rotterdam community meeting aka offline xing / linkedin / ecademy meeting was GREAT!

wooooooow! what a night! what a meeting! more than 200 networking people have visited our little offline get together in grand café engels in rotterdam! 'lotsov' connections, deals and more were made.

and yes! manon hofstra honoured us with her visit and the design for the rotterdam community logo. i'm rpoud to present you the new logo:

(taaaaaaaaaadddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa)




see how it's used @ xing and our own website!

rotterdam community meeting aka offline xing / linkedin / ecademy meeting = tomorrow!

tomorrow we have our great rotterdam community meeting aka offline xing / linkedin / ecademy meeting in grand café engels near the central trainstation of rotterdam. you are more than welcome to join us!

if you have any questions feel free to contact me!

hope to see you there!

@gar


ps tomorrow we hope to reveal our new logo designed by our design goddess manon hofstra of dare to design! :D

technorati labels: rotterdam community, rotterdamcommunity.nl. manon hofstra, dare to design. sacha soeters, johan brekelmans, frans van der meer, etiënne petit, edgar neo,

sprout's challenger day 2007 holladijee!

i'm going to the sprout challengerday 2007! just received the confirmation!

i was very apalled by 'we're gonna teach the big boys a lesson'.

i hope that during the day i hear more of such language and meet the challngers who really think they can...

maybe we can invest in them too!

job ten bosch and lars duursma of debatrix in nrc handelsblad with an 'how to' on geert wilders

today i had a meeting with job ten bosch from debatrix (here with nard buijs) @ the urban espresso bar in the heart of rotterdam. it was fun! and i had the pleasure to see his face when i could get his hands on the nrc newspaper of today.

he and his fellow associate lars duursma are featured in a (weekly) column in the nrc. nrc is 1 of holland's biggest newspaper. they kicked off with a 'how to'. the how to is on how to react on somebody like geert wilders and the anti-islamic view of this dutch politician. i'm very curious on what topic there next 1 is....


(available only in dutch i'm afraid)

ps: yes that is fatima moreiro de melo in behind nard ;) )

technorati labels: job ten bosch, lars duursma, nrc, nrc next, geert wilders, debatrix, debat trcs, debate, debat, debatteren, debatten, nederlands debat instituut, geert wilders, overtuigen, debatteren leren, marcel van dam,

starting up @ BViT

yesterday i had a pretty frantic day with a rocky start.

and too much appointments, too little time.

this morning i had a much relaxter start @ BViT. having coffee and having a look @ the new connections being made in the last couple of days.

the day isn't over. but so far so goodbusinesscards, ;)

@gar




technorati labels: BViT, startup, starting up, morning, edgar neo, lotsov, coffee, businesscards, network, networking, adminstration,

announcement for a new offline xing / linkedin / ecademy/ rotterdam community meeting 11th of october 2007

a few minutes ago i received a conformation email of sacha soeters (1 of the co organisers of the rotterdam community meetings) that we are more than welcome to host a new offline xing / linkedin / ecademy/ rotterdam community meeting the 11th of october 2007 in grand café engels. thanx sacha!

later on i will post the invititaion and details on this meeting!

@gar





on behalf of the rotterdam community organisation

sacha soeters (tout passe partout) - https://www.xing.com/profile/sacha_soeters/
johan brekelmans (finovion) - https://www.xing.com/profile/johan_brekelmans/
frans v/d meer (vdmi)- https://www.xing.com/profile/frans_vandermeer/
etienne petit (polderspace) - https://www.xing.com/profile/etienne_petit2/
edgar neo (lotsov) - https://www.xing.com/profile/edgar_neo/


technorati labels: offline xing, linkedin, ecademy, rotterdam community, meeting, sacha soeters, frans van der meer, johan brekelmans, etienne petit, manon hofstra, edgar neo, dare to design, tout passe partout, polderspace, vmdi, lotsov, finovion, engels, grandcafé engels,

it's official: i'm the mentor of stichting frequency foundation rotterdam

today i had a meeting with the founders of stichting frequency foundation rotterdam, bureau mentorraad of the obr @ my virtual office (the orange flagshipstore in the centre of rotterdam). and after a very pleasant meeting we signed a contract with eachother. so now it's official: i'm the mentor of stichting frequency foundation rotterdam!

as i see it now i think we can join forces and rock the world together!

ps i will post some more info about this foundation later on.


