In this edition of the newsletter; read how the Uitmarkt and the Queensday weekend has been. Do you have announcements to make? Send them before the last Wednesday of the month to
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!
News
New members
At the April member meeting Ian Helgering, Astrid Janssen and Merijn Verschuur were welcomed as a full member to our chapter. A warm welcome to you all! We're looking forward to seeing more of you in 2011.
Past events
Queensday weekend
Queensnight
The Queensday weekend started on Friday with a cultural and historical note, we visited some typical Dutch and historic towns and villages. The weather turned out to be great, with lots of sun and hardly any clouds, ideal for exploring. We went with Emese (JCI Expat Budapest) to Zaanse Schans, which is quite touristic because of the Dutch windmills, houses in the Zaanse style and one of the first Albert Heijn grocery stores. Evading the busloads of Taiwanese, Chinese and French tourists, it was good to see the Dutch buildings and landscape along the river the Zaan.
Next stop: Hoorn, an old fisherman's town, rich in historical buildings and with a historical harbor. We saw some typical Frisian ships, skûtsjes, coming into the harbor. After maneuvering around some groups of American tourist we were able to make some nice pictures of the classical buildings at the central square of the city. 
Marken was next on the list, a fishing village situated on a former island. The road to Marken is surrounded by water, as Marken was only connected with the main land in 1957 and was effectively turned it into a museum-piece village (but still with people living and working there). The last stop of the day before returning to Amsterdam was Monnickendam, a cute town with a beautiful harbor.
After a very enjoyable and intensive day with quite some walking we regained our strength with an original Dutch dinner consisting of dishes like "Boerenkool" and "Zuurkool" at restaurant "De Schreierstoren", an old tower of the city defences, where more international guests, Twinningpartners and JCI AI members joined in. After dinner it was time to explore "Amsterdam by Queensnight". We started at the Nieuwmark, a square with in the middle a little castle, which was totally packed with people because of all the festivities and stages with live music. After this we went to the typical Amsterdam neighbourhood, the Jordaan, enjoying on the way all the live music and Orange atmosphere. Some stayed until 4:30...
Selling on the Uitmarkt on Bredeweg & Keizersgracht
After the great Queensnight 6.00 a.m. was quite early to get up, but if you would like to secure your selling spot and if you don't want to miss the early bird buyers you have to be early. So Caroline and Binne went in the early morning to the Bredeweg in Amsterdam East to join Marion in selling in front of her apartment. On the Bredeweg there was "Uitmarkt" which means that the whole street became a big market where you could sell second handed items. Furthermore there was a small stage on the street where music was played and tents where you could buy drinks and food. Already strating in the morning, a lot of people were strolling along the street.
Already before gathering all our items on our selling spot, Caroline was selling the first books. From the very start it was busy with (potential) buyers with questions like: "is this bike shorter than 160cm? otherwise it will not fit in my car and I won't buy it" and "did you wear this suit yourself? Oh ok maybe it fits me too". There were items ranging from bikes, a suitcase, many books, cd's, dvd's, to glases, caps, bags. During the day we had some sales support of JCI AI members like HP and Richard Klaassen. On the wall we had a poster explaining our good cause (organizing a bbq for the Voedselbank Foundation). The good cause was of course also part of our sales pitch: "buy this bike for 50 Euro, it is for a good cause! We support the Voedselbank!" Selling was sometimes quite exciting as people were bargaining for the last penny.
Similarly, at Keizersgracht, our second location, Andreea was already up very early in the morning to prepare a JCI stand, decorating it beautifully with the blue-red-white ribbons and placing the promotional materials. As the Leidsestraat was getting full with tourists, the rest of the team was joining to support the sale: Marcus, Annick, Adriana, Astrid and Beata with friends.
Later during the day also Jasper and Merijn appeared with the guest from Budapest to cheer the selling team up and share the spirit of the day and the action itself. We had a lot to offer: CDs , books, games, even some masterpieces like an original painting of Adriana! The best selling items however proved to be the delicious muffins and cakes baked by Andreea and Annick. Ice-cold cokes directly from the fridge of Andrea enjoyed a great deal of popularity as well. We needed to show quite some marketing skills but it was truly enjoyable!
The time was passing by and according to schedule the Keizersgracht team cleaned up and left for the meeting point in the city center. There we rejoined the Social Committee and started partying, while awaiting the Bredeweg team to join as well. As Bredeweg turned out to be a hotspot, the team decided to continue with the sale for the good cause. Around 17.00 it became quiet on Bredeweg as well and it was decided to assess the results.
It turned out that our sales effort had resulted in a good profit of around 500 Euros!
We can look back to a great first edition on the Bredeweg and a lot of fun at Keizersgracht!
