The gong: an age-old tradition
The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the oldest stock exchange in the world and a household name in the Netherlands and abroad. As early as the 17th century, trading was opened and closed by sounding a gong. Today, all securities trading is automated and the opening is a ceremonial act. Directors of listed companies, business people, politicians and charity ambassadors have helped keep this tradition alive in recent years.
Amsterdam Gong Ceremonies
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Wealth Management Partners celebrates 10th anniversary
Wealth Management Partners visits Euronext Amsterdam to attend an Exchange Meeting and to celebrate the 10th anniversary.
Wealth Management Partners, located in Amstelveen, is specialized in the structured management of substantial assets. The company manages over € 1.3 billion for a limited number of clients. Managing partner, Albert van Dedem, sounds the gong.
For more information: www.wmpartners.nl
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New CIO Delta Lloyd Asset Management, Jacco Maters, visits Beursplein 5
New Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and Managing Director of Delta Lloyd Asset Management, Jacco Maters, visits Beursplein 5. As a fitting way to mark the start of his new responsibilities he sounds the gong.
As Maters says, "I’m really excited about this new challenge. Delta Lloyd is known for being an innovative investor with an independent and distinctive investment policy. I’m honoured to have the opportunity to lead Delta Lloyd Asset Management, where a strong, committed team is achieving good investment returns. I see sounding the gong as a bit like my joining Delta Lloyd: a new beginning that builds on many years of history and continuity. And with that in mind I’m going to do everything I can to ensure we continue achieving the best possible results for our clients."
Maters was previously Group Head of Equity and Group Head of Derivatives at Allianz Investment Management in Germany, where he was responsible for Allianz’s global equity and derivatives investment strategy. He also served as a member of the Allianz Investments Supervisory Board for several years.
For more information: www.deltalloydassetmanagement.nl
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EY Master Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 opens trading
Winners of the EY Master Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014 awardare Bert Meulman and Willem Blijdorp from B&S international.Bert Meulman opens trading by sounding the gong in the presence of winner of the Accelerating Entrepreneur Of The Year Paul Koppert from Koppert Biological Systems and Emerging Entrepreneur Of The Year Janneke Niessen from Improve Digital.
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the largest competition for successful entrepreneurs in the world. The awards are presented in over 50 countries across the globe. This will be EY’s 19th Entrepreneur Of The Year competition in the Netherlands for the encouragement and acknowledgement of successful entrepreneurship.
Program director, Andrea Vogel: "This year a lot of outstanding entrepreneurship was shown in the Entrepreneur Of The Year program. Good entrepreneurs are the trendsetters of the economy and it is simply true that entrepreneurs, more than average, contribute to innovation, job creation and prosperity. We congratulate the winners and all the finalists and thank them for their cooperation."
For more information: www.entrepreneuroftheyear.nl
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Chocolatemakers, winner DAM Award 2014, visits Amsterdam Exchange
The winner of the DAM Award 2014, Chocolatemakers of Amsterdam district North, sounds the gong and visits Euronext Amsterdam together with all the district winners, Bettina Bakt (winner district South), De Groene Paal (winner district Centre), Eco-logisch (winner district West), Goodbrandz (winner district New West) and RAU (winner district East).
The DAM Award is a business award that helps make sustainable entrepreneurs visible in Amsterdam. In this context corporate sustainability means: business with heart for people, environment and economy (People, Planet and Profit).
For more information: www.amsterdam.nl/damprijs
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Gong marks Dutch Fire Prevention Weeks
| Amsterdam
7955bbe6e680-5c87-48b5-9010-09da18e31eadGong marks Dutch Fire Prevention Weeks
The fire department and the Dutch Burns Foundation sound the gong to raise awareness for the yearly Dutch Fire Prevention Weeks.
During the month October the Fire department organises public information meetings and useful tips to the Dutch public are given on how they can implement fire prevention at home. This year special attention is given to a very vulnerable group: senior citizens. The credo “what do you do when there’s a fire? Practice your escape!” underlines that it is extremely important to practice escape route. The Fire department and other volunteers will visit senior citizens that still live independently to ensure that they practice their escape route. Ambassador, Mariana Ngombo Zinga, sounds the gong.
For more information: www.watdoejijbijbrand.nl
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United States Ambassador sounds gong for International Breast Health Month
His Excellency Timothy Broas, United States Ambassador to the Netherlandsand A Sister's Hope visit Euronext Amsterdam to sound the gong for the launch of International Breast Health Month.