Technorati labels: stichting frequency, frequency foundation, carmen fernandez, edgar neo, lotsov, mentorraad, mentor raad, obr, ontwikkelingsbedrijf rotterdam,

emerce enight 2007: a party like it's 1999 too!

after my early departure on the emerce eday 2007 and after a short visit i payed @ the sso masterclass, i headed back to the emerce eNight @ the thalia.

i instantly had a flashback to the mid-end 90's.
people were ordering champagne again and felt like celebrating and partying like it was 1999 too!

clearly not my kind of party!
block rocking beats, arrogant people, airheads, internetentrepreneurialish wannabe's - who were trying to lure me into investing my network, money and more in their new plans for world domination. don't get me wrong i have no problem with people looking for seedmoney / venture capital. but not when you're pitching pissed, jelling in my ear and have no clue where you're talking about!
my tip for them was:
follow the workshop of boris and paul: strategic venture capital funding first and talk to me later).

some where kissing my ass with the remark 'that with my promotion to clustermanager of the most successful incubator of europe (and after the 1 in china, the best of the world, called BViT.) i as a mentee of bob stumpel exceeded him by far! WHATEVER! thanX for the compliment. but i see it a bit differently!


technorati labels: venture capital, seed money, seedmoney, venture, capital, successful incubator, incubator, BViT, caballero fabriek, caballerofabriek, cabfab, startend ondernemer den haag, startend ondernemer rotterdam, startend ondernemer amsterdam, starten in den haag, starten in rotterdam, starten in alkmaar, starten in amsterdam, starten in den helder, starten in leiden, bvit, bvit innovatienetwerk, innovatiecluster, incubator, startersadvies, edgar neo, pim de bokx, toon buddingh', xlx, starters advies, emerce eday 2007, emerce eday, bvit, de ondernemers, den haag, edgar neo, hbo, incubator, incubator services, incubators, incubatorservice, jongeren, lotsov, xlx, boris veldhuijzen van zanten, fleck.com, fleck, paul zekveld, rené jansen, winkwaves, winkwaves.com, stage, social, social enterprise, emerce, eday, emerce eday, emerce enight 2007,

emerce eday 2007!

today i'm visiting the emerce eday. i

first started as a listener @ the waddameeting 'strategic venture capital finding' by boris veldhuijzen van zanten & paul zekveld,
than i was as a speaker on the subject
'incubation' (since i've started as the clustermanager @ bvit - which is the best incubator formula after the 1 in china :D ) people are inviting me for lectures on this subject too. and now i am listening to a really interesting story by rené jansen of winkwaves.com. it is about being social online. great subject and rené is a true evangelist and expert on this subject!


UPDATE 17:13

pfoe! i'm deadbeat tired!
after all my conclusion is:
lotsov bla bla! boris, paul and rené were the best parts of the day!

emerce eday 2007.... an internetparty like it's 1999!

now i'm off to my xing / linkedin / ecademy rotterdam community organisation meeting



technorati labels: emerce eday 2007, emerce eday, bvit, de ondernemers, den haag, edgar neo, hbo, incubator, incubator services, incubators, incubatorservice, jongeren, lotsov, xlx, boris veldhuijzen van zanten, fleck.com, fleck, paul zekveld, rené jansen, winkwaves, winkwaves.com, stage, social, social enterprise, emerce, eday, emerce eday, emerce eday 2007,

today it's xlx day! again! xlx zadkine to be precise!

today i will be the host of the entrepreneurs game called xlx. it will be played @ a school called zadkine. i am very curious of te quality of the students....

update 17:31:

what a energy! after a very bumpy start and lots of necessary improvising we generated quite a bunch of cool businessideas!

update 17:39:

the photo's of the xlx @ zadkine are posted @ flickr.com!

