Yesterday we installed our new board member Serious Sjoerd Wennekes and also welcomed our new Operations Manager Wiebe van der Werk to the team.
Here’s an introduction of Sjoerd Wennekes, our new board member Serious:
“My name is Sjoerd, which is pronounced as Shoort, (for the non-Dutch readers). More than 17 years ago, I started as a professional in the game industry. Right after graduating from art college (HKU, theatre faculty) four classmates and I founded Monobanda, a creative game studio that always finds new ways of applied forms of play. Simultaneously with running Monobanda, I enrolled in Nyenrode Business University, where I got my MBA; Master in Business Administration. Since that moment, I have always been fascinated with bridging the gap that many creative entrepreneurs run into. The gap between their artistic vision and the reality of running a business. I love to help young creative startups with their first business plans and -models. There is so much untapped creative business potential in the Netherlands.
One of the bigger projects we worked on with Monobanda, eventually spun out into its own company. Tover, the creator of Tovertafel; the world’s only proven serious game product for people with cognitive disabilities. My team and I successfully branched out the business into 16 different countries. Pitching and presenting not only the Tovertafel, but also the potential of serious games as a whole, on various national and international stages. About two years ago, I made an exit from Tover. Currently, I am freelance available for companies that want to expand internationally.
In my 17+ years of entrepreneurship, I have worked together with various governmental officials and industry professionals in all shapes and sizes. From local municipalities to world leaders, and from founders of small start-ups to CEOs of multi-billion conglomerates and anything in between.
In my new role as board member ‘serious’ at the DGA, I will bring all my accumulated knowledge and experience with me, and use that to help the serious and applies game developers to reach their full potential. I have a strong focus on internationalization, and with the rapidly shifting geopolitic relations at the moment, I see a lot of potential for Dutch companies. In all my years abroad, I have never seen so much focus and dedication towards serious games as in the Netherlands.
I already share a lot of insights on internationalization, via my weekly column that I post every Friday. So follow me on LinkedIn or BlueSky, and please reach out if you have ideas, proposals, or questions. I would love to hear from you!“
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjoerdwennekes/
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/sjoerdwennekes.bsky.social
Here’s an introduction of Wiebe van der Werk, our new Operations Manager:
“My name is Wiebe and I’m very excited to join the DGA team as Operations Manager!
I started my career in the movie industry, working for companies like 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures. From there, I transitioned to the video game industry when I joined Bigben as Marketing Manager, overseeing marketing and PR activities for brands like Nacon, RIG, and Square Enix. During my time there, I had the privilege of working on iconic IPs such as Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, and Marvel.
In 2023, I made the shift to freelancing, working on diverse projects such as the Games in Concert: The Score series for Metropole Orkest, the Star Wars Marathon Fan Experience for Kinepolis Nederland, and managing video game voice actor appearances for GameForce. I also serve as Senior Global Communications & Events Manager at Vertigo Games in Rotterdam, leading global communication, PR, and event strategies.
In addition to the above, I organize celebrity appearances at comic cons and produce my own events, such as the Star Wars convention Echo Base Con on May 24, and MSX2 GOTO40, a celebration of the MSX2 computer system’s 40th anniversary on September 13.
As Operations Manager at DGA, I look forward to help contribute to the growth and success of the Dutch games industry!”
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiebevanderwerk/
Thank you, Emily and Marlies!
As we welcome Sjoerd, this also means we’re saying goodbye to Emily Jacometti who has been our board member Serious for almost 4 years! We want to thank Emily for her dedication and hard work, and for everything she has done for the Serious Games sector as a member of our board. Thank you, Emily!
Wiebe will be taking over the role as Operations Manager from Marlies, who has fulfilled this role for nearly 5 years. We want to thank Marlies for being the backbone of our organisation. She kept all processes running smoothly while always ready to welcome and assist our members with a smile. Thank you, Marlies!