Desiree Hoving

Moderator & host

As a professional moderator, I will make your meeting about science (and other complex subjects) focused, interactive and accessible. Your participants will feel involved and motivated.

Both in crowded halls and in front of the camera

Let’s be honest: have you ever fallen asleep during a meeting? Then you were probably only allowed to listen, the subject did not match your interests or everything went terribly over schedule. High time for a professional. You have come to the right place: I make sure that you and your participants stay awake! I do this both in crowded halls, in front of a camera in the studio and from my own home.

Please feel free to contact me: I am happy to think along with you.

Call or e-mail +31 6 20 245 924 | info@desireehoving.nl

Desiree Hoving

Moderator and host

As a professional moderator, I will make your meeting about science (and other complex subjects) focused, interactive and accessible. Your participants will feel involved and motivated.

Both in crowded halls and in front of the camera

Let’s be honest: have you ever fallen asleep during a meeting? Then you were probably only allowed to listen, the subject did not match your interests or everything went terribly over schedule. High time for a professional. You have come to the right place: I make sure that you and your participants stay awake! I do this both in crowded halls, in front of a camera in the studio and from my own home.

Please feel free to contact me: I am happy to think along with you.

Call or e-mail +31 6 20 245 924 | info@desireehoving.nl

Builder of bridges

As a chairperson for the day, I like to be involved in a very early stage, preferably when you start designing your program. I make sure the purpose of your meeting is clear, that each part of the program contributes to it and that the content is presented in such a way that your participants remain fascinated.

To make a complex subject accessible to different people, it is a good idea to approach it from different perspectives. This can be done by inviting experts from various disciplines to speak, such as technicians, historians, philosophers and psychologists. But also by building bridges between theory and practice, between science and society and between experts and laymen. I am happy to take on the role of a bridgebuilder.

At my ideal meeting, the audience feels like participants from the start. They don’t just listen, they participate in the conversations. Even if they are about the most complicated subjects.

Audience becomes participant

I believe interaction with the audience is essential during a meeting. Firstly, because they often know a lot and like to share their knowledge with others. In addition, participants often have an opinion about a subject, which may differ from others. They also like to ask questions, enter into discussions and get to know each other. And what about brainstorming, reflecting and innovating together?

Of course, we tailor the interaction to your goal. What interaction is possible often depends on the location, the platform and the tools you have at your disposal. Together, we consider the options and arrive at the best choices.

When preparing a meeting, I contact everyone who will be on stage. Together with them, I decide how to make the best contact with the participants. During the event, I will of course adjust where necessary and I enjoy improvising as well.

Ghent University

Climate change is real. But what should we do about it? This question is central to the first international debate of the Etienne Vermeersch Chair. You can watch both the trailer and the subtitled livestream.

Desiree is a great chairperson to work with. For our climate debate at Ghent University, she was very involved from the start: she thought about the content, made an extensive scenario and had in-depth preliminary discussions with all panel members to get an idea of their positions. She takes control, yet remains receptive to constructive feedback. Her ideas for involving the audience in the debate as much as possible were particularly refreshing. No dusty ‘ex cathedra’ sessions with her, but interactive events in which the public is given a full role.

Maarten Boudry, Postdoctoral Fellow at Ghent University

AMS Institute

How do we deal responsibly with sensors and cameras in the city? This question is being investigated in the Responsible Sensing Lab, a collaboration between the AMS Institute and the Digital City of Amsterdam. You can watch the hybrid launch event, in which I also interview alderman Touria Meliani (see photo), here.

Desiree turns out to be a very fine moderator and presenter on stage, in front of the camera, but also in the preparation of our event in the studio of NEMO; the ‘Launch of the Responsible Sensing Lab’ early 2021. Professional, decisive and someone who thinks along with us. Moreover, she knows how to make every table guest and speaker feel at ease without losing focus.

Anouk Wieleman, project leader at Municipality of Amsterdam – CTO department

Amsterdam UMC

Since the start of the pandemic, over 200 studies have been started at Amsterdam UMC. The online congress Unorthodox Teams, Accelerating Science shows all colleagues how hard everyone had worked during the corona year. I was the host. You can watch it here.

Desiree moderated the Amsterdam UMC COVID-19 live event on 3 December 2020 with great enthusiasm. In 120 min non-stop 3 panels of 6 clinical and translational medicine experts were discussed in animated table debates with each time another table host as co-host. During the live stream, more than 900 listeners were already online; the webcast was watched several thousand times afterwards. Desiree is solid, enthusiastic, but at the same time keeps an eye on the human dimension.

Arjen Brussaard, director Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC

About Desiree

Science & Technology

My affinity with science started at TNO and at Delft University of Technology, where I began my career as a researcher. Then I switched to journalism. I was employed by Cobouw, the daily newspaper for the building industry, wrote for the popular science magazine NWT (now New Scientist) and made television for the knowledge quiz Hoe?Zo! After that, I spent ten years as an independent science journalist for national newspapers (Volkskrant, NRC, Algemeen Dagblad and Parool) and magazines (including De Ingenieur, OneWorld, Libelle, Marie Claire and Opzij). Take a look at my LinkedIn profile if you want to know more about my background.

My strengths are: conceptual thinking about your event program, reading up quickly, asking experts sharp questions and enthusing participants. Both in Dutch and in English, for clients in the Netherlands and abroad.

 

Former science journalist

As a former journalist, I still work thoroughly. I prefer to visit my client and an investigative site. I also like to dive into the professional literature to find out the scientific discourse on a subject.

I am a member of the Association for Science Journalism and Communication (VWN), to promote the quality and quantity of communication on science and technology.

I am also a member of the Vakgroep GoedeDagVoorzitters, to increase my knowledge and skills of the profession of chairpersons through intervision and training.

I am associated with Dagvoorzitter.nl and ZijSpreekt. For international events, you can book me through Masters in Moderation.

My clients

My clients are often knowledge institutions such as TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, Ghent University, Maastricht University, Utrecht University, Wageningen University, TNO, RIVM, NEN and NKI. I also work for organisations that are closely involved with science, such as NEMO Science Museum, Artis, AMS Institute, VHTO national expertise bureau girls/women and STEM, Academic Transfer and Vrouwen van Nu. I also moderate programmes for Pakhuis De Zwijger.

Desiree is an innovative and professional moderator. With skill she created a session that addressed the overall narrative of the M&I Healthcare meeting in Helsinki as well as the needs of the international participants for the workshop she facilitated. Amazing job! 

Andrew Winterburn, an experienced business leader, strategic thinker and entrepreneur with extensive international expertise.

Call or e-mail

Please contact me to discuss your event. As a professional moderator, I prefer to be involved in time, when you are designing your program. I ensure that the purpose of your meeting is clear and that each part of the program contributes to that purpose. In this way, we create a common theme together.

+31 6 20 245 924 | info@desireehoving.nl