Happy Queen’s Day in France?
You don’t need to be a historian to be scratching your head wondering why the French are celebrating Queen’s Day. (Since the French monarchy was so famously abolished over 300 years ago, poor Marie Antoinette.)
In fact, Queen’s Day is the Dutch National Holiday celebrated every year on April 30, even though H.R.H. Queen Beatrix’s birthday is actually in January. Check out the Flickr photo stream of the wild festivities in Amsterdam to get a better idea what Queen’s Day is really all about! You should experience this once in your life, preferably when you are young and single!
This year we left the Netherlands for Bretagne, France on Queen’s Night and decided to export a bit of Queen’s Day (G- rated) fun with us! If you’d like to celebrate wherever you may be, just polish off your favorite crown or tiara, pop open a few Heinekens, and put on your favorite orange outfit!
I can’t claim to have started an actual trend of celebrating Queen’s Day in Bretagne, but it is always fun to share customs and traditions! The seats around our dinner table are never occupied by Americans on Thanksgiving and this year our Christmas Dinner guests happened to be Muslim. If we all started sharing holidays, we might find something worth celebrating every single day!
Don’t forget Cinco de Mayo is only a few days away, so time to whip up some guacamole and start mixing the margaritas!
The tompouce did not travel well!
Serendipity and Social Media Superhero Chris Brogan in Action!
No, I didn’t just happen to bump into my favorite superhero, Chris Brogan, at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Our chance meeting occurred via the modern, social media serendipity engine, Twitter.
Chris Brogan was in Paris speaking at Le Web and I was home in The Hague, still feeling sorry for myself for missing Le Web. Late Saturday night after a completely offline day, I quickly jumped online and noticed on twitter that @chrisbrogan had just arrived in Amsterdam. I replied to ask if he would be speaking at any events the next day or if there were any opportunities to meet him. Chris Brogan is mentioned in hundreds, thousands of tweets every day, so I didn’t expect a reply. It was nearly midnight.
He immediately sent a Direct Message to say he was just passing through the Netherlands, but would be happy to meet me for tea at Schiphol Airport in the morning. I won’t pretend that I kept my cool, I was shocked and shaking! Continue reading »
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How to plan a “can’t miss” event
There are so many business associations, networking events and seminars, competition for attention is fierce. So, how do you plan an event that people won’t want to miss, unless they are out of the country or in the hospital?
The Ireland Netherlands Business Association hosted one of their semi-annual dinner events last night in Amsterdam. Neither Irish or Dutch, I have been attending these dinners regularly for the past few years, and generally only miss if… I am out of the country. Here are a few of their success factors.
First of all, the INBA focus on a few major events each year. The focus on quality over quantity reflects well on the organization and enables them to deliver the quality without a staff or fixed costs. The scarcity also works in their favor and eliminates the, ” I’ll just go next time,” response .
Ambassador Richard Ryan is the Patron of the organization, and his personal commitment and involvement in each event is apparent. (Of course he adds fair amounts of credibility and prestige too.) The attendees are an eclectic mix from business and diplomatic circles. “Who” you are likely to meet at an event and possibly dine with, is of course important.
The keynote speakers are always high profile. Former Prime Minister of Ireland, Bertie Ahern was the special guest and keynote speaker last night. Recent speakers have included Dutch Minister for European Affairs Frans Timmermans and my personal favorite,Paul McGuinness, General Manager of the band U2. These special speakers in an intimate setting, make for a unique experience.
Your venue is vital. Last night, it was was the Hotel L’Europe pictured here. The venue sets the tone for the event and this was one was Grande. Your venue doesn’t have to be 5 star, but it should be remarkable. Making guests feel special impacts their overall feeling about being associated with your organization.
How will you make you make your next event remarkable?
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Janitor in Chief
Hours after class, I was still grading stacks of papers when Timo popped in to chat and to ask how long I would be. He was ready to lock up the building and on his way out of the classroom, he cleared away debris left behind by the students and straightened chairs as he went. I waved Good Night as I left school a few minutes later and noticed Timo tidying up the other classrooms as he made the rounds to turn out lights.
Timo’s cleaning efforts instantly struck a cord with me. What’s the big deal, you ask? Well, Timo is not the Janitor, he is actually the Dean of the School. But this is not an ordinary school, it is New Business School Amsterdam. NBS is a private enterprise; Timo and the Management Team are entrepreneurs. This is quite a shift from the typical bureaucratic academic institution, which brings me back to the trash. Continue reading »
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