It all started in 1962, when Klaus was introduced to the magic of film, while completing national military service. On board the support bus of the Dutch Cinema Association, he travelled through the various countries were Dutch troops were stationed. After his time in the military, he was employed as a projectionist the Passage Theatre in The Hague, before being placed in charge of the distribution of films about life in the USA at the Film Department of the American Embassy. In 1961, Klaus and his wife Grew Padding decided to set up an independent film distribution organisation. They converted their living room into offices and a film library. The company that started as the American Film Library quickly started with the distribution of films for various parties. The company grew rapidly and soon changed its name to B.V. Inter/National Film Services, which better described their activities.
IFS soon became responsible for film distribution for national and international organisations, including several embassies. Various commercial organisations including the Australian Film Board, British Airways, the British Tourist Authority and the London Television Services became regular customers for the services provided by IFS. As new organisations emerged in the Netherlands, including the Netherlands Heart Foundation, the National Rheumatic Arthritis Fund and the Netherlands Sport Federation, they too were attracted by the knowledge and skills of IFS. Every day, IFS dispatched its 12 film projectionists to screen their productions throughout the country.
It was during this period that the eldest son Rob Padding joined the business, and was made responsible for quality control and repairs for the 16 mm film library. IFS expanded its product range from exclusively screening films to include audiovisual equipment rental, on the lecture circuit. Another service widely used by various businesses and organisations was the new specialist skill of film post-editing.
In 1977, the company moved to the Benoordenhoutseweg in The Hague, from where they continued to provide their services for 40 years. By this time, the company had established a thousand-title archive.
The family’s youngest son, Erik Padding, entered the business in this period. Following his national service, Erik took on the task of developing the film and video production activities of IFS. After completing training as a video editor, he became the film production specialist for IFS. His extensive camera and editing experience and his pursuit of perfection led an ever growing number of companies and organisations to submit requests and film orders to IFS.
The advent of video led to a shift from film to video distribution, and IFS continued to expand its range of audiovisual equipment rental and services.
In 1985 Erik’s wife Helga Padding-Cool joined the company and took charge of the administrative aspects of planning video distribution and the ever growing market for conference systems. Following the loss of Klaas Padding in 1989, Erik and Helga took charge of IFS, making them the second enthusiastic generation to run this family business.
Inter/National Film Services, rechristened IFS audiovisueel, became an all-round organisation.
By 2005, demand started to grow within the courts and from government institutions for simultaneous translation during conferences and legal hearings. To meet that demand, IFS purchased its first soundproof ISO-certified interpreting booths.
From these booths, interpreters can translate live into the required target languages, while the participants can listen to the proceedings in their native language. Eventually this led to a major expansion of the services provided by IFS, and over the years the range has continued to grow.
As staff numbers and the technical inventory grew, IFS decided it was time to move to a location that offered more storage space, finally making the break between home and work.
IFS moved from the Benoordenhoutseweg 230 in in The Hague to Nijverheidstraat 134 in in Rijswijk. At last this meant more space at home for Erik and Helga. Having members of the team tramp through the family home 7 days a week is not always ideal. But one thing remained important: to maintain the homely atmosphere. With that vision in mind, we moved into the custom-built premises in Harbor Village.
And our drive to continue our mission
In March 2020, the event and conference industry was struck by the first lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The diary at IFS was suddenly blank for a full 3 months; something none of us had foreseen.
However, IFS would not be IFS if we had not looked into ways of supporting our customers during the pandemic. Backed up by a temporary workforce, the permanent team at IFS worked to develop a new concept that today goes by the name of
online/hybrid meetings. During this period, innovations by Zoom, Teams and Webex followed thick and fast, by IFS planned to stand out from the crowd by offering professional and modular meetings that still kept everyone connected.
The first concept created by IFS was the Streamtheater, involving a studio built around an oval table at which the presenter and a limited number of guests could hold their online meeting, in a professional environment, with space for online interaction. The concept quickly proved highly successful and demand grew rapidly. IFS went several steps further, and evolved fully into a provider of online conferences and meetings, both local and international. The greatest challenge was finding enough equipment and engineers to meet the demand.
Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, conference halls are happily once again full of people, and traditional meetings have returned, but now with a modern touch that is more in line with today’s technology.
Online/hybrid meetings have led to a more efficient conference and event culture. CEOs no longer need to be flown in, and guest speakers can deliver their presentations from home or their office, to full audiences. A far more efficient use of time and less need for travel. Far greener, all-round.