Brand marketeer and TEDxAmsterdam Media Strategist James Veenhoff says TED is how he aspires to be: smart, bright and easily accessible. In our one hour session I’ve come to know James as a visionary creative who is able to unleash his inventive brain at the drop of a hat. Joined by his crawling offspring, we discussed all things TED, ping ponging between co-creation, sexy science and his wish that people stop dumbing things down.
In the true spirit of TED, James aims to inspire, and he does it with humility: “I know where my skills are. I’m able to stir up people’s forces to create new things. I like to come up with innovative ideas and then leave the execution to people who love the detail. What I can do is only so much,” he says.
As a TEDxAmsterdam team member, James is responsible for media liaison across Dutch television, newspaper and radio outlets – and I’m aghast when he claims he doesn’t have a clue about new media. His experience conceiving and working on Amsterdam Fashion Week taught him that journalists and the media have a very different perception of your event’s newsworthiness than you’d probably like to think. That’s why he set out to create co-operative partnerships for TEDxAmsterdam that are win-win for both media and TEDxAmsterdam.
It’s an extension of his daytime job really, which is at Fronteer Strategy, James is passionately involved in brand development, co-creation and innovations. The TEDx spinoffs have been a brilliant move for big TED, he says. “This is co-creation at its best as it really spreads the TED concept worldwide. I feel honored to work with such a sexy brand! I like to think I’m an optimist aiming for success in life. All these elements come together in TEDxAmsterdam and I think the city should embrace this inspiring event. It’s what Amsterdam needs.”
When I ask James how he sees the event evolving over the next few years, he leans in and tells me with radiating eyes that it will naturally evolve away from the small elite that is currently interested in the event, to a larger, more diverse audience. “It’s all about ideas worth spreading, and to do exactly that we need to reach people out there who don’t know how much potential they have to create and be part of change. Sexy stories sell ideas, but on the other hand, intelligence and science are not sexy – at all.”
It’s an ambitious notion that resonates with me. James says, “When there’s a TEDx that is even more sexy, smart and approachable, we will reach new heights. My role models are today’s Malcolm Gladwells: hyper intelligent researchers and thinkers who tell stories and communicate messages in a way that can be easily understood – and without dumbing things down.”
Blame the time of day (four in the afternoon) or my obsession with white chocolate-covered polar bears, but our conversation suddenly made me think of Ben & Jerry’s Givolution. “Yes! I love it!” says James when I mention it to him. “Wouldn’t you love to see that at TED?!”
James likens TED and TEDx to “pop version[s] of academia: they’re there specificially for the people,” he says. It’s about inspiring discussion, thought and action – in all directions.
“Heck, I’d even love for the Parliament to ask high priority questions the day after TEDxAmsterdam because such-and-such minister saw a great talk!” James would also like to see TEDxAmsterdan among the top 10 TEDx events in the world.
In the end, says James, there’s no better city for an event like TEDxAmsterdam. “This is about liberal values in a liberal city; and about connecting individuals that are open, progressive and proactive,” he says. Amen to that!
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