All posts by Matthijs Vink

H20 organizes end-of-year and New Year outings/parties

The holidays are upon us again - that's the time to host your corporate event or party at H20 Event Location! Watch the following video for inspiration, click here.

Organize your upcoming event with us, we are ready to make your next party or event an unforgettable experience as well!

From 10 people up to as many as 1000, combined with fun activities such as gaming or a pub quiz, anything goes!

Convivially end the end of the year with a unique company outing or start the year with a smashing reception!

H20 welcomes third edition of Samsung Innovation Campus with livestream kick-off

On October 17, 2024, we welcomed the Samsung to our H20 Esports Campus venue, the largest permanent Esports stadium in Western Europe. For the third edition of the Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC)!

This technology program provides 90 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 with essential coding and programming skills. In an intensive game-based program, they get to work with Minecraft Code Builder, Scratch, Gamemaker and RUR-PLE, among others to prepare themselves for the digital future.

Following the success of previous editions in 2022 and 2023, with as many as 75 and 80 students participating, the Samsung Innovation Campus is further expanding its program this year. Samsung is thus taking a step forward to make technology accessible to a wider group of young people, with a special focus on those outside the mainstream education system.

Innovative collaboration with H20 Esports Campus

The H20 Esports Campus in Purmerend provides a unique setting for the trainings, where young people are introduced to digital skills in a stimulating and future-oriented environment. The choice of this location is in line with Samsung's vision to make technology accessible and inspiring to young people throughout the Netherlands and give every child equal opportunities.

Four locations in the Netherlands

In order to provide access to as many young people as possible from different regions, the trainings are offered not only in Purmerend, but also in Eindhoven, Utrecht and Rotterdam. Each student receives 10 three-hour lessons in which they learn programming and coding, with the support of experienced teachers and mentors. This gives them the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience.

Kick-off with live stream on Oct. 17

The kick-off took place on Oct. 17, 2024, and was presented by Samsung ambassador and esports icon Puck van den Brekel, better known as "puxque." She inspired the youngsters with her experience and enthusiasm for technology. For the first time, the kick-off was streamed live so that participants who could not physically attend could follow the event and witness the start of the program.

This intensive training ends in December 2024 with a celebratory graduation ceremony where participants will receive their certificates. This certificate reflects not only the skills they have acquired, but more importantly their commitment and perseverance.

Inclusiveness and future-oriented education

Samsung is committed to making technology education more accessible to young people, with a particular focus on those outside the mainstream education pathway. The Samsung Innovation Campus gives them the opportunity to gain valuable digital skills and get ready for an ever-changing job market. In 2023, for example, as many as eight participants were able to work at various tech companies & start-ups after participating in the Samsung Innovation Campus. Thus, they took their first step towards a job in the IT sector.

The third edition of the Samsung Innovation Campus offers young people a unique opportunity to develop their digital skills in an inclusive and inspiring environment. With this edition, Samsung remains committed to the future of the next generation of technology talent in the Netherlands

SPORTS & GAMING CHAMPIONSHIP PURMEREND @ H20 ESPORTS CAMPUS

Get ready for a true spectacle and represent your district in Purmerend or Beemster! Will you become the champion of your district and perhaps of all of Purmerend and will your team walk away with the prize pool worth €1200.

The Sports & Gaming Championship Purmerend is the championship in which every young person from Purmerend in the age category of 8 to 18 years can participate. The special feature of this championship is that you not only have to be able to game, but also play soccer or dance (Just Dance). You can win a total prize pool of €1,200 and various game prizes in 4 age categories.

In May and June there are several qualification tournaments per district in Purmerend and Beemster. By participating in these qualification tournaments you and your team of 3 youngsters can qualify for the grand final in the Rabo Esports Stadium on July 3, 2024. In these qualifying tournaments you will compete in a game (Fortnite or EAFC/FIFA) and a sport (3×3 soccer or Just Dance) to see who is the best. Click the button for more information regarding the qualifying rounds and finals!

