Thursday, August 20, 2015 | 83 days until the conference | 153 registrations ‘Meditating, are we, Victor?’ Upon hearing Jacques Lodewyks’ deep voice, Victor VanWely quickly lifted his feet off the radiator. He turned his leather desk chair so abruptly, he had to hold on to the top of the desk to stop the chair from spinning out of control.            His guinea pig, Napoleon Bonaparte, gave a loud wheek from his cage in the corner of the office.            ‘Jacques, what a pleasure,’ Victor said. Meditation, if only he could. Perhaps it would inspire him to find the ultimate solution to his troubles. The director of the National Society for Rodent Professionals was facing the biggest challenge yet in his career.            ‘Coffee?’ asked Victor.            ‘No thank you,’ Jacques said, placing a hand over his heart. ‘Doctor’s orders.’ He ignored the chair Victor offered him, took a celery stick from his coat pocket and stuck it through the bars of the guinea pig’s cage. Napoleon eagerly tugged the treat into the cage and began nibbling away at it thoughtfully. ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 1 – All or nothing

Thursday, August 20, 2015 | 83 days until the conference | 153 registrations‘Meditating, are we, Victor?’Upon hearing Jacques Lodewyks’ deep voice, Victor VanWely quickly lifted his feet off the radiator. He turned his leather desk chair so abruptly, he had to hold on to the top of the desk to stop the chair from spinning out of control.           His guinea pig, Napoleon Bonaparte, gave a loud wheek from his cage in the corner of the office.           ‘Jacques, what a pleasure,’ Victor said. Meditation, if only he could. Perhaps it would inspire him to find the ultimate solution to his troubles. The director of the National Society for Rodent Professionals was facing the biggest challenge yet in his career.           ‘Coffee?’ asked Victor.           ‘No thank you,’ Jacques said, placing a hand over his heart. ‘Doctor’s orders.’ He ignored the chair Victor offered him, took a celery stick from his coat pocket and stuck it through the bars of the guinea pig’s cage. Napoleon eagerly tugged the treat into the cage and began nibbling away at it thoughtfully......----Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula VosNarrated by Kevin Stillwell

Friday, Augustus 21, 2015 | 82 days until the conference | 155 registrations  The next morning, Victor went into the office early. He was convinced he would be the first one there, but Casper was already behind his desk, his face flushed with hard work, fervently typing away on his keyboard.            ‘Stressed?’ he asked.            ‘Aren’t you?’ Casper replied. ‘Do you have any idea how much we still need to get done for Rodentia?’            Victor sighed. ‘I know. As soon as Martine comes in, I would like to have a short meeting.’            ‘A meeting? I really don’t have time.’            Victor gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder and went into his office. Behind him, he heard Casper call out: ‘and Martine certainly doesn’t.’            Casper was his only full time employee. He had been working here longer than Victor and dynamically tackled communications. Casper also organized the annual National Spring Conferences. These had become a matter of routine, and with roughly one hundred participants on average, he could easily manage alone. However, Rodentia was a completely different ballgame. As of a month ago, they had therefore hired backup, in the form of Martine. She managed logistics in order for Casper to be able to fully concentrate on marketing and communications, contacting the speakers, recruiting sponsors, and the press. For weeks now, Casper had been trying to arrange an interview with Instinct, the most respected trade magazine for pet professionals. So far it had been in vain. The journalist kept insisting a conference was not newsworthy, which made no sense to Victor whatsoever: after all, the program was incredibly interesting, wasn’t it?  ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 2 – What if you already tried everything?

Friday, Augustus 21, 2015 | 82 days until the conference | 155 registrations The next morning, Victor went into the office early. He was convinced he would be the first one there, but Casper was already behind his desk, his face flushed with hard work, fervently typing away on his keyboard.            ‘Stressed?’ he asked.           ‘Aren’t you?’ Casper replied. ‘Do you have any idea how much we still need to get done for Rodentia?’            Victor sighed. ‘I know. As soon as Martine comes in, I would like to have a short meeting.’           ‘A meeting? I really don’t have time.’            Victor gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder and went into his office. Behind him, he heard Casper call out: ‘and Martine certainly doesn’t.’           Casper was his only full time employee. He had been working here longer than Victor and dynamically tackled communications. Casper also organized the annual National Spring Conferences. These had become a matter of routine, and with roughly one hundred participants on average, he could easily manage alone. However, Rodentia was a completely different ballgame. As of a month ago, they had therefore hired backup, in the form of Martine. She managed logistics in order for Casper to be able to fully concentrate on marketing and communications, contacting the speakers, recruiting sponsors, and the press. For weeks now, Casper had been trying to arrange an interview with Instinct, the most respected trade magazine for pet professionals. So far it had been in vain. The journalist kept insisting a conference was not newsworthy, which made no sense to Victor whatsoever: after all, the program was incredibly interesting, wasn’t it? .....----Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula VosNarrated by Kevin Stillwell

