event hosting Tag

July 26, 2024 In Blog

Shapiro EYE Filmmuseum Opening

Greg Shapiro Speaks at EYE Filmmuseum Opening for ‘Coen Brothers Complete’ film festival

What was I doing speaking at the opening of a Dutch Coen Brothers film festival?

Amsterdam’s EYE film museum is hosting a Coen Brothers retrospective all summer long, kicking off with their first-ever feature Blood Simple. The programmer thought “What if we get The American Netherlander to comment on the differences in Dutch & American film culture?” Either that or pay for Joel Coen to be there… They chose me.

Boy, do Dutch people love the Coen Brothers! Cinema 1 was totally full. By the way, if you’ve never been to the new EYE film museum across from Amsterdam Central Station, you’re missing out.

You don’t even need to see a film: the building, the bar and the terrace are a work of art. I crossed the water on the ferry with my cinephile daughter, who was my plus one.

The opening word was given by the film museum programmer Ronald Simons, who wore an Evil Dead t-shirt. Why? Because Joel Coen was the cinematographer! Part film quiz. I loved it.

As for my speech, I got to show my PowerPoint slides on the big screen with a 4k projector. Ronald and I had met earlier to craft the message of my 15 minutes. He thought it would be fun to reference the US election – or as I call it – “No Country for Old Men.” (Hopefully.)

What are the themes of the Coen Brothers movies?

They are notoriously difficult to categorize. But Ronald wanted me to highlight these 3 things:
1) ‘Old Testament-like Trials.’ I had to reference Genesis and the famous Dutch mapmaker who said “God created the earth, but the Dutch created their own country.” Dutch people would have been the ones in Moses’ tribe who stayed behind to make their homeland on the bottom of the Red Sea. “We’ll put up some dikes, we’ll dig a few canals. Gezellig.”

2) They parody and subvert film genres. Dutch director Paul Verhoeven is well known for playing with genres.. but the master of parody and subverting genres would be Dick Maas. Coming soon: “Amsterdamned – TWO.”

3) Man vs Indifferent Universe / Bad Things Happen to Good People. The best example I could think of was the (part-) Dutch film called Spoorloos, from 1988. I saw it in an art-house cinema in 1990. And the ending was such a shock! It was such a sensation there was a Hollywood remake in 1993, called The Vanishing. This movie is so bad you have to watch it to believe it. I re-enacted the Hollywood version of the ending. And I ended by saying “now you know how hard it is to make a truly original, truly dark movie in the United States. With that in mind, let’s watch the Coen Broertjes’ first film: Blood Simple.” And it was great!

The Coen Brothers Complete – click here for dates (ends 11 September)
https://www.eyefilm.nl/programma/the-coen-brothers-complete/1268320

For more Greg Shapiro Corporate Events Click Here:
https://gregshapiro.nl/greg-shapiro-corporate-events/

July 20, 2024 In Blog

Shapiro Hosts TUDelft Event

Shapiro Hosts TUDelft Event – 10 years of TU Delft Sports Engineering Institute

On days like these, I love my job.

Just as the Netherlands Olympic team is getting ready for Paris 2024, they celebrated 10 years of help from the TU Delft Sports Engineering Institute. I was brought in to host the 10 year event.

https://www.aanmelder.nl/sportinnovation/new-page

What is Sports Engineering?

When milliseconds make the difference between Silver and Gold, the Sports Engineering Institute uses high tech innovations to give the Netherlands the advantage. Onstage, I interviewed the head of the TU Delft program to discuss the new prototype Olympic racing bike (warning – brakes not included). (Professor Tim van der Hagen – rector magnificus at TU Delft)

I interviewed the head of the NOC Dutch Olympic Committee about the Dutch love of speed skating. When people say “the Dutch have skating down to a science,” it’s Delft they’re talking about. (Marc van den Tweel – general director at NOC*NSF)

I interviewed the head of the head of the Nationaal Klimaat Platform about how sports innovation helps sustainability. The Netherlands is also known for Olympic sailing – 100% wind power. But the officials’ boats are now being powered by hydrogen fuel cells developed at TU Delft. You may have heard how Paris 2024 wants to be the Greenest Olympics ever. You can thank the Dutchies. (Kees Vendrik – Chairman of Nationaal Klimaat Platform – will dive into the relevance of sports innovation for society.)

