Marcel van Marrewijk's Blog, page 40

Je kunt de wind niet bepalen, maar wel de stand van je zeilen

Als zeiler ben ik altijd gefocust op de wind. Het maakt nogal uit hoeveel wind er staat; er moet wel wind zijn, maar niet te veel. Ook wil ik als zeiler de richting van de wind weten. Niet omdat ik alleen daar naartoe kan gaan waar de wind heen waait, maar ik zal me er wel op moeten aanpassen. Alleen al omdat het niet mogelijk is om recht tegen de wind in te varen. Als ik toch die richting op wil, dan zal ik moeten laveren.

Als zeiler leerde ik dus om eerst te kijken naar de omstandigheden (o.a. windkracht en windrichting) en dan te bepalen waar ik heen wil.  Als ik beide weet, kan ik gaan varen én weet ik hoe ik mijn zeilen moet zetten om  op mijn bestemming te komen.

Koers bepalen in je leven

Toen ik dit eenmaal door had, besefte ik dat dit principe ook in de rest van mijn leven toepasbaar is. In ieder leven heb je te maken met omstandigheden die je beïnvloeden, zoals in welk deel van de wereld je woont, wat je financiële situatie is, of je gezond bent en in mijn geval ook mijn lichamelijke handicap. Net zoals ik me met zeilen moet aanpassen aan de wind, zo moet ik mijn leven aanpassen aan mijn handicap. En zo moet ieder ander zijn of haar leven aanpassen aan de omstandigheden van zijn/haar leven. Dit betekent niet dat jij en ik niets in te brengen hebben; ook in het leven kun je een bestemming of doel(en) kiezen.

Zo heb ik als doel om andere mensen te helpen veerkrachtiger te worden. Dit kan ik alleen doen als ik rekening houd met mijn omstandigheden, onder andere met mijn eigen belastbaarheid of de rolstoeltoegankelijkheid van locaties.  Ook kan ik bekijken of mijn omstandigheden ook positief kunnen uitwerken, bijvoorbeeld dat mensen geïnspireerd raken door mijn manier van met mijn handicap omgaan om zelf veerkrachtiger te worden.

Laveren door het leven

Ook kan het zijn dat ik, net zoals met zeilen, soms moet laveren omdat in een rechte lijn op  m’n bestemming of doel afgaan niet altijd mogelijk is. Ik zal me  dus  moeten aanpassen aan de omstandigheden, zonder mijn doel(en) uit het oog te verliezen.  Zo kies ik er dus voor om mensen niet bij hun thuis te begeleiden, omdat er teveel woningen niet rolstoeltoegankelijk zijn, maar dit staat me niet in de weg om mijn doel te bereiken. Het vraagt alleen om een andere invulling van dit doel, namelijk dat mensen naar mij toe komen.

Het komt er eigenlijk op neer dat ik het roer van mijn leven in eigen handen neem. Wil jij dat ook? Dat kan, want het is voor een deel te leren. Onderdeel hiervan is dat je oog hebt voor je omstandigheden en  weet om te gaan met beperkingen en mogelijkheden. Hoe je dat kunt doen leer ik je bij mijn workshop ‘Beperkingen en mogelijkheden’.  Je ontdekt hoe je kunt laveren in je eigen leven aan de hand van een voorbeeld uit je eigen leven.

Praktisch

De workshop vindt plaats op vrijdag 20 september a.s. om 15.30 uur bij Seats2meet op Utrecht CS. Iedereen die zin heeft is welkom om deel te nemen aan deze gratis workshop. Aansluitend is er een borrel waarbij we nog even kunnen napraten over het geleerde of gewoon gezellig kunnen samenzijn.

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De Toekomst voorspel je zó!

Zaterdag 5 oktober 2019 // 13:00 uur // Seats2meet.com Utrecht

Op uitnodiging van Ronald van den Hoff en Marielle Sijgers (Founding Partners van Seat2meet.com) presenteren Lieke en Richard Lamb (hét TrendWatchers-duo van Nederland) bij Seats2meet.com een inspirerende masterclass…

De Toekomst voorspel je zó!

Wanneer en Waar?

