Graphic design Martine Eyzenga
Photography Maurice Mikkers
Design direction Marcel Kampman
Production station06

Would be great to see you there!

These people need a special place, not a generic profile website. And, the imagery should also tell more about these people. So, I invite them to take a picture of their index finger with a happy face drawn on it, to represent them. This means these images will tell a lot about who they are. The color of the ink, the looks of the face, the background in the image or any other added creativity.

So, next time when you need amazing people to make the impossible possible, check out Happykampers first. The website is in its final stages of development, and will be live soon.

Graphic design Martine Eyzenga
Photography Marcel Kampman, assisted by Bart Hoekstra, colour correction Maurice Mikkers.
Copy Theo van der Vlugt
Design direction Marcel Kampman
and the students and staff of Stad & Esch.

In het themajaar 2011 Leve de Molens! heeft de provincie Zuid-Holland de 228 molens in de provincie in de schijnwerpers gezet. Molens maken deel uit van de Zuid-Hollandse geschiedenis. Eens waren de molens onmisbaar vanwege hun rol in de meelproductie en het droogmaken van de polders. Veel molens hebben hun oude functie
verloren. Dit biedt kansen om de molens op een andere manier te gebruiken. De meest duurzame manier om erfgoed te behouden is er een eigentijdse functie aan te geven.

Voor de slotbijeenkomst Molen zoekt toekomst was ik door de provincie uitgenodigd om een van de vier workshops, Molen zoekt bestemming, te leiden. Tezamen met de uitkomsten van de andere drie workshops leidde dit tot een mooie debat over de toekomst van molens. In mijn sessie werd ik ondersteund door Tjeerd Tromp van Grontmij, die in opdracht va de provincie een onderzoek hebben gedaan naar nieuwe mogelijkheden voor herbestemming van molens. Om te zorgen dat de groep in op de gebruikelijke manieren, dus geheel molencentrisch gingen nadenken, heb ik een context gecreëerd aand e hand van voorbeelden uit compleet andere sectoren en werelden. Al met al een superleuke dag met mooie gepassioneerde molenmensen met een nog een best zware taak, namelijk in deze lastige tijd middelen vinden om de molens draaiende te houden.

In 2012 Over-Levende Monumenten!, wil de provincie Zuid-Holland het hergebruik van beeldbepalende monumenten stimuleren.

When I was sitting first class in my own bubble, picture yourself a laptop, big headphone, sending out ‘stay away, I’m busy signals’ a woman came to sit next to me. I noticed she was looking at my screen continuously. Fairly uncomfortable, since I was working on a strategic project for a company, so she was irritating me by doing that. On the other hand, it’s a soft of public space, so not so much I could ado about it. Then she started talking to me. Ignoring the fact that I was wearing a giant headphone. So after a minute or so, I removed my headphone to find out what she wanted. She had iTunes problems. And given the fact I was working on a Mac, I could help her. Right. Was fairly simple we figured out. She had a pc, with iTunes. And it did not play Windows files. In an ugly way, that makes sense, so solved. Talk to Applesoft.

Then we came to talk about computers and more and their infinite possibilities but also limitations because they are so complicated. True. For most people they are. And then she told she worked as a neonatologist in a hospital. And that she started a system that allows parents to see their baby in the hospital from afar. I just experienced her system by becoming an uncle. And also learned it was great to see my niece in the incubator but the system could use some love. So, before she had to get out, we exchanged contact details and ended up working on that project with the students at Interactive/Media/Design, my department in The Hague at the Royal Academy of Art.

On another trip I was on my way to Amsterdam to give a lecture about train stations and was looking for some passenger input. I sat next to a typical business guy. Glasses, a titanium one, a suit, brown shiny shoes — and a Dell laptop with a evident company barcode on it. And obviously he was a heavy train user. You can just tell if you see them. So I asked him about his experiences and we had a great conversation for over an hour. Meanwhile I learned that he was a CEO at a large telecom provider. And he told me all kinds of handy stuff you would never learn somewhere else about the world of mobile phones. And gave great feedback that I could instantly use in my talk an hour later.

I also believe in coffee machines. I visit a lot of offices of big companies. In essence, they are all alike. Styling can be different, but coffee is always organized the same way: it’s only available at some places. So people have to leave their desk to get a coffee. Or ask a colleague. And that’s so powerful. Because during that moment people decide to take a small break and go for a coffee. And then bump into other people. And chat. And learn. About the other, about other people’s experiences. That why great coffee is so crucial to a company. Coffee should be the best coffee. You should invest in a great coffee maker. Not a 1,000 possibilities machine that can make all the different coffees in the world based on a syrupy substance, but one that just makes a perfect brew. And limit it to just one on every floor. Because people will go there, will stand in line for it, and that’s good. That you share that you both want a coffee, work at the same company and stand in line as well, gives you something to talk about. People start talking because of trauma’s, good and bad ones. Standing in line is great, especially for coffee because you also get a reward. It’s THE place where people connect, exchange and cross-pollinate. In a way coffee machines are innovation machines because they facilitate conversation between people and invisible learning.

Working for a school intensely for a while now, I learned that the communication is not their strongest asset. Both teacher to teacher as teacher to student. And that’s a waste. Because just making conversation would help to create less distance. Makes teachers and students into just people and then they would be more likely to connect. Or not, which is also fine, but at least it will create better understanding. Differences are great, because they give a lot to talk about and meanwhile help you learn more about yourself.

Not everybody just starts to make conversation with everybody. Yes, it can be scary, because you don’t know anything about that someone. If you don’t start, nothing happens and you will never learn about that someone. Or find out that maybe you share more than you could ever imagine. So an idea to help start conversations at a place like TEDxDelft could be that instead keeping the business card you just got, after jotting down the details on them, to give that card to the next someone you meet as yours. By ding that, you also facilitated a start of a conversation. Imagine the phone conversation that could happen:

‘Hi! We met at TEDxDeflt a while ago.’
‘Hi, good to hear from you. Ehm, what was your name?’
‘John. We met at TEDxDelft.’
‘Oh okay… Met so many people, so could be.’
‘Want to do a coffee?’
‘Sure.’

Then they meet, find out they never actually met, don’t understand how they ended up there and will make the best of it. And you never know what comes from it. It’s helping serendipity a bit.

Camera, edit, direction Bjorn Eerkes
Design direction Marcel Kampman
Graphic Design Martine Eyzenga
Production Bart Hoekstra, Peter de Visser
Assistant Bert Kiers