Wicked Grounds 
During this thirteenth meetup we give the beautiful Wicked Grounds stage to… ourselves! And despite it raining cats and dogs outside, the meetup is sold out. And a lot of new faces in the crowd. A big thank you to everyone who showed up!

Tom Verstappen, co-founder of Wicked Grounds, welcomes everyone. He is happy to have TPM here tonight: Wicked Grounds hopes to give something back to society by hosting ‘Wicked Thoughts’ nights, so hosting a meetup is in line with their goals.

Board member Suzanne Ekel takes the stage, and reflects back on the year, especially for those who are new to The Present Movement – who we are, what we stand for, what we do, and what we have accomplished so far. ‘We are the system, we are the crisis, we are the solution’.

At our meetups, hearts, brains & networks come together. Heart, brains & network are also part of founder Marnix Geus. He focuses on the present rather than on everything that has been done already. But at the end of the year it is also nice to reflect and appreciate everything that has been accomplished. And to be a little proud!

But of course it is also good to look to the future: what can we expect from TPM in the coming years? More meetups, also outside of Amsterdam. The first one in Utrecht already took place – London, here we come? Business services? A yearly festival?

After a sneak peek into things to come, Marnix presented a question to the audience: ‘Aside from supporting initiatives for refugees, how can we help or support the entrepreneurs in our network?’

And so it was time again for a brainstorm session. As a bonus, each team had 90 seconds to pitch their ideas instead of the regular 60. And of course, there was also a winner: Team Yellow presented an idea that will definitely be followed up, so be sure to stay tuned!

A special thanks to:

Catering: Al-Shatter Hassan
Photo: Michiel Stock & Daneel Alnbwany
Video: Ayman Qattan
Text: Kasper Meijs