Zaterdag 5 oktober bij Seats2meet.com in Utrecht.

Inloop vanaf 13:00 uur. Scroll Down voor het programma.

Moreelsepark 65, 3511EP Utrecht

Er zijn parkeerplaatsen onder het gebouw en het is vlak bij station Utrecht Centraal.

Wie en Wat?

Lieke en Richard Lamb, TrendStrateeg; Futuroloog en Innovatie-ambassadeur sinds 1989. Samen vormen zij hét TrendWatchers-duo van Nederland. Ze zijn veelvuldig in de media met hun TrendsVerwachtingen. Zaterdag 5 oktober schetsen zij samen met de aanwezigen een betrouwbaar toekomstbeeld voor…

…jouw organisatie

…jouw branche

…jouw persoonlijke toekomst

…jouw unieke idee

Een volle middag nemen zij je mee in het hoe en wat van visies; voorspellingen; strategie en vooruitkijken. Deze bijeenkomst is geschikt voor iedereen die het leuk vindt om na te denken over zijn of haar toekomst. Iedereen kan aanschuiven (open inschrijving). Of je nou als ondernemer; manager; bestuurder belangstelling hebt vanuit je zakelijke achtergrond of als privépersoon.

Waarom?

In 2019 is het 30 jaar geleden dat Richard Lamb als Trend Strateeg en Futuroloog zijn visie op de toekomst begon uit te dragen. Dit wordt gevierd met deze unieke MasterClass ‘De Toekomst voorspel je zó!’ op zaterdag 5 oktober 2019 in Utrecht. Lieke en Richard Lamb zullen laten zien hoe je voortaan zélf trends kunt spotten en vertalen naar kansen, zowel bedrijfsmatig als privé.

Ook zullen zij deze middag laten zien hoe zij sinds 1989 betrouwbare voorspellingen doen en bijvoorbeeld de financiële crisis plus het jarenlange economische zaagtandherstel konden voorspellen alsook de winst van Donald Trump; de uitfasering van het gasnet; de komst van de iPad etc. etc.

Programma

13:00 uur Inloop

13:30 uur Aanvang TrendBattle

14:30 uur BigBrainstorm met het TODO Model

16:30 uur Persoonlijke TrendsVerwachtingen

17:00 uur Afronding met Drinks & Bites

Na de inspirerende TrendBattle door Lieke en Richard Lamb ga je samen met hen aan de slag met het TODO Model dat zij in de loop der jaren ontwikkelden om een betrouwbaar toekomstbeeld te schetsen voor…

…jouw organisatie (Wat doet jouw organisatie over x jaar?)

…jouw branche (Hoe zien bepaalde sectoren er over x jaar uit?)

…jouw persoonlijke toekomst (Wat doe jij over x jaar?)

…jouw idee (is jouw zakelijke of maatschappelijke idee kansrijk?)

Meld je nu aan voor deze unieke MasterClass!

Tijdens deze MasterClass is er volop gelegenheid om persoonlijk met Lieke en Richard Lamb van gedachten te wisselen over jouw TrendsVerwachting. Zij gunnen je ook een kijkje in hun gereedschapskist waarmee zij zelf de toekomst voorspellen.

Natuurlijk kan je ook samen met collega’s; (zaken)vrienden of familieleden inschrijven. Dan kan je samen aan de slag kan gaan om een toekomstbeeld (voor jullie groepje) te schetsen. En dan zeg ook jij na afloop…

“De Toekomst voorspel je zó!”

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4 Reasons To Find A Side Hustle, Filipino Perspective

Side hustles are all the rage right now. In major parts of the world, the gig economy continues to rise, and is well on its way to completely transforming the modern workforce. But for many Filipinos, this side hustle thing is no new or passing trend. Filipinos have been working a “raket” (or three) long before our western counterparts caught on, and these odd, side jobs are here to stay.

It’s no big surprise, given the general state of things in our little corner of the globe where expenses continue to rise, wages remain stagnant, and a myriad other economic considerations abound. As many as 8 out of 10 Filipinos work a side hustle, and if you’re one of the two others who haven’t picked up a side hustle yet, here are four reasons to consider hopping on the side gig bandwagon.

