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Young Damen Vlissingen – the network body of employees under the age of 35 working at Vlissingen-based Damen companies – has experienced a revival of activity in the last couple of years, resulting in an increased number of organised events as well as participants.
Two key people involved in the increased awareness and maturity of Young Damen Vlissingen are Jochem Nonhebel (Project Manager of Damen Naval’s F.A.S.T. project) and Desiree Muller (Sales Manager at Damen Yachting).
“The momentum for Young Damen Vlissingen really got going during the International Young Damen day that was organised in cooperation with Damen Gorinchem in 2021. I was involved with organising that,” says Jochem, who at that time was following a Damen Global traineeship in Vlissingen. “Due to COVID, this was a digital event, but we still had participants from all over Damen’s global network. Soon after that, I started working at Damen Naval in Vlissingen where I noticed that there was quite a lot of young people from many nationalities, but nothing organised under the umbrella of Young Damen.”
Together with Elouise Reiff from Damen Yachting, Jochem organised events such as barbeques and ship visits at Vlissingen-Oost. “And then we started to get more organised, arranging a budget from the four Damen companies in Vlissingen. And Desiree started working on our ‘three pillars’,” Jochem explains.
Desiree (who, at that time, was also in the middle of a traineeship at the Damen Yachting office), defines the three pillars of Young Damen Vlissingen as “knowledge, networking and fun – this is what we are focused on here. It’s about getting people together, getting to know each other and learning from each other,” adds Desiree.
Young Damen organises monthly drinks and regular events.
The networking part includes external as well as internal events as Jochem notes: “We arrange contact with other companies and organisations. For example, we recently had great interaction with Young Multra (from tug operator Multraship) in addition to organising a visit to Vlissingen for Young Defence last year. Having this type of contact with clients is especially important.” Desiree adds: “We are starting to cooperate more together with the HR departments, working together with schools or universities, for instance, or supporting onboarding events within the company.”
Considering the knowledge pillar, Desiree says “This includes a whole bunch of ideas, from lunch lectures to think tanks. Any individual – young or old – is welcome to give a lunch lecture to talk about their job or expand on the project they are working on. The aim is to really share the knowledge, to make it transparent to everyone.” There is even an upcoming trip planned on the F.A.S.T. project that Jochem is coordinating.
The last (but by no means least) pillar is fun. “We organise a monthly ‘borrel’ [after work drinks] and regular events – it is so important to have some fun,” says Desiree. “And since the coronavirus pandemic, we also have a focus on the mental and physical health of employees; this can involve just having a cup of coffee together.”
“Knowledge, networking and fun – this is what we are focused on here. It’s about getting people together, getting to know each other and learning from each other.” Desiree Muller
Jochem is keen to highlight that Young Damen Vlissingen is open to all Damen employees under the age of 35 or just feel like that. “It is good that we have people active in all the Damen companies: Naval, Yachting, Shiprepair, and Marine Services. This means we can get as many people involved as possible by organising a variety of activities.”
“What’s more,” adds Desiree, “Young Damen Vlissingen is very accessible – you don’t have to sign up for anything or become a member. It is absolutely fine if you only turn up to only one event per year.”
Do you want to find out more about Young Damen Vlissingen? About the schedule for upcoming events and activities? Then email Young.Vlissingen@damen.com for more information.