Monique van Dusseldorp

I am PICNIC's Program Director. I put together both the PICNIC Conference as well as the PICNIC Specials and the PICNIC Labs. Together with a network of advisers I research themes, find speakers, develop interesting formats, and try to make PICNIC as inspiring and relevant as possible.

It's a wonderful job - I get to talk and correspond with some very smart and friendly people on the cutting edge of media, art and science.

PICNIC is not all I do: I also do work for a Dutch organisation called the iMMovator Cross Media Network putting together events on new media developments relevant for the broadcasting industry. Recently I have also been a workshop host for the Stifo/Sandberg workshops, bringing together film makers and artists to develop new concepts.

I am on the board of two organisations, the Gridforum Association Netherlands, as well as the Dutch public broadcaster NPS, and I am member of the Jury for the Swift Awards and the NL Awards. .

Having said all that, PICNIC is my favourite event of all times, and I am honoured that I get to work on it. Between February and September, it's almost all I do.

Previously, I founded and ran Van Dusseldorp & Partners, a company specialised in European new media events and research, and I co-founded the Europemedia news service. We wrote reports and newsletters and organised conferences on new developments. Plus I was on other boards and in other juries. I also served on two Dutch government committees (Commissie Docters van Leeuwen, Commissie Risseeuw) on ICT and media policies. Van Dusseldorp & Partners closed in 2003 and I have worked as a freelancer since.

I started my working life at the European Institute for the Media (Germany), where I worked as Director of Communications, and later on worked for a Dutch publisher in the new media department. Before that I graduated from art school as well as university: Akademie voor Beeldende Vorming Tilburg, Katholieke Universiteit Brabant and for one semester in 1990, Boston University. I have degrees in Comparative Literature and in Fine Arts.