The Country of Flower Business

Talking about flower, it's one of the biggest business in Netherlands. What's so special about flower? Yes, i know it's so beautiful. But with a sprinkle of creativity you can create business from it.

Beside the well-known Keukenhof, the world's largest flower garden situated near Lisse, Netherlands; have you ever heard about Aalsmer and Floriade? 

No? Ok, let me amaze you!

Flower Auction? You got to be kidding me!

The auction area

Flowers from all around the world

What cross on your mind when you hear word “auction”? A bunch of people making a bid to product or service, antique product, for the highest price. But there's something different with Netherlands auction. Yes, it's flower auction! Doesn't it sound so amazing? You got to check out Aalsmeer Flower Auction. It is by far the largest and most captivating floral auction in the world.

The system is all computerized, bidders sit in multi-tiered rows, armed with computer screens. And the unique thing is, the bidding starts from high price and works its way down. So the fastest bidder who hit the “buy” button on the lower price will get the bid.

The flowers are uh-mazing. They're not just tulips but flowers all around the world from Europe, Ecuador, Colombia, Ethiopia. Around 20 million flowers are sold daily and 80% shipped around the globe!

Floriade, A Horticultural Expo for Multicultural People!

Living nature! - Floriade 2012

Beautiful flowers at Floriade

Horticultural expo? Please, it sounds so boring. Imagine yourself going around to see flower collection, manure, farming equipment. Horticultural expo is mostly identical with old people or people who work or have interest in that field.

But wait, have you ever heard about Floriade? Nope, it's not an ingredient inside toothpaste, which is fluoride. Floriade is a world horticultural expo from Netherlands located in Venlo. What's so interesting about this expo?

The city of Venlo will turn 163 acres of land into a flower park. It encompasses 5 unique themed worlds separated by wooded areas; Relax and Heal, Green Engine, Education and Innovation, Environment, World Show Stage. Every areas have different theme of garden, restaurant, attraction, pavilions.

The creativity to create a majestic horticultural expo for multi segmented people. Children have the opportunity to join the fun and learning their environment. Young people can acknowledge themselves or relax at many choices of nature ambiance restaurant that serve a delicious range of food. Family can take their family and educated themselves with this green-expo. Grandparents can enjoy their time strolling around the themed garden of their choices.

This event organized once every 10 years. And it's happening this year and runs from April through October 2012. Psstt did you know that Indonesia participates in Floriade and they own one pavilion in World Show Stage area? Cool!

Oh God, let me be one of the victim for one of the World's Top Destinations for 2012 by CNN!

-------------------------------------

So Netherlands is, should i call ummm, flower island? Yes yes!

Flowers are blooming. Then they're falling off.

But in Netherlands, the flowers are always blooming everyday, yes?

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aalsmeer_Flower_Auction

http://www.floriade.com/

http://www.hillmanwonders.com/holland/aalsmeer_flower_auction.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CK2TatM_U&feature=related

Once Upon a Time in Madurodam

Around 1940

 The Maduro family came from Curacao, an island of the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean. Their son, George Maduro, went to Leiden to study law. He joined the Dutch resistance and fought the Nazi occupation forces. But unfortunately in 1945, he imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp and died there of typhus.

George Maduro

 1946

(George Maduro was posthumously awarded the medal of Knight 4th-class of the Military Order of William, the highest and oldest military decoration in the Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Mrs. J.M.L. Maduro: Honey, today is a year after our son George passed away. I'm still in a deep pain. Gone too soon.

Mr. J.M.L. Maduro: He's a good and smart kid. He could make this country, even world, a better place.

Mrs: He's very brave. I'm so proud of him.

Mr: With the medal and all the fund we got, don't you think we should make something like memorial to remember him?

1952

Mrs. B. Boon-van der Starp: Hello Mr and Mrs. Maduro, it's very nice to see you. My name is Boon-van der Starp from Dutch Student Sanatorium in Laren. The sanatorium gave students suffering from tuberculosis the opportunity to recover, while at the same time continuing with their studies.

Mr: Nice to meet you madam.

Mrs Boon: So I'm offering this brilliant idea. You want to build a memorial for your son, right? I'm thinking about making a miniature city at The Scheveningen, The Hague.