Friday evening, August 21, 2015 | 82 days until the conference | 157 registrations ‘Hey, digi-illiterate, how’s things?’ Dick was practically inaudible, with all the background noise drowning out his voice on the phone: laughter, music, clinking glasses.            Victor looked at the clock. It was five thirty, he had half an hour before he was supposed to meet his friends at the Crippled Horse. He never missed after-work-drinks on Friday.            ‘I tried WhatsApping you, why don’t you have that?’ Dick said. ‘Anyway, the weather’s great, so we met up an hour early. We’re outside on the terrace.’ He whistled into his phone, Victor winced and moved the phone away from his ear.            ‘You should see all the eye candy passing this place.’            ‘It’s pretty busy at the office,’ Victor began, noticing Casper through the open door, who was peering intently at his computer screen.            ‘Oh, come on, live a little. You’re the boss, aren’t you? Delegate, man! It’s pretty much the first thing we learned to do at our MBA, and that’s over twenty years ago.’ Dick’s voice suddenly sounded far away. ‘Yeah, go on’ Then he spoke into the phone again: ‘We’re on our second round already, take a break. It’s the first time, since the end of the holidays, we’re all together. Stella was asking for you already. I am ordering you a beer as we speak.’ ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 3 – Think big and the power of repetition

Monday, August 24, 2015 | 79 days until the conference | 161 registrations In the middle of a discussion regarding the color of the volunteers’ T-shirts, Victor noticed Casper’s eyes wandering in the direction of the door.            He looked over his shoulder. Stella’s daughter had done her best to put on a businesslike appearance, but despite the toned down grey dress, he still saw in her the jolly little pig-tailed girl, who used to play in the café when her mother was on duty. Casper clearly saw something else entirely.            She stood in the doorway, a little timidly. ‘Mister VanWely?’ Her long blonde hair flowed over her tanned shoulders. Pale blue eyes appeared when she lifted her sunglasses.            Casper nudged him and whispered: ‘Who is that?’            Victor ignored his question and walked over to the young visitor. ‘Catja, come on in.’ He ushered the young woman into his office to talk undisturbed. He had had a long phone conversation with Stella over the weekend, during which she had urged him to take good care of her daughter.            Catja sat down on the chair she was offered and looked around. ‘Nice office, Mister VanWely. I really appreciate you taking the time to meet with me.’  ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 4 – An angel in disguise

Thursday, August 27, 2015 | 76 days until the conference | 165 registrations Victor stood, pondering, by Pooky’s cage. Tomorrow, he would have to report to Jacques. Since the chairman’s last visit, there hadn’t exactly been a run on registrations for the conference. It made sense. They’d been working hard, but the fruits of those labors wouldn’t be reaped till later on. Bam! Victor thought to himself.            The invitations now boasted the following call to action: ‘Share your Road to #Rodentia15.’ Casper had made the final decision on the T-shirts (red, so the volunteers would be easy to spot) and press releases were created for various types of media (‘Rodents: blessing or plague? Rodentia 2015 seeks the confrontation’).            Catja had been very busy working on her social media research. Every time Victor walked past, there was something on her screen drawing his attention. She had shown him how Twitter and Facebook worked, and helped him create a Facebook profile for himself. His first friendship request was to Dick, who accepted within five minutes. On Dick’s profile, he noticed his friend had been awarded Food Marketeer of the Year a few days before. Victor decided to send him a postcard. Catja also showed him Instagram. Her photo with Pooky had received a lot of likes. Victor had to admit he was rather proud of that fact, despite the resistance he felt towards the impersonal nature of social media. Although Pooky didn’t look too good. No wonder, because the water, in which Victor had dissolved the vitamin C tablets, had been left untouched. This would require more drastic measures.  ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 5 – Large numbers and the language of the Internet

