EventInsight: Avoiding curfew, this is how it is done (successfully)
GRONINGEN, Netherlands, Feb. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- After the Intensive Care Units (ICU) were first threatened of becoming overwhelmed. The tough impacts are now being experienced also within the GGZ (The Dutch Association of Mental Health and Addiction Care) and crisis care. The measures of the past year and the ongoing lockdown are beginning to take their toll, especially on young adults. The decision to extend the curfew is therefore a hard blow for many. But a number of companies from the city of Groningen in the Netherlands are showing that things can be done differently; They decided to go into lockdown in Limburg and are successfully avoiding the curfews.
"Last year, everyone was still calling us crazy," says Bas Krijgsman, co-founder of the company EventInsight. In 2020 EventInsight attracted attention when they went with 15 people to Drentse Heath for a fortnight. They did this at the time to save their events company, which had been hard hit by the corona crisis, but also for the energy and mental state of all of their employees.
The company employs many people in their twenties and thirties, not all of whom have a partner's yet. "The lockdown does reduce the spread of the coronavirus, but at the same time it offers all kinds of long-term (mental health) risks. Especially considering that the majority of employees are in an important development and deployment phase of their lives." With this in mind, the company took some unconventional measures.
"Our starting point was simple: instead of looking at what cannot be done, we only look at what can be done," Krijgsman explains enthusiastically. The company developed its own vitality programme in which employees learn to eat healthily and take part in sports, went into quarantine a second time in the autumn and even set up its own COVID-19 testing line. And with success: 'With an absenteeism rate of less than 1.5%, we are showing the opposite of national trends.
Immediately left when the curfew was introduced
Within a day of the introduction of the curfew, the company decided to go into quarantine again, together with four other companies in Groningen. This time with no fewer than 28 people, 3 dogs and 2 children. All in accordance with the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) guidelines, of course. Bart Joplling, who is the Managing Director of Ten Stripes also went along; "I had understood from Bas that the quarantine weeks were a success, but I could have never imagined that it would give me such a boost and increase my energy levels so significantly".
During the day, the companies work in their self created office at the Braampeel. Early in the morning bootcamps are held and in the evening, people have the opportunity to relax in the jacuzzi or partake in a yoga session. They have even set up a mini disco, probably the only one in the Netherlands that is corona-proof. The Braampeel's owner Ria Joosten, also an entrepreneur in the events industry, is also very enthusiastic: "It's great to see how a group of young entrepreneurs is tackling the coroana crisis in a different way. And meanwhile, more companies are already interested in this set-up".
The companies will remain in quarantine until the end of the week, after which they will head north again to Groningen. Whether there will be a next edition of the 'Covid-camp', Krijgsman cannot yet confirm: "In any case we will do everything in our power to counter the negative effects of Corona in a safe way!"
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1437376/EventInsight.jpg
Share this article