The new night mayor of Assen, Scott Witkamp, described his plans to create a digital platform for local business owners to come together during elections on Saturday night.
Translation by Traci White
RTV Drenthe reports that Witkamp, who was chosen by a jury and through online votes, campaigned on cultivating collaboration among business owners associated with Assen’s nightlife scene. Witkamp was officially granted the title of night mayor by city mayor Marco Out on Saturday night at Grand Café ‘t Wapen in Assen.
“I think that the focus should be on making the nightlife more appealing”, Witkamp says. “Some people don’t feel like there’s much to do in the city because quite a few bars and dining establishments have closed.”
Witkamp wants there to be a place online for local talent to showcase themselves and their upcoming events. Witkamp thinks that such a platform would also make it easier for business and organisations to make sure they are not planning too many activities on the same day.
Witkamp says that the platform can serve as a central location to find talented event organisers. The newly elected night mayor plans to organise workshops for entrepreneurs for ways to better connect with their clients, in part by providing better online service. Dagblad van het Noorden reports that Witkamp is also considering putting together a pub crawl for locals to get to know the bar scene in the city.
The other candidates for Assen’s night mayor were Maarten Hermanns and Noes Solisa. Witkamp will serve as the Drenthe city’s night mayor through 2020 and is succeeding outgoing mayor Erwin Zijlstra, better known as Zed Zeedy, who was the first person to hold the title in the city back in 2016.
Photo source: Bert Jippes/Facebook