After this the social committee went on exploring Amsterdam, submerging in the crowds and passing by some of Amsterdam most famous sites like the Leidsestraat, the Flowermarket at Koningsplein, Spui, Munt, Nieuwmarkt, Waterlooplein, Amstel, Utrechtsestraat, De Jordaan, Westermarkt, Noordermarkt and ending close to central station. Enjoying along the way the great special atmosphere Amsterdam has during Queensday.
Sunday
On Sunday we ended the Queensday weekend with a bicycle tour. Again the weather was great, even though there was quite some wind. In a roundtrip lasting almost 3 hours, parts of the new Amsterdam were seen, land claimed from the water with modern architecture in which the typical Amsterdam canal style is preserved. We also passed some places where old warehouses were renovated and transformed into housing; we saw some monumental buildings like Tropenmuseum and Rijksmuseum. We saw some small Amsterdam gems like Begijnhof and the Vondelchurch. We enjoyed the green spaces at the Vondelpark and had a drink at Leidseplein. All in all a tour through Amsterdam, combining the old with the new.
We are already looking forward to next year and to prepare an even more complete program for our members, international guests and Twinningpartners!
Agenda Highlights
May 12 – 15 European Capital Meeting in Tallinn, Estonia
JCI Tallinn will be hosting one of the most inspiring and futuristic events of JCI Estonia history: the JCI European Capitals Meeting. Members of chapters in the capital cities in Europe will gather here to meet, exchange information and have fun. More info: http://ecm2011.jci.ee/ .
May 19 Fit 4 ECM Tarragona and WC Brussel
The JCI Amsterdam chapter is inviting our chapter to join their training: Training Culture Shock!
They would like to prepare those members who will go to the conferences in Tarragona and Brussel (but if you are not joining a conference you are welcome as well).
The training Culture Shock! will focus on :
• Food, giving presents, introducing yourself to other people.
• Body language and time management
The trainer is Bob Zevering. He has his own company and gives training courses to multinational companies in The Netherlands. At 18.30 you can join the dinner at LAB111 and at 20.00 the training will start. The costs for the training are 10,- euro.
If you are interested in joining, please subscribe by sending an e-mail to:
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May 20 Bowling and Monthly drinks
Since some of the trainings of the European Conference will start by the end of May, it was decided to move the monthly drinks to Friday May 20th. The drinks will be held at Café de Corner, Scheldeplein 2. Though, if you have other ideas for a café or bar in the area of the RAI, please leave a comment on the event’s Facebook page. We will combine the monthly drinks with bowling in advance.The bowling will be held at Knijn, Scheldeplein 3, near the RAI from 19:30 to 21:00. Please enter by 19:15, in order to have enough time to get your shoes, etc, organised. Two lanes have been booked, which is suitable for 12 people. The cost are around € 30 per lane per hour, which restrains € 45 for 1.5 hour bowling will be split between 6 people, thus € 7.5 per person.
If you are interested in joining the bowling event, please message Yannick Jeggels via Facebook. Because of the limited flexibility to book another lane on a short notice please indicate well in advance if you wish to join.
May 14 National Meeting (CvA) in Sneek
On Saturday 14th of May, JCI Ter Snaecke is organising the National Convention. Besides the National Convention itself, various exciting activities are organised like a workshop about social media and a presentation about online marketing. The theme of the event is all about water, not surprisingly as Sneek is located next to the water in the Friesland provence which is famous for their lakes and long canals. In the evening there will be a dinner, drinks and a party. For more information and subscription have a look at http://www.cvamei2011.nl/ (In Dutch).
June 1 - 4 Eureopean Congress in Tarragona, Spain
It is still possible to register for the European Congress in Tarragona! Look on facebook to see who is joining! More information about the event and registration procedure can be found on http://www.jciec2011.cat and for the Dutch delegation package look at http://www.ec2011tarragona.nl/.
August 26 - 28 Annual JCI Expat Budapest event at the Balaton
Twinning partner JCI Expat Budapest invites JCIAI to participate in this annual event.
Activities: Unconfirmed, but according to last year: Sailing trip around lake Balaton, JCI training (skills workshop), tour around Budapest (if you opt for the extended program).
When: Friday 17.00 (leave Budapest) 26th August - Sunday 14.00 (leave Balaton) Sunday 28th August.
Suggested JCIAI extended program: Arrive Thursday evening (there are 2 flights around 20.30 leaving Amsterdam). Return Monday end of day*. During the extra 1,5 day we tour / chill in Budapest.
Costs: E 80 for the Balaton Event itself. Flight ticket & costs in Budapest need to be covered individually.
Check KLM, Malev.hu, cheaptickets.nl
Further details will follow asap.
Contact Merijn Verschuur if you want to sign up:
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