From BBC News:

The driver of a car that killed five people after crashing into crowds watching a Dutch royal parade has died from his injuries.

The man, a Dutch national, died in hospital overnight, officials said.

Karst Tates, 38, was critically injured after his attempted attack on the royal family in Apeldoorn on Thursday.

His car crashed into a monument after ploughing into bystanders who were marking Queen's Day in the town, some 90km (56 miles) east of Amsterdam.

Television pictures showed members of the royal family looking on in horror from an open-topped bus as the incident unfolded metres away from them.

Twelve people remain injured in hospital.

Officials said on Thursday the driver had confessed to police that he intended to attack the royal family.

After searching the car and his home, investigators ruled out terrorism as a motive and said it appeared he had acted alone.

Yesterday we had our national celebration of the birthday of our Queen Beatrix. If you have been in the Netherlands before on these days, you know, its a huge national festival that everyone celebrates, and everything is possbile that day. On days like these the Queen and the Royal familily is a connecting factor in the Dutch society.
Yesterday a man drove with a car into the public, wounded 17 - killed 5 of them and he tried to attack the Queen (who was at that moment in an open bus waving to the public) he luckily missed them, the Queen and her family is safe but they are all deeply shocked, as the whole nation is deeply shocked.
Yesterday we've seem lost a part of a great tradition.

On October 22-23, we hosted our third and final GlobalExchanges 2008 event in Amsterdam. GlobalExchanges brings together GlobalEnglish clients and prospects to discuss the challenges and opportunities created by global growth with specific focus on how they are developing their employees' business English communication skills to create competitive edge in the global marketplace. It's a great opportunity to deepen relationships with our clients/prospects, drive sales opportunities forward, and provide a forum for our clients to share information and learn from one another. GlobalEnglish is not just "training," but a tool for enabling employees and generating real productivity gains. In addition, we generated a lot of excitement around what's coming--Mobile Learning Network, BusinessLounge, Personal Coaching, and the Client Community!

Some pictures were taken at the GlobalExchanges EMEA 2008 in Amsterdam.

www.flickr.com andre_lefevre's GEX EMEA Amsterdam 2008 photoset

The 31^st of January was the last day of the GlobalEnglish Sales Meeting in Las Vegas. The main items on the agenda for that day were “Salesforce” and “Marketing”.

Salesforce is our most important Sales tool to be able to “accelerate” our sales. It’s the way to communicate about prospects and customers. So that’s why we spend a lot of time on this in the morning.

In the afternoon it was time for Danielle and her Marketing team. We can expect great things to happen this year from Marketing.

At the end of the day everybody was more than inspired and excited to go on selling our wonderful and great solution on Business Communication Skills in English.

We have felt what “collaborate” means with this great Sales Team that we have. We will “elevate” our ambition and aspiration, and that’s why will be able to “accelerate” our sales. This year, 2008, will be a great year. GO GLOBALENGLISH GO!

www.flickr.com Andre le Fevre's Day 3 Sales Meeting 2008 Las Vegas photoset

Today we had our second day of the GlobalEnglish Sales Meeting. Today was a day to exchange thoughts. How can we give body to our slogan: “collaborate, elevate, accelerate”. We really had some great discussions and we have been able to learn from each other.

There were also some great presentations about Business Cases. The ArcelorMittal Business Case presented by Julian and Angela and the Repsol Business Case presented by Sam and Luis (Spain). Impressive!

After the lunch break we had a presentation from Marcy Davis, our controller and Mahesh and Julian have been presenting about Blended learning/GE versus Classroom.

Then it was time to do some workshops and we split into two groups. One group with the AE’s (Account Executives) and one with the AM’s (Account Managers). I was at the group of the AE’s, and I have experienced it as very useful and it was full with learning points.

The evening session will be at the Treasure Island on the Las Vegas Strip. To start with a nice Mexican diner followed by the Mystery Show of Cirque Du Soleil. I will skip this, because I had almost no sleep at all because of a long virtual meeting with one of our prospects (from 3:30am up to 6:30am) last night and because Peter Schuster (Global Account Manager) and I will have another virtual meeting with a prospect at 0:00am. I really need to catch up a little bit of sleep before this meeting.

www.flickr.com Andre le Fevre's Second day of the 2008 GlobalEnglish Sales Meeting photoset

The first day was really a great day with breathtaking presentations and news about the new webpage, intranet and extranet. We will use a whole new colour setting for our new house style, and "orange" is an important part of that. Yes orange, and that feels great, being a Dutchmen. With the new webpage we will really have a great tool to support our sales.

And then the surprise was there. A very nice orange jacket with the GlobalEnglish logo on it. For everyone within the company. Wow! So exiting all those new developments.

The evening was also great and it was a lot of fun being together. We had diner in the bowling centre, and there was a lot of time to play bowling. We really have some bowling professionals in our company. One of those professionals is Deepak himself. It was amazing to watch the effect that he was able to give to his bowling balls. From the left, to the right, to the left, up and down. My compliments Deepak!

Please feel free to watch the photo impression of the afternoon session and the bowling evening.

www.flickr.com Andre le Fevre's Sales Meeting Day 1 29 01 2008 afternoon and bowling evening photoset

It's just after lunch and I am very pleased to share with you the first photo impression of our 2008 GlobalEnglish Sales Meeting. The photo's are taken at the morning sessions and at the lunch.

More will follow soon.

www.flickr.com Andre le Fevre's Sales Meeting 2008 Day 1 photoset

Last week we had our GlobalEnglish 2008 new hire training in Brisbane, CA. The first day of the training was Wednesday the 23rd of January 2008, and the last day was Friday the 25th of January.

All the participants stayed in the Radisson Hotel San Francisco Airport /Bay Front in Brisbane. This hotel is just across the street from the GlobalEnglish headquarters.

The training was a great success, but the weather was terrible. Wind and rain all the days, but that had no negative effect on the enthousiasme of all the participants. I have added a few photo’s taken during the training.

The training was more professional than ever before. My compliments to all the people that have put so many effort in organizing  this training and presenting at this training. I am proud on being a part of this great company with great people. I should say,competition: "Eat your hart out!"

www.flickr.com Andre le Fevre's New Hire 2008 photoset

Wow! I have seen this show of water, and music (no light because it was daytime). I have put a video movie on my blog. Watch it yourself. It's great!

I found the following text on the internet:

"A refreshing addition to your entertainment options, the Fountains of Bellagio were destined to romance your senses. Take in a complimentary Las Vegas show of water, music and light thoughtfully interwoven to mesmerize its admirers. All for your amusement, the most ambitious, choreographically complex water feature ever conceived amazes against the beautiful backdrop of Las Vegas' lavender sky. Each dynamic performance from the Fountains collection is unique in its expression and interpretation. Fall in love with the stunning nature of this unprecedented aquatic accomplishment while relishing a clever concert of opera, classical and Broadway tunes."

Please have a look at my movie. You will not regret.

The day before my arrival there has be a huge fire in the Monte Carlo Hotel in Las Vegas. It is a miracle that there was nobody injured. Only some people with breathing problems after inhaling smoke. I am so happy that I had not booked a room in that hotel but in the Mirage.

The fire has been filmed.