How was your first event or encounter with Possibilize?
The first time I came into contact with Possibilize, then Skyway, was about 20 years ago, when I was 17. I was already allowed to contribute a lot and could already mean a lot to Possibilize, because everything was still new. I was busy setting up the first Sencity and I was allowed to deal with ticket sales, marketing and, for example, I was also allowed to design the posters, among other things. Sencity turned out to be much bigger than I expected. I had gone out with friends before, but that was really different. Sencity was more, with a vibrating floor and visual effects, that was really cool. A lot of people showed up who could speak Dutch sign language, which made it fun for me too.
It didn't stop there, because I also did my graduation assignment in collaboration with Possibilize. I had developed a website for Sencity that stimulated all the senses through an online community. Before that I did a lot of research into how people experience things online and designed the website in such a way that you could even experience it, from a distance. With my graduation presentation I really unpacked it: aroma jockey, a vibrating floor, taste sensations, part of my thesis was printed on eating paper and a USB with films from Sencity, which released an odor when you put it in a computer. That was great to do and got an A, this is the power of Possibilizing.
What has touched or inspired you most during your work at Possibilize?
I also went to South Africa for my graduation project. Ronald Ligtenberg, the founder of Possibilize, asked me if I wanted to organize a Sencity in Cape Town as well. I laughed about it, "a joke, right?" but Ronald took me very seriously, and of course countered that. So 3 students came to Cape Town to work with me on Sencity. I guided them in this and brought them into contact with my network of deaf people and everything I already knew there. I have flown there three times, spent weeks there and worked with Dutch and South African people, both hearing and deaf.
It was as if I really had my second home there for a while and the moment that Sencity was really there in Cape Town, that was indescribably great. It was different from the Netherlands, because of a different culture, but the atmosphere was exactly the same. They went wild there just as enthusiastically as in the Netherlands. I even got into the papers, there in South Africa. Seriously, I'd do it again!
What of Possibilize do you take with you in your personal mission?
I knew that anything was possible, but I really experienced that with Possibilize. Thinking about possibilities, that is really possible and it also gives motivation. I also notice it when I'm in the store, for example, and there isn't a product, then I ask "what are the possibilities?" and in no time they will come up with the possibilities. I also teach my children that if someone indicates that something is not possible, then you have to ask what CAN be done and then they will come up with new ideas.
So keep trying and there's always another possibility you haven't thought of yet.
