The team that is going to be responsible for the PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt fairs’ actual organisation is now complete. Five professionals from the outdoor greenery sector are eagerly waiting in the starting blocks to organise the largest, most attractive garden plant event for European gardening professionals on 24 and 25 August 2022.
The fair team’s members are as follows: Linda Hoogendoorn-Veelenturf from Varb, Sytse Berends from Blunt Communicatieadvies, Arjen Waltman from GROEN-Direkt, and the independent professionals Pieter Heemskerk and Sandra van Tol. In the coming period the team will be supported by Ids Boersma, former director of the fairs in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre, who has supervised the merger of the Plantarium and GROEN-Direkt fairs. “This team has all the expertise needed to organise a successful event. Its evenly matched members challenge one another to bring the best out of themselves. I’m delighted to be able to support this team!,” says Ids Boersma.
Collaboration
The new PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt fair will be the outcome of the merger of the Plantarium trade fair of the Stichting Vakbeurs voor de Boomkwekerij (SVB; Nursery Trade Fair Foundation) and GROEN-Direkt’s Product Promotion Plaza. Last week, the Varb foundation and SVB announced their intention to merge into a single, powerful sector organisation. Linda Hoogendoorn-Veelenturf, at present managing-director of Varb, is envisaged to become the new foundation’s managing-director. In anticipation of the merger, Linda has been appointed managing-director of Green Retail Events, which will be responsible for organising the PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt fairs. “I’m very impressed by the enthusiasm and vigour with which managers and shareholders are successfully collaborating in joint enterprises with the shared aim of promoting the trade in outdoor greenery, and I’m delighted to be a part of these efforts,” says Linda.
Fair team
In her capacity as fair director, Linda Hoogendoorn-Veelenturf will be the link between the managing board of the Green Retail Events fair organisation and the fair team. “With the PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt fair we will be creating the tremendously important physical link between growers and buyers. The fair team members all have ‘a green background’, which will be a major advantage in organising fairs that will appeal to both standholders and visitors. I’m greatly looking forward to planning and organising the first edition of the fair together with the team.”
After years of activity in the field of sales in the nursery sector, Pieter Heemskerk started working as an independent professional in commercial management this year. He is full of plans and ideas for the organisation’s future sales, for which he will be responsible. He is going to visit the various companies to inspire them to participate in the PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt fairs and he will be using his knowledge and network to interest prospective buyers to visit the fair.
Sytse Berends knows all the ins and outs of the horticultural market, having organised marketing communications for GROEN-Direkt and other companies for many years. All communication activities involved in house style, logo design, website, social media, internal and external communication and strategy will be in good hands with him.
Arjen Waltman will be responsible for the fairs’ layout and the construction of the stands. In the more than twenty years that he has worked for GROEN-Direkt he has been the number-one man behind the organisation’s leading fairs such as its spring and autumn fairs. Armed with this experience he has great faith in the next step he is taking towards the organisation of PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt.
And finally Sandra van Tol. In the years since 2013 in which she has been responsible for Plantarium’s PR and communication she has created a large network of national and international trade press journalists. She is looking forward to using this network and her expertise to generate lots of attention for PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt.
Besides the above members of the fair team, several Varb, Blunt and GROEN-Direkt employees will be playing an important part in the PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt organisation.
About PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt
The new fair PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt will take place on the 24th and 25th of August 2022. The official opening will take place in the evening of Tuesday 23 August. On Wednesday the 24th and Thursday the 25th the fair will be open all day on both days. It will be held in and around the GROEN-Direkt hall at the International Trade Centre in Hazerswoude/Boskoop, the Netherlands. More information can be found on the website https://plantariumgroendirekt.nl/.
