Report: Mobile Unit @ Brecon Beacons

Last week, the Mobile Unit of Studio VMK from the Veemarktkwartier in Tilburg stood in the Brecon Beacons national park in South Wales at the Garwnant visitor centre.The traveling team of VMK-entrepreneurs held presentations, workshops and business consults about creation and innovation for both touristic and creative entrepreneurs from the region. A refreshing visit with inspiring encounters.

The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority & Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council took care of a warm welcome for the Tilburg delegation. The visit of the Mobile Unit, a striking futuristic cube, was part of a touring roadshow bringing the VMK entrepreneurs to international partners within the European project Collabor8. The VMK entrepreneurs Dennis Buster, Gijs van Zon, Kathy Marchand, Mark van Veen, Lois de Jong and Vincent Vriens offered their creativity and digital advice free of charge.

Reactions
The local entrepreneurs reacted very positively. “What a fabulous presentation and how behind the times I now feel! Thank you for putting this together as it not only benefits those of us who have small businesses, but it also helps us see the larger picture and where our world is heading. My next email is to my website designer who is taking my current site and redoing it. I have a lot of questions for him”, said local entrepreneur Jann Seal. Steve Haslam of Greener Graphics added: “It was really inspiring and has got me thinking! Hopefully I’ll will make contacts with others in the region now and tap into different talents”. Annie Laurie of the Brecon Beacons NPA received a consult from VMK entrepreneurs Dennis Buster and Lois de Jong about the promotion of public transport. An intense brainstorming session led to original concepts on how to market public transport to different target groups. “I feel very excited about the project and can see the campaigns already!” said Annie afterwards.

The VMK entrepreneurs got a taste of what the region has to offer and were taken up the mountain of Pen y Fan by Nic Shugar of Mountain Education Company Haute Route. and were taken out to dinner at the Star Inn Talybont in Brecon. “The region has a lot to offer, I can smell the adventure”, said VMK entrepreneur Lois de Jong during the final presentation. “The possibility of having so many different experiences in relatively small area, makes the region easy to market.” “We strongly recommend that local businesses and creatives join forces in marketing the region as a whole, since the success of your neighbor is your success. You sell not your house, you sell your home”, Dennis Buster added.

Follow us on www.mobile-unit.com
For news on the Mobile Unit tour, make sure you check out our new site www.mobile-unit.com. This site will be the hub of our communication and present a great amount of interesting background information about our entrepreneurs and about their encounters with local businesses. The next Roadshows in Ireland and South UK are planned for early spring 2012.