Sports Engineering and Baseball

After the plenary session, there was a gallery of sports exhibits, from skating to tennis – even darts. (see Michael van Gerwen, former Dutch World Champion)

My personal favorite sport is baseball. That’s how I grew up. So when I saw the exhibit for baseball pitchers, I had to try it myself.

There’s more and more pressure on young baseball pictures to throw with higher and higher velocity. The result is that many young pitchers blow out their arms and need surgery. But Delft SEI asks, “what if we use sensors to help young arms avoid injury?”

So I gave it a try.. I reached a top speed of 75 miles per hour. If you ever need a quasi-celebrity to throw out your first pitch, I’m available.

TU Delft Pitching

Thank you to event organizers JMT Management and to Karsten Stouten for the photos – and video.

And thank you to Ramona and the SEI team for putting glitter tape on my cue cards (blecch)…

…but then handing out top quality schwag: a TU Delft SEI t-shirt. Sports Engineering for Life!

For more Greg Shapiro Corporate Events, click here:
https://gregshapiro.nl/greg-shapiro-corporate-events/

April 3, 2024 In Blog

Shapiro Hosts Government Event NL

Shapiro Hosts Government Event for Netherlands Innovation Network

3 April, 2024

What an inspirational event for the NIN Netherlands Innovation Network’s 70th Anniversary (Oct. 2023)! I was honored to be host for the entire day.

The NIN is an outreach program to create public-private partnerships across borders – and make history. In 70 years of international networking, they can claim credit for the creation of CD’s, WiFi, water engineering, and a whole exposition floor full of more examples.

I started by singing happy birthday for the current staff of the NIN – which is part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.

The Future is Bright

Next, we got a preview of the future. AI and Quantum computing. Agritech and Health / Life Sciences. But for me most interesting was Aviation and the race between SAF (Sustainable / Synthetic Aviation Fuel) and Alternate Power Trains (e-Jets). The good news is: pretty soon we won’t have to feel so bad about flying anymore.

I’ve hosted so many events where the theme is efficiency / downsizing. This was one event where the boss was telling the staff: “get more people to claim more of these subsidies!”

Celebrating 70 Years

Next we heard some Best-of stories from 70 years of Innovation Attaches from around the globe.

And the Minister was there – at the end. I was introduced to Micky Adriaansens.

And I introduced her to the main stage.

At the very end, organizer George van der Raaij was exhausted. But…

After the event, one of the Innovation Attaches insisted on a group photo WITH the minister.

I enticed the organizers to rally for ONE more group photo. Luckily, photographer Robin Utrecht was on board.

And there she is. Adriaansens still is the ‘demissionaire’ minister. And since our next minister will likely be from a new coalition of science-denying amateurs, the longer she stays on the better.

Long live the NIN! (and please make your theme song Trent Reznor & Nine Inch Nails)
https://netherlandsinnovation.nl/

For more Greg Shapiro Corporate Events, click here

Corporate Events

March 21, 2024 In Blog

Shapiro Comedy Review Pepijn

21 March, 2024

GOOD NEWS!
a) Another solid review for the comedy nights I’ve been programming at Theater PePijn in the Hague.
https://artstalkmagazine.nl/english-stand-up-at-theater-pepijn-in-the-hague/

AND – b) next season we’ll be more frequent with one English comedy night per month. …Meanwhile, the next Pepijn’s Comedy Club in English will be 26 June…
https://www.diligentia-pepijn.nl/agenda/4432/various-stand-up-comedians/pepijn-s-comedy-club-in-english

Clearly, the Hague needs Comedy. English Comedy. That said, last night’s audience in the theater were 70% Dutch. As host, I did my favorite audience warm-up, which is a role-play. I ask the audience to pretend their Americans. Loud Americans. Americans in Las Vegas. If you ask Dutch people to make a lot of noise, you can only get them to go so far. But if you ask them to incorporate their opinions of other cultures, they give 110%.