More Income

When you can’t spend less, earn more. 

And when you constantly find yourself living paycheck to paycheck, with barely anything left for your emergency funds (not to mention the well-deserved treat-yo-self uh, treat), it’s definitely time to have a look at other money-making efforts.

Side hustles bring in extra income, and the additional money you earn can make all the difference on your finances. If your day job paycheck is only (barely) enough to cover your bills and basic expenses, your raket money can now fund your savings and investments, your emergency funds, and the occasional reward for all your hard work. 

If you’ve ever despaired about the state of your savings account (or lack thereof) while religiously promising yourself you’d start saving up when you’re earning more, a side hustle will give you just that. 

With the added income, you can actually use your money for the things you want. 

Instead of just imagining a relaxing beach vacation, you can now actually start saving up for that fantasy getaway and actually make that dream come true. Rather than waiting until you’re a big shot executive (not always a guarantee, in today’s unstable job market) to buy your parents the retirement home they deserve, you now have some money to set aside toward realizing that goal. 

And when (knock on wood) something unfortunate unexpectedly happens, like a job loss or an accident, you can be secure in the knowledge that you’ll still have funds to fall back on because you were able to shore some up, thanks to your raket.

The few extra pesos you earn from your side hustles can really change your whole financial situation, and picking up that first raket is a solid step toward the financial independence we’re all aiming for.

Build Skills

Side hustles are rife with opportunities to improve yourself – financially, professionally, and personally.

Although most people take a second job primarily for monetary reasons, there’s no denying that it’s also a good chance to hone your skills, whether it’s polishing the ones you already have (by taking a side gig in your own field), or cultivating new ones (by going into a totally different trade). 

Some hustlers recommend getting a raket that aligns with your day job. The similarities between tasks mean you’ll be working with what you already have, and you’ll surely benefit from the practice and resources you get from both. 

For example, if you work as a writer for your day job in a newspaper, working as a copywriter for a beauty company’s social media campaign means that you get to improve both your technical and creative writing skills.

On the other hand, others recommend finding a side gig that’s somewhat – or totally – different from your regular job so you don’t overtax your skills and burn out. 

There are certainly advantages to this approach, too. One, doing just one thing (in the example, writing) over and over can get tedious, and the monotony can hamper your work flow – which can get you in trouble, especially if you’re in a creative industry or in a line of work that requires constantly coming up with something new. 

Going into a different industry can also be a breath of fresh air, and having to learn a new trade also gives you versatility, which is a skill highly valued in today’s workforce. You also expand and diversify your network more easily in this way.

Whichever works for your particular situation, whether you prefer staying in your comfort zone and perfecting what you’re already good at, or branching out and developing new skills and making new contacts, side hustling can greatly hone not only your professional and technical skills, but also your personality and character.

Gain Security

The rule of thumb is: never put all your eggs in one basket.

Job insecurity is a serious and worsening issue in the modern workforce, which is further exacerbated by, among other things, local and global economic problems. Gone are the days when staying in the same job from graduation to retirement was the way to go. 

These days, job hopping has become one way to stay ahead of the game, in terms of earning a competitive salary, having a higher job title, and keeping your skills up to par. In these uncertain times, side hustling can be your safety net.

Side hustling diversifies your income so you have more than one source of paycheck. Not only does this mean you make more money, but it also means that you’ll have other incomes to keep you going should something happen to you or your primary paycheck. 

Having multiple sources of money adds a layer of security that one paycheck alone can’t provide, no matter how lucrative said paycheck can be – more so if it’s not a particularly fat check. The financial independence also empowers you in the long run, so there is less pressure on you to stick around at a dead-end job because you’re worried you can’t provide for yourself or your dependents. 

Big Break

Google. Facebook. Apple. These are the raket fairy tales come true.

Once upon a time, these multi-billion-dollar tech giants were humble side gigs. The people behind these household names quietly toiled away in the wee hours after work, or during breaks between classes. But as the story goes, with hard work and savviness, the right connections, and a smidgen of good luck, these side hustles grew into the powerful empires we know today.

