2008
I work in Utrecht on an Urban Development Strategy which soon acquires the name "Destination Utrecht". Lots of the things we've been pushing to get done in recent years start falling into place. Despite that (or perhaps because of it) I decide to branch out on my own in May. My first job for Stipo as a freelancer is: Neighbourhood Economy Project Manager in Dordrecht. I've only just got used to the idea when Stipo asks me to help out with the implementation of the new ambitions. Two days as a consultant, three days as a manager, but once again on the payroll. It's an opportunity I don't have to think about for too long.
2007
A tumultuous year. A move to Leidsche Rijn and a sudden end to our marriage. The completion of a reorganisation at Utrecht Urban Development results in some confusion, but also a leading position in the Strategy department. Slowly but surely, ErasmusPC starts to take up more time, and paid assignments come along. I decide to cut back my working week by a day so that we can take on the assignments more easily.
2006
I get involved in ErasmusPC, the international network for culture and cities. All people with an infectious passion for their work. After I have been a presenter and stand-in chair a few times, Jeroen and Hans convince me to join the board. Suddenly, I've got a hobby that is taking over.
2003
I finish off my work on Metropool and I'm now a Master of City Administration. I move back to Utrecht. The perfect job for a new MCA is waiting for me there: Integral Policy Manager with Urban Development. The focus is mainly on rigging out a new Strategy department. And policy development in the department needs to be more integrated and strategic: more focused on support from its own managers and managers higher up. I learn a great deal about civil service-political relationships, about being right or getting the job done, about forming coalitions, about smarter presentation and about the complex challenges facing Utrecht: air quality, traffic meltdown, a feverish housing market, inner-city construction as opposed to outlying locations etc.
2001
Thomas is born, followed by Dianne two years later. I get a place on the new G4 masters training: Metropool. That means a new job: senior policy officer for Strategy with the Rotterdam Development Corporation. I work on the new Housing Vision and the 're-discovery' of the involvement of the Rotterdam Development Corporation with Community Facilities.
1998
We marry in Edinburgh. I am proud of the fact that I have a stake in the city from now on. In Utrecht, I become a broker. Neighbourhood plans and neighbourhood programs require integrated orchestration, and that was not always straightforward.
1994
In Architecture, I move more and more to the highest level of abstraction: I graduate as an urban planner. After a year trying out the world of work, I start on my career in Utrecht in January 1996 as a project secretary for neighbourhood planning. I move to Utrecht and move in with Frederieke.
1987
Student at Eindhoven Technical University. First maths and then, after a year, architecture. Here again, there is the call of the stage as a singer with Blue Funk and the Panic, and a one-off cabaret evening.
1982
Move to Hoevelaken, and secondary school in Amersfoort. I carry on down the road I took in primary school: I want to go on the stage. I get involved in all the musicals, talent shows and theatre clubs, and I take my first steps in cabaret.
1969
Born in Voorburg, where I live for 13 years.