Our first comedian was Nira Tal. Her opener is so sharp, and then she gets into Life in the Netherlands, being married to a Dutchman, solid set.

Next up was a friend of mine from Berlin, Rohit Bhatia. A former crime reporter from Mumbai, he now lives in Germany and brags about being “one of the few Indians in Europe that does not do IT.”

The Talent Spot was for Glodi Lugungu, who is no stranger to Theater PePijn, but this was his first time performing in English. English is his third language, and yet he managed to do some crowd work! His set brought the unexpected, magic.

Our headliner was Desiree Burch, who has been crushing it on British TV: BBC, Live at the Apollo, Too Hot to Handle on Netflix. But I got to know her from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. And I was the first person to hire her to come to “The Continent.” In fact, the last time I had her come tour the Netherlands with me was 10 years ago in 2014. In Pepijn. It was like a homecoming.

For more Pepijn Reviews

GREG SHAPIRO RETURNS TO PEPIJN

March 7, 2024 In Blog

Shapiro Votes in Global Primary

6 March 2024

Super Tuesday in the Netherlands! Time for Dutch American comedian Greg Shapiro to vote in the Global Presidential Primary 2024. The Dutch morning show ‘Goede Morgen Nederland’ called me up to ask if I was planning to vote – and how I was planning to vote. (Their channel WNL is more right-wing, so I was cautious.) Since I am still a citizen of the US, I said “yes, of course I’m voting (for Biden)!”

The Global Presidential Primary is fairly new. And so far the Democrat party is the only one organizing it. Until 2020 – if you wanted to vote in the presidential primaries at all – you had to send in an absentee request to register and for a ballot. Now, the Democrat party is organizing a number of in-person voting locations for American expats around the world. Amsterdam is one of the locations, specifically at Boom Chicago.

The TV interviewer asked if I could provide an American-style campaign event. She asked “do you maybe have flags?” Being the American Netherlander, YES I have flags. Here is the (one-minute) TV interview – in Dutch. Below is the transcript in English.

transcript in English:

Presenter: “One of the people who can vote in the Global Presidential Primary is ‘Mr. America first, Netherland second,’ comedian Greg Shapiro.”

Greg: “Yes, I’m celebrating today. I’m celebrating that as the American Netherlander, I can vote in person in the Global Presidential Primary.
I realize Joe Biden is not the ideal candidate. He’s way too old. But he’s the only Democrat who can say he beat Trump once already. And yes, he’s old, but he has more experience than anybody. He knows so many world leaders, NATO leaders, dictators. He knows Putin. For decades. That counts for something.
I have family in America. I have a sister, she has a daughter. And I’m sorry, but the Republicans with their crazy abortion laws. I feel like I have to protect my family if I can. So I’m voting for Biden.”

(as Biden) “Vote today if you want to vote for Biden.”

(as Trump) “And if you want to vote for Trump, you can’t. It’s Democrats only this time around.”

For more Greg Shapiro TV appearances, click here:
https://gregshapiro.nl/media/tv-appearances/

January 12, 2024 In Blog

Shapiro Same-Day PowerPoint Parody

Greg Shapiro Introduces Same-Day PowerPoint Parodies for Corporate Events

12 January, 2024

“Could you watch a day full of keynote speakers and then – at the end – perform a parody PowerPoint, based on their PowerPoints?” The answer is YES.

At the end of a corporate event, you’ll sometimes see a sketch artist give their impressions of the day. Or a spoken word artist. Or me, doing a standup routine.

NOW you can watch me perform a comedy version of the highlights of the day, with a tailor-made PowerPoint presentation.

The visionary who tasked me with this challenge was Ton Wesseling from Online Dialogue. I’m always inspired by his events on the subject of CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization). When he first hired me a few years ago, I did a tailored PowerPoint – with a few last-minute additions: my impressions of the day. In 2023, he hired me again – but this time he asked if I could give my impressions of ALL the speakers. Obviously, the most challenging were the speakers toward the end. Not as much prep time. BUT – I did it!

