Our story
Meet Berlage: Hosting Entrepreneurial Minds
Meet Berlage offers inspiring spaces for entrepreneurial minds. Whether it’s a conference, workshop, training, hackathon or meeting; a party, drink, lecture or concert; a workplace or office — if you’ve got an entrepreneurial mind, you’ll feel right at home! As part of the international meeting network Seats2meet, meeting, connecting and exchanging knowledge is our core focus. And with an unbeatable location in the former stock exchange Beurs van Berlage, we follow in the footsteps of the entrepreneurial stock traders of the past: we’re heirs to the inspiring ideas from which architect Berlage originally designed the building.
Berlage’s Vision: A Community House
His name is well-known: HP Berlage. As the name implies, the stock exchange building in which we sit was designed by the famous Dutch architect. Amsterdam, with its rich trading history, was home to the world’s first stock exchange. At the end of the 19th century, in a period of industrialization and economic growth, the city needed a new stock exchange building (the third in the city's history), and Berlage won the bid to design it. In addition to stocks, the Beurs van Berlage opened in 1903 with a commodity, grain and ship exchange. But according to the beliefs of Berlage and the other artists involved, those exchanges wouldn’t last for long. From their Socialist perspectives, this capitalist, money-focused business would eventually die out — the building could then serve as a large community house where everyone was welcome, inspired by the old Italian town halls. The Beurs as a future palazzo pubblico: "In all honestly, I always have cherished and developed these ideas within my deepest thoughts and yearnings,” said Berlage.
The Meet Berlage Concept: Paying with Social Capital
Just like in the days of Berlage, we live in a time of major changes: social, economic, technological, climatic and political. Old structures and relationships are no longer adequate. Time demands new forms of working and developing, and we want to facilitate that at Seats2meet. That’s why you can easily book one of our rooms online — our rates are per seat per hour; you can cancel up until 24 hours beforehand free of charge; and you’re then part of our workplace for free. Free? Well, not completely: you pay with social capital by sharing your knowledge, experience and network with other coworkers, both in the workspace and virtually. With your account at Seats2meet.com, you get access to an ecosystem with tens of thousands of entrepreneurial minds worldwide. If you come in for a meeting, training or other type of event, you also get access to this ecosystem. Awesome!
Ambiance
You notice it immediately when you enter: the pleasant, enthusiastic, buzzing atmosphere of activity. Self-employed workers driven by their own causes, groups debating a common question, inquisitive learners, international companies in town for a multi-day conference, and so on. The Noteerzaal (Listing Hall), our ground floor foyer where the stock prices were once listed, is the vibrant heart and central meeting place. Here you’ll be welcomed by our hospitable, informal staff team and served the best coffees and tastiest home-baked goods at our new bar. So what are you waiting for? Entrepreneurial minds, unite!