model could be reasonably judged as a business case. In the spirit of fail fast, it became clear that the Travelzoo business model did not work for this industry, I moved on.
The main product of this company is news around the entertainment industry. My role was to help in the digitalization of their products. My highlight project was no doubt the msn.de Kinomodul (cinema module), which is was my first complete IT project management experience. I was additionally responsible for general project management, digital product development, and online marketing strategies. Here is where I also first dipped my toes into SEO. And fun fact: worked for the first time with my future employer Seitwerk GmbH.
... I am one of those people who respects contracts. And so I respected the non-compete clause in my former employer's contract had to go to a different industry for a year, which then became more as my role became very much about business development than I had expected. I helped grow a new business office and had my first team leadership role. Good colleagues and great learning kept me here longer than I had first planned, but still I missed the culture and entertainment and looked for a way back in.
This was one of my all-time favorite jobs. If you sit through the credits of the Oscar-Winning film "Das Leben der Anderen" ("The Life of Others"), you'll even find my name there. We read scripts, created music concepts for the films, licensed music, coordinated music recordings, were responsible for contracting composers and musicians, and even did some marketing for the OSTs. Here I had my first contact with digital marketing strategies, because music was going online. That also meant a change in our business model, which made the job not lucrative enough for a whole team anymore. Alas ...
This was a small, private label in New York City. The owners were my neighbors while I was living in France, who had also moved temporarily for an experience abroad. We got together and did some recordings of bassoon in pop music. And I put together a European route for their acts to visit and tour. It was a true cold water experience jumping into the cut-throat reality of the entertainment business. I learned a tremendous amount and met my next boss.
My first time truly living abroad, not just visiting, I learned what it really means to have to overcome bureaucratic hurdles, learn a foreign language well enough to live in another county and learn what it means to live cultural differences. But most of all I gained wonderful experiences, met people, enjoyed markets, cooking and traveling. I adopted a wonderful pound puppy and began what was to become the rest of my life (so far) in Europe.
After graduating from college in 2000, I was still exploring what traditional career path to take, so I didn't. I had assisted in an international law office and waitressed during college. I was performing music, riding and working at a barn and with horses, and I went on to try a work-study combination in interior architecture. But having traveled so much in my life, I was not ready to settle in my hometown. Beyond the ocean was calling ... and so I went.
Since 2021
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create digital strategies
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project management IT/digital
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consult in SEO
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data analytics
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innovating in ML and AI
Seitwerk GmbH (again)
I returned to Seitwerk specifically to manage a digital innovation project in cultural learning. Since my return, I have also worked on e-commerce and sport innovations for Web, App and E-Learning. I consult in SEO matters and regularly keep up with my data analytics skills. Lately, we have been innovating in ML and AI (pssst, still confidential). I truly love creating fascinating digital strategies, managing digital projects and their success through digital marketing, SEO and the required KPI and data analysis that goes with it.
2011 - 2013
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digitalization concepts
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project management
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SEO campaigns
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acquisition
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key account management
Seitwerk GmbH
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I had already worked with Seitwerk as an agency and now joined as a digital project manager. My efforts were focused first on the culture industry, not only creating amazing digital solutions for the music and entertainment industries but also for museums and artists. As things developed, I also served many pharmaceutical clients. Additionally, I set up SEO and digital marketing campaigns. As we were still a small team back then, I also did my share of acquisition, contractual work and key account management.
2018 - 2021
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application management​
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project management
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manage digital products
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Social Media marketing​
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data analytics
Goethe-Institut e.V.
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My roles in the music and IT departments of the Goethe-Institut combined, once again, culture and digitalization. I began there in the music department working on digital projects (like coordinating podcasts their social media marketing) and scholarships. I moved on to application supervision for GI's worldwide program planning system. It was an international and personally enriching environment, if on a limited contract.
2013 - 2018
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mom
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music
Parental Leave
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