BEHIND THE SCENES
CORNELIEN BAIJENS
Managing Director Benelux, EasyFairs

By Viviane Vogels

HUMAN DYNAMO
A lot can be said about a person after the first couple of minutes of meeting. Cornelien is the sort of person who is slightly larger than life and who fills the room with her enthusiasm and personality, a woman after my own liking!

Cornelien (43), Managing Director Benelux for easyFairs is Dutch and divides her professional time between Holland and Belgium which explains her choice of abode near Breda within striking distance of Belgium and easy access to airports, motorways and other means of travel.

FROM HISTORY BUFF TO FAIR SPECIALIST
How ironic that the Dutch system of ‘numerus clausus’ obliged Cornelien to re-think her career plan after graduating in ’86 with a degree in Modern History. She had her sights set on becoming a journalist but the system rejected her 3 times and so she went looking for another job as doing nothing was not an option. Little did she know that when taking a job as a secretary in an insurance company that within months she would be organizing small events for them which would eventually lead to larger things. When she found a vacancy in the trade fair organization sector it actually  took the ‘organization gene’ in her only 3 months to push her into asking the big boss how she could improve herself and, impressed by her drive but actually not surprised by her question, he gave her a first big project to handle. Cornelien never looked back; the boss turned into a good friend and mentor who, having recognized her potential from the get go, showed her the ropes and guided her in the years after.

Cornelien traveled extensively during that period and developed what could be considered her motto “don’t think, just do it”. Especially in challenging countries such as China this has helped her many a time when lesser people would have long given up…

THE ‘CORNELIEN EFFECT’
She may have landed in the trade fair industry by accident, but Cornelien took to it as a duck to water and her successful productions all over the world brought her to the attention of the Institute of International Research in Brussels. After 7 years of continuous travel the idea of having a base in a great city like Brussels appealed to Cornelien and so she came to settle in the European Capital where, very quickly, she grew the team from 10 to 25 à 30 people and increased the number of conferences by more than 50%.

She was the victim of her own success and moved to manage the office in Amsterdam where a culture shock awaited her. In her own words the difference in mentality and work ethics between Belgium and Holland was a bit of a shock but she managed to turn that also into a positive.

Cornelien had met her husband by then and when she expected her first child decided it was time to slow done a little and so she also decided – together with a former colleague– to set up a networking organization for exhibition organizers. The goal was to get away from the stuffy, old-fashioned image and make exhibitions new, young and dynamic. For four years Cornelien did exactly that and had loads of fun whilst doing it.
Life goes on and the offer of Eric Everard of easyFairs to join his –ever expanding –outfit as Managing Director for Benelux came at the right time and, in her own words, has never been regretted.
Again, the ‘Cornelien effect’ took hold and within a couple of years she grew the team from 5 in Antwerp and 3 in Holland to a total of 59 people in the Benelux handling over 25 exhibitions….
Why two offices? Well, we’re back to the differences between the two countries. Holland up to the major rivers can easily be handled from Belgium as not too different, but once this barrier crossed we are in different territory! Add to that the fact that there is a very strong fair market in Holland which makes it a much bigger challenge than the Belgian market and the 2 offices are easily understood.

“easyFairs is a great outfit to work for, we do try to have a lot of fun whilst working!” says Cornelien and listening to her expanding on her mission vision I must say I believe her.”It is an outfit that lives within the families of our employees as well, we created our own ‘in-house’ humor which helps us to better live up to the major challenges we encounter year round. Usually after 4 or 5 years, I feel the need for a change of scenery. Is it age or, more likely, the fact that I feel there is still a hell of a lot to develop and achieve, a combination of both I suppose, but I am happy and far from ready to move on!”

CORNELIEN BAIJENS ON ….

FAMILY
Cornelien is the living example that a working Mum can also have a fun family life. She lives with her husband and two kids in Holland, near the Belgian border which reduces her traveling time to a strict minimum whilst maintaining an international career. She describes her daughter (10) as being very much like her, her 8- year old son is a funny man and plays word jokes on his parents and friends…sounds like a fun family!

