What’s up?

Like most of us, I cannot believe 2026 is already here. The 6 marks a special year for me, I guess, even though age is but a number, it still hits you somehow. I leave it up to you to count the decades you attribute to me.

What have I been up to? Let’s not go there too much. In short, 2025 crossed off at least one of the items on my bucket list: I promoted Phantom of the Opera in Antwerp. One month and just about 50.000 tickets sold. It was a great experience to be a small part of musical history once more. There were also two big top runs of Cirque du Soleil’s classic Alegría and a completely new project built from the ground up, honoring the music of Joe Hisaishi. So I kept myself more than busy.

In 2025 I will do less projects (I promise, really) and finally get my Mad Marketing book published. It has been in the making for over 10 years and last year I decided to not just write about entertainment marketing but add a specific dimension that sheds a light on the importance of treating people with respect. Respect is actually the last value in the original Mad Marketing presentation. I stress the importance of treating every contact with respect: clients, suppliers and yourself. The second part of the book will focus on Steve Job’s vision of “Connecting the dots”. I have connected some of the dots backwards from people I still work with today and some of the trajectories are really kind of spectacular.

And yes, the projects are still happening. The dots continue to connect forward. There will be more Cirque du Soleil, more ballet (bringing back Alvin Ailey to Belgium after way too long), more flamenco, more music and more exhibitions. If you want to delve into that, check the list below.

Meanwhile, I hope to connect with some of you in person this year. That sounds like a good goal to have. Feel free to reach out anytime in you are in Belgium or abouts.

Have a great year!

Peter.

Last update: 5 January 2026
Photo below by Brenna Marrie - DTS