technorati labels: xlx, de ondernemers, ondernemen, ondernemers, ondernemers bv, ondernemers assen, ritzo, ronald, laura, richard, lykle, de ondernemers, oq test, nationale oq test, ondernemersprijs, mon3aan, kpn, den haag, bvit, edgar neo, lotsov, starten in den haag, lerenondernemen.nl, reïntegratie, vmbo, mbo, hbo, universiteit, jongeren, microkrediet, micro krediet, micor onderneming, incubatorservice, incubator services, incubator, incubators,

emerce 2007 here i come!

it's official!

today i received all the conformations i needed for the emerce eDay + eNight 2007 edition! i'll start the day with the strategic venture capital funding workshop / meeting hosted by my dear friend and colleague serial entrepreneur boris veldhuijzen van zanten en paul zekveld :D

i feel like a little kid waiting for his birthday to come!
hipperdeppip! hurrah! emerce 2007 here i come!

technorati labels: emerce eday, emerce, eday, emerce eday 2007, eday 2007, boris veldhuijzen van zanten, serial entrepreneur, strategic venture capital funding, edgar neo, lotsov, BViT, capital investment,

open office @ bvit / caballero fabriek the hague holland14th of september 2007

ever wondered how the most succesful incubator of europe (and after china the best of the world) , BViT, looks like @ the inside? and how the city of the hague transformed an old cigarette manufacturing plant the caballero fabriek (caballero factory) in 1 of the most booming creative crossmedia hubs of the netherlands? than feel welcome and visit us this 14th of september.
from 14.00 h - 17.00 h we'll have our open office together with 45 other entrepreneurs @ the caballerofabriek. feel free to drop by and join us when we having drinks @ BViT...

drop me a line @ edgar [at] BViT [dot] net subject: save me a glass ;)

interview on radiostation called den haag fm (the hague fm)

within the hour i'll have an interview on the local radiostation called den haag fm (the hague fm). the interview is about the open office of the 'caballerofabriek' (caballero factory), the caballero fabriek itself and the role of BViT as europe's most succesful incubator for starting enterprises....

den haag fm has has his studio on 1 of the most beautiful sites of the hague, called haagsche bluf, in the heart of the city.

if you want to you can listen to me being interviewed from 1800 h - 1900 h @ 92.0 fm or by cable @ 92.9 and via denhaagfm.com. in case you missed the show you listen later on via this link:
http://live-wm.residentie.net/users/stadsomr/windows/mp3/dhfm920/200709111800.mp3

technorati labels: zware kost, den haag fm, edgar neo, interview, bvit, cabfab, caballero fabriek, caballerofabriek, cluster, starten in den haag, ondernemer den haag, startend ondernemer, startend ondernemer den haag, goedkoop huren den haag, goedkope bedrijfsruimte, bedrijfsruimte huren,

trackback link via sprout: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/23356/21511525

the hub NL foundation finally founded!

i almost forgot! the hub foundation NL is live!
and of course we celebrated with champagne :D (excellent choice job!)!

for more info about the hub rotterdam and the hub amsterdam check their weblogs:

- the hub rotterdam
- the hub amsterdam

see this post in dutch on sprout´s goodblog

kjkoster.org welcome to the family!

because we are running the BViT incubator as a family (because we believe in clustered incubation being a part of our succes formula), we ask every future familymember to give a presentation / tell more about themselves and their business. today kees jan koster of kjkoster.org gave a presentation.

after his presentation (which was 1 of the most hilarious i´d seen since a long time :D ) we voted. and starting today we can say:

kjkoster.org welcome to the family!


see flickr for more photo´s

Freedom Management by Chantal Klaver 3SSb

vandaag kreeg ik een mailtje van chantal klaver van 3ssb, een waanzinnig mooi stuk! een mooier compliment kun je als organisator niet krijgen. ik wilde dat ik 1% van haar schrijverstalent had ;)

het is in het engels maar ik wilde jullie het niet onthouden!

enjoy!

@

Freedom Management by Chantal Klaver (3SSB)

Rain was sadly dropping from the trees. The 26th of July. You would have expected better weather. Especially because it was the kick of for Summer Carnival in Rotterdam. Privileged of being invited to the Xing Rotterdam Community summer meeting, I went happily to see old contacts again. But who could have guessed this evening would be a turning point in my life…

The old contacts were there, of course. But at a Xing meeting, in the environment of the Maas Beach, sensual music and beautiful people, the unexpected could be expected. What’s a beach party (even a network Beach Party) without a matching feeling. So drop off the high heels and turn on you flip flops to make it a night to remember.