And while not all side hustles are destined for greatness, your raket can still be your own happily-ever-after. 

The bakery you’ve always dreamed of opening up can start as a few small batches of cupcakes or cookies – little pastries you sell a few times a week to your coworkers while you figure out a schedule and save up the capital to make larger batches of sweets until you’re comfortable enough to strike out on your own. 

The novel you’ve always wanted to publish can be just a few chapters you chip away at here and there on your breaks or after work. 

The clothing empire you someday hope to build can start with a few pieces you sell to your friends, or at a few weekend bazaars every once in a while.

With dedication and commitment not only to creating quality outputs but also in cultivating a relevant network, as well as rearranging your circumstances to allow these things to happen, your little passion projects can also blossom into your own entrepreneurial empire.

Side hustles are all the rage right now, and for very good reasons. They bring in extra income, they build up your skills and personality, they bring an added layer of financial security, and they could potentially be your big break. So if you haven’t picked up a raket yet, it’s definitely time to make the switch.

And one great way to ensure the success of your side hustle is by finding the right environment to work in. Coworking spaces in business districts, like the Ortigas-based WeRemote, are valuable resources for freelancers or startups because they provide a well-designed environment, a place that’s specifically structured to allow maximum productivity while also giving you the chance to network with potential partners and clients. 

Coworking spaces also offer different setups for different office needs, like an office lease that works well for a startup, or a seat lease that perfectly suits the solo freelancer. If you need a conducive environment for your side hustle(s), coworking spaces are definitely worth checking out. 

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Nice2Meet: Urban Monkeys Robin Slagter & Jos Herman

Recently we have introduced you Urban Monkeys – a concept of doing fitness wherever you are, which fits most of our busy schedules!

Today we would like you to meet Robin Slagter & Jos Herman – the coaches of Urban Monkeys.

Watch the interview below to get to know what brought Robin and Jos to sports and fitness.

 

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Meet SPEAK – a global community for social inclusion

Maybe it’s the first time you are hearing about SPEAK. However SPEAK is already in 12 European cities and recently arrived to Utrecht and Amsterdam.

SPEAK was founded in 2014 in Portugal with the mission to integrate migrants and refugees in new cities where they live. It’s estimated 260 million international migrants globally are in need of integration services. Among others, one of the barriers to inclusion, includes language and culture.

SPEAK is an impact venture helping to solve a key challenge: social exclusion of migrants and refugees.

The main activities of SPEAK are language and culture exchange, as well as community organized events.

Anyone can be part of SPEAK world – as participants of language programs and events; as volunteers to teach their language or organize cultural events.

In an informal offline environments, participants learn and share common interests, help each other and promote comprehension and cooperation among all.

 

SPEAK has some differentiators:

Participants are the change makers– Through offline meetings, participants become more aware of the ‘other’ and their culture, in this way they break stigmas, barriers and make new friendships
The experience is community based – the community is the solution: Participants are the ones helping others by teaching a language or organizing events
Learning a language is not an end on its own – SPEAK uses the need or motivation to learn a language as mean to connect newcomers with locals
Uses technology for impact – SPEAK was built with the objective of scaling impact through technology following a Online2Offline model

This way, SPEAK helps participants to meet other people and feel integrated in the city they live.

Learn a new language and culture while also making new friends It’s the way SPEAK promotes equality, inclusion and diversity.

You also can be part!

Join SPEAK and Share Your World!

For sign up: www.speak.social

 

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No time for fitness? Get fit right in the office!

“Between commuting, work, family, the household and socialising there are a million obstacles that could keep you from exercising. Although all the benefits of exercise are well known to you, you just don’t do it. You lack the time, you don’t feel you fit in at the gym or you might think you look a fool in sport clothes. Urban Monkeys offers you a solution that is as simple as it is genius: Fitness at work.

Any space can be an Urban Monkey gym! At Urban Monkeys we make fitness functional for you. Sounds great right? And the best is yet to come: we offer all the above wherever there is an abundance of space and at convenient times. Whether it’s at the start of your workday, during your lunch break or after a long day of work. We can turn any space into our gym and you can join in on training right at your workplace or community.”

