Pandemic or not, we have grown tremendously these past years. In people, in projects and in services. And we are not alone in this. Where an event agency mainly organized 10 years ago, we became a creative and strategic partner in addition to being a controller. This development brought a more diverse group of people with more diverse expertise to our industry. And it turned Obsession into a company with 21 colleagues across 3 departments.

“Obsession has evolved. On every front. The classic structure of an event agency where you have one or two owners who manage and monitor everything is no longer sustainable. You shouldn't want that either', explains Jan. 'At a certain point it no longer makes sense that I supervise the junior project managers. There are others who are better at that. Who are more accessible and who know much better what is going on inside that team.'

Jan is one of five partners for live who will get a new title on his business card, as the new managing director. With Hans Klaver as account director and Marijke de Wit as creative director, he completes the management team. The other roles go to Jaimy van der Meer as operations lead and Amber Fleury as team lead. “They have been with us for 4 and 5 years, and they really deserved this step. They embody our philosophy.'

In order to continue to understand what the market needs – and because creating events are simply too much fun – everyone also continues to work on projects. 'We do not want and must not only be leaders. You have to understand what's going on. And everyone is too eager to keep making beautiful things.'

Jan describes the 'Partners for Live' vision as sustainable growth together by getting the most out of everything. 'If you ask a team to do that for every project, it's reciprocal. Then we do our best to offer them everything they need for this. To give everyone the opportunities they deserve.' Because the ambitions are, des Obsessions, great. 'Among all those great agencies out there, we just want to be the best. Easy. But you can want so much, without the right people it will not be possible. We have been building slowly to this moment. Now we saw the team with the potential to take this step.'

Yet, the new structure for Jan goes much further than just big dreams. 'I think it's great that we can give people that chance. And that's for our whole team. For me the new position for Marijke, with whom I have been working for 16 years, is really special. I've known her as long as my wife! We came in here together, 23 years old, and now she's the creative director. If we can facilitate that and then do what we can with the whole team… well, then we're already the best.'

Marijke de Wit

Creative Director

Marijke bounced into Obsession 16 years ago as a wildly enthusiastic intern. To never leave. She became the company's first specialist as an in-house creative and now, she takes on the role of creative director as a living and walking Obsession encyclopedia. In that position she strives more than ever for events that really make an impact. She and her team, not only want to answer customer questions, but also want to go that step further every time. One step further in surprising guests. One step further in sustainability. One step further by making an impact with content. She does this by supplementing her team of strong concept developers with the cool creative specialists from the Obsession network. And by not stapping away from some risk.

Hans Klaver

Account Director

With colleagues you've known for years, half an email is enough to understand each other. And that is exactly what Hans aims for in the relationship between account manager and client. Make the accounts your own in terms of content; that's what he wants. Because for him a good account manager is not someone who sells, but someone who advises. Someone who knows what a client wants before they realize it themselves. Under his leadership, the account manager team is expanding in order to increasingly link regular faces to regular clients. Hans' greatest challenge is to monitor structure and quality in this growth. That is why he introduces several new systems; fixed way of working that streamlines the process. Hans and his team will tailor these basic processes for each client, for the most optimal and sustainable partnerships. Because just like Obsession, Hans believes most of all in strong collaboration with a view to the long term.

Amber Fleury

Team Lead

Seeing that junior colleagues were swimming a bit in their new positions, Amber spoke her mind. ' Jan. Shouldn't someone else be doing the guiding of new project managers?' And that's exactly what happend. With her incomparable social skills, Amber became the team lead of all junior colleagues. From recruitment to evaluations. She teaches new talent the overarching skills that make someone a good colleague. To always maintain the standard and corporate culture among everyone who joins the Obsession family. And thus help to build an even stronger and more sustainable team.

Jaimy van der Meer

Operations Lead

If Jaimy sees something that isn't right, he can't help but make it better. Fortunately, that is exactly what he does in the role of operations lead. The analytical Jaimy builds the foundation for growth. He wants to set up new systems that perfectly match the needs of his colleagues. That does not mean implementing a new tool for every little thing. Jaimy wants to achieve as much as possible with as few systems as possible. He also wants to get the most out of existing data by safeguarding and analyzing it. And keep the supplier database up-to-date so it's in line with new developments within the industry. Because ambitions can still be so great; without the right foundation, they remain only ambitions.

Obsession builds on her future. And is always happy to with yours. Would you like to know more or become one of our partners for live? Please contact one of our colleagues.