Dancing, a glass of wine, chit chatting about what keeps you busy, a lot of laughs and a midnight Suriname snack. This was more of a party then a serious network meeting. Nevertheless, it turned out I didn’t need to have a serious surrounding to start a business wise serious relationship. Common interests and the agreement to meet each other again turned out to be the kick off for not only cooperative projects, but also a meaningful personal change.

After thanking him for spamming, Edgar was the first to meet again. A bit uptight and curious about what to come, I went for a joined dinner. Impressive and seeing right through her, he made me somehow nervous. How can someone – anyone – make another person feel comfortable and nervous in a heartbeat?

I am always desperate in charge of my feelings. Business and personal were supposed to be two separate worlds. After some meltdowns, I was convinced that mixing it up would cause major problems. It wasn’t easy to change my mind, but somehow Edgar managed to open my mind for some kind of mix. And introduced me to people worth mixing.

The second one in line was Cornelis. Passionate about diving and sailing, he made a career out of it. His goal in life, for everyone to be perfectly happy. He truly inspired me with his way of thinking. He wants to be near people he loves and care about, people he can trust. Cornelis also felt no need at all to separate professional and private life, on the contrary. He’d rather worked with people he liked to have in his personal life as well. So he decided to invite a group of trainers to show them another way of training.

Marvin was the third impressing man I got to know better because of the Xing meeting, also a trainer. Busy as hell, but never too busy to make time for you. As a person he’s interested in other human beings. His heart in the right place, working hard and enjoying life at its fullest. Therefore, he was invited for the trip to Turkey.

And what kind of a trip. Business and change workshops would be excellent on a sailing or training ship. A training on a ship turns out to be a perfect surrounding to support and strengthen upcoming changes in groups, equip them with new professional skills, and develop a new dynamic community for ongoing activities. And I can’t think of very many other beautiful and perfect settings besides Turkey.

The trip to Turkey was amazing. The content was superior, but nevertheless undermined by the spirit of the participants. The process on a ship is amazing. I already told Cornelis about my study “Vrijetijdsmanagement” (Leisure Management). However, introducing me to the other participants he translated it as Freedom management. I met wonderful people to experience it with. Nathalie, Dieter, Etham, old Captain Memmed and of course the special crew. Cornelis said it right, Freedom Management turned out to be the feeling and integrated theme of the week.

Because of Xing and the Events being organised, I met wonderful people. At least three special man, all successful in every way I can imagine. Or no, I could better say, successful in every way they can imagine. They inspired me to Freedom Management. Thank you for giving me another point of view.

The three monkeys apply ;-)

technorati labels: chantal klaver, 3ssb, xing, rotterdam community, xing rotterdam community, edgar neo, cornels maier, marvin sutherland,

iPodia

there's news about iPodia, the podcasting portal which i founded some years ago.

sorry for me being lazy and redirecting you to the iPodia blog

froodi.com the new iPodia!

a little while ago came up with the idea of starting a podcasting

portal called iPodia as a combination of both a social media consuming, publishing, enjoying and sharing community.

(iPodia the name says it all: i pod (as in to pod), iPod, podium, my personal podium, more than 1 podium, etc.)

i started iPodia it with several podcasting enthusiasts.
but after some period as iPodia started to develop, greed took over. a very good
reason for me to pull the plug and put the site on stand by!

but when i started @ one of the world's most successful incubators called bvit (in the hague netherlands) and had a chat with rogier hof i instantly felt a warm feeling when he started telling 'bout why he began froodi and what is vision is about podcasting, personal profiling, etc. i had a deja vu!

so why stubborn like a mule and try to start all over again and why not hand it over to someone dedicated to the business? so iPodia as of form now on iPodia will be redirected to froodi.com

here's to froodi the new iPodia!