Thursday, August 27, 2015 | 76 days until the conference | 165 registrations  Once they had all returned to the table, Catja presented her plan of action.            ‘I’ve modeled it to the example of PetFoodies.’ She showed them a slide containing all of the social media icons, plus the NatSoRoPro logo in the center. ‘You already have a Facebook and Twitter account. You can begin posting messages on there, preferably daily. Start by posting reminders of the conference, with a link to the registration page.’ She threw her long, blonde hair over her shoulder. ‘Besides that, we want more followers. The quickest way to get those is through advertising. That way you also get seen outside your current network on social media.’            Martine leaned forward. ‘You said we also reach a lot of people if we get replies from within our own network. Isn’t that enough?’            ‘It works, but it needs time. Especially in your situation, as you don’t have too many connections yet.’ She looked at Victor.            ‘Indeed, and we’re in a hurry,’ he confirmed. ‘So advertising seems fine to me. Think big.’ Dick would be proud of him.            ‘We’re going to aim the ads entirely at our target group,’ she explained. ‘And then there’s gift promotions and competitions.’            ‘How will those work, exactly?’ asked Victor.            ‘You invite people to like your page in ads. By doing so, they can win a free coke, or a T-shirt, for example. If the prize is interesting, such a message gets liked and shared a lot. That creates great visibility, as well as new followers.’..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 6 – Recipe for fast and visible results

Friday, August 28 | 75 days until the conference | 168 registrations The night after Catja’s presentation, Victor dreamt a lot. About grumpy guinea pigs attending his conference and proceeding to tweet about ant burgers. And about Pooky, whom he really needed to take to the vet, especially now his photos could be viewed across the world.            The first thing he did the following morning, was drive over to the Happy Vets. Bea Goffer, the doctor on call, welcomed him warmly at the emergency consultation hour and gave Pooky a vitamin C-shot. Victor would have to return with Pooky every Monday, for a few weeks in a row, and everything would be fine. He also needed to switch to different food, because the homemade mix he fed Pooky at the moment was lacking in vitamins. He bought guinea pig power food from PetFoodies. Relieved, he drove the little animal back to the office. He had the impression it was already a little more lively. This evening, he would take Pooky home, so as to keep an eye on him over the weekend and supplement his meals. His wife would like that, too. Denise was just as much of an animal lover as he was.   Catja and Casper were busy as bees. They were setting up advertising campaigns, placing messages on several platforms and collecting funny videos for the NatSoRoPro YouTube channel. Silly animal sounds rang through the office at regular intervals, increasingly improving Victor’s mood.  ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 7 – The First lie

Monday, August 31 | 72 days until the conference | 173 registrations  In the car, on his way to work, Victor was singing along to the radio. The sun was shining and Pooky had just received another shot of vitamin C, making his movements more lively than they had been all weekend.            During the weekend, Victor had been practicing his Facebook skills, and he had to admit he rather enjoyed seeing his friends’ posts. He had clicked several links and spent more time on it than he had intended to. He had viewed their own ads with special interest. There were three varieties: one with a guinea pig, one with a squirrel and one with an attractive female vet, throwing the camera a stern look, with the caption ‘Rodentia 2015. Register now!’ Victor thought the latter was a little forceful, but it was convincing. Besides these ‘suggested messages’ about Rodentia, Victor had also noticed The Crippled Horse’s weekly menu flash by several times, and he had become mildly nauseated by the many Bugbites ads, displaying their strange insect-based foods. Even after he had clicked ‘unlike’ on the Bugbites page, he continued to see the ads.            He had had his hands full with LinkedIn. Indeed, all of the three hundred contacts in his address book had received an invitation to link up, including people he hadn’t spoken to in years. This led to several enthusiastic responses, but also to some harsh rejections, like the man with whom he had an ongoing business conflict for years. ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 8 – When advertising isn't enough

