A look back at the 2026 alumni event: game on!

Every year, Fontys ICT brings together former students, lecturers and professionals at its annual alumni event. This time, it was fittingly held at Joto’s games café in Eindhoven. An evening full of new connections, shared experiences and inspiration. Those present came from a wide range of organisations and sectors, with one thing in common: a background in ICT and a shared curiosity about each other, games, generations and/or the future of work.

Well before six o’clock, the first alumnus had already arrived at the entrance to Joto’s. A queue soon formed, and from then on, there was no let-up at the registration desk for the alumni event. It was clear… you were all raring to go that day! Game on!

Armed with a coloured generation card (specially adapted for us in the colour of the Post-its by the keynote speakers!) and a stack of Post-its in hand, around 80 alumni took their seats for the first presentation of the evening. And you might have guessed from the Post-its… it turned out to be an interactive session!

Together, we watched and listened to the story of our very first alumnus, Henri van Kemenade, who graduated in 1975 from what was then still called IHBO, one of the forerunners of Fontys ICT.

The audience was asked to consider, from the perspective of their own generation, what had changed after all this time and what had remained the same. This yielded a number of interesting points:

For example, the generations following Henri have seen hardly any subjects taught in later years (and certainly not subjects like maths and economics!). The way marks are awarded has also changed: back then, they were still grades from 1 to 10, whereas now it is ‘sufficient’, ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’.

It also struck the younger generations in particular that the dropout rate used to be much lower than it is now (18 out of 19 students from Henri’s generation eventually made it to the finish line), whereas nowadays almost half drop out or switch to a different course in the first year alone…

Back then, Philips was of course a major player. And now… that’s ASML, naturally, but there are also a whole host of partners from all sorts of different sectors. Plenty of choice.

The Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964 and now mostly retired) noted that back then there were mainly subject teachers, whereas now there are more process coaches. In their view, it used to be more technical and now it’s more of a game.

On the other hand, times have of course changed radically: back then there were still punch cards, and now we live in a world with AI! And back then there was no ISSD either!

Yet many things have remained the same, even after 50 years...

For instance, Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) noted that education is actually still experimental and that there are still multiple locations with packed classrooms where you can sometimes hear the noise from another class.

Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) also still recognised the experimental nature and the multitude of locations, but also the social side of the subject and the (partly) classroom-based teaching.

It was striking that Henri actually wanted to create his own curriculum back then, even though that wasn’t really offered as part of a single degree programme. Compare that with today’s students, who can genuinely put together their own curriculum semester by semester!

Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) also spoke of multiple locations, experimentation and constant innovation within the curriculum.

If there is one thing that defines the DNA of Fontys ICT, it is certainly that!

In a room full of professionals from different generations and organisations, it’s easy to stick to your own perspective. Everyone has their own experiences, assumptions and expectations about what collaboration should look like. Those differences are valuable, but often remain unspoken. The question was: how do you turn an evening of introductions into an evening of genuine connection?

Vera Donkers, a Fontys alumna and founder of UNSNOOZED, shook our alumni awake with her interactive keynote and, together with her colleague Roos and the Generation Game. Using cards from the Generation Game, attendees stepped into the shoes of a different generation and struck up a conversation with someone they didn’t yet know. They asked each other: how do you view topics such as work-life balance and AI?

The energy in the room was palpable: there was laughter, recognition and probing questions. Participants went home with new connections and concrete insights. A number of attendees got in touch afterwards to continue the conversation within their own organisations.

Afterwards, there was still time to play this game or other board games together, have a drink and chat.

It became a lovely evening. We look back on it with great pleasure!

And oh yes… if you find generations an interesting theme… the 91st edition of Book Week runs from 11 to 22 March and is also about generations, with an emphasis on bridging the gap and connecting the generations. So plenty to read up on!