Marcel van Marrewijk's Blog, page 153

Seats 2 Meet Safari, Day 1

Amsterdam, NL

The day started with our traveling group coming together outside the Amsterdam Central Station. The group consists of me, Nikos, Marina and Beatriz. Marina is Brazilian and only 15 but already exploring the world and having her first internship. Beatriz is also Brazilian, works for Seats2Meet International and had the initiative of bringing me and Marina in and showing us some of the busiest S2M locations. This day we were going to explore two locations in Amsterdam, Meet Berlage and Amsterdam Connected.

First up was Meet Berlage, a really nice building near the Amsterdam Central Station. The building itself has some history. It is an industrial building designed by the Dutch architect Hendrick Petrus Berlage to serve as a stock market for some years but eventually become a public palace for the people to connect. And as predicted, the stock market moved after some years. Then, it was professional home to a ship owners club which still holds some meetings in it. Finally it used to be a philharmonic orchestra rehearsal building. Now a part of it hosts a Seats2Meet location. The building has really high ceilings and big windows so it is has good lighting and a nice temperature.

We met Jean Pierre, co-owner of the place. He was kind enough to give us a tour through the whole location. The rooms have separate names that indicate their use and style. The library, is a quiet room, the buzzroom is for small fast meetings and so it goes. The co-working room was really busy, you could work on the couches, a long tall table or the normal height wooden tables. Many people created a cosy but lively environment. There was also a tablet where you had to check in and a large display that showed who is in the room with a little information about them to give a really helpful overview.

The place had really positive vibes and promoted working efficiently together. I have to say, it reminded me a little of some industrial districts in Berlin. We also saw some offices and some more meeting rooms, one of them was called “the tribunal” and I could not resist taking a photo of it. It was majestic and my poor photography skills do not transfer the feeling of being in the room.

Then it was time for lunch break, where everyone is eating together and talking to each other. It is a quintessential part of what seats2meet represents and is about. At lunch break we met Leto who is trying to set up his company doing “non-tourist” tours with his boat. He seemed really content with how seats2meet helps him meet new people and also have a productive time working. I really liked the place and might come back to it to meet Mike Lee, the founder of Appsterdam.

Moving on we traveled by train to a really quiet district. There was a lot of space and Beatriz told us that it is a district that is about healthcare and hospitals. There, in a big building, was our second location for the day, Amsterdam Connected. It starts with a huge atrium where events are hosted.

Then there is the ground floor preserved to co-working, quiet, cosy and professional. A nice combination of furniture and the glass walls that make it easy to look outside give it a really modern style. It is extremely spacious but not in a distancing way. It was completely different from Meet Berlage but you could feel the same vibes and philosophy. Same product different package.

We met Felix. I had seen his video explaining Society 3.0. It was quite an interesting theory you should watch it too. We went into a small meeting room and we talked about the challenges of getting a seats2meet location up and running. He was very eager to share his experience but also to listen to my own stories.

I always value someone who can talk about his success but also can genuinely listen to other peoples stories. Turns out Felix has opened up quite a lot of locations so I had some questions about the struggles of the process, some experiences of it and some general entrepreneurial topic questions. We talked for some time before he had work to attend to, and I highly respect the fact that he took the time to meet us.

So here I am, finishing the story of the first day, getting used to the Dutch weather and wondering what the next day will have in store.

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Mr Robot and what it has to do with Society 3.0

Have you watched Mr Robot? The show has everything to do with S2M and society 3.0. No, we do not have bipolar disorder. Or use drugs for that matter. The similarity lays on the will to change a no longer working system.

The story is about a programmer who is dissatisfied and uses his skills to change the world. By the way, his name is Elliot. The way he does it is also a little bit more radical than what we do it. The thing is the goal is the same. Change a system who is controlled by a few and for a wrong idea of scarcity. I say idea because when you look around there is so much already and truth is we don’t need more. Most of all we need a new of way of using it.

We defend the idea of not owning something. What we defend is having access of it. Look of the great companies who have been growing in the last decade: Spotify, Netflix, Airbnb. You can see that by using them you don’t have to own CDs, DVDs, apartments or even files for that matter. You just have to access them.

What we see in the future and is the similar in the Mr. Robot’s revolution, is that we want the mass giving to the mass. Not 0.5% owning the resources that the left 99.5% needs. What Ronald, the writer of Society 3.0, says is that if we put all of our resources together, excluding the big corporations, we will end up with the biggest company of all times. Consequently we will have more houses than housing companies and even more knowledge than google.