related: iPodia @ weblog

technorati labels: i pod (as in to pod), iPod, podium, my personal podium, more than 1 podium, rogier hof, hof, froodi, ipodia, edgar neo, lotsov, edgar, @gar, neo, bvit, incbuator, startend ondernemer, start up, start up,

internship @ bvit innovationnetwork 1 of the most successful incubators of the world

although it's summer that doesn't mean that i'm able to enjoy a break ;-)
too much great opportunities are being thrown into my lap :-D

a week ago i started @ bvit innovationnetwork crossmedia, 1 of the 3 most succesful incubators in the world (who could have thought that i would do an internship @ the age of 30 ;-) i sure didn't)

the reason? i want to learn the trick how to run an incubator myself.

early 2008 i hope to open a sustainable and social incubator @ heijplaat (rotterdam). social because of the fact that we (as lotsov) try to incubate personal talent/skills and sustainable. well i think that is obvious ;-)

the city of rotterdam has the ambition to become the capital of renewable energy. in order to achive that you need entrepreneurs and energetic people to take part in that challenge.

so we want want to facilitate them not just with cheap officespace but with a complete programme! (co)create a real hotspot with a package of energy, inspiration, networkers, engagement, (en)courage(ment), (social ) capital, knowledge, likeminded people, etc!

so when pim de bokx and toon buddingh'of bvit asked me if i felt something for being an intern i didn't need much time to think. YES PLEASE!

technorati labels: bvit, bvit innovatienetwerk, edgar neo, incubator, innovatiecluster, pim de bokx, startend ondernemer amsterdam, startend ondernemer den haag, startend ondernemer rotterdam, starters advies, startersadvies, toon buddingh', xlx

new nickname multispammer?

over the last couple of years i've been given lots of nicnames like neo, mister orange, mister rotterdam, superconnecotr, friend, mister xing, etc. maybe i get another one since today... namely mister invite / mister mutlispam (i sure don't hope so)

what happened? i first i installed the new outlook email programme. after that i had to update all the plugins, dll's, firewall settings, etc, etc. and found out that my plaxo, linkedin and xing toolbar weren't working.

so i downloaded them again. but then the shit hit the fan. my xing plugin seemed to have it's own way of installing. because after filling in my login and password it started to invite almost every single contact in my outlook adressbook. and not just once but several times! SH*T!

sorry if you've been spammed too! it wasn't me ;-)

if you still wan to (re)connect and somehow lost the invite you can do so clicking on this link ;-)


technorati labels: edgar neo, spammer, multispammer, lotsov, lots of, bvit,

100001 contacts (registered)

today i found to my surprise that ik have more than 10000 (100001 to be precise) contacts via xing.com, linkedin, bni, jongmkb, hyves, ziki, zubka, xanga, ning, myspace, my cell and many, many other platforms. (i see you as a contact if i have more than just your number or emailaddress)

now i wear my nick as superconnector as a crown ;-)

technorati labels: edgar neo, superconnector, netwerk, networker, professional networker, buzzer, serial entrepreneur, social serial entrepreneur, entrepreneur, contacts, xing, linkedin, zubka, bni, jongmkb, hyves, ziki, xanga, ning, myspace, cellphone, cell, platform, platforms, email,

stageplek...

vandaag begint mijn 'stage' @ BViT. doel is om het 'incubatoren' te leren bij 1 van de meest succesvolle incubators van de wereld. zodat we dadelijk op het RDM terrein op heijplaat een mooie combi van een social en een business incubator op kunnen zetten als een samenwerking tussen lotsov foundation en BViT :-D

uitnodiging voor de OPEN business borrel vd rotterdam community (IN DUTCH)

eindelijk is het weer zover!

26 juli organiseert de rotterdam community ism HET ict netwerk i-portal en haar leden weer een OPEN business borrel!

en welke locatie is beter geschikt om het aanbreken van de zomervakantie te vieren dan het strand aan de maas?

iig belooft het weer een lekker druk bezocht event te gaan worden.
en lekker basic want zonder programma. gewoon een gezellige get together voor creatieven, culturelen en commerciëlen!

dus waar en wanneer?