Thank you Ton, for forcing me to develop a format that didn’t really exist yet. Since Ton is obsessed with data and testing, he gave me a score: “We are always looking for speakers with a 70% or higher Good or Awesome rating. Your score: 90.5%!:”

Here are the Reviews:

“It is truly awesome how he dares to be on stage being funny about sessions that happened only an hour ago.”
“Super impressive how much he listened and took that onboard.”
“Great presentation. Great energy. Super impressed with how quickly you pulled it all together, especially for the ones who had only just spoken before your session. Really tough to nail it but you did. Bravo.”
“Greg had me crying from laughter at some point …and I was really impressed of his recollection of the event.”
“HAHAHAHA !!!!”
“Thanks for the amazing closing keynote. I truly admire your talent to come up with something in such a short time that is so funny, and also makes you think.”
“I love his energy and attitude. He greatly adapted to the world of CRO and improvised.”
“Really fun close of the weekend with the ‘roast’ like presentation. Greg just gives energy to the crowd.”
“Great closing keynote Greg! You certainly shook everybody up that were on the break of tuning out.”
“I love your jokes, rants and energy. Very nicely improvised and integrated …Love it!”

Watch: Greg Shapiro PowerPoint parody at CRO event ‘Conversion Hotel.’

https://conversionhotel.com/session/keynote-2023-how-to-make-fun-of-conversion-hotel/

More Greg Shapiro Corporate Events
https://gregshapiro.nl/greg-shapiro-corporate-events/

November 30, 2023 In Blog

Shapiro at Royal Comedy Event

28 november 2023

In Praise of Folly! This year’s Dutch Erasmus award was given to a comedian: Trevor Noah. It was an event full of Dutch comedy royalty – and actual Dutch royalty.

The event started with King Willem Alexander making jokes – and getting laughs! “I have the distinction of having sat on the lap of the previous winner, the last time it was a comedian: Charlie Chaplin in 1965. …Don’t worry, this is not a Dutch tradition.”

Trevor Noah actually made fewer jokes than expected – until the end: “I’m very proud that – after 220 years – a South African is able to take a few resources from the Netherlands back to the Cape.” He zinged the King!

Then he went and sat down in between the King and his mother, (former) Queen Beatrix. It was like watching a mini White House Press Correspondents’ Dinner.

After the Royal Comedy Event – SCHMOOZING WITH THE KING

If you’ve never been inside the Paleis op de Dam, I can recommend visiting when the Dutch royal family is hosting. I’ve attended events with King Willem Alexander before, but he’s usually whisked away quickly. This time the Dutch King seemed to want to stick around and chat with Dutch comedy royalty, like Claudia de Breij and Peter Pannekoek and even Andrew Moskos. “Is it harder to make jokes in a tense political climate? What kind of jokes go too far?” (And I was thinking “Is it all a bit too white?”) But then Soundos el-Ahmadi swooped in and took over. “Can I take a selfie?” Willem Alexander: “I’m not allowed to say yes.” Soundos: “That’s not ‘NO’!” So she broke open the floodgates (a true Dutch taboo), and then everyone got selfies with the King. I did mine modestly, from a distance. To make sure it would be the worst selfie ever:

THE GREEN KING

But I did talk to the King! I told him I might see him at the event I’m hosting next spring for the Dutch green startup Growy and the first harvest of their urban vertical farm in Amsterdam. He said “Sounds interesting,” which I relayed to the founder of Growy – who still doesn’t believe me.
(I also bumped into former Queen Beatrix! She is so little, and she was saying “I can’t see… Where is my son?” So I cleared a path for her. A couple people gave me eye daggers, but then they saw who was behind me, and they moved aside real quick. At the end I asked her for a photo, and she looked at me like I was crazy.)

And yes, I said hi to Trevor Noah. But I didn’t take a photo, because he was getting mobbed. Trevor, next time I see you I’ll say thanks for the inspiring words. Yes, comedy does connect people. Even if we oppose each other politically, when we share a laugh – in real time – we agree.

Thank you to the PraemiumErasmianum for the invite! Thank you to Boom Chicago for saving me a seat. And thank you to Erasmus the philosopher who was indeed Dutch. Without his writings, there would be no Reformation or Protestant religion. His “most famous” work is a socio-political satire called In Praise of Folly. Happy 65th Anniversary to the Erasmus Awards. You did well to pick a comedian.

