Today it is exactly three years ago that Tudou.com went live! (See also this blog post that I wrote about Toodou – the former name of Tudou- on April 15, 2005 on my old weblog). “Only” three years I should probably say, because more has happened in these 36 months than what happens to most companies in 10-15 years. It was a great 3 years though, something like a big roller coaster that started to go faster and faster once it was set in motion. A roller coaster with ups and downs, like every start-up, but mainly ups.

Because of this there will be another Tudou Party this Friday in our office, the biggest one so far (at least if I look at the budget for it 🙂 Expect a combination of cool DJ’s, lots of drinks (Absolut vodka is a sponsor I heard) and hot dancers. If you have been involved with Tudou over the past years, or if you consider yourself a good friend of the company (or of mine), get in touch with me for an invitation.

The weekend after that (April 26-27) will be the first Tudou Film Festival on the Moganshan in Zhejiang province. We already had a film festival planned two years ago, but never found the time and resources to pull it off. Our three-year anniversary is a good occasion. The Tudou “Oscars” will be awarded in many categories, among others Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Documentary, Best Cartoon and Best Script.

The voting for the winners will depend for 50% on online votes. You can still vote here for the shortlisted films. The other 50% depends on a professional jury, consisting among others of famous directors, people from the media and advertising world (including Kaiser Kuo), journalists and even professors from films schools in the US. If you vote online you will have a chance to win a trip to the award ceremony on Moganshan, but you can also go there yourself (you will need to register here). It promises to be a great weekend in one of the most beautiful places in China. Good luck to all the nominees and see you on the mountain!