If you start to buy food from local farmers there are more chances you will buy quality food, due the large amount of agro-toxics the big farms have to use to protect their own plantations. At the same time you will probably help the economy in the place you live, making it more sustainable in different levels. That is what Mr Robot and Seats2meet are both trying to make you pay attention to.

In conclusion, you don’t have to take the internet down in the whole world to start it from scratch. All you have to do is make little changes on your own choices. Instead of destroying and running over the system, ignore it, wave at it and just take the alternative route. Is by taking this kind of actions that we do a revolution. Shall we start?

By the way, Mr Robot’s season 1 is over and the second season has just started.

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Getting Started with Nikos

Concerning Nikos

I am Nikos Haliotis, 22 years old, half German half Greek. I like to travel, see new places and meet new people, listen to their stories. I am currently finishing my diploma in Management Science and Technology at Athens University of Economics and Business. For those not familiar with the terms it has to do with using technology, programming and mathematics to make better business decisions.

I really liked my time at the university. I had many interesting courses like Business Intelligence and Big Data Analytics, Heuristic Algorithms or Decision Making Analytics and Simulation. In this time I was part of the organisational committee of our department’s student conference in Management Science and Technology twice.

The conference, which is considered one of the top student conferences in Greece with participants and attendees from many Greek cities, is a voluntary initiative that has been happening for the last 13 years, where the students prepare the whole conference on their own, finding sponsors, speakers and scientific papers from all over Greece. All in all it was a great experience and it felt really rewarding at the day of the conference to see your work fulfilled.

As part of my studies I also did a three month internship at Stone Soup. It was a really important time for me because it took me a step further in how i see my professional life. I met people that were eager to share their knowledge with me, and it felt like my mind grew several years in a few months.

My internship duties were to manage the social media of Stone Soup and to find a way to assess the Social Impact of the company. At this point I have to explain what Stone Soup is. It is a production house founded by Klaas Speller and Olga Paraskevopoulou and a group of creative individuals working in a spacious office located in the center of Athens.

It is running on cooperation, sharing knowledge, helping one another out and giving talented young people the opportunity to work on interesting international projects. The team spirit and the togetherness of the group made me feel like I was amongst family and I wanted to be part of it from the get go. So after my internship was finished I proceeded to create the new website for Stone Soup. After that I concentrated on finishing my studies but I am ready and willing to contribute some more.

That brings us to me being in the Netherlands. I have always felt there is so much more than money in life. I believed there are things that are not measurable by monetary factors such as ideals, devotion, innovation, kindness, motivation and humanity. Values. Values that I believe Stone Soup represents as individuals and as a group.

After getting a little taste of Seats2Meet I feel like Stone Soup and Seats2Meet are companies that think alike. Society 3.0 is an idea I strongly agree with. I see it happening at Stone Soup, where people of different backgrounds and skill sets complement each other and work in harmony based on ideas and what is needed to succeed as a group.

Also we have a wider network of associates that jumps on board when needed. It is nice to find people that see the world in a similar way you do and we are eager to explore the possibilities of a potential collaboration between us.

I am looking forward to meeting exciting people, getting to know interesting ideas and promising projects, seeing new technologies getting used and visiting great locations to work and meet. I want to make the most of my time here and make this trip really worth it. Let’s get going!

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Starting my work life in Seats2meet

Blog written by: Marina Borges

Hi everyone! I’m Marina. I am from brazil, 15 years old and I came here to understand a little bit more about the whole idea Seats2meet wants to transmit. To be honest I don’t really know how I ended up here. My dear father visited S2M during the global meetup and next thing I knew is that I was going to spend my winter break – winter in Brazil is in July – in the Netherlands. So here I am.

I arrived here Friday morning – July 8th. I spent the weekend in Rotterdam with my aunt and now I am staying in Utrecht with the most lovely couple. My first day in S2M and I was feeling different already. People here have such an incredibly capacity to think. Think in the future and how people can handle the ability to share nowadays.

They look always forward to share what they have and use what other have to offer them. Your own values are essential in here. While I was taking pictures of the place – I am managing the S2M Instagram account, since I am a fan of photography – I could see and feel a very cosy space. People enjoying there time working together. By that I mean, at the same place with each other’s company, little chats now and then always help.

Today I am in Amersfoort Central Station. Also a very comfortable place with small meetings going on. We met a kind woman that works in S2M locations for 5 years already. 3 of them in Amersfoort. She heard about S2M from a friend and got interested in the concept, since that she has been coming twice a week with her work material and stays during the day.

