Eddy Kindermans

Current

• CSO - Chief Storytelling Officer - at Kindermans Communicatie (Self-employed)

Past

• General Manager at Seafront Zeebrugge, Belgium
• General Manager at Celebrations Entertainment, Brugge, Belgium
• Manager Leisure Travel at Belgium International Travel (now TUI or Jetair Travel Centers)

• Sales & Marketing Manager at Mini-Europe theme park
• Assistant to the CEO at Eurolines express coach network
• Stock and production manager at Herta meat products, Londerzeel
• Head of the Sports & Shoes Department at Makro Sint-Pieters-Leeuw

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Education

• Syntra Midden-Vlaanderen, Aalst
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• Robert McKee Story Seminar

• Scenariocursus VVTS (docent Ed Vanderweyden)
• Audiovisueel Centrum, Meise
• 'Karel de Grote' Hogeschool Antwerpen
• Sint-Eligius Antwerpen
• Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege, Vilvoorde, België
• VRT Brussels

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Connections

240 connections

Industry

Public Relations and Communications

Eddy Kindermans’s Summary

" Ne spekkewinkel" , " A candy store", that's how a West-Flemish entrepreneur reacted when he saw the different offerings on the back of my business card.

Yes, I write convincing texts AND professional screenplays AND direct videos or tv programs AND design (not in the graphical way) usable websites AND teach all those things to others...

Everything I do is about COMMUNICATION between people: getting the message across from A to B. It can be a story, a product, an attitude, a message,a good feeling...

It means that at the end of the day I do a lot of listening. I listen and try to understand what the client/student really wants and needs.

I believe in separating the "architect" from the "builder". When my architect-work is done, we select the right medium: print, moving image, web,etc. Over the years I created a network of the finest "builders" in the country:graphical designers, cameramen, developers, editors, actors, etc.

Most of the time, an enormeous added value is liberated when open-minded specialists in their field are working together!

I'm not an ad agency (some of them are my best customers ;). If you compare an ad agency to a supermarket, my company is a small delicatessen store.

So you see, the "candy store remark" wasn't too far from reality, but hey, I don't know about you, but I spent some of the best times of my life in candy stores, as a matter of fact I was BORN in the food store of my parents...

For the past 6 years I've been running my own shop working with a network of the finest freelancers and agencies in Belgium. I'm 47 but I'm still going strong and I'm full of new ideas !

I speak 5 languages quite fluently: Dutch (mothertongue), French, German, English and Spanish. Professionally I write in Dutch and English.

MBTI personality type: ESTP (look it up!)

Eddy Kindermans’s Specialties:

- tekstschrijver / copywriter: reclame, websites, persberichten, brochures, enz (Nl en E)
- hertalingen van het E,F,D en Sp naar het Nl
- scenario: bedrijfsfilms, presentaties, events, tentoonstellingen, bedrijfstheater
- regisseur: div.productiehuizen en zenders
- advies: marketing en communicatie
- usability expert & information architect: ontwikkelen van gebruiksvriendelijke websites
- creativiteitstechnieken: brainstormsessies e.d.
- opleidingen: alle voorgaande

Eddy Kindermans’s Experience

• CSO - Chief Storytelling Officer -

  Kindermans Communicatie (Self-employed)

  (Self-Employed; 1-10 employees; Public Relations and Communications industry)

  January 2001 — Present (7 years 5 months)

  I work freelance as a copywriter, screenwriter, director,information architect, usability expert and teacher. I also give no-nonsense communication advice to companies. Sometimes I work directly for a company or an organisation, but mostly I work as a subcontractor for advertising agencies, video production companies, web agencies, etc. I worked for a lot of big names but unfortunately I'm not allowed to mention them ;) A few highlights:
  