Important detail, this championship is for residents of the municipality of Purmerend

Note: All qualifiers will be held at the Rabo Esports Stadium on the Spinnekop in de Koog, participation is completely free and you may only participate if your entire team is from Purmerend and is between 8 and 18 years old

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NET4IT and H20 launch partnership!

H20 is starting a great partnership with NET4IT! The company offers a high-quality service that includes taking care of the best network at H20. In addition, NET4IT has a lot of knowledge and expertise with regard to cloud solutions, connectivity, security, system and network management and VoIP solutions which means that an IT solution is always nearby. We are very much looking forward to working together for the next 3 years!

Together with NET4IT, H20 will work to keep the network and data of tenants, partners and visitors secure and working. The partnership will work to provide the best available network. We are very pleased with the partnership with NET4IT and look forward to the improvement opportunities NET4IT will provide! Redundancy and separate internet systems are, with so many different types of visitors and tenants, essential in the H20 campus

The cooperation began from the start of H20, Net4IT has grown with H20 and has always provided support. Now that the cooperation is formal, the intensity and thus quality will increase.

NET4IT can take advantage of several opportunities within H20, including the use of the streaming studio. In addition, NET4IT employees and partners have the opportunity to use other facilities at H20 such as the game hall and a tour of the Rabo Esports Stadium. The first sim racing team outing is planned by employees today.

Of course, NET4IT will now also become part of H20's business club, which ensures that partners, tenants, other clients and associates can come together several times a year to meet and network.

Matthijs founder of H20: "We want to stay innovative and relevant in as many areas as possible. By collaborating with NET4IT we can ensure that our network and its management remains good and optimal for our tenants, partners and all visitors of our events. "I am delighted with this great partnership." Through the intensive cooperation with NET4IT, we want to continuously improve quality, this is only possible with the best partners."

Rocket League Final during Dutch Media Week in Beeld & Geluid: NXT Wins €2500

HILVERSUM, 09-10-'23 - During the Xperience Days of Dutch Media Week there was exciting esports action in Beeld & Geluid, with the Rocket League Finale as the highlight. In an exciting competition co-sponsored by Alienware and Emma Sleep, the best gamers competed for the coveted title and a prize pool of €5000.

The event, which took place at the iconic Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in Hilversum, attracted a large number of enthusiastic esports fans, local gamers and businesses. The Rocket League Finale was an excellent showcase of the fast-growing world of esports in the Netherlands. 16 teams with 48 gamers had qualified for the finals after months of nationwide qualifying at Go!Gaming, H20 Esports campus - Rabo Esports Stadium Amsterdam and the special KPN E-Truck.

NXT, the winning team of the Rocket League Final, put on an impressive performance on the beautifully decorated stage in the middle of Sound & Vision. Their teamwork, strategic approach and skills led to the win and the grand prize of €2500, several Alienware products and 3 delicious Emma Sleep pillows. The audience cheered NXT as they accepted the coveted trophy.

Alienware, a leading brand in gaming hardware, and Emma Sleep, an innovative player in sleep comfort, played an important role in organizing the Rocket League Finals. Thanks to their support, the event was able to take place, and during the day, the players were able to prepare in the best possible way in the Emma Recharge station, a specially equipped space to relax and rest before the games.

"It's great to see how esports lives and that we were able to link media with esports and gaming in Hilversum during the Xperience Days," said Sten Vos, Dutch Media Week organizer. "This event was a fantastic addition and a proof of the power of cooperation between H20 and Dutch Media Week."

The Rocket League Finale during Dutch Media Week was broadcast live online on Twitch and watched by tens of thousands of people, it was an unforgettable experience for participants and spectators alike.