She also said that one of the best parts is lunch time. Not because of the food. But because everybody is eating together and interacting. In that way she gets to know everyone better and increases her wisdom in work and specially in life. She refers to Seats2meet Amersfoort as her second workplace.

Look below to see some of the pictures I have been posting in the Instagram account.

Makro opent nieuwe vestigingen met S2M als partner bij het netwerkplein!

Vorige week woensdag heeft Makro zijn nieuwe winkelconcept uitgerold naar vier vestigingen. De filialen in Beverwijk, Den Bosch, Leeuwarden en Nijmegen zijn omgevormd tot een ‘unieke marktplaats voor ondernemers’.

Makro sloeg begin dit jaar een nieuwe weg in door met kleinere en overzichtelijkere vestigingen van zesduizend vierkante meter te werken. De focus ligt daarin op food en foodgerelateerde producten. Zo zijn de vernieuwde vestigingen voorzien van een bakkerij waar brood ter plekke wordt afgebakken en een slagerij waar vlees kan worden afgewogen en voorgesneden.

Makro mikt met zijn nieuwe winkelconcept nadrukkelijk op kleine zelfstandige ondernemers. Zo is er een netwerkplein en worden er verschillende events georganiseerd. Events kunnen gericht zijn op het innoveren van je businessmodel, maar het kan ook zijn dat er een lokale belastingadviseur voor jou als ondernemer klaarstaat om antwoord te geven op al je vragen.  “Makro wordt een plek voor ondernemers, die met elkaar kunnen sparren of elkaar concreet kunnen helpen in het ontwikkelen van hun business”, aldus managing director Kef van Helbergen.

Het netwerkplein zal hierin een centrale rol spelen. Om gebruik te maken van de aanwezige ervaring en kennis vanuit S2M is er besloten een partnership aan te gaan. Via het platform van S2M kunnen er werkplekken en vergaderruimtes worden gereserveerd. De food courts zijn hierbij ook een prachtige aanwinst en fijn te combineren met werken en vergaderen.

Wij raden aan om snel een keer een boeking te doen bij een van bovenstaande vestigingen om het zelf te ervaren!

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Have you seen this robot snake?

If you were in the Utrecht CS S2M location in the past 4 weeks you might have stumbled in a 8 year old girl and her snake robot pet. By the way, she built her robot pet herself. This is part of a project called happy kids school. I spoke with Sella van de Griend, the idealiser of happy kids, and it really stroke a nerve on me.

Sella is mother of two children, Oliver and Emma. As it happens to a lot of kids they didn’t really fit into the school as it is today. What I mean by the school as it is today is siting, listening, not being able to question what is already settle as right and repeat this process on and on. Because of this way of learning that is theoretically applicable to everyone, no one really learns or work on their own unique potential.

I remember my own childhood. I wasn’t an easy child to deal with. When school was making me learn the bhaskara formula all I wanted to do was watching movies, series or read. Because they have to prepare you for the LSAT, which in Brazil is called vestibular, you don’t have time to work on what is your thing, only on what college wants you to know to get it. Which sometimes you will never use in your whole life.

With the abundance of knowledge we have today and the easy access to it, the education system is in a need of a change more than ever. It doesn’t make sense to assume that teachers and books are the only source of knowledge kids have. Today what is necessary is to teach kids how to learn with all the tools they already have. That’s what happy kids is working on.

Children are put in a safe environment. Their questions are listen to, not judged. They are treated as equals, not as in an hierarchy. The adults don’t have the answers for everything, but hey, that’s ok. We will find the answers together, and learn how to learn. Once that is the sure thing we will have to do constantly during our lives.

I participated in the last of the classes they had this summer. I was amazed. I met 6 wonderful kids who, together, built a snake robot, a robot that solves the rubik’s cube and one that transports objects. They built and programmed them from scratch using lego mindstorms. At the same time they built they would stop, reflect and think about what they were doing and how to do it. That gives them the emotional intelligence to see how we can, and will, make mistakes. There is no need for panic. Start over and see how you can make it right again. I know I wished someone taught me that during my childhood.

The way we were educated reflects in our behaviour forever. It is hard when you taught since you were a child that you couldn’t make mistakes that will make them. A lot. Specially when we live in a society that asks more and more for us to do things independently. We are entrepreneurs and freelancers now, so when we make mistakes we can’t hide behind a big company’s name. It’s just us. And that is fine. We do have a lot to learn from the happy kids. I know I sure would like to go back in time and go in a school like this. How about you?