Op donderdag 26 juli strand aan de maas in rotterdam (http://www.rotterdamcommunity.nl/locatie.html).

aanvang van de bijeenkomst is 19.00 uur en eindigt 23.00 uur.

de toegang van dit Xing event is dit keer gratis! (drankjes en bbq uiteraard op eigen kosten ;-) )
ontspannen netwerken in een gezellige ambiance staat voorop!

programma en activiteiten:

het programma is vrijblijvend zoals ook bij andere bijeenkomsten van onze collega’s in andere steden. gewoon gezellig borrelen en contacten leggen.

de leden van i-portal hebben eerst hun eigen sportevent (ga ze vooral aanmoedigen). mar na afloop van hun event zullen we samen verder netwerken.

vanzelfsprekend staat het iedereen vrij om eigen contacten (ook van buiten Xing) mee te nemen. u kunt uzelf en uw introducé aanmelden op Xing.

graag tot de 26e!

xing group rotterdam community
sacha soeters (tout passe partout) - https://www.xing.com/profile/sacha_soeters/
johan Brekelmans (finovion) - https://www.xing.com/profile/johan_brekelmans/
frans v/d meer - https://www.xing.com/profile/frans_vandermeer/
etienne petit - https://www.xing.com/profile/etienne_petit2/
edgar neo (lotsov) - https://www.xing.com/profile/edgar_neo/

en natuurlijk het bestuur van ict netwerk i-portal (http://www.i-portal.nl)

extra info:

tijdstip van de meeting	26-07-2007, 19:00 -- 23:45
plaats	3011 xt rotterdam (zuid-holland, nederland) het strand aan de maas is te vinden op het leuvehoofd aan de voet van de erasmusbrug te rotterdam. kom je met de auto dan kun je het beste parkeren in de parkeergarage onder de erasmusbrug. parkeer je in de buurt van het strand aan de maas hou er dan rekening mee dat je dan alleen kunt betalen met je chipknip! zie ook google maps

just another manic monday

normally i have a slow start of the week. with lotsov ® coffee ;) (sound pretty cool thinking about it. focus, edgar! focus, edgar! a hear a little voice telling me right now ;))

anyway: normally i just read, make a little actionplan, set my priorities, check my mail, check sapenda, watch the news. you know, the usual stuff.
but today i had to take off early to the hague, because of the busy day i was facing over there.

me now living @ heijplaat adds a 30 minutes extra to my travelling schedule (but wouldn't miss the place for a day! what a view!).

i had several meetings @ the caballero fabriek with the guys of the bvit innovation network, joep vesters of narfoz and my friends @ winkwaves.

i hoped that i could pop in @ the guerilla store. but they are closed on monday. bummer! it would really top the day off!

shoot! i have to run. gotta catch the bus!


technorati tags: cabellero fabriek, cab fab, cabfab, bvit, joep vesters, narfoz, winkwaves, heijplaat, ov

the let's hub party; what a blast!

the first let’s hub meeting was a great gathering of diverse, involved and curious people. over eighty of them had turned up in the café at the heemraadssingel 219 (aka goodies hq), some had heard about the hub before, others were curious to check this new initiative in rotterdam out. The many warm connections and inspiring conversations that emerged spontaneously gave those present a true hub experience. this is what it is like to be in a community of passionate world changers and kindred spirits!

technorati tags: the hub, hub rotterdam, sustainable incubator, social entrepreneur, social ventures, social venturing, incubator, rotterdam, goodies, goodies magazine

a new pan european creative platform, called cre8tive buddies went live

today, on the 4th of July (independence day) the brand new pan-european creative platform / community called: http://www.cre8ive-buddies.com went online!

it’s an open to every creative website to profile his or her work and person. best of all: it’s free of charges!
in the ‘about us’ pages you can read all about us and see our buddies come alive. (they are already called 'super cute')
they haven’t realised all of their intentions yet, for they only just started, but the core is stimulating creativity anyway possible as well as having creatives from all disciplines and countries join forces and share knowledge.
in short... cre8tive buddies wants to realize interesting cross-overs and come to renewed creative concepts through corporation.

if you have remarks... tell my dear friend hjarald, if you like it... tell your friends!

on behalf of the founders of cre8tive buddies i would really appreciate it if you’ll take a look at the site and hope you’ll like it enough to join.
you can also help by forwarding this blogpost/link to other creatives, of whom you consider this to be of interest too, just like i'll hope they will again forward it to their friends.
the site deserves it to get known and i honestly think the site has a lot to offer to the creative community.

thanx in advance!

technorati tags: cre8tive buddies, cre8tive, buddies, orgasms 2.0, hjarald agnes,

invite to hub tonight!