A Sister's Hope was the first non-profit organization in The Netherlands dedicated solely to raising money for breast cancer research and remains the only organization in The Netherlands with that pure focus. The organization is dedicated to raising significant funding for breast cancer research, and is committed to helping individuals realize their own power to make the world what we dream it can be. More than 4.3 million euro has been given to researchers since 2007.
For more information: www.asistershope.org
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Nienke Meijer named Top Woman of 2014
| Amsterdam
7952fc990ebd-c41d-4f97-912a-0c000496ae25Nienke Meijer named Top Woman of 2014
The winner of the 2014 Top Woman of the Year award, Nienke Meijer, chair of the Managing Board of the school organisation Fontys Hogescholen, visits Beursplein 5 and sounds the opening gong. She is accompanied by Sophia Kerkhof Schneider, Senior Board manager at Vrumona (Heineken) and the winner of the 2014 Young Talent Award.
The purpose of the selection process sponsored by the Top Woman Foundation is to highlight the accomplishments of women. The 5-member jury, chaired by Gerdi Verbeet, had the difficult task of choosing this year’s winner. One of the most important criteria for selection is the extent to which the finalists have worked to promote diversity in their own organisation, but also the span of control, the scope of the position held and results achieved are taken into account. Ten women were nominated for the award this year. The other finalists are Sigrid van Aken, member of the Managing Board of Novamedia and Joanne Kellerman, member of the management of the Dutch Central Bank. Partners of the award are among others, ABN AMRO, Heineken and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
For more information: www.topvrouwvanhetjaar.nl
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Nederland Cares sounds gong to mark the Week of Encounters
By sounding the gong Nederland Cares Foundation marks the start of the Week of Encounters, which takes place from 29 September through 5 October. During this week the Foundation mobilizes nearly 750 young professionals to engage in volunteering activities.
The Week of Encounters provides an accessible and fun way to become familiar with the volunteering opportunities. For nearly a decennium Nederland Cares offers young professionals the opportunity to engage in community volunteering work on a flexible basis. Based on their availability and preferences, the young professionals can vary the frequency and timing of their volunteering efforts. The activities are offered at different days and times, with a focus on evenings and weekends, so that they can be combined with their professional duties. Nederland Cares cooperates closely with corporates and stimulates people to start giving back to Dutch society at an early stage of their (professional) lives. CEO of the foundation, Karin Schadee, sounds the gong.
For more information: www.nederlandcares.nl
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Gong marks partnership Ajax, Amsterdam ArenA and Huawei
Dutch football club Ajax (ticker symbol: AJAX) and Amsterdam ArenA sound the gong for the partnership with Huawei, a global ICT solutions provider.
Under the agreements, Huawei becomes official partner of Ajax and business partner of Amsterdam ArenA, which is home to football club Ajax. In the 5 year technology agreement Huawei will create the largest open-access wireless LAN infrastructure in the Netherlands at the Amsterdam ArenA. Through this WIFI network both the Amsterdam ArenA and Ajax are enabled to offer new services to fans and other visitors. It is expected that all visitors of events at the ArenA will be able to use this WIFI network optimally from the beginning of 2015. During matches from Ajax the use of WIFI will be for free.
The official partnership with Ajax will last for three years. The sponsorship package includes brand presence during matches of Ajax through LED boarding and visibility in the club’s offline and online media. CEO Huawei Technologies Netherlands B.V., Mr. Wonder Wang, sounds the gong.Ajax has been listed on Euronext since 1998.For more information: www.ajax.nl
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Dutch Cystic Fibrosis Foundation sounds gong for Run4AIR
The Dutch Cystic Fibrosis Foundation sounds the gong for the Run4AIR foundation to mark the ‘Run with your Kids’ run that takes place on September 28.
Parents run together with their kids through the Vondelpark in Amsterdam (1 km. for children between 4 and 7 years old and 3 km. for children between 8 and 15 years old). The money that will be raised is for the Dutch Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a patient organisation and Charity Fund for people with Cystic Fibrosis. The core business activities are patient advocacy, offering peers contact, information and education, and promoting and supporting scientific research to make a longer and better life possible for people with Cystic Fibrosis.
For more information: www.ncfs.nl
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RoodMicrotec sounds gong to mark new strategy
| Amsterdam
795018ae5357-7e21-4e21-b7c5-c40858bcac24RoodMicrotec sounds gong to mark new strategy
RoodMicrotec sounds the gong to mark its new strategy that is focused on three promising growth markets: the automotive industry, the medical industry and the aeronautical and aerospace industries.
