Netherlands Business Support Office

Consul General Bart van Bolhuis to speak before Senate Committee for California-European Trade on February 10, 2010 in Sacramento

Consul General Bart van Bolhuis

The Senate Committee has invited EU-member states to give an overview of their current trade and investment relations in California and to share information about activities planned for the future. Consul General Bart van Bolhuis is pleased to present information about the Netherlands’ activities in California. Van Bolhuis will emphasize opportunities for co-operation between California and the Netherlands, both innovative and entrepreneurial front-runners. Other EU-member states expected to participate are Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Norway.

The hearings are open to the public. If you are interested in attending, you are welcome to join us in Sacramento on February 10. Schedules for Senate hearings and further information can be found at http://www.senate.ca.gov/~newsen/schedules/files.htp.

For more information, please contact the Economic Affairs Department at SFN-EA@minbuza.nl.

Chairman Lou Correa (Orange County) of the above mentioned Senate Committee welcomed NBSO’s Peter Laanen warmly in Sacramento, during one of the hot budget sessions.

(This post has been updated with a new invitation to the Holland Happy Hour, which now has the correct date, time and location)

When the Photonics Cluster Holland announced their presence at this week’s Photonics show, we knew that the participants were eager to present themselves during our Dutch Business Breakfast.

Instructing them to keep it limited to 60 seconds sharp, we practiced with them in our new gorgeous Consulate General in San Francisco.

Instructions flew through the room: “tell the audience exactly what you want”, “don’t be shy, that’s not the American way”, “what is it you really sell?”, “don’t be afraid to mention your clientele”, etc.

With a well meant “do it again in your hotel room in front of a mirror”, we split at 10.00 a.m.

The “Idol” jury is pondering the quality of a presentation. Left to right: Peter Laanen (NBSO), Jaap Veerman (Deputy Consul General) and Marc Nellen (NOST).

“Why are they asking this?”. Left to right: John Reid (Philips Miplaza), Malcolm Begemann (Luminostix), Dick Sterenborg (Luminostix) and Thomas van Els (Technobis).

Jeroen Wehmeijer (Lambert Instruments) came with a robust 60 second elevator speech.

Ronald Halfwerk (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy) sharing some potential happy news for American vendors of high technology.

A great group of well prepared managers got that little extra to make it a happening where American and Dutch businessmen alike would turn it into a win/win situation.

It is always a pleasure to explain where that expression “elevator pitch” comes from, and indeed, sometimes you have the chance of a life time to impress the person you  badly need, for a short while, in a…..yes….elevator.

Like in our building; from the ground floor till the 31st floor where we reside.

The link www.photonicscluster-nl.org/pw2010 will give you more information about the cluster, and if you are in for more in depth discussions with a good glass of something, we gladly invite you for Holland Happy Hour.

Back in San Francisco

January 4th, 2010 will be the day that the Dutchies are back in full force in the magnificent City of San Francisco.

We are proud to give you the proper coordinates:

Consulate General of the Netherlands
One Montgomery Street, Suite 3100
San Francisco, CA 94104

Our NBSO offices will also move to our Consulate General and we are convinced our support will even gain more momentum (read success) for both Dutch and American companies.

You can reach us at: (415) 291-2070.

Please see below the view from one of our offices from the 31st floor.

View from our San Francisco office (Photo: Christiaan Koopman)

No wonder our productivity will improve.

Also find below (in Dutch) an interview of the people involved with the Dutch Media Hub.

www.amsterdaminc.tv/2009/12/08/het-analoge-videotijdperk-ten-einde

Also in Dutch (so sorry) a radio interview starring our colleague Bianca Oudshoff of the Netherlands Office for Science and Technology (NOST) regarding the Valley and Cleantech.

Interview met Bianca Oudshoff op BNR Nieuwsradio

We were also proud to host the Holland meet Hollywood round table breakfast, where Madam Ambassador Renee Jones-Bos hosted such renowned Dutch directors as Paul Verhoeven and Jan de Bont (see below).

About Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven is best known in America as the director of big, controversial films such as Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Robocop, and Showgirls. His trademark is unrestrained sex and violence, and this has predictably but somewhat unfairly caused his American films to be labeled as pure mind candy… at least upon first viewing. Many critics show an amusing tendency to retroactively reverse their opinions of Verhoeven films, especially the once much-maligned but now oft-praised Starship Troopers.

Many casual fans might not realize that Verhoeven had a thriving film career in his native Holland prior to coming to the United States. Several of his films remain the most attended ever in the Netherlands. Turkish Delight recently won a “Best Film of the Century” award in a popular vote there, and his 1977 World War II film Soldier of Orange received a Golden Globe nomination.

Director: Jan de Bont

1. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
2. The Haunting (1999)
3. Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
4. Twister (1996)
5. Speed (1994/I)

With exhibitions/shows as Photonics West (January 27-29), and the Game Developers Conference (March 9-13) ahead of us, with a strong Dutch presence, we feel good about next year’s results.

Stay tuned!