One of the many great decisions Christiane has made during her tenure at iCommons was to bring Roland Honekamp on to lend a helping hand in Berlin. Roland, a former Net entrepreneur, quickly made himself an indispensable utility player, attending iCommons launches on short notice, helping out with press relations and myriad internal iCommons matters, and developing, along with Christiane, Heather Ford, and Mary Rundle, tons of iCommons training and reference materials for the dozens of iCommons project leads. He’s also been a great source of ideas on the strategy and future shape of CC’s international efforts. The exponential growth of iCommons over the last year has been in no small part due to Roland’s joining the team.

Like Christiane, Roland has an infectious laugh and an easy way with just about everyone. I didn’t get the chance to meet Roland face-to-face until this September, when we were roommates in New York for the WIRED benefit concert, and again last month at the iCommons Europe summit, where I learned a lot about Roland’s long-standing interest in (and skill at) international relations and diplomacy.

I’m sad that I won’t get the chance to work more with Roland, on CC stuff anyway, but I look forward to keeping in touch with him. Here’s to Herr Honekamp and the passion and formidable business acumen he’s infused CC with.