Hello!

A new venue for social and sustainable innovators is coming to Rotterdam: The Hub.
An inspiring and professional space to work, experiment, meet, create and play.

Are you a social innovator, sustainable entrepreneur or out-of-the box inventor? Then come on July 5 between 5 and 9 pm to the Heemraadssingel 221 in Rotterdam and become familiar with The Hub: what is the concept and how does it work in other countries? There will be drinks, snacks, brochures and many kindred spirits to meet.

Together, and with your input we want to turn The Hub in Rotterdam into a habitat where you would like to be. We are curious about your ideas for the Hub and would like to get in touch with you and other innovators who want to realise initiatives for a better world.

You can help us by sending this invite to those in your network who should also know about The Hub. Please let us know by short reply if you are joining us. If you’d like to be informed please let us know as well.

We hope to welcome you on the 5th!

The Hub Rotterdam team,

Catalina, Laura, Marieke, Moraan and Ximena


About The Hub

The Hub is a growing network of incubators for social innovation in major world cities. Hubs exist to inspire and support social innovators to realise imaginative initiatives for a radically better world. At The Hub you are offered membership of an inspirational habitat for innovators from different sectors, disciplines and backgrounds to work, meet, learn and connect.

The Hub is a place for making things happen. All the tools and trimmings needed to cultivate an idea, launch a project, host a meeting and run a business. From other Hubs across the world we have learned that social innovators need access to affordable spaces, resources and market-facing opportunities to thrive: knowledge, capital and networks.

At The Hub you can find channels to such resources and opportunities, both on a global and a local level. See the website for more information: www.the-hub.net

Since every city has it's own individual character Hubs are never the same. We want to bring the lessons and models of what The Hub network has generated so far and combine that with the best of what Rotterdam and The Netherlands have to offer.

http://thehubrotterdam.blogspot.com
thehubrotterdam@gmail.com

expert @ xlx in association with cmo stimulans and albeda

i have been an expert for the entrepreneural simulation game called xlx (Xpert Learning Xperience part of BViT) for a few weeks now. but this was the first time that the purpose of a XLX game was very close to my heart as a social entrepreneur and cofounder of the Lotsov Skills Centre: young moms.

cmo stimulans organised this XLX in association with a school called albeda we 'played' the game with over 14 young moms in order to discover for that being a mom still gives them a great opportunity to create a career themselves. so during the game they came up with a new clever fashionstore-concept, a new super/ mini-market and a true DAYcare (from 06.00-20.00hr) facillity.

i became very enthusiastic and told them that if they are serious and want to start their own business that maybe we can look into it an provide them with a micro credit.

technorati tags: tienermoeder, tienermoeders, tieners, moeders, xlx, entrepreneurs game, young mom, young moms,

23rd of june: enviu day talking about a sustainable incubator!

Because of my involvement with the only privately held incubator BViT (we are trying to set up a Lotsov Skills Centre @ Heijplaat together in association with the city of Rotterdam) I was recently invited for an enviu day. previous i couldn't attend because of other engagements. I was feeling a bit sick but after taking 2 aspirines and enough water I was ready to see how enviu is transforming its own new office location at pannekoekstraat 100 in rotterdam, into a meeting point for sustainability and entrepreneurship. together with 25 enthusiastic participants we were asked to think 'out of the box' when it comes to creating a place where creative, sustainable and entrepreneurial networks can connect, learn and create.

after a while we had a break. during the break toon buddingh' co-founder of BViT innovation network told us very quick & dirty about what it takes to set up a real sustainable incubator. and he sure can tell after being awarded several prizes @ different european benchmarks!

and then.... the fever kicked in. again! so I left heading for my bed :(

want to know more? check this link for the full report.


