My dear CADS,
Happy Koningsdag! I am writing this the day after Koningsdag 2023, and I must admit I have a bit of a sore head! Despite my advanced years, I have never grown out of being at a party, (I’m a typical Leo), and helping the Dutch celebrate the King’s birthday is no exception. This photo was me yesterday enjoying the first of many G&Ts, as I cruised around the canals with pals. I was definitely the oldest lady out on the water, but I enjoyed myself so much, the atmosphere was superb!
I do so love a boat trip, and it’s time for me to make the booking for the CADS annual boat trip on FRIDAY August 18th, coinciding with the summer closure of the K.I.G.C. To get a rough idea of numbers for booking the correct size of boat, could you please drop me a line if you are intending to come. Don’t worry, this is not a commitment, and I won’t hound you for payment, but just helps me with the planning, thank you!
April’s meeting last Friday was a great success with many old and new faces around the table. Mike Waters was our guest speaker, and he told us all about the research and findings around X-System Intelligent Music. This is the first technology to explain how music affects the human brain, and how understanding this might significantly increase the potential for effective medical intervention. Mike presented an interesting set of data from the EEG of an epilepsy sufferer ‘before and after’ listening to the ‘Intelligent Music’. There was a huge reduction in the epileptic activity. As the parent of an adult epileptic, I was fascinated! Thank you Mike for being our guest speaker.
Confession time! I made a mistake in the bookings of guest speakers for the coming months and double-booked May. Everything is resolved now and in fact the speaker schedule is even more comprehensive than before – June will see us have two speakers (although it doesn’t look like it, they are complementary to each other!). Please check out our calender of events to find out the details!
We had a ‘bring a guest’ lunch in February and it was very fruitful! I am delighted to welcome 3 new members to CADS.
Welcome to Michael Wyler! Michael is a well-known entrepreneur and investor in various businesses in the Netherlands. He is the Chairman of the MultiQuest Group which is globally active. He cares deeply about supporting research into unmet medical needs, faster cures, and better diagnostics. His philanthropic efforts include a focus on Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer.
Welcome to Marjorie Wessel! Marjorie has an unusual career in that she is a qualified corporate/commercial solicitor with a specialisation in legal business development AND is currently a 2nd grade teacher at the International School of Amsterdam. Marjorie has a Dutch mother, and her father was British, so she is definitely Anglo Dutch!
Belated welcome to Ed van Dijken! Ed actually joined us last year and I didn’t acknowledge this at the time, sorry Ed. Ed joined us after attending the Boat trip last year and then going on one of John’s trips to the battlefields, so these activities are obviously showing CADS in a very positive light! Ed is an experienced HRM- professional, a business psychologist, and an executive Coach. Ed runs Galatea Of-Counsel Solutions with fellow CADS member Hans Moltmaker. The company is an advisory firm offering Human Resources and Legal services to rapidly growing scale-ups, international subsidiaries, and mid-size companies.
Our next meeting will be a lunch on May 12th, – one week earlier than usual to avoid the Hemelvaart weekend. Our guest speaker is Berit Lewis, who has recently published a book – Ageing Upwards – she will bring copies for purchase to the KIGC. Berit is a Danish mindfulness instructor and has recently completed the MSc in Vitality and Ageing at the LUMC, focusing on the older person. She has lots of insights about reframing, positive psychology and practical things that are useful to us as we grow older. A fabulously relevant topic!
Looking forward to seeing many of you on Friday May 12th for lunch at the K.I.G.C.
