Ode celebrates its 100th Dutch issue!

On September 25, 2007, Ode celebrated its 100th Dutch edition with a party in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Since Ode’s inception in 1995, the magazine has spread worldwide. Ode editors comment on the event…

Posted by James Geary
Editor-At-Large, London

September 25 was the day on which Ode celebrated its 100th issue. It was a very happy anniversary for me, since Sept. 25 is also my wedding anniversary and I was involved in a very small way with the very first issue of Ode.

The first issue appeared some 12 years ago, when I was living and working as a journalist in the Netherlands. I knew Jurriaan and Helene, Ode's founders, through my wife. When the first issue of Ode came out, they wanted to make an English-language version as well (They were already hatching plans for worldwide Ode domination even then...) So I did some advising and translating ... and then Ode and I went our separate ways until the 95th or 96th issue, when I very happily again became involved with the magazine.

The best part of the celebration for me was the short story read by Freek de Jonge, one of the Netherlands best cabaret performers. Dutch cabaret is a mix of storytelling, stand-up comedy, and sermonizing. Freek de Jonge is a hybrid of Rod Serling, Steve Martin and Lenny Bruce. He read a poignant and funny story about a scythe, a dead kitten, a bonfire, a thunderstorm and his summerhouse in France. The tale is impossible to summarize but, as usual, Freek managed to ponder the mystery and the tragedy of life but to do it in a way that left you smiling. Hopefully, a translation of the story will appear in a future issue of Ode.

Seeing Ode at the very beginning, then seeing it only sporadically for about a decade, and then seeing it close up again now: for me, it's kind of like having a cousin or friend with whom you are very close but only see periodically. The connection is strong, but you're always astonished at how much your cousin or friend has grown in the intervening period! Ode has grown a lot in the past 12 years, and still has lots more growth to come. Happy Birthday Ode!

Posted by Marco Visscher
Managing Editor

Except for being a perfect excuse for a party, the publication of the hundredth Dutch edition of Ode was also a great opportunity to look back upon how Ode and the world have changed since we started, in 1995, to bring a new voice to the world of media.

Two things jump out:

Ode has become a well-known brand in the Netherlands. When I started working for Ode 1999 I had a lot to explain. Ode was not a household name then, and most of my family and friends had never heard of it. Without big marketing budgets, however, we've been able to spread our word and make Ode into a sustainable publication, with a circulation that's higher than some of the even more well-known weeklies in the Netherlands.
More interestingly, a lot of the concpets we've been writing about -- then, raising eyebrows in the more conventional circles -- have become mainstream. Sustainable business, microcredit, organic food, eco fasion, the fight against climate change: All have found, or are finding, their way to a more established audience that now seems to applaud these ideas as if they have always done just that. This also means we're even more encouraged to find the new frontiers that are considered now to be outrageous, but that might become normal in hundred issues from now.