John A.M. Sandiford to be Master of Ceremonies at SMILE 2019

SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) - Digital & Creative Entrepreneur, John A.M. Sandiford will be the Master of Ceremonies of this year’s SMILE event on October 25th and 26th. In addition to his opening speech and moderation, he will inform the public on an application devised by his company Antonio Media for the island of Statia and the Sint Eustatius Foundation (SEF) with support of the European Union.

Sandiford was the moderator of SMILE’s first edition in 2018. The organizers of the 2nd edition is elated to have him on board once again as face and advocate of the event. Since its inception, Sandiford has supported SMILE’s three main themes of innovation, sustainability and networking to enhance the Sint Maarten and regional economy: "Out of adversity often times comes opportunity, and as an innovative mind I hope SMILE is here to stay as a business card of the vibrant Sint Maarten and Caribbean people!”. 

Sandiford, a well-known Sint Maarten music artist in the early 2000’s, founded the design & technology company Antonio Media B.V. after his studies in 2010. Under his current clients is one of the most important Dutch IT multinationals, ASML, amongst many others.

Regardless of his multinational clients, his heart remains with his Caribbean roots. John began sharing his knowledge, experience and vision gained in Europe to help develop the Caribbean Entrepreneurial eco-system. Primarily through the EU funded programme COSME, where he has trained & guided over 100+ entrepreneurs, civil servants, non-profits and more from 10 OCTA islands on the principles of developing Co-working & Business Incubation environments and Online Presence Strategies. He aims to continue investing in this community by developing a digital platform which connects, informs and educates the Caribbean entrepreneur in an ever-changing global market.

In addition to his professional career, in the wake of hurricane Irma, Sandiford and other Sint Maarteners in the Netherlands founded the NGO; RebuildSXM, bringing close to $100,000 USD worth of needed supplies to the island. Notably the donation of over 5000 school & sporting materials & equipments to18 schools and 8 sporting organisations.

The group also donated over 2000+ school uniforms to over 400 kids most in need.

Sandiford successfully won a EU tender to design and develop the Sint Eustatius Foundation’s mobile fishing app; “StaBlu”. This app allows for precise coordination of offer and demand of the fishing industries. In addition to securing fresh fish for the consumer instantly, the app aims to reduce overfishing and hence assist in a more sustainable fish supply for the region. 

At SMILE, Sandiford will elaborate on his development of StaBlu during a workshop.
After his contribution, Hasani Ellis of the Sint Maarten Ministry of General Affairs will explore with the audience how the StaBlu framework could be of use for country Sint Maarten's economy.

The full schedule of SMILE can be found at shta.com/SMILE. Display and promotional tables have been sold out, but walkaround tickets are still available for the event starting upcoming Friday. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the SHTA offices at WJ Nisbeth Road 33A, or by taking up contact with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For visitors, an App can be downloaded with speaker, schedule and participant information.