08 Oct ESTIEM Interview – Being a president of an international organization – Luis Viudez
Authors: Isidora Strugar & Luiš Viudez
In this edition of “ESTIEM Interview”, our local group has an honor to read the brilliant answers from president of the 31st Board of ESTIEM – Luis Viudez Teixeira de Vasconcelos.
On the 60th Council Meeting he was elected as a president of the 31st Board of ESTIEM. Previously he was a Regional Coordinator of the South-West Region.
As there is lot of interesting things and fun facts about this man, we decided to have this interview with him and share what we have found out with you. So, here are just a few of them:
- He was born and raised in Lisbon, where he started his bachelor studies as well. But, already on the first year, he moved to Seville;
- If you didn’t guess already, he is a member of both LGs, Lisbon and Seville;
- As he claims, his blood is in the colors of the South-West region, as he is having 2 official and 1 unofficial nationality (Portuguese, Spanish and Italian);
- The last one, but definitely not the least is that our dear president loves kafana a lot since his last two visits to Belgrade. Since then, he is listening to the kafana music very often.
Now, let’s hear what else he has shared with us.
How did you get the idea and desire to apply for a president? What do you think about that high position in ESTIEM?
The best thing about ESTIEM is that you always feel the need to aim higher. In my specific case, having good friends last year in the Board served as motivation to give my best and asking myself how it would be to dedicate a whole year exclusively to the network. It is indeed a high position, but most of all a high number of hours working. Fortunately with the best team I have ever had and the spirit of a newbie after his first event.
After nearly two months, how does it feel to work in the new central board with new members? What do you think about your team? And, how do you manage to balance between the obligations you have and the organization?
Two intense months but as I mentioned before, I could not have asked for better. I feel lucky for the co-boardies I have and for all the leadership layer coincident with our year. About my Board, probably this is not the finest year to live this experience but together we are giving everything we have and taking the best out of this experience.
Regarding organization, it is hard to tell. My position is the one with more spread responsibilities and since I spend many hours online, sometimes it is difficult to keep track. I use Google Calendar, Elium, Gantt charts that I made to myself and Slack to try to give my top performance every day.
What impression LG Belgrade and its members left on you, especially since now one of your co-boardies is our LG’s member?
LG Belgrade has a special spot in my heart since I made many friends during these last four years. Trajko is a great friend and a genius. I met him last year since we were both from the same generation of Regional Coordinators and I am glad that we could take this step together for such an important year. Could not think of a better person to represent such an amazing Local Group.
Speaking about LG Belgrade, I heard that you have been participant in a couple of projects. How was your experience in Belgrade? Would you like to come again and relive some memories?
I had the chance to visit Belgrade twice in a semester. First for RC Forum and after for College. It was without a doubt one of the places where I felt more connected to the people and where I truly felt a sense of hospitality. I know our paths will cross once more and cannot wait to meet everyone again.
Have you and your board already made some long-term plans for ESTIEM, taking in consideration the current situation? If we may ask, what are some of them and where do you see organization going in the future?
I guess the answer for this question is still under development. We already started working on concrete points for the future and we have a defined vision for what we want to achieve and where do we want ESTIEM to be. Because of the Covid-19 crisis we are also going to give a special focus on our members in order to avoid as many negative consequences as possible.
Last but not the least, would you like to reveal for us what does the Board 20/21 want to leave behind as a heritage for the next generations of ESTIEM?
I would say that in the middle of a complicated year, in which we lost many of the events that were about to happen and we still don’t know with certainty how we are going to proceed, we need to protect our most valuable treasure: the ESTIEM Spirit. This is what makes us different from the rest of associations. Our songs, our traditions, our interculturality, our work hard and play harder. This is what we need to keep fellow readers. It is not only in Board’s hands to achieve it, but also in yours.
We hope that you liked this new interview and also, we would like to thank Luis for these incredible answers! The message he sent to you, our readers, is astonishing and we all can learn something new from it.
See you next time with another interview!