Fleur and Jurjen are already waiting for me at the frontdesk of Seats2Meet in Utrecht, where we arranged to meet up to discuss their experience with Konnektid. They tell me that this is the place where they met the first time, and they have met up several times since. The friendly contact between the two is immediately noticeable. Fleur: “He’s even allowed to come over for dinner now!” Then they elaborate on their Konnektid-match.

It all started with this email:

Hey Jurjen,

Your neighbour Fleur wants to ask you if you could help him/her learn (how to) network?

Fleur would like to learn this skill because:
I want to get in touch with professionals in my neighbourhood who, just like I am, are busy with social projects/neighbourhood projects/social entrepreneurship/volunteer work.

Fleur lives 1.7 kilometers away from you.

Fleur had made a request on Konnektid, because she wanted to set up a social enterprise with her friend Eva: The Social Firm. They wanted to brainstorm with people who had experience in social entrepreneurship.

 

Fleur: “Jurjen was a perfect match for us. I liked how he was very open, and immediately brought us in contact with people that could help us out. And besides,we learnt a lot from him. Most importantly that we need to dare to ask. Additionally, his drive to connect people has inspired us. We now also do this ourselves and we get so much positive energy from it, which at the same time helps us get further. This way we pass on what we learn.”

Jurjen: “It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm of Fleur and Eva. I responded to their request because I have experience in social entrepreneurship and find it important to give something back to society. When you give, you get back a lot, even if it doesn’t seem to have relevant worth - like satisfaction and positive energy. And with all these sorts of good feelings floating around, there is a much greater chance for innovation to happen.”

To my question regarding if they were nervous to meet a stranger, they both had to laugh: “Easy-peasy”.

Are you inspired by Fleur and Jurjen’s story? Sign up now and make a request to your own neighours!