Let us introduce you Urban Monkeys – a partner of Seats2meet, who has found a solution to the problem that bothers the majority of us: how to find the time and space for sports and fitness?

A while ago Urban Monkeys ran a pilot with a serious of trainings that took place in S2m Utrecht CS location every Thursday evening. Each training included a set of targeted exercises that were easy to perform for anybody, yet very intense and effective so that in a short time you could already achieve good results. All trainings were guided by professional fitness coaches from Urban Monkeys and all the necessary equipment was provided as well. All you had to do after a busy working day was to put on your best fitness clothes and prepare to sweat… right in the office!

On the pictures below you can see the whole Utrecht Seats2meet team exercising together after a busy day at work! How cool is that?!

Check out Urban Monkeys to join the community and stay updated for the next pilot!

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Nice2Meet: Victor and Drazen, co-founders of TyTa app

We are happy to have a word with co-founders of TyTa, Victor and Drazen and learn more about how the idea of TyTa came into place. TyTa is a knowledge sharaing app for students, which allows them to easily find a student tutor and excel in their studies.

Victor was born in Ghana and came to Holland with his family when he was 6 years old. His main goal back then was to succeed in school. He followed the whole educational system in the Netherlands starting from primary school. Victor and Drazen met in high school, following Beta oriented study program. Later on, they followed the same course at the university, econometrics.

Drazen: We are currently both active in the Financial sector, however we have also always wanted to help improve the educational system. We’ve noticed during our studies that students have a very tough time. Especially for internationals, managing all the things is very hard. We ourselves have succeeded in our studying by helping each other out. Me and Victor have a common need to try to help students and to improve the educational system. During the times when everyone is using their smartphones and has an access to the internet, the sharing economy is becoming more and more widespread and we want to do something with this idea.

Victor: If students make up their mind to help each other, then they can succeed together, and we want to be an embodiment of that. When I was a student, I was tutoring myself. So, the idea of students helping each other has been with us from the beginning.

For international students coming from another country into the new educational system, things are not always easy, these students need help and it is sometimes difficult to find this help, since other students are also busy with their stuff. That’s why we created TyTa – to change the mindset of students from been very self centred to helping each other out, and this can really uplift the whole education system.

Drazen: And with the help of an app, you’re literally one step away from getting help or helping.

Victor: It’s actually 3 things – 1st – students can help each other out – you don’t have to be a full fledged professor to be able to share knowledge, the students can also do that. We believe in the concept “Sharing is caring” – helping each other out and not being self-centred. The last thing is technology, which we see is really improving by time, so why not use it for the goal of making education more accessible for all students?

When did the idea of creating TyTa come to your mind?

Drazen: During our study time we were not satisfied with how things were going and we had to do it the hard way. When we graduated, everything worked out well. We started working, but we always had an idea at the back of our minds to create something which was not there – enabling students to help each other out.

Victor: With that in mind, in 2016 we got together. We thought that the jobs which we were doing at the moment were great and we would love to keep doing it, but we would also love to do something on the side, which would contribute to the educational system. That’s when it all started.

Of course, it’s not a charity work as you, as a student, get money for helping out. What we want to achieve with TyTa is to change the mindset that you can only learn from a professor and that we can really learn from each other.

How does the app work?

Drazen: TyTa app is very easy to use – you download the app, create a student or a tutor profile, or both. As a student, you send a request, and as a tutor you react to this request. When you’re matched, you can start with the tutoring. That’s the basic concept. We have a lot of specific features – like a timer which monitors how much time the student has been tutored, chat function, calendar.

Victor: What is cool is the whole idea of being able to easily find someone who will be able to help you out with a subject. There are just a few simple steps you have to follow – you log into the app, you create your own profile, which is visible to the other parties. After that, if you need help with, let’s say, mathematics you just choose this subject and you specify how you want to follow the course. Do you want to follow it on location or online? When do you want to follow it? Do you want to follow it asap?

