TTVNews celebrates its first 20 years, inviting friends and industry colleagues to share their personal experiences over the past two decades. Jimmy van der Heyden, Sales Manager at CDC United Network, answers “where were you 20 years ago?”

This 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of TTVNews, a big reason to celebrate for the group, which is consolidating itself as one of the go-to media platforms in the audiovisual industry in Latin America.

To mark the occasion, we’ve invited friends and colleagues to share their experiences, challenges, and lessons learned over the last twenty years in this industry.

This time, Jimmy van der Heyden, Sales Manager at CDC United Network, answers, “Where were you 20 years ago?”

Where were you 20 years ago?

Twenty years ago, in 2004, I discovered Latin America because I was living in Colombia, where I had a phenomenal year learning about Latin American culture and the Spanish language. It is precisely that experience that brought me to this nice market. When I came back to Belgium, I started looking for a job and got a position at CDC, which is the job I have today. All thanks to that experience in Colombia.

What was your first industry event?

My first international market was a Natpe a few months after joining CDC, so it was in January 2005. At that time, it still took place in Las Vegas, which is a nice memory, no doubt.