 

 

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Videoverhalen geven community een gezicht

Een kleine twee maanden geleden begon ik samen met Sanne Wolfswinkel en Arianne Wienke aan een project om korte videoportretjes te maken van mensen uit de Seats2meet Utrecht community. Het doel van deze video’s, van maximaal 3 minuten de community een gezicht te geven.

Margreet Jacobs, een van de mensen die heeft meegedaan verwoordt het mooi: “Dit project is een geweldige kans om beter te laten zien wie je bent en wat je te bieden hebt aan mensen die je bij Seats2meet kan tegenkomen.”

Sella van der Griend, Initiatiefneemster en directeur van het nieuwe onderwijsconcept Happy Kidz realiseerde zich door mee te doen dat ze eigenlijk veel vaker haar verhaal moet vertellen. “Mijn filmpje is ontzettend vaak bekeken. En ik heb ongelooflijk veel reacties gehad. Daarmee ben ik over een drempel geholpen.”

Alle mensen die mee hebben gedaan vertellen over de vaak onverwachte ontmoetingen die ze bij Seats2meet hebben. Zo ontstond door een onverwachte ontmoeting tussen Jurjen de Vries en Samir Lahiri het Permanent Future Lab, een open ruimte waar iedereen kennis kan maken met baanbrekende maar vaak heel eenvoudige technologie en waar iedereen kan ervaren wat de kracht van delen is.

Beter kennen

Delen was ons doel. In korte portretjes laten zien welke inspirerende mensen er bij Seats2meet komen die mooie dingen doen, in verbinding met anderen. Arianne Wienke vertelt over het project: “De videoverhalen zijn mooie persoonlijke verhalen geworden van bekende gezichten binnen S2M030. Hele verschillende verhalen en allemaal bijzonder. Zo leer je je collega-ZP-ers beter kennen en dat in 2 minuten….”

Sanne: “Erg leuk om door middel van tien videoverhalen meer te weten te komen over de achtergrond van deze zelfstandigen en te merken dat de werkomgeving en de ontmoetingen bij Seats2Meet hen stimuleert in hun werk en al veel heeft geboden. Daarnaast vond ik het erg leuk om samen te werken met Arianne en Niels.”

De komende tijd verschijnen er nog een heel aantal nieuwe filmpjes op Facebook en Youtube.

Wil je graag meedoen of heb je eerst nog vragen? Mail mij dan even: niels.schuddeboom@shakingtree.net ook als je denkt: “Gaaf idee, maar ik zie er tegenop.” Want dan is er goed nieuws. Margreet Jacobs, specialist op het gebied van non-verbale communicatie helpt je graag op weg met een beetje coaching. “Video wordt steeds belangrijker en ik doe graag iets terug voor de community van Seats2meet Utrecht.”

 

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A magic door

[deze foto vervangen door video: https://youtu.be/o8V_2k2QtOw?list=PLMtJYYK7hr8C7gpRt-EMWRNzkIoYET3Sq]

A magic door

This tableau shows a gate constructed by some wood in een open field. The gate carries a name tag: “Seats4Silence Ring 3 times”. Behind this gate some people are performing different kind of jobs.

The inspiration of the presentation of the second group at the Seats4silence summit was the image of an open door made by Jan Wolkers when he stayed for a period at Rottumerplaat.

The whole scene symbolizes the transformation one experiences of the self while visiting the Seats4silence platform/ community (‘passing the wooden gate’). Magically  you get access to all your potential talents as a result of the relaxing and inspiring environment.

Like Harry Potter whose talents to bewitch are always there – but magically flourish after passing the wall at stage 9 3/4.

Exactly how Joe Pine describes it in his book about the experience economy. The experience at a Seats4silence location is more than just good service! The guest experiences a better self -feels better and inspired – and becomes familiar with his unknown talents.

The experience already starts at the booking platform. The transformation becomes apparent directly after you decided to work in a different way and you log in to the reservation system. All modes of transport are magically presented to you. You just need to follow the instructions and you are delivered at the desired location. Like Harry Potter who easily travels by chimneys.

The above shows one of the presentations about how Seats4silence looks in 2 years,  at Seats4silence summit last June.

How can we realize this experiences? This group discussed:

Do we need physical entries, rituals or other symbols?
How do we analyze the strength of each location?
How do we analyze the effects different local energies have on your talents?
How can we smoothen the booking experience to become so magical, we can’t resist leaving the city?

What do you think about it?

Do you have any ideas let us know below. Or just visit one of our locations to experience the possibilities yourself. We are curious to your feedback.