We imagine that there are some students who have exams soon and want to start right now. Then just send the request out and let the magic happen – there are a lot of students out there willing to help you out. For example, if you stated that you need help asap, then the students out there would read your request and see what’s your issue is. For example, you need help in the next three days because you have a big exam coming up and it’s about Calculous, and there is a student who reads it and who can help you. Next, this student replies to you stating his or her offer and it’s on you to choose the best deal.

After you’ve chosen, it’s a match and you’re ready to go!

For more info, please visit TyTa’s website

 

 

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Toevallige ontmoeting met een kikker

Als fan van Seats2meet ben ik natuurlijk gek op serendipiteit, oftewel onverwachte (toevallige), maar relevante ontmoetingen en kansen. Hier moest ik aan denken toen ik laatst in het bos iets raars tegenkwam.

Ik ga regelmatig hardlopen en wandelen. Voor mij is dat de perfecte manier om na te denken, creatief te worden en soms ook frustratie uit mijn systeem te halen.

Meestal loop ik volgens de aangegeven goed begaanbare routes.

Soms niet. Zoals laatst. Ik ging dwars door het bos.

En dan kun je gekke dingen tegenkomen.

Toen ik het bos bijna uitliep hing daar ineens een stenen kikker tegen een boom. Zijn ene arm achter zijn hoofd, de andere op zijn buik. Hij had zijn ogen dicht en lag in een heel relaxte houding. Ik was best verbaasd.

Rare dingen doen het goed voor verhalen. Bij de koffiemachine op kantoor, in het weekend bij een feestje of als opening van je presentatie. Waarom hing die kikker daar? Wie had die daar tegen de boom gespijkerd? Wilde het bos mij iets vertellen? Het zou zomaar een mooi inzicht kunnen opleveren. En toch zeker een leuk gesprek.

Sta eens stil bij de dingen die je meemaakt en de mensen die je tegenkomt.

Koester de verhalen.

Het hoeven geen grootse dingen te zijn.

De kleine of juist gekke dingen geven vaak de mooiste verhalen.

Gebruik ze gerust in je presentaties. Mensen horen graag persoonlijke dingen. Ook (of misschien vooral) als het een beetje absurd is. Wijk af van de gebaande paden. Als ik de route had gevolgd, was ik die gekke kikker in ieder geval nooit tegengekomen!

Wil jij meer toevallige relevante ontmoetingen?

Lees dan deze 5 tips voor meer serendipiteit.

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Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Whose Eye Do You Trust?

With Vincent van Gogh it only takes two words to make headlines: money and fake. The art market has seen plenty of both.

When Christie’s London sold a van Gogh Sunflowers back in March 1987 for a then fantastic auction record of $39,921,750.

Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company of Tokyo, the buyer, proudly displayed the prestige work in their art gallery and reportedly gave the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam £20 million as a token of gratitude for all the business goodwill the painting brought them.

But these days there’s trouble in paradise. Today, cries of fake plague Yasuda’s Sunflowers, the first of three van Gogh paintings that rocketed to auction records at the end of the go-go 1980’s. All three have since faced special problems.

After Sunflowers, Irises brought a new roaring $53,900,000 auction record at Sotheby’s in New York City on November 11, 1987. Here the question was not fakery, just money. Australian tycoon Alan Bond could not repay the loan Sotheby’s gave him to buy the painting, and finally the Getty Museum bought Irises from the auction house for an undisclosed sum a few years later.

Credits to Public Domain

The third van Gogh market meteor, Portrait of Dr. Gachet, became a somewhat different kind of money problem. It sold at Christie’s on May 15, 1990, for the incredible auction record of $82,500,000 to Japanese industrialist Ryoei Saito, who said he was so happy, he felt as if he had died and gone to heaven, which he subsequently did, unfortunately leaving Dr. Gachet in the hands of the banking interests that loaned him the money to buy it.

No one dreamed in the 1980’s that the Yasuda Sunflowers, untouched by money problems, would one day be attacked as a fake, erupting into a battle of the headlines that’s raging today.

It’s true, of course, that van Gogh’s short life (1853-1890), his prodigious unsold output, his lack of provenance and inventory lists, made his work ripe for rip-offs, and there were some well-known ones when his fame finally hit after he died. Sunflowers was not one of them.