technorati tags: enviu, incubator, sustainable incubator, hub, rotterdam, edgar neo,

mahler 5 by krashna musica delft holland

just came home from the mahler concert performed by krashna musica delft. in just 1 word; absolutely great!

krasha musica is the largest dutch orchestra totally ran by students and alumni.

they have 2 major performances per year and tonight was 1 of them.
the maria jesse church was completly sold out and for a very obvious reason!

see if you can see them yourself. you won't regret it!

technorati tags: krashna, krashna musica, delft, mahler, mahler 5, orchestra, students, alumni,

dutch government into the micro credit business too

today the dutch government anounced that they will set up a micro credit scheme.
jippy! what a great news!

but i am very anxious to see on what terms ;)

what a great speaker ;-)

after being interviewed by magazines as ode and the aedes magazine and several dutch newspapers as ad and volkskrant about my idea to offer smart micro lendings to dutch / european youngsters, lots of of organisations are now booking me for lectures about micro credits and working with youngsters and the peerz ® programme.

so today i found myself @ dudok wonen (dudok living) a nice midsized housing corporation in the hilversum area where i was the first speaker (of i hope) many more. as of today they start with infosessions during their lunchbreak. what a great concept for teambuilding / a out of the box meeting! where the only thing you know for sure is that the food and drinks are ok ;)

so i felt humbled being the 1 to kick off!

i really enjoyed it and hope to have more of this speaking opportunities!



UPDATE 12/06/2007: posted some photo's taken by rifka buursink

technorati tags: dudok wonen, peerz,

dj tiësto - elements of life

gisteren was ik te gast bij dj tiësto himself in het gelredome te arnhem. en ondanks het mega grte scherm en de pompende bas was het toch voor mij net iets te commercieel, te massaal en te druk. om de 3 meter werd me een lijn coke aangeboden en op de plekken waar je zou moeten kunnen dansen waren teveel mensen en moest je echt een soort pogo uitvoeren om een plek te verwerven.

jammer!


had er heel erg naar uitgekeken! moest bij het zien van het commerciële circus ook meteen denken aan het liedje van herman finkers; 'dat heeft zo'n jongen toch niet nodig'.

nogmaals jammer!

curious where this post is about? get the translation via worldlingo.com

think different! all the time!

when surfing on the internet is stumbled upon apple's one of the first and still truely inspring 'think different' commercials.
this is te kinda stuff i watch after having the door slammed into my face after pitching an idea @ a big it often makes me moke steadfest! often it leads me to new ideas or adjustments to old ideas.

like setting up a microcredit (with rabobank rotterdam) for dutch youngsters, updating the scouting method to enable youngsters to discover their entrepreneurial skills, setting up a new webportal system so you can run a virtual office everywhere, anywhere (under construction), etc.....

so here's to my fellows. the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. the ones who see things differently!

keep on rocking!


technorati tags: apple, think different, thinq, lotsov, edgar neo, virgin, richard branson,

Last day @ TGS

Today is my last day @ The Game Syndicate's Gamestore better known as TGS Gamestore.
I had great fun opening up and building one of the biggest online and offline gamestores in the biggest game arena of Holland.
But when I was presented to the opportunity to help our future generations of laborers and/or entrepreneurs train. learn and work in a new kind of envorinment which makes use of serious gaming and eLearning I knew I wanted to do this more than ever.
The Lotsov Skills Centre @ Heijplaat is a special kind of place where we help youngster in the age of 16-26 years to discover their true passion.
On the 1st of June I will start with a special training @ BViT and XLX serious gaming.

The Lotsov Skills Centre will be set up @ Heijplaat in association with BViT, Randstad Holding and the City of Rotterdam.

More news @ LotsovFoundation.nl

how to present your business (2)

by stelios haji ioannou..... watch and learn! (i sure will ;) )

  

the source is here

how to present your business (1)

by richard branson..... watch and learn! (i sure will ;) )



the source is here

matcherz.com revisited!

although i made a complete arse out of myself while pitching @ the dutch dragon's den there are quite a few people actually diggin' the idea.

so here i find myself with a desk full with businesscards of potential partners. there is even one guy which says he's programmed what i pitched and is not planning to do something with it :). let's see if we can work something out!

keep you posted!