A key aspect of the new strategy is that RoodMicrotec will concentrate more on recurring sales and long-term projects that yield stabler, more predictable and less cyclical sales. With 40 years’ experience as an independent service provider in the area of micro and optoelectronics, RoodMicrotec offers fabless companies, OEMs and other companies a one-stop shopping proposition. RoodMicrotec has branches in Germany (Dresden, Nördlingen, Stuttgart), the UK (Bath) and the Netherlands (Zwolle) and is listed on Euronext (ticker symbol: ROOD). CEO, Philip Nijenhuis, sounds the gong.
For more information: www.roodmicrotec.com
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SNS Securities sounds gong to mark Fund Seminar
| Amsterdam
794653233736-10e2-4c21-b246-7d3d9323fd72SNS Securities sounds gong to mark Fund Seminar
SNS Securities External Asset Managers Services sounds the gong to mark the fifth Fund Seminar that takes place on 25 September.
At this event a total of 26 Fund Managers present themselves and highlight a few of their mutual funds. One of the special guests is Euronext who will join the Fund Managers and give a presentation as well. SNS Securities is a Dutch securities specialist, internationally active in securities brokerage and capital markets transactions. The Business Unit External Asset Manager Services celebrates its fifth anniversary this year and services over 50 asset managers and (over 25000 of) their clients. Director external Asset Manager services, Rob de Haas, sounds the gong.
For more information: www.snssecurities.nl
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CEO Red Cross sounds gong for ‘Forgotten songs for forgotten children’ campaign
CEO of the Red Cross, Gijs de Vries, sounds the gong for the campaign; ‘forgotten songs for forgotten children’.
Monday 22 September a new album is released, with the special title ‘Forgotten songs for forgotten children’. Eighteen Dutch musicians cooperated with the Red Cross and donated one of their own singles, to raise funds for emergency aid for children in conflict areas. Bands and singer songwriters like BLØF, Niels Geusebroek and Ilse de Lange & JB Meijers specifically chose a song they had never published before, others participated by offering a new edit of an existing song.
The funds raised by selling this album will be directed towards emergency response activities of the Red Cross in South Sudan, Syria and Central African Republic. These are conflict areas with an ongoing explosion of violence and loss, where specially children are among the hardest hit, are suffering a severe lack of food and are often hardly able to survive. By distributing food parcels and acute medical care where needed, the Red Cross provides help. Furthermore, more sustainable aid is organized by handing out seeds and agricultural tools to enable families with children to support in their livelihood.
For more information: www.rodekruis.nl
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Gong marks World Alzheimer’s Day
| Amsterdam
7944a3c4d144-d0e4-42fb-b7d5-a63b95d4aa08Gong marks World Alzheimer’s Day
With regards to World Alzheimer’s Day, VUmc Alzheimercenter opens trading. CEO and neurologist Philip Scheltens sounds the gong in the presence of doctors and researchers working at the center.
Dementia affects every 1 out of 5 people and 70% of the cases are caused by Alzheimer’s. Dementia is the disease that entails the highest costs for our society and is currently still incurable. In the Netherlands, dementia is the fastest increasing disease, adding a new patient every 15 minutes. Only scientific research can bring us closer to a solution. At VUmc Alzheimercenter research is conducted on Alzheimer’s Disease and other types of dementia, particularly at a young age, in order to find a cure for this future epidemic.
For more information: www.alzheimercentrum.nl
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AB InBev celebrates Be(er) Responsible Day
| Amsterdam
7937c20817a6-c852-4301-b100-60ed5789db5fAB InBev celebrates Be(er) Responsible Day
By opening trading in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, AB InBev celebrates its Global Beer Responsible Day for the fifth time. This day is dedicated to promoting the importance of responsible drinking among its employees, customers and consumers.
In the Netherlands AB InBev (ticker symbol: ABI) is known for its brands Jupiler, Hertog Jan, Leffe, Hoegaarden and Dommelsch. The activities of AB InBev related to promoting responsible consumption are this year focused on responsible serving. On Be(er) Responsible Day, teams will hit the streets in nine Dutch cities to train as many servers of alcoholic beverages as possible to serve responsibly. Similar activities will take place in other countries. AB InBev’s goal is to provide training to at least 10.000 servers in Europe and 1 million worldwide. AB InBev developed an online training for this purpose which provides people with information on relevant rules and regulations, give them practical pointers on properly checking someone’s age and teaching them how to deal with delicate situations such as a refusal to serve an alcoholic beverage.