Friday, September 4 | 68 days until the conference | 185 registrations Victor was satisfied with Catja: she worked hard on the social media channels, and now she was wrapping stuffed guinea pig toys. Casper and she had organized a competition on Facebook, where people could win these fluffy animals. To enter, people only had to like the NatSoRoPro page and answer the following question:   Which animal is the odd one out: beaver - mouse - rabbit - water hog?   Most people guessed the water hog, which Victor found amusing, as the water hog, better known as the capybara, happened to be the world’s largest rodent. The rabbit was the odd one out, as it belonged to the hare family, completely different, as Victor liked to explain at birthday parties. Despite the fact most people got the answer wrong, the promotion had soon earned them over one hundred new Facebook likes.            There had been some additional registrations for the conference this week, but at this pace they still wouldn’t be able to fill the rooms. Two or three a day, that wouldn’t even get them up to four hundred by November. It was a good thing they’d taken measures, because if this was all, they could pack up NatSoRoPro. Victor was all too aware of it.            He found distraction on Rodentnet, on which he had found his way around with Casper’s help. There were some good, substantive discussions taking place and he stumbled upon several colleagues from the field, whom he hadn’t spoken to since last year’s conference. Like Mara McKenzie. Upon seeing her small, elegant frame, you wouldn’t expect her to be one of the most successful rat pest controllers in the world. He knew she was unable to attend the conference, but she had sent some great questions for the panel leader to put forward during the confrontation panel. Other participants in the discussion were pleased to find Rodentia was planning on paying such serious attention to the topic, and some of them decided to register.  ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 9 - Our reach can't be the problem

Friday, September 11 | 61 days until the conference | 203 registrations  Victor was unable to drive the jolly jingle from his mind in the car that morning, and he had no desire to. The drumming tune the boys from Viral Fantasy had picked out for the video would get a smile from a stone. Filming had taken three days, the shots were edited to the speed of a modern music video and the result was hilarious.            In their studio, they had built an enormous guinea pig circuit, through which Pooky had to find his way to ‘Rodentia 2015’. Running, and with eager wheeks and purrs, the little animal crossed bridges, climbed a mountain, slid off a slide and ran circles in a running wheel. His chewing movements had been synchronized with a voice saying things like ‘where’s the party at?’ and ‘guinea pig powerrrr!’ In the end, he pushed a button with his nose, opening the door to the final area: Rodentia2015. Banners fell from the sky, disco lights flashed on and loud music started to play. This gave Pooky such a fright, he jumped backwards into a panicked summersault and nearly fell off the table supporting the circuit. The slow motion image of that moment was Victor’s favorite scene.            When he saw it for the first time with Catja and Casper yesterday, a weight had fallen off his shoulders. Catja had been in stitches watching Pooky rolling around in the running wheel and Casper, usually so serious, nearly choked on his coffee during the scene that showed Pooky walking through high straw and sneezing into the camera. All the viral demands had been met: it was funny, unexpected and international. Pooky had been renamed SuperGnawer, a character that far outdid the modest little chewer who spent his days contentedly sitting in his cage.  .... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 10 - The power of the famous guinea pig

Monday, September14 | 58 days until the conference | 220 registrations ‘It’s working,’ cheered Victor, ‘it’s working!’ Casper showed him the figures: seventeen additional registrations since Friday. Victor did a quick by count, and his face fell. Six registrations per day, two months to go before the conference; that brought them to a total of roughly six hundred. It was picking up in comparison, but this was nowhere near enough. And the sponsors weren’t helping much either.            ‘This viral effect, it’s exponential, right?’            ‘Certainly,’ Casper replied, ‘but it always needs a little time to simmer before it really takes off.’            Not entirely put at ease, Victor walked over to the coffee machine. He stared at the little stream of brown liquid. He understood the viral effect needed time to develop, but he wished he could do more.            He hesitated to open his email, as long as there weren't any bills or payment reminders. Luckily, he received mostly nice messages, including an email from Dick:  Two complimentary tickets for a social media conference tomorrow. No time. Want them?            The information was attached. With every line he read, Victor’s enthusiasm grew: ..... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 11 – What are we missing?

