Equally dividing his time between supporting and lecturing in the two logistics programmes offered by Fontys Venlo and consulting for ILEC (International Logistics Expertise Center) in projects for companies and (semi-)governmental agencies, Danny finds the time to be part of TedXVenlo 2021.

“A great adventure and wonderful experience. Co-hosting this event with Sophia is special and feels safe. I’m already working with Sophia professionally at Fontys as a researcher and lecturer. To be able to co-host this event with her feels rather familiar and also gives us the opportunity to develop our skills as presenters.”

For sure I would like to give a TED-Talk in the coming years and thought of doing so for quite some time. Coming up with a good and inspiring theme, though, is not that easy. Therefore we find the challenge in co-hosting this event. Making all participants feel as comfortable and at ease as possible both off and on stage. In that way we are involved and have a rather responsible task. Really getting to know all speakers in person, getting familiar with their “Ideas Worth Spreading” and making them and the audience feel connected, is truly a treasure and a rewarding task. Playful, joyful with a humorous touch, yet keeping the audience’ sharp and eager to listen is one, keeping things within the scheduled time frame without being too hasty can also be a challenge.

Speaking in a calm reassuring and warm voice, Danny, being an English and German-language lecturer, feels no pressure of presenting in a different language from his mother tongue. “Although with a rather strong Dutch accent” he laughs, which gives us just that reassuring feeling that with Danny co-hosting the TedXVenlo 2021 edition is in good hands; a down-to-earth “Friendly Giant”. “Oh and my girlfriend, fiancé and I, we are expecting, but no pressure”, Danny happily ends our interview. Let’s pop some bubbles!