Home>Messages>Bo Scheermeijer: "My goal is to connect everyone with Jaarbeurs"

Bo Scheermeijer: "My goal is to connect everyone with Jaarbeurs"

Elsje van Vuuren

03 October 2024

7 min

Royal Jaarbeurs: the friendly, sustainable and innovative host for all of the Netherlands. A place where you meet, inspire, learn and grow. We'd love to tell you what's going on at Royal Jaarbeurs and the way we do things. How? By getting to know our most valuable asset: our people. Bo Scheermeijer is Supervisor Hospitality and does his best to surprise at least one person every day with his positive energy.

Together with two colleagues, Bo is ultimately responsible for the execution of events at the Media Plaza and Supernova conference halls. He has weekly meetings with various departments such as sales, the kitchen, logistics and banqueting about upcoming events. With this information, he estimates what challenges his department needs to prepare for. These include venue layout, signage, scheduling staff, hiring materials and preparing the script for the Assistant Supervisors and Events Hosts. He holds one-to-one meetings with staff, manages the team and ensures that everything is as it should be on the day of the event. And finally, he is the point of contact for that day's Assistant Supervisors.

On a working day, Bo often walks by various events at the venue. He says: "I check whether, for example, the organisation or visitors are receiving the right, desired experience. I also ensure that the script is properly implemented and I bear responsibility for providing solutions to all the organisation's issues. I am also working behind the scenes to resolve unforeseen challenges in advance. It is a job that requires me to assess well where the balance lies between working on the floor or in the office.'

One of the tasks Bo takes extremely seriously has to do with enthusing his colleagues. Bo: 'I am proud of our permanent staff's sense of responsibility to support the organisers of our guest events in the best possible way. At the same time, we also work with temporary staff for whom that may not always come naturally. I can't blame them, we've all been young. Yet they play an unprecedentedly important role in the experience of both the organisation and visitors. My goal is to connect everyone with Jaarbeurs. I do that, for example, by walking around and asking how everyone is doing who works on the floor. And whether I can help with anything. Or just by having a quick chat. It's only a few minutes, but it does make them feel connected to Jaarbeurs. And commitment on the floor radiates through to visitors, organisation and colleagues. Everyone can put on a smile. But at Jaarbeurs you feel it's real.'

Bo himself also occasionally jumps in and interacts with visitors. He calls it the 'hospitality check'. Bo: 'That's a role I take very seriously. That commitment I just mentioned is also by helping at busy times. And motivating people during heavier work. I think there should always be room for sociability and a joke. At the same time, I demand discipline and strict adherence to instructions during a working day. It must be clear to the team whether there is a moment where everyone has to keep working hard, or whether there is time for a short chat with each other. Hospitality is often thought of in terms of behaviour and formalities towards the organisation or visitors. I want to broaden this thought. Hospitality relates to everyone who spends his or her day at the Jaarbeurs.'

Sometimes Bo himself is on the other side of the playing field, namely on stage during events. Besides his work as a supervisor, he is a freelance presenter and main stage host. Recently, he did so at GameForce, a major gaming event taking place in Jaarbeurs. It felt like a home game for him: 'Although that event takes place in the halls where I don't normally work, it felt familiar. I experienced considerably less tension than when I do this at another venue. Jaarbeurs is a bit my turf anyway. Besides, it's funny to see all those surprised reactions from colleagues. They suddenly hear my voice through the microphone all day long. It is also good to experience 'my world' from the other side for once and see it from the eyes of a visitor or customer. That's a good learning moment for my work at Jaarbeurs.'

According to Bo, there is unprecedented common ground in his two passions. For instance, he says, "I really enjoy leading. But so does presenting. That is not surprising, because there is a lot of overlap. When you present, you are also at the head of the programme. You lead people somewhere. You do the same as a supervisor. You work from the beginning of a programme to the end in a logical order. And if things change, you have to respond accordingly.' Bo can combine his freelance assignments well with his work at Jaarbeurs: 'I have a freelance assignment about once or twice a week. Of course, sometimes it is a bit of a puzzle if there is an important event and I also have a hosting gig around that time. But most assignments are planned well in advance, so we always work it out. For me, it is important that my week is varied. And at the same time that I can use my skills to run a nice programme or event. By nature, Jaarbeurs has so many different types of events, so every week can surprise me. This, combined with having my own business, feels like I have gold to catch.'

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