Saying Goodbye to Martin (lazerzubb) Schaedel

[Brett_Tabke]

There are many members who knew Martin (Lazerzubb) Schaedel. If you don't know, Martin was tragically passed away in an airplane accident yesterday far before his time.

Martin had the uncanny ability to make friends faster than anyone I think I have ever met. You couldn't just know Martin in passing - you either knew him as well as a best friend, or didn't know him at all.

I first met Martin at PubCon in London (circa 2002). He was sooo young, but after just a few minutes of talking, it became clear that he not only knew SEO, but he was one of the few doing actual empirical testing of the algos.

Martin was at times a bit of an enigma. It was tough to figure out how a young teenager could be living alone in London and could be so successful. We often joked that he must have a sugar daddy or worked for MI6. Good friend Shakil Kahn once said to me, "Give up trying to figure it out man. He is what he says is and it all checks out.".

Martin was well known here at WebmasterWorld for his string of Google update calls. He would spot a Google update (dance) before anyone else would and post it. He got so tired of the normal "no it isn't an update" initial posts that he finally just started calling me direct to post it so everyone would believe it. He would just call and say one word, update and hang up. He was so accurate, that I actually nicknamed him update and joked that we had to figure out a way to name an update after him.

I saw Martin last summer in New York city where he was living in a fabulous loft. We had lunch and I quizzed him a bit about his background. He went into great detail about his mom & dad and what they did. He was so proud of the work his mother was doing - he just beamed ear-to-ear telling me about her. At the time he was concerned that his visa was about to run out and he had to leave the US for awhile to reapply. I asked if it would help if he needed to use me as a reference for employment. He said thanks, but was finally looking forward to seeing his family and spending some time in Europe again.

My wife (Erika) saw Martin walking into PubCon with a candy bar once, and joked to him that the price of admission was that you had to bring the conference organizers wife' chocolates. Sure enough - every PubCon after that, Martin would bring Erika a box of Swedish or German chocolates.

You will be missed sir.

Links:

• Morten Lund
• Fred Wilson
• Danny Sullivan
• Dave Naylor
• Todd Friesen
• Howard Lee Morgan
• LA Times
• Silicon Alley Insider
• All Things Digital
• Fare Compare blog entry
• megsmakeup.com entry. Martin had been staying with her.
• Martins Flickr Stream
• Martins Blog
• Twitter @martin

Having fun at PubCon London 2002, Oilman and Martin:

Getting Goofy at PubCon Boston 2003

Relaxing at PubCon London 2003

Danny Sullivan and Martin

[kaz]

RIP laz, I have many memories from the days back at SEF and him calling the dances. That was back around 2000-01, so he was only 15 or 16 when he came into the circles and really helped set the tone for others to share and contribute. Cheers for all he did to help others along, including myself, he will be missed.

[conor]

RIP Laz

[wobiot]

JP told me the very sad news today, Martin was a fun guy and although half my age was much brighter and more entrepreneurial than I will ever be. Its quite amazing to note how many people are posting who only meet Martin for a very short period of time, or never at all. I think that says it all about him. Thanks for sharing some time with the 'old man' and rest in peace Martin.

[rencke]

Everything has already been said, but the graph and pictures in this article [kvp.se]published in a leading Swedish paper on Jan 30, will perhaps add something for all those who knew Martin, even if you don't read Swedish.

[shorebreak]

I can count no less than 15 introductions Martin made between me and other people he knew over the past 3 years. With the possible exception of Shak, Martin was the most prodigious networker in the SEM/SEO space.

[TinkyWinky]

I met Martin with Shak - way back at a pubcon in London in 2002. We talked Pharma and SEO and then after a few hours I didn't see him for about 18 months - whereupon we picked up where we left off - just a different vertical and some new ideas. It carried on like that for the times i was in London meeting up with verious people.

Nope he didn't give much away business-wise - but what he didn't give away was sometimes as revealing if you asked the right questions - to which you'd also get a wicked grin!

Great stories and that's the way most will remember him - especially as lots of us had lots of beer when he told the stories.

A genuinely nice geezer who will be sorely missed by the SEO / SEM community.

RIP Lazerzubb

TW

[edited by: TinkyWinky at 9:03 pm (utc) on Feb. 2, 2009]

[sem4u]

I only know Martin from his forum posts, but his input will be sadly missed. My condolences to his friends and family.

[MrMackin]

Met Martin at 1st PubCon in London

Impressive young guy
In order for him to get to the BTcon in Boston both his parents had to send letters in order for him to travel.
He became one of my best affiliates. We held his checks and paid him once a year at his request.
Martin actually bought me a drink in Laguna Beach, CA a couple of years ago.
Met rc and company for lunch in Vegas after that. He flew in from SoCalif just to have lunch.
Had him on IM the day before the incident.
He will be missed !

[edited by: MrMackin at 3:56 pm (utc) on Feb. 3, 2009]

[DaveN]

Don't know what to say, good friend made me laugh a lot, been hard to take in that he is gone.

DaveN

[ogletree]

Yes he will be missed. I met him in London PubCon 2003. He was a very nice guy and seemed to know everybody. I remember his posts on WebmasterWorld back then when I was more active. The guy was one of the greats.

[TallTroll]

I remember watching him fiddle with that Nokia phone and making it *sparkle*. A good analogy right there, I think. Sorry to see you go mate

[HeatherNR]

A good guy. A Genuine Soul. A sad loss. I briefly met him at Pubcon London 2003, but didn't spend a lot of time talking to him.

Now, I wish I did.

-Heather

[Habtom]

I haven't met Martin, like many others, though I have known him through his posts at WebmasterWorld.

RIP Lazerzubb

[bill]

Martin's family was passing around this message:

Our Beloved Martin

---

Martin Schaedel
1985-10-15 - 2009-01-28

“I have had very very few hard
days in my life, and for that I am
very grateful”
8:49 PM Oct 7th, 2008

“I love knowing people!”
4:32 PM Mar 12th, 2008

- Martin Schaedel
on twitter

The funeral of our beloved Martin will
take place in Lunds Domkyrka on the
27th March 2009 at 13.30
No dress code

Bertil, Charlotta
Malin, Sara och Karin

Asta, Ulla, Sven Ove
Solveig, Bosse, Susanna,
Patrik, Joakim,
Cecilia, Nils

---

Please notify [e-mail]
or phone: [phone] at the latest 24th
March if you will be able to join us in re-
membrance directly after the service

Flowers are welcome or a donation to
Amnesty pg.90 00 72-0

[bill]

I just heard that the family was looking for photos of Martin. If you have any send me a sticky mail before March 24 and include a link to the image. I believe they will be displaying these photos at the funeral.

I'll pass them along to the family.

[lorax]

Hey bill, what does the pg.90 00 72-0 mean?

[bill]

Good question. I really don't know myself. I just copy & pasted what I received.

[phranque]

it's on the amnesty international contact page:
[net19.amnesty.se...]

maybe an account number?

[markesan]

Hey everyone, some of us are having an event for all those who knew Martin on April 7 in NYC. Would be great to meet more of his friends. For more information, see [hellomartin.org...]

[edited by: tedster at 4:03 am (utc) on April 3, 2009]
[edit reason] make link live [/edit]