Eddy Kindermans

Current

• Manager Retail Neckermann at Thomas Cook

Past

• CSO - Chief Storytelling Officer - at Kindermans Communicatie
• General Manager at Seafront Zeebrugge
• General Manager at Celebrations Entertainment, Brugge, Belgium

• Manager Leisure Travel at Belgium International Travel (now Jetair Travel Centers)
• Sales & Marketing Manager at Mini-Europe theme park (Walibi group)
• Sales & Marketing Manager at Six Flags, Mini Europe (Brussels)
• 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
• 'Karel de Grote' Hogeschool Antwerpen
• Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege, Vilvoorde, België
• VRT Brussels

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Recommended

1 person has recommended Eddy

Connections

472 connections

Industry

Leisure, Travel & Tourism

Eddy Kindermans’s Experience

• Manager Retail Neckermann

  Thomas Cook

  (Public Company; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  March 2009 — Present (9 months)

  Manager of a chain of 92 Neckermann travel agencies in Belgium. Spokesman for Neckermann Belgium

• CSO - Chief Storytelling Officer -

  Kindermans Communicatie

  (Public Relations and Communications industry)

  January 2001 — February 2009 (8 years 2 months)

  I worked 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 ;
  
  Specialties (in Dutch for Mr. Google)
  - 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
  
  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

  (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 Jetair Travel Centers)

  (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 (Walibi group)

  (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;)

• Sales & Marketing Manager

  Six Flags, Mini Europe (Brussels)

  (Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)

  1989 — 1992 (3 years )

• 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

• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

  postgraduate , Usability Design , 2004 — 2005

• Robert McKee Story Seminar

  screenwriting 2003 — 2003

• Scenariocursus VVTS (docent Ed Vanderweyden)

  screenwriting 1999 — 2001

• 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)

• 'Karel de Grote' Hogeschool Antwerpen

  1977 — 1979

• Onze-Lieve-Vrouwecollege, Vilvoorde, België

  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
•    E-Marketing Belgium
•    Learning, Education and Training Professionals Group
•    Web Analytics Association
•    Web 2.0
•    UX Professionals
•    MovieProfs :: professionals working in the Movie Business::
•    Guerrilla Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
•    Consultants Network
•    SIGCHI.be
•    Online Advertising Professionals
•    Friends of Flanders
•    The Content Wrangler Community
•    ThoseinMedia
•    MindManager Enthusiasts
•    The Apple Mac Group
•    Friends of Spain / Amigos de España
•    MacUser
•    Travel 2.0: Interactive Travel Industry Professionals
•    Online Media Professionals Benelux
•    On-Site Behavioral Targeting (Gedragsmarketing)
•    Belgian Information Network
•    Online Marketing Nederland
•    Customer Experience Professionals
•    Film TV Professionals
•    THAT's Professional (Travel, Hospitality, Aviation & Tourism)
•    Friends of Belgium Business and Tourism Link
•    Friends of West-Flanders
•    Green
•    User Experience
•    Information Architect, IA
•    Music and Entertainment Professionals
•    e-Media 2.0
•    Brochure Marketing
•    Enterprise Content Management Writers' Community
•    Web Standards Design + Development
•    Freelance Switch
•    Entertainment Industry
•    Simulation, Visualisation and Training Systems
•    E-cultuur
•    Adobe User Group Belgium
•    Why Brussels Is Not Boring
•    Social Media Marketing Intelligence
•    Belgian freelancers open for new projects
•    De West-Vlaamse Creatieven
•    Friends of WFCC
•    Usabilityweb Magazine
•    Corporate Storytelling - Zonder Story, geen Verhaal !
•    TEDxBrussels

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