King and Trevor Noah Make Jokes at Erasmus Award Ceremony
https://nos.nl/video/2499585-koning-en-trevor-noah-maken-grappen-over-en-weer-bij-uitreiking-erasmusprijs

For more tales of Greg performing for King Willem Alexander, check out the book – The American Netherlander: 25 Years of Expat Tales.

New Book

October 12, 2023 In Blog

Shapiro Premieres ‘ClimateGoodNews’ Show

Greg Shapiro Premieres His ‘ClimateGoodNews’ Show

12 October, 2023

The premiere was a success!

‘GREG SHAPIRO SAVES THE CLIMATE: 60 Minutes of Climate Good News’ at De Nieuwe Anita in Amsterdam. Next up come shows in Utrecht, Haarlem, Nijmegen & more…

Based on a True Story

My day job involves speaking and hosting at corporate events – increasingly for Dutch green startups and leaders in sustainability. Inspiring stuff, actually. So I thought: “why not make a show about it? With d**k jokes.”

So far I’ve got funny stories and inspiration to share about events for:

Boskalis Offshore Wind Energy
HZI Waste-to-Energy Power Plants
The European Sleeper Overnight Train (sustainable alternative to short-haul flights)
Kipster Sustainable Chicken Farm
Mosa Meat Lab-grown hamburger
NRC “How Green Are We” Survey
TU Delft Energy Transition event
TU Eindhoven Pitch Coaching for Green Startups
WUR Wageningen Food X – the food of the future
Koppert Agriculture – the Future of Farming

And I was even hired by a company called New Motion to standardize EV charging stations in Europe. But then I was fired – because apparently the startup had been bought out by Shell Oil, and Shell “wanted to move in a different direction.” …specifically BACKWARDS.

The show is so satisfying to do!

GREG SHAPIRO SAVES THE CLIMATE: 60 MINUTES OF CLIMATE GOOD NEWS
https://gregshapiro.nl/blog/greg-shapiro-saves-the-climate/

The Reviews

“Important and Inspiring.”

“Climate news stories making you realise it’s not all bad. Amusing and uplifting.”

“Climate theme is great. Also the ‘look out for greenwashing’ angle. Appeals to the sceptic in me.”

The opening was part of the Nutty Anita’s Solo Nights, at De Nieuwe Anita in Amsterdam. And it was a nicely full house. Thanks to Amsterdam’s ‘Maestro of the underground’ Ken Parsons for producing. And thanks to Amsterdam’s Maeva Dolle for being the opening act. Her solo hour is well underway.

FOR MORE GREG SHAPIRO GREEN-THEMED CORPORATE EVENTS:

Shapiro Hosts Sustainable Train Launch

WATCH: Greg’s YouTube Series ‘Climate Good News’

September 18, 2023 In Blog

Shapiro Hosts Kipster Event

18 sept., 2023
Hooray! I hosted another green event, this time for a sustainable chicken farm called Kipster.
Kipster (not Kipsta) started with 2 Dutch chicken farms, creating the world’s first carbon neutral eggs. Now this Dutch business is expanding into the US, and to host their launch event, they called me: The American Netherlander. The event took place in North Manchester, Indiana (23 Aug). And Queen Maxima even taped a video message.

To prepare, I met with one of the founders Olivier Wegloop, who is a vegan and animal rights activist. Here he is in the blue shirt behind me (gawd it was hot in that tent…)

Olivier believes in the writings of animal rights activists like Temple Grandin, who said: “nature is cruel, but we don’t have to be. If we are raising animals to be eaten, at least we can treat them with some respect.“ (and then we got to interview Grandin… see below) Since chickens are traditionally forest animals, Kipster has created – not only a cage-free environment, but – a fun forest.

As you can see, they still lay plenty of eggs.

Another Kipster founder is Ruud Zanders, who explained the main reason their chickens are carbon neutral: they feed the chickens food waste.