TRAVEL
Having traveled extensively in her career, Asia has definitely become a favorite for Cornelien. Without hesitation Shanghai is mentioned as her favorite town, as she knows it intimately having spent a lot of time there for previous jobs and having visited many trade fairs in that great city. She admits to “withdraw symptoms “for Shanghai as it has been over 2 years since her last visit!

On her wish list there is definitely a visit planned to “down under”, both Australia and New Zealand appeal for their endless vistas and nature and the no-nonsense attitude. But it is definitely a family trip that will be taken so the kids will have to be of an age when they will fully appreciate the destination. Same goes for a planned trip to the jungles and national parks of Malaysia which will make a great impression on the kids.

COOKING
As we are sitting in one of the trendy – and excellent – restaurants of Antwerp, De Troubadour, talking about food comes naturally. As long as the dish has been prepared with care and to her taste, Cornelien has no real favorites, we both chose different dishes from the very interesting menu so we could compare and appreciate the beautifully prepared plates. Cooking is definitely a hobby, she describes her signature dish as chicken the Italian way with rosemary, garlic and herbs, not sophisticated but oh so good! She will also go to the other extreme and whip up a delicious dish of sweet potatoes with coquille St Jacques which definitely made my mouth water when described!
Cornelien is in her element when cooking for a whole group, this is where her organization talent comes in its own again!

BOOKS
This is the moment that I understood why I felt a natural affinity with Cornelien: she is as avid a reader as I am and…readers have a special connection. When I say avid, I mean AVID, an all-devourer of 2, sometimes 4 books a week and all in English! We compared notes on the virtues of Barnes & Noble versus Amazon.com, favorite websites for bookworms like us, titles were flying across the table and books were discussed. We both agreed that an ideal day was spent curled up on the sofa with a good book, a decent drink and favorite music on the hifi…unfortunately there are not enough of those! Cornelien had just finished the second book of Khaled Hosseini (the Kite Runner), ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns, an absolute must read of the moment.

MUSIC
In her choice of music Cornelien also has a very eclectic taste ranging from Santana over the Dutch sensation Anouk to a great classic of our youth...Boudewijn De Groot. Cornelien has a soft spot for him as she met him when she interviewed him as a cub reporter for her school newspaper. Talking about going to the theatre for a play or a recital, Cornelien regretted, like many of us I guess, that today people do not ‘dress up’ anymore to go out to a performance, the festive mood of  a great evening out has disappeared …

Cornelien is a people’s person: she observes them and for her job listens a lot to others explaining what they are looking for. And although she loves talking, and she talks with passion, she forces herself to listen to others, friends, family and clients alike, but will also urge them to “get to the point” on a regular basis. For me it sums up the person that is Cornelien: a no-nonsense but sensitive person, a communicator who thinks outside the box and can motivate big teams into exceeding set targets.

WHAT NEXT?
Cornelien admits to two dreams for the future.
The first brought a big smile to her face: ever since her 16th birthday she has dreamed of becoming the big boss of..The Efteling! It is the concept of welcoming people, families, who for a day step out of their daily lives and come to be submerged in a perfect world of fantasy, that appeals to her and…looking at the twinkle in her eyes she has still not totally given up on that dream!....
Her second dream involves the whole family and is obviously a family project. Her 8-year old son has decided he wants to become a hotel manager of a 5-star (no less!) hotel, where his sister would welcome the guests, Dad will take care of the service in the restaurant and Mum would run the kitchen. Cornelien confirms that this could be a viable dream and for the moment the consensus of venue seems to be somewhere in Italy.

Let’s be clear, Cornelien is not ready to settle down yet, she can even see herself and the family for a couple of years in Shanghai still, but that 5-star hotel family project sounds like a place that most of us would like to visit!

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