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Sandy Claes
Doctoral Researcher at KU Leuven
Professional Background
Sandy Claes is a dedicated professional making significant contributions in the field of audiovisual arts and architecture. With a robust academic background and hands-on experience in various roles, Sandy is currently pursuing their PhD candidacy at the Department of Architecture at KU Leuven. This prestigious position allows Sandy to blend their creative insights with innovative research methodologies, aiming to push the boundaries of contemporary architecture and its intersection with media.
Before embarking on their doctoral journey, Sandy garnered valuable experience as a Media Artist in an independent capacity, showcasing an ability to express ideas and narratives through visual storytelling. This role not only enhanced their creativity but also sharpened their technical skills in media production. Sandy's artistic pursuits further extended into academia, where they served as a Lecturer and Researcher at the MAD Faculty. Here, Sandy was instrumental in nurturing the next generation of designers and artists, fostering a collaborative environment that encouraged experimentation and critical thinking.
In addition to their teaching career, Sandy has a rich background in motion design. They worked as a Motion Designer at Dandy, where their innovative ideas and design prowess contributed to a variety of projects that blended visual art with communication. Their tenure as a Motion Designer and Video Director at Limel, formerly known as AVNet, at KU Leuven allowed them to further refine their skills in directing multimedia projects, culminating in a portfolio that speaks volumes about their versatility and expertise in the field.
Education and Achievements
Sandy's educational journey is marked by a focus on mastering the intricate dynamics of audiovisual arts and animation. While specifics on their master's program were not detailed, the influence of their training is evident in their professional endeavors. Their academic background underpins their artistic vision, allowing them to navigate complex topics within both architecture and media, making them uniquely positioned to contribute to interdisciplinary projects.
As a PhD candidate, Sandy delves deep into research topics that are essential to understanding contemporary architectural practices. Their experience in the field of audiovisual arts equips them with a unique perspective, melding artistic creativity with scientific inquiry, which is often reflected in their academic publications and contributions to conferences.
Achievements
Sandy Claes has successfully woven a rich tapestry of experiences that underscore their skill set in both the arts and academia. Through their various roles, they have accumulated a plethora of skills, including advanced motion design, visual storytelling, and academic research capabilities. Not only have they contributed to innovative projects, but they have also engaged in outreach efforts to elevate the discourse around multimedia practices in architecture.
Through their various positions, Sandy has exhibited a commitment to education and mentorship, continually inspiring students and peers alike to explore new avenues in design and media arts. Their work as a Media Artist and Motion Designer has not only enriched their own artistic language but has also contributed to the broader understanding of how multimedia can play a crucial role in architectural storytelling. As they progress in their career, it is clear that Sandy Claes is poised to make significant contributions to both the fields of architecture and media arts, leaving a lasting impact on the academic community and beyond.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
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