"The event was successful, we are very happy with that and even more important to us was the fact that throughout the day, in addition to the gaming competitions, there were lectures by speakers from different branches of the gaming industry. Educators, marketers, coaches, a lot was covered and this shows the diversity of the industry. "All this promotes the growth of the esports and gaming industry, we are very happy about that," said Matthijs Vink, founder of H20 Esports campus - Rabo Esports Stadium Amsterdam and Go!Gaming.

Press Release: Positive development for women in esports and gaming!

September 2023 - H20 Esports Campus is partnering with Alienware to host a community day for women on Saturday, September 30: Queens of the Arena. Together with 10 enthusiastic streaming ladies, who came up with the event, a day dedicated to empowering women in esports will be organized.

Ladies Party

As a precursor to Community Day, 3 nights will be dedicated to Ladies Party at Go!Gaming. During these evenings, women can come and play free gaming at Go!Gaming for 2 hours. In addition, women from both teams will be present at the Go!Gaming locations, offering their community a chance to meet their favorite stream star.

Of course, everyone is welcome to drop by. The Ladies Party will take place at Go!Gaming Maastricht, Nijmegen and Utrecht Leidsche Rijn on Thursday, September 14 and 21. Registration for this is via www.gogaming.gg, the number of places is limited.

Queens of the Arena Community Day

On this day a show match best of 3 will be played between team NL and team BE. There will also be several side events with a fun ending for all visitors. Who will be the Queens of the Arena?

The community day will take place at H20 Esports Campus in the Rabo Esports Stadium. The program is from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm and is entirely dedicated to gaming, women in esports and the game VALORANT. For more information, check www.h20.gg/alienwarequeens/

The ladies are all streamers and frequently play VALORANT themselves;

LisjeLive (Team NL)

It's super cool to be involved in the Queens of the Arena event from start to finish. We came up with the idea, pitched it and developed it together with H20. And soon we'll be popping on stage. I will never forget this!

MellieVenenna (Team BE)

"The idea of being able to experience something so spectacular with these amazing girls is something I can't quite grasp yet. It is such an honor to be able to participate in this and soon compete for the title of Queens of the Arena. We're going for it!"

XMileyX (Team BE)

"I am incredibly excited for the Queens of the Arena Valorant Tournament! It's a great opportunity to show that women are just as passionate as men in the gaming world. Together we are going to make an impact and show what female gamers can achieve. Let the competition begin!"

Empowering women

Matthijs Vink (H20 Board of Directors): "It is incredibly cool that we with H20 Esports Campus are partnering with Alienware around this event. With this we can also support the women's branch of esports which we are happy to collaborate on. For this project, we made a conscious decision to set up a competitive/community day so we can have an impact on the acceptance of women in the gaming world."

Would you like to attend? Then sign uphere sign up!

Positive development for women in esports and gaming!

September 1, 2023 - H20 Esports Campus is partnering with Alienware to host a community day for women on Saturday, September 30: Queens of the Arena. Together with 10 enthusiastic streaming ladies, who came up with the event, a day dedicated to empowering women in esports will be organized.

Ladies Party

Queens of the Arena Community Day

On this day a show match best of 3 will be played between team NL and team BE. There will also be several side events with a fun ending for all visitors. Who will be the Queens of the Arena?

The ladies are all streamers and frequently play VALORANT themselves;

MellieVenenna (Team BE): "I still can't quite grasp the idea of being able to experience something so spectacular with these amazing girls. It is such an honor to be able to participate in this and soon compete for the title of Queens of the Arena. We're going for it!"

XMileyX (Team NL): "I am incredibly excited for the Queens of the Arena Valorant Tournament! It's a great opportunity to show that women are just as passionate as men in the gaming world. Together we are going to make an impact and show what female gamers can achieve. Let the competition begin!"

