Recordings of the 2025 East meets West Conference, June 13th, Vienna (Austria)

ARE THE HONEYMOON YEARS OVER?

All Conference recordings are available on our East meets West YouTube Channel or in form of a podcasts on Spotify.

2025 Conference Agenda in PDF
PHOTO Collection

Official Opening and Message from the Co-founders

Pavel and Ludo are welcoming, also on behalf of all our supporting partners and official representatives, all participants to their 10th International East meets West Conference, explaining the main theme of this Conference: “Are the honeymoon years over?’ and if yes where do we go from now?

Our key supporting partners welcome the participants in their exclusive location in the centre of Vienna where we can enjoy a unique panoramic view on the Imperial city.

  • Liane Hirner, CFO at Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), Austria 

  • Valerie Brugger, Head of Marketing, Innovation & Digital Sales at WIENER STÄDTISCHE Versicherung AG, Austria

  • Wittich Mahlknecht, Chairman LGBTIQ+ Employee Resource Group „all colours“, Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), Austria 

The Look and the Look... this time “revisited”: The status of the LGBTIQ Communities in the CEE region and together looking for fitting answers

Instead of Ludo's classic "The Look from the East and the Look from the West" we break here this traditional approach, and we focus on people representing key areas that are under high pressure from a violent and loud anti-LGBTIQ opposition. As the panel members all live in, or have strong ties with the discussed locations, they will offer you an objective view on the situation in their country. This will allow you to discover the best possible strategies to deal with the new reality.

  • Eszter Polgári, Legal Program Director at Háttér Society, Hungary

  • Denis Oleinik, Executive Director at ComingOut, Russia

  • Jan Krč, Former Counselor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Vienna, USA

  • Moderated by: Ludo A.F. Swinnen, Co-founder East meets West, Belgium

KEYNOTE: Taking Our Destiny in Our Own Hands

When we undergo important changes in our existing working environment, we might get ‘lost in space’. In that case it is very inspiring to listen to people who can explain the more underlying strategic issues of these social changes. East meets West is happy and proud to have on the Conference a famous, internationally recognised authority on the LGBTIQ topics in business and society... and someone who actively writes for eg. Financial Times Deutschland.

Jens’ SLIDES

Jens Schadendorf, Economist, LGBTQ Researcher and Bestselling-Author, Germany

Corporates, showing their true colors without airs and graces or any pretense

Until recently many corporates have been major supporters of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, not in the least in the funding of civil society groups world wide. Internally, they included these DEI values in the DNA of their companies. The recent US legislation and legal decisions have forced them to re-evaluate these policies. Some just dropped their DEI values, others reaffirmed their DEI beliefs and developed new activities that they consider to allow them to continue their support. We will focus on these corporate players and how they have reacted to the new situation. You will hear from corporate insiders how these key players have not forsaken their existing DEI focus and try to continue to keep playing their major role. 

Advocacies, showing their ability to adjust their work to handle new and unexpected challenges

We have in our region of Central & Eastern Europe a large number of civil society groups that have been the motor of the continuous improvements we have seen in the last decades for the local LGBTIQ communities. But these groups are now faced with a question: will they be able to continue their work facing huge challenges. We have invited 4 professionals that will discuss with you possible answers to such pressing questions. It will inspire all of you to overcome the challenges you are confronted with in your daily work. 

Entrepreneurship, finally recognising their unexploited potential

The major part of the economical business activity in Europe is the daily work of millions of smaller businesses, often not in the spotlight but key to our economical welfare. We have too long tried, often with limited success, to engage this major economical power to push the DEI values. Now the time has come to turn these motivated people to become a group of inspirational and impactful role models. We look on ways we can use this unexploited business power and turn the present negative wave into a commercial success. Also here its essential to cooperate within their sector and join forces to become a real economical power that will continue to support the LGBTIQ community.