The ArenA through the eyes of a Servicedesk employee: Boaz

The first faces people see in the Johan Cruijff ArenA are often the faces of our employees at the Servicedesk. Amongst this team is Boaz, who started here in 2018 as a flexworker while he was finishing up his Business Studies. After this he became a fulltime employee at the Servicedesk. “It was perfect as a parttime job. You're involved with almost all big events. You're a part of everything, but it's still doable next to your studies as a flexworker.”

Contact point

The work of a Servicedesk employee consists of a lot, Boaz explains. “You're always focusing on the customer. At the servicedesk it's with the internal customer, the Johan Cruijff ArenA, Ajax and event organisors, and at the hospitality desk with the external customer, the visitors of the stadium.” This way he is a contact point for both the employees of the stadium as the visitors of the stadium. Subjects like complaints, preferences and information requests all go to the Servicedesk, who on their turn make sure the right departments or partners, like CSU or BAM, get the information. “When something's broken, we'll make sure it gets fixed. When people don't know something, we'll make sure they know. We're a source of information."

On the other side, Boaz is working with the visitors of the stadium. He answers e-mails from visitors and help them with practical information about events and matches. “On weekdays more time goes into taking care of the tour visitors. And on match days we're the first point of help for the visitors. We make sure everyone can go inside, as long as they're allowed to go inside.”

Busy

During matches and events the Servicedesk is often busier with tasks, since more employees are walking around in the stadium and more things will get noticed. “We solve all of these reports at the same time. There's always someone going to the problem immediately.” explains Boaz. A part of these reports get made by the stewards that are working in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Boaz gets in contact with everyone and everything that is related to the stadium. ”You're really deep within the operation. You get to see everything from closeby. Whether it's before or afer the match or concert, you kind of see everything, even though it's a facility function.”

Euphoric moment

Boaz has a lot of personal contact with the visitors of the Johan Cruijff ArenA, and has been able to tell people good news. ”People lose loads of things at matches. During the European Championship I've had true quests through the stadium to find lost items of visitors. These items usually were on a tight deadline to find, since the visitors had travelled here from outside of the Netherlands. This also happened after the match of Wales - Denmark, where Denmark won with big numbers. The Danish visitors went home in their party mood, but rather quick we got an e-mail that a Danish supporter had lost her phone. After walking everything she told me she went in the stadium and not having found her phone, it's really disappointing to have to e-mail her back with a disappointing message, but at the last moment I had another idea where it could be. The bathroom, because almost everyone has to go there at least once during the match. And wouldn't you know it, her brand new phone was laying on the trashcan. That was a pretty euphoic moment to be able to tell a supporter such good news.”

Chaotic

During his work hours, Boaz ends up in lots of different situations. ”The work is chaotic. And that's what makes it so fun. It's not finished on Friday. Your workhours are different every week.” There's no lack of variety during the job according to Boaz. “You can't get stuck in a pattern. Every week is different and will bring something new.”

A movie

An evening that will always stay with Boaz is the semi final of Ajax in the Champions League in 2019. “This evening had everything, everything that a movie should have. The tension before the match. I'd never seen so many happy people before. And then it turns around.” After a headstart of 2-0 by Ajax, the match ended with 2-3 in the last minute. “It's an evening you don't want to be reminded of, but it did had everything.”

Coming home

Even though Boaz comes into contact with a lot of people during his job, he knows his coworkers well. “What I love about the work is that the ArenA has a familiar feeling. It's small, you know everyone, you know what everyone is doing and working on. The team feels really warm. It always feels a little like coming home.” Boaz and his team work a lot with the employees of the departments of Crowd, Tours and Events. “And Facility, of course.” Together with a number of his coworkers, Boaz gets to play a football match in the stadium himself. “There's no audience, obviously, but it's still super fun.”

Join the team

Working at the Johan Cruijff ArenA has been a wonderful experience for Boaz for years. Did you get excited and do you want to join his team? Click here to see our job vacancy for Servicedesk Employee.