Organising is something we do together. Laila van der Linden, event manager at Frankwatching, talks about how she organised the Frankwatching SocialToday Event 2024 at our Beatrix Theatre and meeting centre Jaarbeurs MeetUp. "I experienced the cooperation with Jaarbeurs as very nice!"
For anyone involved or interested in marketing, communications, strategies and AI, there is one platform you can't ignore: Frankwatching. A platform and community with more than 600 experts sharing their knowledge via articles, infographics, videos and podcasts on the blog. To top it all off, there is the annual SocialToday Event. This eighth edition of the successful event focused on newdevelopments in artificial intelligence and its use within content marketing and social media. The theme of the day was therefore: Shaping the future of social media.
Although professionalism was clearly noticeable, there was still room for a convivial, informal atmosphere thanks to the deliberate approach to the programme: coffee and lunch breaks were optimally used as networking opportunities. The setting of the event invited sharing experiences. This line was also continued on stage. For instance, Rochelle Wielinga and Kasper Figee, content and campaign specialist at Zeeman, talked about the power of communities, the challenge of supporting 1,300 shops on social media and the choices involved. Steffie Jansen, Marketing & Communications Manager at KiKa, followed them up with an inspiring story on fundraising through TikTok. There was also police officer Kim van der Weij with an inspiring live podcast and Susan van Haren, Manager Editorial & Publishing RTL/Videoland, gave a keynote on the reality of social media.
It was no surprise that Frankwatching chose Jaarbeurs as its event venue, given their previous positive experiences of hosting events at the Utrecht conference venue. However, it was the first time the event was held at the Beatrix Theatre. In previous years, the organisers always chose the modern conference venue Media Plaza but due to the growing number of participants of the popular event, this location became too small. Van der Linden: "Fortunately, Jaarbeurs has many options and they suggested moving the event to the Beatrix Theatre where there would be enough space for the large number of participants. And it was a success again! Very nice that the team was again so thoughtful with me."
"The Jaarbeurs team waited for me with a cup of coffee and they were available throughout the day to help me with any questions."
Laila is also positive about the cooperation leading up to the event and during the day itself. "I again experienced the cooperation with the team as very nice, it really feels like a partnership where we work together towards the best result. On the day of the event I also experienced no stress at all, the Jaarbeurs team kindly waited for me in the morning with a cup of coffee and they were available all day to help me with any questions. From getting furniture ready to cleaning the chairs and last-minute requests for something I had forgotten myself, for example. That was incredibly nice."
Van der Linden looks back on the SocialToday Event with satisfaction: "What I really like as an event manager is when an event really looks like a success. That is important both for us as an organisation and for the partners and visitors. Because the possibilities of the Beatrix Theatre in combination with the meeting rooms of Jaarbeurs are so diverse, we could use them in any way we wanted. The combination of these locations and the thoughtfulness of the Jaarbeurs team really contributed to the success. For example, they gave good advice on the right set-up to properly divide up the various rooms, making it look really good and giving the participants the right atmosphere."
"The locations and the team's thoughtfulness really contributed to the success."
With such a successful eighth edition, Frankwatching is focusing on the next one. Van der Linden: "Social Today is an annual event. We also hold our other marketing-related events at Jaarbeurs, such as our latest AI Marketing Event in April, which we are organising at the Supernova conference centre. I look forward to organising many more successful events together in the coming years!"
Account manager Kelly
Do you have a cool idea for an event or awards show? And are you looking for a great centrally located event location for this? We have the space and passion to make your event in Utrecht a success. Contact me and I will be happy to tell you more about all the possibilities.
jaarbeurs+31(0)30 295 58 81