Tuesday, September 15 | 57 days until the conference | 225 registrations When they entered the conference hall, Victor looked around jealously. This was some audience; over a thousand people at least, plus there was a fair containing a hundred and forty exhibitors. How many stands did they have by now? Five, he thought, assuming RodeMed said yes today.            As soon as they got inside, Catja tugged at his sleeve. ‘Turn on your Wi-Fi, Mister VanWely.’ She logged in herself and helped Victor to do the same. ‘Wow, that’s quick,’ she hunched over her screen.            Would you be careful of that text neck, thought Victor, and shook his head.            In line for coffee, he looked around him. Nearly everyone was fiddling with their phones. He missed the days when you always found someone to talk to at a conference, because everyone was having that awkward moment, coffee in hand, waiting for things to start. Now it seemed as though everyone was lost inside a world of their own. One of those absentminded characters bumped into Victor, as he was walking back towards Catja, causing him to nearly drop his two cups of coffee.            ‘Casper and my mom say hi,’ said Catja, as he passed her a coffee. ‘I posted that we’re here, on Facebook and Twitter. Casper’s already logged on to the live broadcast. He’s listening to an introduction by the online presenter, now.’ She looked at her screen again. ‘Jacques Lodewyks has replied as well. He thinks it’s brave of you. What does that mean?’            Victor shrugged. ‘No idea.’            She took a sip of coffee and looked around the space, which was filling up nicely. Suddenly her face lit up. ‘That’s him!’            ‘Who?’ Victor followed her gaze and saw a young man with flashy red shoes, engaged in an animated conversation with a group of people.            ‘That speaker I like so much. I’m going over there for a sec.’            And she was gone. Everyone around him was still captivated by their phones, so Victor decided to test his own internet connection. He opened Facebook, which, indeed, went surprisingly quickly. At the top, he saw the message from Catja, in which he had been tagged. He still found it odd how other people could draw the focus onto you, even if you didn’t want them to.  .... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 12 – Something to talk about

Tuesday, September 15 | 57 days until the conference| 225 registrations The twins were so well tuned to one another, Victor and Catja initially just listened. Victor enjoyed the sun on his face, the birds chirping in the trees.            ‘What a great starting point…’ started Bor.            ‘Give them something to talk about,’ Wolf added.            ‘But then you need to know what they would like to talk about,’ said Bor, who mostly differentiated himself from his brother by moving his hands a lot while he spoke.            Victor had stopped walking, prompting the others to do the same. He slowly turned the coffee cup around in his hands. ‘I wonder whether there’s much difference between social media and the real world, in terms of interest. We’re not suddenly different people when we go online, are we?’            Bor made a broad arm gesture, spilling his coffee in the bushes by the footpath, and said: ‘Exactly! It’s the biggest mistake many in our marketing industry make. They don’t realize that customers are no different from themselves. Offline, online, they’re still people like you and me.’            Wolf added: ‘With very little time, which we mustn't waste.’            ‘So what we offer them needs to be worthwhile,’ Bor added.            ‘Don’t stand still,’ Catja said impatiently. ‘The assignment is to keep walking, come on.’ She walked out ahead of the others.            Bor caught up with her in a few skips, calmly followed by his brother and Victor, after which the four of them were walking side by side again. Their footsteps crunched on the path.            ‘Okay,’ said Bor, who plucked a flower from a bush and gave it to Catja. ‘You start. When you’re on social media, what do you consider worth seeing?’            She smelled the flower and put it in her hair. ‘I just want to look at fun things, relax for a bit. I’m busy enough as it is, especially since my internship.’ She threw Victor an apologetic look. ‘I mostly look at funny videos, beautiful fashion photos, or cute animal clips. A few days ago I found a capybara in a bathtub with little chicks, sooo cute.’.... ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos  Narrated by Kevin Stillwell

Chapter 13 – How do we become relevant?

Victor Van Wely has no use for social media. But now the executive director of NatSoRoPro is facing the biggest challenge yet in his career: organising the annual world conference Rodentia. Things are not looking well. They are far behind on registrations, their budget is depleted and the chairman of the board is losing his patience. Can social media indeed be his savior, as everybody always seems to claim? In this exciting and entertaining ‘management novel’, Gerrit Heijkoop reveals the true power of social media. We join Victor and his team, going all in to turn the tide. They get practical tips and tricks about social media, experience the pitfalls and discover which fundamental principles lead to success. Will these insights come in time for the NatSoRoPro? Are they able to save the conference? Why is Victor invited to a late night TV show? And what is the role of his guinea pig in all this? ---- Written by Gerrit Heijkoop & Paula Vos Narrated by Kevin Stillwell Amsterdam, Netherlands 2015

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