This post was written and submitted by Jisse Reitsma, Chair of Mage-OS Nederland, in conjunction with our global marketing working group.
Thursday, November 2nd 2023, it happened. Again. Meet Magento Netherlands (MMNL) took place. And what a success. Tickets were sold out, everyone was blown away (literally), enthusiasm was great. The Dutch are truly back!
Quick overview
Meet Magento NL was organized by a fresh team where the members originated from various agencies, backed by the new Mage-OS Nederland association (keep reading), based entirely on voluntary effort – so: non-profit.
The event took place in Amsterdam, at the venue of LIEF Amsterdam, which was great on the inside and which would have been great on the outside, if it were not for the southwestern storm that raged across The Netherlands. And as for rage, the entire event was just outrageously fun.
A first (new) Meet Magento NL?
The last Meet Magento NL (before this one) was ages ago (about 4 years ago). Nothing happened in between due to a different structure of the ecosystem, COVID and life. For many who attended this year’s MMNL edition, this was actually the first Meet Magento event they ever attended: The ecosystem sees many that come and many that leave, a healthy thing if I could say so.
And with so many attending a Meet Magento event for the very first time (by show of hands, at least 100 people), it really gives you the feeling that Magento is not dead yet. We are experiencing a *Magento renaissance* (trademark: Jakub Winkler).
To others (like myself), it felt like a homecoming. It was great to see so many familiar faces again, to hug friends. But the event also felt very different: Different people that organized the event, new venue, newcomers (as mentioned), an ecosystem that evolved, a different vibe. And everything with a touch of Mage-OS flavor.
Backed, but not organized by Mage-OS Nederland
Various sessions were focused on Mage-OS, many were focused on Hyvä. No further introduction needed. However, the event was co-organized by Mage-OS Nederland and this was another way to see that this year’s MMNL was different from earlier editions. No more company-owned communities. Instead, a new Mage-OS Nederland association.
Earlier in 2023, Mage-OS NL was founded by a group of seven individuals (me included) which are now forming the board. Next, the association organized various community drinks. And it helped create MageUnconference NL, organized by Yireo (me).
In the same way, MMNL was put together. Not necessarily by Mage-OS Nederland though. The new association’s task is to facilitate the community, to bring together people, to inform people on the state of the ecosystem. However, we decided that it would be better if the association would be more about governing instead of doing the actual thing.
With that, two board members – Core and Sanne – stepped up to organize MMNL and the rest of the board mainly took on a supporting role. Core and Sanne assembled a group of ten volunteers and with that the MMNL team became a real thing.
Big thank you to our ten MM23NL organizers
- Sanne Bolkenstein
- Core de Reeper
- Danny Verkade
- Danny Uranka
- Dominique de Maa
- Charif Eddini
- Henk de Gier
- Jelle Siderius
- Jelle van Genderen
- Tom Ketels
I’m kind of glad that it went this way. The board doesn’t become solely responsible for events in The Netherlands: It only makes sure that people are able to organize events in such a manner that as many people as possible are reached. And on the other hand, *anyone* is able to create an event and have it backed up by Mage-OS Nederland, as long as the event is helping out the Magento / Adobe Commerce / Mage-OS ecosystem.
All in all, I’m so happy that we actually reached two very important social goals this year: We formed a board. And an event team for Meet Magento organically came to being!
Carried by the Dutch Magento community
Oh and we organized a Meet Magento. And not *we* as in a small group of people. But *we* as in a large group of Magento fans: The board of seven. The Meet Magento NL team of ten. But also a large group of sponsors that stood up as one to make sure the event was financially doable (with the association having zero budget to begin with). And a group of speakers. And a group of people listening to speakers. The event really brought everyone together.
And I would say that the reboot of the Dutch Magento ecosystem is now fully in effect: MageUnconf, hackathon, Meet Magento, Webwinkel Vakdagen drinks, an association. We are back!
Also a big thank you to our sponsors, huge and strong supporters of Open Source and of our Magento Community:
We Are Magento
We were delighted to come together as the whole Magento ecosystem. Mathias Schreiber from the Magento Association joined us for the whole day including a speaking session sharing all the latest updates on his end. Thank you to Dewi Wassenaar from Adobe for coming and supporting us as a local. Vinai Kopp also shared updates about Mage-OS, the international organization, in his closing remarks, highlighting how we need to all collaborate with Adobe and the Magento Association. Stay tuned on that one!
What is next?
The year is almost over and we are making plans already for next year: Meet Magento NL will be repeated on October 31st, 2024 – most likely again in Amsterdam. But earlier that year, there will be plenty of other opportunities to meet up:
The Webwinkel Vakdagen will take place on 23rd and 24th of January 2024, with most likely at the end of the first day community drinks in Uncle Jim, Utrecht. Somewhere early 2024, the association will organize a new second member meeting. And there might very well be a MageTitans Groningen 2024. We’ll keep you informed.
Want to meet the Dutch Magento community? You got plenty of opportunities!
Want to know where you can hang out with Mage-OS globally? Visit our Events Calendar.
