If you are an expat living in The Netherlands, the annual Expatica I Am Not A Tourist Fair is one of the highlights of the year for your calendar.
I have attended several years now and you can read one of my previous blog posts here:
- 2012 Expatica I Am Not A Tourist Fair (on my Dutch Australian blog)
In 2014, the Fair was held on 2 November 2014. As I’m writing this blog post a while afterwards, there is already a short video of the day here:
There is another longer video which Broadcast Amsterdam put together, which you can see over at my Dutch Australian blog.
You can find the full list of 2014 Exhibitors and Sponsors on the Expatica website, however as this list will probably disappear or be updated on their site in the future, below are some links I’d like to keep track of. There were 112 stands in total.
The 2014 Expatica Job Fair also was happening simultaneously next door.
There was an extensive programme of workshops and presentations throughout the day.
From 10.30am-11.15am, I attended “From Blog to Book: the Mini Workshop” held by the Amsterdam Writing Workshops.
Lisa Friedman took us through a series of questions to consider, helped us analyse some blog excerpts, and gave us some tips and a checklist so that we can take our blog to a book (one day!).
I loved her stand:
From 1.45pm-2.15pm, I presented “How Social Media can help Expats survive and thrive in a new country”.
You can view that presentation on SlideShare below:
From 4pm-4.30pm, I also presented “The amazing opportunities that E-learning offers Expats”.
You can view that presentation on SlideShare below:
This year, I also created a Pinterest Board with links to as many of the exhibitors as I could pin! (Some websites are not set up to enable this)
I had the pleasure of talking to lots of people, some whom I already knew, and some were some new connections. I always come home with a big pile of marketing materials, but like to summarise them in a blog post so I can come back to the links later (and so others can check them out too!).
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Here are some of my favourites:
- Greg Shapiro: The American Netherlander comedian. Part-time Hypocrite show in 2014/15. Great guy and also love his book “How to be Orange“
- Little Kingdom by The Sea: Secrets of the KLM Houses revealed – great book in English
- Molly School Amsterdam: A pop up school, what a cool idea! “10 days of classes with the citizens of Amsterdam as the faculty and the city itself as a classroom”
- City of Bikes: A great book that I’m currently reading and also a unique bike tour in Amsterdam with author Pete Jordan
- Successful Speaker Now: Barbara has coached many TEDx speakers and has a great new book out called “Boring to Brilliant”
- Women’s Business Initiative: I’m a member myself of the WBII and enjoy attending the meetings each month. Great to see some other members there.
- ACCESS – serving the International community in The Netherlands for 29 years now, a crucial resource for every expat!
- Amsterdam MaMas – this is an amazing community, bringing together parents in Amsterdam (and beyond) with wonderful support, events and information.
- Dutch News – a very useful daily resource with news in English, visit daily to keep up to date with what is happening in The Netherlands.
- STET (Stichting The English Theatre): love this non-profit organisation, based in The Hague. Consistently provides quality English language entertainment to expats.
- ABC (American Book Center): with shops in both Amsterdam and The Hague as well as a Treehouse & Treehut venue for plenty of interesting events.
- Talencoach: Albert Both is a wonderful character I love seeing at the Fair and online (check him out on YouTube) – if you’d like to learn Dutch, this is a great place to start!
Here’s some others that I’d like to look into more later:
- New2nl: Annebet will help you to navigate the Netherlands.
- EatLiveLoveFood: Nutritional Therapist. Food and Mindfulness workshops, monthly pop up dinners, The Vitality Project and more.
- Eating Amsterdam Tours: 4 hour food tours through Amsterdam’s historic Jordaan neighbourhood. 12 uniquely Dutch tastings from 8 foodie locations.
- In2Motivation: International Personal Development. Coaching Certification and training in NLP, Emotional Intelligence, Public Speaking, Family Dynamics, Leadership and more
- House of Bols: The Cocktail and Geneva Experience
- Broadcast Amsterdam: A non-profit producer of English language television for Amsterdam.
- Gardner Kookt: Personal chef, delicious healthy food and personal service in your own home
- Lyca Mobile: Mobile phone service, call the world for less
- Top Taal: Dutch language programmes, including training for the Inburgering exam and State Exam I and II.
- Helpling: Home Cleaning service, no subscription
- Serve The City: Not for profit that organised and facilitates volunteer projects to help the underprivileged in our society.
- The Sentinel Amsterdam: Online magazine
- RSM: Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University: I’d love to do an MBA but it’s a bit above my budget, however there are also other subsidised programs at Erasmus.
- UIBS (United International Business Schools): Campus at Spaces in Amsterdam and others in Europe & beyond. Offers Undergraduate and Graduate degrees (e.g. MBA, BBA)
- ARLT: International Foundation for the Advancement of Reflective Learning and Teaching: Elearning diploma programme Social Studies and Counselling Skills
One person very sadly missing from the Fair was Antoine. He was a Managing Partner of Expatica and I had the pleasure and privilege of working with him when I was the Social Media Manager for Expatica from January-June 2013. He and his family were tragically on flight MH17, headed to Bali for a holiday. There was a lovely photo of him on a banner gracing the hall and also a condolences book to sign. Those of us who knew him will always remember his wonderful energy and spirit and even those who didn’t know him will continue to benefit from his amazing initiatives to make life easier for Expats in The Netherlands.
You can visit the Expatica I Am Not a Tourist Fair website for more information. The 2015 Fair will be held on Sunday 4 October. Hope to see you there!
Renee
Zestee 
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