Mrs: A miniature city? What it would be like?

Mrs. Boon: It will be a historically correct reproduction of an average city of the Netherlands and its surroundings shrunk to a scale of 1:25. It's studded with reconstructions of famous sites and buildings that were part of Holland's magnificent history.

Mrs: Wow you come up with a great idea! But won't it be boring to see the small size of building?

Mrs. Boon: Don't you worry, it won't be a static miniature building. You will see turning windmill, the activity at Alkmaar cheese market, yacht sailing along the river, or the takeoff at Schiphol international airport. Also, there will be miniature of people based on their field around the building. So believe me it will be an attractive one.

Mr: Hmm sounds magnificent.

Mrs Boon: And we consider giving all the profits to the charity. So you can make a memorial for your son and would continually benefit others at the sanatorium.

Mr: Okay madam, we fully support your idea and agree to help fund the building.

Mrs Boon: I'm so glad to hear that, it's really an honor. What do you want to name it?

Mrs & Mr: Madurodam!

(Madurodam officially opened on 2 July 1952) 

the first brochure of Madurodam

Madurodam miniature railway, 1952

Now

Since then, Madurodam has welcomed more than 50 million visitors from the Netherlands and abroad. It receives approximately 600,000 visitors per year. And now all the profits go to Madurodam Support Fund Society (Stichting Madurodam Steunfonds) that benefiting young people.

Madurodam, April 2012

 The(Never)End(-ing)(Creativity)

Source:

http://www.amsterdamcitytours.com/madurodam.html

http://www.denhaag.nl/en/visitors/to/Madurodam-5.htm

http://www.hillmanwonders.com/holland/madurodam_mini_village.htm

http://www.madurodam.nl/en/

http://www.rnw.nl/bahasa-indonesia/article/dibuka-kembali-madurodam-lebih-interaktif

It's All About Dutch C-R-E-A-T-I-V-I-T-Y !

Did you know:

• World class painters such as Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh?
• The inventor of microscope, telescope, pendulum clock, and the mercury thermometer in 16^th-17^th century?
• 'Philips' company that invented audio tape, video tape, Compact Disk, and CD-ROM?
• The famous Heineken beer?

Are originally come from The Netherlands, from the creativity of Dutch people?

source

From “Human Motivation”, 3rd ed., by Robert E. Franken, creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. 

The creativity of Dutch people exists because.....

Capability. Capability comes from education, experience, knowledge. The capability of Dutch makes them able to view things in new ways or from a different perspective. They able to generate new possibilities or new alternatives.

Radical. It isn't only about politic view but the way they thinking and taking decision. Dutch radical thought delivered the unique and novel ideas.

Education. Education is a very important for the Dutch. Compulsory education (leerplicht) in the Netherlands starts at the age of five until their sixteenth. If a child reaches the age of sixteen and hasn't obtained a diploma, they must train for a qualification (kwalificatieplicht) for 2 years. So they must stay at school until their eighteenth birthday or until they have obtained a diploma.

Attention to human rights. The human rights of the Netherlands are codified in the Dutch Constitution. The first chapter of the Dutch constitution codifies the rights of all persons in the Netherlands. That's why Netherlands hosts several international human rights institutions, like International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Tolerance. Netherlands is culturally diverse country but tolerate each other very well. Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution states: ‘All persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in equal circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race, or sex or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted’. Article 1 therefore safeguards both the right to equal treatment in equal circumstances and the ban on discrimination.

Innovative. Dutch people enjoy innovating. They're future minded, create something better for the future with the uniqueness of the alternatives to generate their innovation. 

Various races, religion, and belief, etc. The Netherlands is well known for its liberal attitude towards specific subjects, such as LGBT rights, euthanasia, freedom of speech, etc; and high tolerance for those subjects.

Individual. For many people, Dutch seems very private and individual. Though that's a common character for mostly Dutch, the individual characteristic makes them becoming a competitive person.

Technology. Technology as scientific knowledge are used in practical ways in industry and created a high and informative technology. The Netherlands ranks 9th in the world on the 2009-2010 'Global Information Technology Report' followed by Germany and China (source).

Yearning for innovation. Dutch people have a strong and emotional desire that raises a new idea to create innovation.