Complicating matters, van Gogh also had a generous habit of copying his own paintings as gifts, including a Sunflowersgift copy for his artist friend Paul Gauguin, a big van Gogh admirer and collector. Altogether there are said to be ten or 11 different genuine van Gogh Sunflowerspaintings, depending on whom you talk to. The actual flower was vitally important to van Gogh near the end of his life, and he painted a lot of them in different arrangements.

The fascinating thing about the current Yasuda Sunflowers charges and countercharges is that every time the word fake appears in a news headline or TV show, lots of people around the world take it as absolute gospel. Even in stories that are long on accusation and short on proof. And it’s not just in big art centers like London, Paris, or New York. News services pick up the story, and people hear about it in towns across America. American schoolchildren might not know the Yasuda Sunflowers, but they do know van Gogh cut off part of his own ear and painted Starry Night.

Credits to Public Domain

Americans love van Gogh. They’ve seen the movie. They empathize with his short, troubled life. They drool over the multimillions paid since for pictures the penniless painter could only give away while he lived. And this fall they’ll pack the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., for the upcoming “Van Gogh’s Van Goghs” exhibition from October 4, 1998, to January 3, 1999.

This unprecedented loan of 70 van Goghs from the Van Gogh Museum will hang out in Washington while the Amsterdam museum renovates its building. Starting Sunday, August 30, up to six free passes per person can be picked up at the National Gallery in Washington; or tickets can be ordered from TicketMaster or Hecht department stores for a service charge of $2.75 each, plus an additional $1.25 per order for those orders that are mailed. A traveler’s tip: during renovation, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam will be closed from about September 1998 through May 1999.

Yasuda’s now controversial Sunflowerswill not join the crowd in Washington. It is expected to stay in Tokyo, fending off the accusations of fakery, which have been in high gear since last year. As the battle of the headlines has heated up, art journalists and reporters have not been above sniping at each other in print. It’s been quite a brawl.

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Coworking and Youth Development in a Remote Village of Bangladesh

A while ago we have already introduced you to Fahad Bin Husne Ali, who is the location manager of the first Seats2meet location in Bangladesh.

Here we would like to share his blog with you to get to know the story of the first coworking in a rural area of Bangladesh in more details.

Fahad Bin Husne Ali: “I have set up our Seats2meet location in my village which is one of the most remote villages in the world. In our village, less than 1 per cent of people know how to use computers. Students are learning ICT and tech just in books with no practical knowledge at all. 

I got in touch with the founder of Seats2meet Mr Ronald van Den Hoff, who helped me to find ways to start solving the problems of our village. It was very challenging for me at the beginning since I have never experienced social entrepreneurship before. However, I worked as an initiator of a movement called permanent future lab where we used to share knowledge and the newest technological innovations with each other. So that helped me a lot in setting up a coworking space with a social purpose behind. Ronald advised me to start teaching computer science to villagers, to initiate social movements to make people aware of new world eco-system and everything that will help society to evolve and develop.

So I finally decide to start the action. First of all, finding a suitable space for a coworking was not easy. Since we do not have any office spaces in our village we literally had to create one ourselves. We found an old storehouse of bricks, cleaned it, coloured it, bought a table and some chairs, projectors, two computers and a floor mat. It took us 7 days of hard work to turn it into a nice-looking office-like space.    

After setting up the location we started running campaigns in schools to get people aware of our movement.

We fixed a date for our grand opening and started preparations. I knew it would not be easy to get people for our opening party because most of our villagers were uneducated and unaware of the global trends such as coworking.

Nevertheless, we still did our best. We wrote letters to officials and villagers, teachers and students and delivered each of them personally by going door to door. We rented out a big hall room for the day. And the most impressive part of it was that the chairman of our Union didn’t ask any money for it! It was a great sign of support for us. 

We prepared food and water for those who will visit us.

More than 200 people came to our opening! We could not even think of such a success! Almost all the officials were there: Education officer, Social development officer, Police Inspector, politician… and of course many villagers were there to attend the program.

I took the floor and explained our goals behind the opening of a coworking location, about the idea of “growing together by helping each other”. People loved it because they knew that was going to be something our village needed so much.”

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