 

 

 

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“Het netwerk is nog belangrijker dan de accommodaties”

“Het netwerk van Seats4silence is nog belangrijker dan de accommodaties”

Dat is de uitspraak van de één van de groepen op Seats4silence summit 1 juni jl.

“Het is een netwerk van groene professionals, locatiemanagers en pioniers” 

“De accommodaties in de natuur zijn faciliterend. Het zijn plekken waar je je persoonlijk en professioneel kunt laten inspireren op actuele thema’s. Groene thema’s als permacultuur, voedselbos en lokale economie. Welzijnsthema’s als: gezondheid, zingeving en balans tussen werk en privé.

De netwerken functioneren lokaal en regionaal en zijn online (inter)nationaal verbonden. Live ontmoetingen op de accommodaties in de natuur blijven belangrijk voor inspiratie en samen ontdekken en ontwikkelen.”

De Seats4silence summit op 1 juni 2016 stelde de vraag: “Hoe kan Seats4silence voor alle betrokkenen waardevol zijn?” Natuurliefhebber, flexwerker, trainer, coach, host, uitbater, natuurbeheerder, beleidsmaker, investeerder, en…

De dag is begeleidt door Cees Hoogendijk met Appreciative Inquiry. Dat betekent dat groepen werkten in een aantal stappen. Ontdekken, dromen, ontwerpen en verwezenlijken.

Dit artikel is een kort verslag van de uitwerking van één van de dromen door Adriaan Kodde, Marloes van Oorspronk, Cees Kooij en Joost van Schie.

Spreekt het onderwerp je aan?

De groep wil de droom verder uitwerken. Je bent van harte uitgenodigd om mee te doen. Volg de FB groep Seats4silence Cocreatie.

 

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‘Nederland Werkt Door…’ door TrendWatcher.TV

Ligt Nederland plat in de zomermaanden? Zo lijkt het, maar er wordt volop doorgewerkt. Daarom de komende weken iedere donderdag het TV-programma ‘Nederland werkt door…’ Trendwatchers-duo Lieke en Richard Lamb mogen deze zomer aan hun stamtafel spreken met bedrijven; bestuurders en burgers over de actualiteit, ondernemerschap, trends en innovatie.

“Omdat veel TV-programma’s in de zomer niet uitzenden, zien wij een mooie kans: er zijn zo veel ondernemende Nederlanders die nooit aan bod komen in de andere programma’s. Hun verfrissende kijk op de actualiteit en ook hun innovatieve ideeën zijn bijzonder prikkelend. De positieve energie spat van ze af! In ‘Nederland werkt door…’ hebben we steeds nieuwe verrassende tafelgasten en niet het geijkte rijtje Talking Heads”, aldus Richard Lamb met een knipoog naar Pauw, De Wereld Draait Door en Jinek.

Live vanuit Den Bosch, Leeuwarden, Nijmegen en Beverwijk

Lieke en Richard Lamb strijken met de live-uitzendingen van ´Nederland werkt door…´ (#NLWD) iedere donderdag neer in een andere vestiging van Seats2meet (S2M). In de maand juli zijn dat de gloednieuwe S2M-vestigingen bij Makro in Den Bosch (7 juli), Leeuwarden (14 juli), Nijmegen (21 juli) en Beverwijk (28 juli). Iedere donderdag maken zij daar vanaf 13:00 uur steeds een gezellige live lunch-uitzending. In Beverwijk wordt het een uitzending vanaf 17:00 uur met een netwerkborrel. ´Nederland werkt door…´ is live en na afloop te bekijken via TrendWatcher.TV.

Schuif zelf aan als tafelgast bij #NLWD

Lieke Lamb: “Tijdens de voorbereidingen merken we al dat Nederland bruist van de goede ideeën en prikkelende inzichten. Daarom worden ondernemende Nederlanders uitgenodigd om anderen of zichzelf voor te dragen als tafelgast.” Suggesties – met de hashtags #TrendWatcherTV en #NLWD – kunnen via Twitter gestuurd worden naar @LiekeLamb en @RichardLamb. Via email kan ook: TV@TrendWatcher.com. Via Twitter; Facebook en Linkedin maken Lieke en Richard bekend wie de tafelgasten worden.

#NLWD , wekelijks vanaf donderdag 7 juli

Ondernemende bedrijven, bestuurders en burgers worden uitgenodigd om de uitzendingen in de S2M Makro – vestigingen bij te wonen. De inloop in Den Bosch (7 juli), Leeuwarden (14 juli) en Nijmegen (21 juli) is vanaf 12:30 uur. In Beverwijk (28 juli) vanaf 16:30 uur.

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