Empowering women

Would you like to attend? Then sign up at: www.h20.gg/alienwarequeens

- END OF PRESS RELEASE -

Note to editors (not for publication):

For questions, please contact:

Iris Giesen, Partnership Manager at iris.giesen@h20.gg or 06-30315073

About H20:

Through multiple gaming centers with the Go!Gaming brand (in major cities in the Netherlands) and the Esports Tech Campus Amsterdam (>12,000 m2 in Purmerend), H20 Esports has quickly grown into the largest sports gaming ecosystem in the Netherlands. More than 50 companies and startups are already housed on the campus and various partners such as Rabobank, KPN, Red Bull, OMEN, Playseat, Predator, Samsung and Philips are connected. Parties that want to connect with the new generation.

With various programs and activities, co-developed by our partners, we develop talent in the broadest sense. H20 sports wants a place for today's game and (e)sports talent, but at the same time we prepare that talent for a future in creative tech. Because not everyone makes it to the top.

Gaming impacting the world; H20 and Museon-Omniversum bring Minecraft to the Dome.

Purmerend July 13, 2023 - H20 starts collaboration with Museon-Omniversum.

H20 esports & gaming campus and Museon-Omniversum are partnering to let visitors build the ´City of the Future´ in Minecraft. From October 7, 2023, visitors of the Museon-Omniversum can participate in cool Minecraft activities. Based on the idea of 'gaming impacting the world', H20 and Museon-Omniversum are setting up Minecraft workshops and Minecraft Watch Parties. The Minecraft activities will be part of the fall program at Museon-Omniversum. Visitors can work as designs themselves for a sustainable future.

Future designers beware!
Minecrafters can help build via a specially set up Minecraft server. They can do so from home or from one of the gaming stations at the museum. As future designers, children and young people are dealing with topics such as climate change, inclusivity and mobility. They are given challenges during Minecraft building such as: How do we deal with increasing rain, drought and flood threats? How do we build a city that doesn't exclude anyone? And how do we make sure everything is accessible? At the end of the afternoon, they can take a look at the City of the Future they helped build themselves during the Minecraft Watch Party. City planners and Minecraft experts will comment on the creations, which will be displayed on the huge dome screen in the Dome. A worldwide premiere of Minecraft in a Dome!

Collaboration with impact
Matthijs Vink, founder of H20: "Gaming is impacting the world. Now even more so with a collaboration like this. Besides co-creating educational programs we want to provide entertainment, inspiration and knowledge sharing in an even more unique way. This is now possible with this collaboration with Museon-Omniversum. Reaching the new generation through gaming and imparting knowledge takes on a new dimension through this collaboration! For this project we consciously chose Minecraft, so we can make young people aware of the world they live in and how they themselves can have an impact on it."

Iris van den Akker, commercial director Museon-Omniversum: "This collaboration makes us very proud. As a museum and big screen movie theater, we are good at inspiring, learning and activating our visitors. In this collaboration with H20, we have increased the interaction with our visitors and the fun factor in a unique way. By using Minecraft in our program, we are taking it a step further than before and look forward to even more teens coming to help build the future." With this partnership with H20, we are also signing one of the first HANDSHAKES. As partners, we are rolling up our sleeves to promote each other's products and services as well as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Together we are doing everything we can to inspire our target groups and the broader society for a livable planet for all. The signing of the HANDSHAKE is the start of a collaboration that will take different forms to support each other in achieving the SDGs

Call for young Minecraft enthusiasts.
Young Minecraft enthusiasts can apply now to Museon-Omniversum. The museum is looking for ambassadors who want to shape the first contours of the City of the Future. If so, sign up as an ambassador before the end of July here.

H20 in Minecraft:

-END OF PRESS RELEASE-
Note to editors (not for publication):
About H20:
Through multiple gaming centers with the Go!Gaming brand (in major cities in the Netherlands) and the Esports Tech Campus Amsterdam (>12,000 m2 in Purmerend), H20 Esports has quickly grown into the largest sports gaming ecosystem in the Netherlands. More than 50 companies and startups are already housed at the campus and various partners such as Rabobank, KPN, Red Bull, OMEN, Playseat, Predator, Samsung and Philips are connected. Parties that want to connect with the new generation.