  - dialogue writer for the famous soap series "Thuis" on VRT for 2 years
  - finalist in the Copywriting course/Talent hunt of the CCB (4th on a total of 280)
  - I wrote, directed and produced a series of 30 episodes for the Flemish regional tv stations on building and construction (Bouw en woon advies)
  - I got bitten so hard by the subject that I did a post graduate "Usability Design" at the university of Leuven at the blessed age of 44 ;)
  - I have been teaching scriptwriting since 2002 and analysis for websites since 2005

• General Manager

  Seafront Zeebrugge, Belgium

  (Public Company; 1-10 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  January 1998 — December 2000 (3 years)

  Situated in and next (Russian submarine) to the former fish auction of Zeebrugge. I transformed 4000 of the 6000 m² of exhibition space with the financial help of the owners, the Flemish Community and the European Union into an interactive exhibition about the Belgian coast and the port of Zeebrugge. Another way of writing a scenario that tells a story while walking through the exhibition...

• General Manager

  Celebrations Entertainment, Brugge, Belgium

  (Public Company; 11-50 employees; Entertainment industry)

  November 1995 — December 1997 (2 years 2 months)

  This company runs medieval dinner shows (fighting knights, jester, firespitters, etc) in a former church in the center of Bruges. Average of two shows a week, with +- 200 people per show. As general manager I was responsible for an industrial kitchen (feeding up to 500 people at once), the show (now I know how a circus director feels;) and the marketing and sales, mainly to Belgian companies and tourists from all over the world (directly or via touroperators).
  
  Belgium is a country where theme dinners are relatively unknown by the public. In Holland, for example, several major companies exploit a range of different sites and themes, sometimes catering for 1500 people at once in the appropriate setting. Themes go from pirates, Romans, the roaring 20's, medieval to Arabian nights, etc, etc...
  
  It's the most satisfying job you can think of. Imagine 500 people giving you and your co-workers a standing ovation (in a church!) at the end of every show...unforgettable!

• Manager Leisure Travel

  Belgium International Travel (now TUI or Jetair Travel Centers)

  (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  June 1992 — November 1995 (3 years 6 months)

  I got a chain of 40 neglected travel agencies and their staff to start with (Transcontinental voyages with some leftover Havas and other agencies). After changing the name to Belgium International Travel I rebuilt/redecorated around 20 agencies in 2 years, not counting 10 new agencies we opened. In the mean time, we took over another 20 agencies (Ultra Montes) and integrated them. We trained all the staff (140 people), installed new phones, new computer systems, a central commercial and communication structure and raised the turnover in 2 years time with about 25 %. Later, the name was changed into TUI travel centers and finally into Jetair travel centers.

• Sales & Marketing Manager

  Mini-Europe theme park

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  February 1989 — August 1992 (3 years 7 months)

  It was a big pile of mud when I arrived. When I left, we had more visitors than the Atomium next door (not only thanks to me;)

• Assistant to the CEO

  Eurolines express coach network

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  July 1986 — February 1989 (2 years 8 months)

  My entrance in the service industry. We exploited a whole range of regular coach lines through Europe, which meant a lot of meetings with other European coach companies. As a young guy of 26-27 I had to translate (sometimes agitated conversations) from Spanish to German and other strange combinations. Needless to say I learned a lot there. I made up a whole new organisation scheme, appointed new lower level managers and their responsibilities and started the marketing department from scratch (new housestyle, timetables, etc) I learned a lot from working with Jean Wyns, the "Jean-Luc Dehaene of Belgian tourism", now the big boss of all Eurolines in Paris.

• Stock and production manager

  Herta meat products, Londerzeel

  (Public Company; 11-50 employees; Food Production industry)

  January 1982 — July 1986 (4 years 7 months)

• Head of the Sports & Shoes Department

  Makro Sint-Pieters-Leeuw

  (Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Wholesale industry)

  September 1980 — December 1981 (1 year 4 months)

Eddy Kindermans’s Education

• Syntra Midden-Vlaanderen, Aalst

  Songwriting 2007 — 2008 (expected)

  As a storyteller and a music lover, I had to discover this other "format" of storytelling. Dirk Blanchart, famous singer-songwriter (I lured him into Linkedin!) did a wonderful job trying to teach a very mixed crowd something about songwriting in just 5 sessions. There's even a project to make a cd with children's songs with the ex-students!

• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

  postgraduate, Usability Design, 2004 — 2005

• Robert McKee Story Seminar

  screenwriting 2003 — 2003

  Being taught by for 3 days by "Mr.Structure" himself was quite an experience. His character was played by an actor in the movie "Adaptation" where Nicolas Cage attends his course.

• Scenariocursus VVTS (docent Ed Vanderweyden)

  screenwriting 1999 — 2001

  At the end of this magnificent course (thanks Ed, you godfather of all Flemish scriptwriters ;) I wrote a test episode of the light drama series "Thuis" (VRT). It must have made a good impression because I became a member of the writing team and I wrote the dialogues of about 40 episodes in the following 2 years.

• Audiovisueel Centrum, Meise

  Night school, Spanish, 1981 — 1986

  Porque a mi me gusta mucho todo lo que es español: la gente, el flamenco, la comida, el vino y el idioma!

• 'Karel de Grote' Hogeschool Antwerpen

  Bachelor, Marketing and Retail, 1977 — 1979

  The school was formerly called Sint-Eligius instituut, the degree is officially called " graduaat Distributie". Now it's called Marketing but in those days quite a few people asked me to have a look at their TV set ("cable distribution").

  Activities and Societies:

  member of the praesidium (as far as I can remember ;): zedenmeester (not to be translated)

• Sint-Eligius Antwerpen

  graduaat Distributie-Marketing, Marketing & Distributie, 1977 — 1979

• Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege, Vilvoorde, België

  humaniora, moderne en economische, 1971 — 1977

• VRT Brussels

  John Vorhaus Comedy writing course

Additional Information

Eddy Kindermans’s Interests:

copywriter, tekstschrijver, scenarioschrijver, scenarist, bedrijfsfilms, usability, trainer, communicatie, advies,copywriter, tekstschrijver, regisseur, scenarioschrijver, bedrijfsfilms, bedrijfstheater, copywriting, reclameteksten, persberichten, copywriter, Brugge, informatie-architect, bedrijfsfilms, copywriter, scenarist, regisseur, West-Vlaanderen, Oost-Vlaanderen, Brabant, Antwerpen, copy, writer, copywrighter

Eddy Kindermans’s Groups:

Founder/First president of Visit Brussels, an interest group of touristic attractions, museums and public services to promote Brussels as a touristic destination,

member of FEWEB, Brussels IA meetup group, SIGCHI.BE, Adobe User Group Belgium, Scenaristengilde

Copywriter Club

•    LinkedSEO member
•    E-Marketing Belgium member
•    Plaxo.com member
•    Web 2.0 member
•    Travel2Travel.nl :: werkzaam in de reisbranche :: member
•    MovieProfs :: professionals working in the Movie Business:: member
•    Consultants Network member
•    SIGCHI.be member
•    Online Advertising Professionals member
•    The Content Wrangler Community member
•    MindManager Enthusiasts member
•    Friends of Spain / Amigos de España member
•    Mac user member
•    Online Media Professionals Benelux member
•    Plugg member
•    Marketing Professionals Network member
•    On-Site Gedragsmarketing (Behavioral Targeting) member
•    Belgian Information Network member
•    Online-marketing groep member
•    Film TV Professionals member
•    Friends of West-Flanders member
•    User Experience member
•    PINC Movement member
•    Info Arch member
•    Music and Entertainment Professionals member
•    Web Standards Design + Development member

Eddy Kindermans’s Honors:

Finals of the Copywriting Contest of the Creative Club of Belgium (2002) with the fictional campaign "Sell the Bible to teens" (if you are a good copywriter, you should be able to come up with a good idea...).

Eddy Kindermans’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch