Skrufff chief Jonty Skrufff is also the international representative for the Sochi Winter Music Conference, which takes place next weekend in Russia (February 9-12)

Tim Metz (click for more)

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin) The Key Questions

Tim Metz (30) is co-owner and Director Marketing & Operations of DanceTrippin, the only dance-music content platform to operate both a highly popular international website and a 24/7 dance music linear TV channel.

SWMC (Jonty Skrufff): How did you end up doing what you do today as marketing director of Dancetrippin? (Did you fall into it or start off with a clear vision?)

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “For me personally it started off with lots of parties and I fell into it from there. Dancetrippin started with the sense that there was a better way to capture the spirit of parties and good DJs in video and audio than what was being done at that moment by the MTVs of this world. But there was not a clear vision for a business model at the start, just cool videos.”

SWMC: How big a role has luck played in your life/ career? (What’s been the luckiest break that’s happened to you?)

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “I think the luckiest break in my life has been that I was born in Holland in the early 80′s and not in Africa or large parts of Asia (at that time). I don’t mean that in a sarcastic or demeaning way: it’s a lot harder- if not impossible- to achieve anything if you’re born under very bad circumstances and/or totally in the middle of nowhere. Besides that there is always some elements of luck here and there, but also a lot of hard work has been involved.”

Dancetrippin; click for DJ mixes

SWMC: What’s been the hardest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “Learning to refuse the free parties and alcohol. Seriously: to convince people that what we were doing was actually going to be liked / enjoyed by people (“Who’s going to want to watch a DJ and dancing people for more than a few minutes?!” – we still get that attitude, but much less than a decade ago).

SWMC: What’s been the biggest mistake you’ve made?

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “Refusing most of the free parties and alcohol.”

SWMC: How superstitious are you?

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “I’m not superstitious at all, I’m more off a southern Dutch farm-boy, pretty grounded (most of the time). Although I do believe in other levels of consciousness and time that we can’t really comprehend yet, but once we figure that out it will have nothing to do with superstition or religion anymore.”

SWMC: What advice would you offer someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “Firstly figure out what it is you really want to do in life (watch that Steve Jobs Stanford commencement speech for details: http://bit.ly/cdJDIf ), then pursue it with dedication, passion and hard work until you either succeed or fail. And if you don’t know what it is you want to do, go travel for an extended period of time, without any old friends to far-away places. You’ll either discover what it is you want to do, or you’ll get to appreciate your old life more and settle for that.”

SWMC: What has been your greatest achievement?

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “Personally there’s still lots to do, but from the company perspective our greatest achievement so far is that we’ve managed to launch our 24/7 dance TV channel through satellite and cable across Europe in 2011. That was a dream for a long time and it’s great to see that turn into a reality after all those years.”

SWMC: What’s the meaning of life?

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “There is no meaning, that’s our brain tricking us. In the end we’re still just a (special) kind of animal.”

SWMC: What are your expectations about Sochi: what do you hope to achieve/ experience from the conference?

Tim Metz (Dancetrippin): “It will be my first time in Russia so I am excited to get introduced to Russian culture and besides that I hope to meet a lot of interesting people to learn from and have some fun with.”

DanceTrippin TV Channel | 24/7 dance music television: http://www.dancetrippin.tv

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http://www.facebook.com/dancetrippin.tv

Jonty Skrufff (http://skrufff.com )