The idea for the on-line network arose after an inventory was made of the needs of foreign staff members at the TU/e. The inventory showed among other things that they find it difficult to get into contact with colleagues or other people outside working hours, says Willem van Hoorn of the Personnel and Organization Department (DPO). “Usually Dutch employees focus strongly on the content and less on the process. Moreover, they have a rather strict everyday routine, to put it bluntly: work from nine to five, between five and seven dinner is served at home, and afterwards there is time for sport. At home Dutchmen seldom give any thought to what their colleagues are doing; they will get their turn again next morning at nine o’clock.”

Across the border things mostly run quite differently and this makes it difficult here for many foreigners to build up a social circle. The idea is that an on-line platform similar to Hyves could help. This has resulted in ‘TU/e Meetingplace’, on which members can keep a weblog, among other things, can raise items for discussion on a forum, set up a ‘sub-club’ and can start searching for other members who share their interests or who have the same technical-scientific background.

Home front
The network is not (yet) public: anyone interested can for the time being only become members by invitation of existing members. The platform focuses especially on foreign TU/e staff members, but students or colleagues from else-where, who may be working on the High Tech Campus for instance, can join in as well. This also goes for relatives or friends at home who want to follow someone’s blog.

Meanwhile the network features more than forty members, but it needs to become more alive, as Van Hoorn emphasizes: “The members themselves have to bring life into it, without any explicit directions coming from the TU/e.” At the end of 2009 he wants to assess whether the network -which is hosted externally, by the way- provides for a need./.

See www.tuemeetingplace.nl. Anyone who does not yet know any members but is interested in joining can contact Willem van Hoorn: w.g.v.hoorn@tue.nl.

“We have to create this community together”

Dzmitry Asipko MSc, a trainee of the International Program in Logistics Management Systems at the Department of Industrial Engineering & Inno-vation Sciences, is one of the enthusiastic members of the first hour of the TU/e Meeting-place. Asipko: “This tool is a very good initiative. One month ago, when I first heard of it, I was really working hard to find people at the TU/e to communicate with.”

Asipko arrived in Eindhoven three months ago, and he plans to stay here for two years. “The first phase of a culture shock is the tourist phase, where every-thing in your new environment is great. For one month I was in this happy state”, says Asipko. “But only after a month I was down, because I missed my friends and family. Now it’s better. I have found several people here to talk to.”

“This TU/e Meetingplace can be a good tool to meet other people from your region who will support you”, says Asipko. “It is a helpful part of a package to help people adapt at the university next to all professional devel-opment workshops where they teach you about Dutch culture. Of course TU/e Meetingplace is just a tool. It helps you virtually to find somebody and then you can meet this person in real life. For some people it is enough to communicate in a virtual community only, but that doesn’t work for me.”

Arrange activities
Asipko points out that it is also a good tool to arrange activities. “You have one point where you can promote an event. Let’s say to visit Belgium together. People can join and organize it. You don’t need to make a lot of phone calls.” He thinks this tool is like the ISN/e mailing list, only with more features, like making a blog, or adding pictures. “The tool has a big potential and the scale of the network will be a good estimator of its success. I guess people should know its advantages first. Most international staff members for whom the tool is intended are not aware of its existence yet. It still needs promotion.”

One of the possibilities of TU/e Meetingplace is to form a club. Asipko formed a club for Russian-speaking people. “At this moment the club is not as successful yet as I hoped it would be. People who wanted to join the club, answered: ‘What is your program? What are you going to do?” It looks like people want everything to be ready. But we have to create this community together.”/.