Every year A) humanity grows enough food to feed 4 billion people – and then we give it to livestock, B) of all the food we produce, we waste about 33%. Kipster simply asks: “Why not feed the chickens food waste?” The motto of Kipster is “Crops should be about Food not Feed.” This ground-breaking strategy is actually thousands of years old. But …

KIPSTER’S REVOLUTIONARY TWIST

The revolutionary part of Kipster is: Roosters for Meat.

Since male chickens don’t lay eggs – and they’re considered too gamey to eat – the normal practice on chicken farms is to kill baby male chicks they day they hatch. (The waste product is hopefully repurposed into things like pet food.) But Kipster asks “what if we let the roosters grow to maturity (and then we eat them)? How gamey are they really?”

To end the event, Kipster served up the first-ever rooster meatballs. I met with Managing Director Sandra Vijn to try one. And I thought it the texture was perfect. The tray of ‘Boom Boom’ rooster balls was not finished at closing time, and I was afraid it might become food waste… but I suppose the rooster meat was fed to the hens. What better way to say ‘Death to the Patriarchy’ -?

Thanks to Olivier Wegloop for putting this event together. He was the one who arranged an interview with Dr Temple Grandin – via Livestream. Dr. Grandin is famously autistic, and she demanded to see all the questions in advance. Then – as soon as Olivier asked his first question – she just went on a rant about sustainable farming and animal behavior and didn’t stop. She’s a legend!

Thank you to Olivier & Sandra for inviting me. Thank you to the Dutch Consulate of Chicago for putting us in touch (years ago). And thank you to Markey’s Event Services who created the backbone for an extremely professional show – including full build and build-down in extreme heat. And they made it look easy.

For more about Kipster in English:
https://www.kipster.farm/

More Green-themed events hosted by Greg Shapiro:
https://gregshapiro.nl/blog/shapiro-hosts-sustainable-train-launch/

Greg’s new Green standup special GREG SHAPIRO SAVES THE CLIMATE
https://gregshapiro.nl/blog/greg-shapiro-saves-the-climate/

July 31, 2023 In Blog

Shapiro at ‘4 More Years’ Event

Greg Shapiro Helps Celebrate ‘4 More Years’ of Castro Communicatie, May 2023

31 July, 2023

How do you celebrate your 4th anniversary as a Dutch political consultancy? With a political-themed party called “Four More Years!” Dutch communication and lobbying agency Castro Communicatie hired me to help them celebrate their fourth birthday, at The Loft in the A’dam Tower Amsterdam.

Stefan de Bruijn, Greg Shapiro, Frits Huffnagel

I asked if “Four More Years” might seem too partisan for their clientele? But of course – in the upcoming 2024 US election – the term “Four More Years” could apply to two different candidates: Biden and Trump. So “Four More Years” it was! They wanted an event with all the hype and hollering of American campaign – but with a Dutch twist. Who better to help them than The American Netherlander?

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/castrocommunicatie_castro-four-more-years-activity-7064245462496665600-upym?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Castro Communicatie’s American Roots

Castro Communicatie gets its name from the Castro district in San Francisco, the historic gay capital of the US. The two business partners (who also have male life partners) are Stefan de Bruijn and Frits Huffnagel. (aka S+F for SF: San Francisco). And they base their political consulting on the American model, so a connection to the USA seemed a perfect fit. (And then of course there’s Fidel Castro, who was famous for giving political speeches lasting for hours – which Frits and Stefan try to avoid.)

My job was to host the video presentations – and give a 20-minute keynote speech about the 4-year history of Castro Communicatie and the unique appeal of their Dutch-American style. In English, of course. Were there some older folks who didn’t like standing? Yes. Was there a MAGA hat or two? Yes. And was there one tired guy right up front? Also yes. Luckily, I’ve been trained to focus on people who are laughing, and that was most of them.

After my bit, Frits announced a new partnership with Castro Communicatie and event organizer New Balls Please. https://www.newballsplease.amsterdam/

They did a great job organizing this event – with real popcorn!
And I got to meet the DJ, who is also a former client and currently the mayor of Halderberge in Brabant: Bernd ROKS!

Congrats Castro Communicatie! We wish you a happy 4 more years.

Greg Shapiro Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shapiro-b030392/

Greg Shapiro Corporate Events

Corporate Events