For more information about H20 and all its activities click here.

About Museon-Omniversum:
Museon-Omniversum is all about the earth, people and sustainable development. With our program One Planet we inspire young and old to work towards a livable earth for everyone. In our museum and big screen movie theater we show how beautiful and special our planet is.

Museon-Omniversum's ambition is to inspire, teach and activate our environment on sustainable development. Real social impact is what we are all about. We have been measuring our impact through a Social Handprint report (via MAEX) since 2022. As a cultural institution, Museon-Omniversum creates a lot of value for society, value that cannot be directly traced to financial figures - something that the business world looks at mainly. For this reason, and to generate income, Museon-Omniversum is establishing the 'value retention' scheme. This allows (especially) SME entrepreneurs to step in as value holders on a piece of impact.

The kick-off of the Minecraft fall program is during the Weekend of Science on Oct. 7 and 8. During the fall break, from Oct. 14 to 22, there will be daily Minecraft activities. In addition, there are several other activities at the museum. Programming and registration will be online beginning in early September.

For more information, contact Masja Brouwer, 06 1442 4561 / mbrouwer@museon-omniversum.nl

Click here for more information about H20

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Gaming brand Predator and H20 Esports Campus join hands again, extending and expanding their partnership

The H20 Esports Campus opened in 2020, making it the largest permanent esports stadium in Western Europe with over 12,000m2 of surface area and has since hosted many gamers including Dante, mrsavage, Falcons, Mcon, Nova Esports and Solary.

Predator and H20 have had a successful partnership since 2020, with Predator having its own equipped gaming room under the name "Predator Gaming Room." The Predator Gaming Room is part of the Rabo Esports Stadium on the H20 Esports Campus, but is fully lockable, making it great for groups, training sessions and bootcamps. There is room for ten people and space for a coach and/or trainer. As of May 2023, this space has been updated with the latest Predator gaming hardware and equipment, and a new space has now been added specifically for streamers; the Predator Streaming Studio. With this space, Predator and H20 aim to facilitate gamers who want to create video content and/or live stream while gaming.

Predator is Acer's premium gaming brand and consists of a broad line of gaming hardware featuring powerful PCs and laptops, fast monitors and matching accessories. The products feature the latest technology, breakthrough innovation and iconic design suitable for hobby and hardcore gamers. Predator's full offerings can be found here.

Matthijs Vink, founder of H20 said, "That a globally renowned brand like Predator chooses to extend and expand their partnership with H20 says a lot about how important they want to be to the target audience that wants a physical experience at a unique location like H20 Rabo Esports Stadium. We would like to give visitors the opportunity to own and use Predator's hardware so that the gaming and streaming experience is optimal. We are very happy with this extended partnership!"

Sterre Swank, Marketing Manager at Acer thinks it's impressive what H20 has managed to establish over the past few years. "We believe in the concept and we are happy to hear that so many casual gamers of different ages, as well as esports teams for bootcamps and training sessions, love using the Predator Gaming Room. That we are now expanding the partnership to include the Predator Streaming Studio is great news and we hope this will introduce even more gamers to Predator and give them an even better and more intense gaming experience."

The Predator Gaming Room and Predator Streaming Studio are both designed to give gamers the best gaming experience possible. In both rooms, gamers can use the Predator Orion 5000 (640 I7208G) desktop with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 video card and Intel Core i7-12700F processor. These powerhouses are known for high-end cooling technology using Predator Frost Blade 2.0. Gaming monitors also meet the demands of gamers. Streamers game on a monitor with a 270 Hz refresh rate and exceptional lag, making gaming feel smooth and responsive. The setup is made complete with all matching Predator peripherals.

To learn more about the Predator Gaming Room and Predator Streaming Studio, visit the following page: https://h20.gg/en/product/predator-gaming-room/ or visit https://h20.gg/en/product/streaming-studio-amsterdam/