On the occasion of this day, Harm van Esterik, Country Director AB InBev Netherlands, sounds the gong in Amsterdam. At the same time Eric Lauwers, President AB InBev Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Luxemburg and José Lafuente, Country Director AB InBev France, ring the bell at Euronext Brussels and Paris.
For more information: www.ab-inbev.com
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DOCDATA N.V. visits Beursplein 5
| Amsterdam
79369e9deb40-6038-4054-9de2-476476d40d41DOCDATA N.V. visits Beursplein 5
Docdata (ticker symbol: DOCD) sounds the gong to mark the successful completion of the state-of-the-art e-fulfilment center in Waalwijk. Docdata now has 125.000 square feet available to store the goods and handle the orders of customers in the Benelux.
Docdata specializes in e-fulfillment, reverse logistics and online payment services. From operations in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Poland and France Docdata processes 125,000 to 250,000 orders every day for among others bol.com, De Bijenkorf, V&D, Brands4Friends, Zalando, ASOS, Toys "R" Us, HP and House of Fraser. Member of the DOCDATA N.V. Supervisory Board, Dirk Lindenbergh, sounds the gong. Docdata is listed on Euronext Amsterdam since 1997 and is included in the AScX-index®.
For more information: www.docdata.nl
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JINC celebrates tenth anniversary by sounding the gong
Director of JINC, DaniëlRoos,and the 150,000th student will perform the gong ceremony to underline that every child in The Netherlands deserves a fair chance in the labour market.
Children fromneighborhoods with high unemployment and low education rates often lack role models and examples to make the right choices in terms of study or drop out of school. JINC provides children from 8 to 16 years with the opportunity to have a better start when they start working through vocational orientation in the workplace, teaching (social) skills and entrepreneurship. A total of 150,000 students from primary school to the vocational secondary level have now experienced how the labour market works. The goal: to make the right choices in terms of study, to reduce the likelihood of students dropping out and to offer them better prospects for work. JINC is a not for profit organization with six offices throughout the country and is supported by over 800 companies, including Euronext.
For more information:www.jinc.nl
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Breaking Financial Barriers launches conference by sounding gong
Director Enterprise Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Pieter Waasdorp, sounds the gong to mark the start of the Breaking Financial Barriers conference that takes place at Beursplein 5.
The conference is part of a series of initiatives to reduce barriers that (innovative) companies face in financing their growth. Raising capital is an important prerequisite for innovation and economic growth. Unlisted companies encounter obstacles in obtaining financing, as banks use stricter criteria for the provision of loans. Conversely, institutional investors are keen to invest but have limited opportunities for investing in unlisted companies. Breaking Financial Barriers explores how to close the gap between the two parties to make way for innovation and growth in the SME sector.
During the conference, speakers and participants identify solutions and recommendations to improve access to capital. After the conference the recommendations will be processed and widely shared and published. Speakers include Peter Waasdorp (Ministry of Economic Affairs), Hendrik van der Meulen (KplusV), Cindy van Oorschot (DNB) and Hans Leufkens (Euronext).
For more information: www.kplusv.nl
Amsterdam
Would you like to sound the gong with your company at Beursplein 5?
Open the trading day at Euronext Amsterdam
Companies or institutions that have a natural connection to the Amsterdam capital market can be invited to take part in a gong ceremony. For example, this might be to mark a special milestone or to raise awareness of a charity.
The ceremony starts with a reception hosted by a senior Euronext Amsterdam representative in the former Board Room at Beursplein 5. Just before 9 am, the participants and their guests take their place on the gong stage to open the trading day, The gong is sounded at 9 am precisely. The group then returns to the Boardroom for a cup of coffee.
Media coverage
The gong strike is broadcast live every morning on RTL Z. A picture of the gong strike illustrates the daily stock market report on the Financiële Telegraaf's website. In addition, Euronext shares the images on its social media channels.
Photos and video footage taken of the gong ceremony are shared with guests, who are free to use them for their own communications and on social media.
Practical information
Programme
Timings for gong ceremonies at Beursplein 5 are as follows:
Reception: 8.30 am
Sounding of the gong: 9.00 am
End: 9.15 - 9.30 am
Group size: minimum 8 people, maximum 15 people.
There is no charge for the gong ceremony.
Additional options
You can combine your gong ceremony with the Amsterdam Exchange Experience: a special tour of the stock exchange building.
Or if you would like to use the gong ceremony to kick off a conference or event, consider organising your event at Beursplein 5. Euronext has several historic rooms where events for 10 to 150 people can be held.
The Euronext Events Team will be happy to give you all the information you need about the options available.