Two employees of Dutch National Opera & Ballet nominated for Cultuurmarketing Young Talent Award 2021

We are very proud to announce that not one, but two staff members of Dutch National Opera & Ballet have been nominated for the Cultuurmarketing Young Talent Award this year. Content marketer Nitchka Wefers Bettink and fundraising strategist Just van der Horn van den Bos are both competing for this award, which is presented to a young professional (aged 30 or under) who has achieved results with an innovative approach within his or her company. On Tuesday 15 June the nominees will present their projects during the online presentation of the Cultuurmarketing Awards 2021. This year, the jury of the Young Talent Award consists of Melanie Bosveld (president), Adelinde Bennaars and Sana Sellami.

Online ballet classes and DNO&B gift card

Wefers Bettink and Van der Horn van den Bos were nominated respectively for the production of a series of online ballet lessons with artistic coordinator of Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company Ernst Meisner, and the development of the Dutch National Opera & Ballet gift card.

Wefers Bettink: “When Dutch National Opera & Ballet was forced to close in March 2020, the idea arose of offering online ballet lessons to followers three times a week, in order to enable them to join in directly from their living rooms. The classes were guided by Ernst Meisner, artistic coordinator of Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company, and accompanied by pianist Rex Lobo. Twice a week, a ballet class premiered on YouTube and once a week, Facebook followers could join a live ballet class in which all the dancers of Dutch National Ballet participated as well.”

Van der Horn van den Bos: “The Dutch National Opera & Ballet gift card is the result of the question of how Dutch National Opera & Ballet could best deal with the outstanding credits of ticket buyers that were a consequence of the cancellation of many performances that was a result of the corona pandemic. The aim was to find a balance between the wishes of visitors and the interests of the organisation. After several brainstorm sessions, the gift card was developed with the highest possible customer convenience and customer experience as starting point.”

Cultuurmarketing Awards

Cultuurmarketing is a community of colleagues who connect the public with art, culture and heritage. Every year, this community organises the Cultuurmarketing Awards, in which prizes are awarded for the best marketing cases in the cultural sector. This edition, the jury awards personal prizes to marketeers and young marketing talents who have brought innovation to their organisation in the past year.