So, CREATIVITY is really in Dutch people blood stream, right? 
 

Source: 

 

http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy00h/creativity/define.htm

http://www.dutchdailynews.com/netherlands-ranks-high-on-global-information-technology-report/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_Netherlands

http://www.eupedia.com/netherlands/trivia.shtml

http://www.government.nl/issues/human-rights/human-rights-in-the-netherlands

http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/living/education/dutch-education-system).

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/netherlands.html

Naik Turun

Ya ini kesannya. Konklusi dari keseluruhan proses.
Terimakasih ya panitia I-Comm 2010 , kotakide Production , teman-teman Mankom 2010.
Semakin menjadi komunitas yang kreatif !

Mau Jadi Apa Aja Boleh !

Kuliah di jurusan Manajemen Komunikasi nanti pekerjaannya apa?

Memasuki awal bulan Desember banyak kejadian melelahkan sekaligus menyenangkan yang terjadi sebulan kebelakang. Membuat saya mampu menemukan beberapa pencerahan untuk menjawab pertanyaan tersebut. 


Mengikuti I-Comm 2010 ada satu hal yang saya sadari bahwa Manajemen Komunikasi sangat fleksibel. Dan sesungguhnya saya sangat mensyukuri hal tersebut. 
Tugas bikin film tidak hanya sekedar berhenti pada pekerjaan yang berkaitan dengan orang dibalik layar (sutradara, editor, penata artistik, dll). Tapi sebenarnya lebih dari itu. Kita belajar bagaimana berkomunikasi dengan orang lain secara personal maupun kelompok. Saling bekerjasama dan bersikap terbuka terhadap orang lain. Terdengar teoritis memang, tapi toh itu yang kelak akan diperlukan kedepannya nanti. Tugas launching product. Pembagian tim menjadi divisi promosi, pemasaran, dan hubungan masyarakat lagi-lagi mampu menggambarkan betapa fleksibelnya jurusan ini.


Ahh saya sih gak perlu pusing takut ribet dapet kerja karena (katanya) ketidakjelasan jurusan Mankom. Karena seiring satu semester mendalami Mankom dan juga mengikuti I-Comm 2010 nampaknya profesi apapun yang digeluti nanti bukan suatu problem rumit. 


Simpelnya gini. Kan katanya jurusan Komunikasi itu flesksibel, bisa ditempatkan dimana aja dengan lapangan pekerjaan yang terbuka luas. Nah bagaimana agar komunikasi itu jadi benar-benar real diterapkan dalam dunia kerja? Harus ada kemampuan mengelola komunikasi tersebut biar gak asal dan kosong. Nah Mankom lah yang paling cocok.


Kalau setia sama bidang komunikasi mau jadi jurnalis kritis, humas handal, pemasar hebat, orang periklanan, penulis best seller. Apapun itu pasti BISA.
Kalau keluar jalur komunikasi?  Gak bisa jadi dokter karena bukan lulusan FK tapi mampu jadi pemilik rumah sakitnya. Gak bisa jadi arsitek karena bukan lulusan FSRD tapi yang mengelola perusahaan designnya. Gak bisa bikin jurnal akutansi karena bukan lulusan FE tapi tanam saham bejibun. Apapun itu tetep BISA. 
Punya mimpi harus besar. Keterbatasan jangan jadiin halangan.


Perlu juga pengalaman di luar sana. Biar kita tahu bahwa dunia lebih luas dari yang kita bayangkan.
Pekerjaan / Profesi / Karir / apapun-itu-nama-dan-definisinya adalah pilihan hidup. Semakin banyak pengalaman semakin kita tahu mana yang pekerjaan / profesi / karir yang tepat untuk kita.


Pengalaman saya memang masih sedikit. Tapi mendalami Mankom membuat saya semakin terpacu untuk mencoba banyak hal dan gak takut buat menjejali diri saya dengan hal baru tanpa perlu terdoktrin saya jurusan Jurnalistik maka saya akan jadi Jurnalis atau saya jurusan Hubungan Masyarakat maka saya akan jadi Humas.


Karena saya jurusan Manajemen Komunikasi saya akan jadi apa saja yang saya mau.
Bagaimana? :)