2023 Conference

PAVING A NEW WAY

16th June 2023, 10:00 - 18:00

The UNIQA Tower,  Untere Donaustrasse 21, Vienna, Austria

In-person and ONLINE

 
 

The Theme

In the 10 years of our existence, East meets West witnessed a lot of gradual changes in the European LGBTIQ environment, especially in the CEE region, our focus sphere. Was there in the beginning a strong political influence of the ‘EU Way of life’, put down in anti-discrimination legislation that insured a safe living environment for minorities such as the LGBTIQ community, this came to a halt. Incompetence and especially foolhardiness poisoned this positive evolution. It slowed down the started innovations such as the marriage for all. But what saddened us most is that initially nameless groups of homophobic bigots became louder and more aggressive, supported by opportunistic politicians and extremist religious groups. How do we react to such negative evolution? The strategies we follow will have less or even no impact anymore when confronted with ruffians who use physical force to shut us up.

For East meets West the time is right for a ‘constructive postponement’ as we think that the hazards of a mere continuation of our work far outweigh the risk of a short delay in our actions. The French have a saying for such tactical move – Reculer Pour Mieux Sauter – which means in a contemporary way, to take a breather, reflect on a new strategy and come back more powerful and tactically better equipped in the new environment, to continue successfully the next phase in ensuring a safe life for each member of our very diverse LGBTIQ community. Such new tools and approaches exist and will be shared on the Conference. We will also give ample space to the many successes our community achieved in the midst of a negative general atmosphere.

East meets West wants in the 10th year of existence tackle in its International Conference, together with its wide community of partners, the challenging question of what is the best way to go forward with our LGBTIQ community.

 

The Program

The East meets West Conference does not only reach out to the many NGO’s and business professionals we work with, but we offer a balanced program of key speeches, active panel discussions, specialists interventions and master type classes to everybody who is interested in the well being and strengthening of the LGBTIQ community.

MORNING PROGRAM

9:30 - 10:00

Getting in the Conference Mood and Early Networking Time

If you are present in person on June 16th, you can enjoy your morning coffee, appreciate the panoramic view of the city from the Conference auditorium and of course network with the other participants. If you plan to join us online, you get your laptop, tablet or smartphone on stand-by and find a comfortable place to sit.

Message of the Co-Founders

Pavel and Ludo welcome all participants to their 9th International East meets West Conference and introduce in their unparalleled way the theme of the Conference: “Paving a New Way” together with looking back at their 10th year of existence.

  • Pavel Subrt and Ludo Swinnen, Co-founders of East meets West, Austria

Official Opening

Welcoming the participants of the 9th International East meets West Conference.

  • Rene Knapp, Member of the Management Board, UNIQA Insurance Group AG, Austria

10:15 - 11:15

We Break with a Tradition and Look for New Ways

Instead of Ludo's classic "The Look from the East and the Look from the West" we break here the traditional ‘Look’ on our regions and we turn this into making a deeper dive in our basic premise that the LGBTIQ communities are increasingly under pressure from a violent and loud anti-LGBTIQ opposition. Jointly we try to find the best possible strategies to deal with this new thread to our communities.

  • Magda Stega, Impact Driven Transgender Advocate, Poland

  • Javier Leonor, Global Pride Lead at Accenture, Netherlands

  • Denis Oleinik, Community Services Manager at LGBTQ+ Group ComingOUT, Russia

  • Razvan Ion, CEO at DerAffe.io the publisher of GAY45.eu, Austria

  • Moderated by Ludo A.F. Swinnen, Co-founder of East meets West, Austria

11:45 - 12:30

An East meets West Reality Check on Austria   

This year, East meets West is back in its home-country, Austria where it all started. Also here we have seen changes as Vienna is the traditional key link between East & West. Its interesting to see how our guest country deals with their LGBTIQ community. East meets West is happy to give the leading local LGBTIQ organisations the opportunity to offer you a unique reality check on the LGBTIQ status in their country, the existing situation and their big hopes for the future.

  • Martina Bednar, Pride@SAP Lead Austria & Slovakia, Austria

  • Conny Felice, CEO at HOSI Salzburg, Austria

  • Markus Kuhn, Co-lead of Diplomats for Equality, Austria / Switzerland

  • Moderated by Pavel Subrt, Co-founder of East meets West, Austria

13:30 - 14:00

Cross-country Projects: Re-using Instead of Starting from Scratch

We are happy and proud to bring on the East meets West stage a great example of an initiative, which started small but is on the right path to grow into a pan-European project. This is a touching testimonial, that bright ideas around us exist and that with the right support, their value and benefits can go exponential. We consider this initiative as one of the possible ‘new ways’ to retort in a powerful way to the growing negative social attitude towards our communities.

  • Eleonora Barcziova, People & Culture Manager at Milk, Slovakia

14:00 - 15:00

Corporates going beyond their borders

Our session on "Corporates going beyond their borders" will focus on how businesses can help to pave a new way with just a bit of additional effort. How to go beyond the "safe" geographies of corporate head offices and be a strong ally across our CEE region? Which new activities can create an economical value for LGBTIQ community, incl. LGBTIQ business owners? We are sure this will be a real eye-opener for all people concerned!

  • Andrea Fimian, Founder & CEO at fips consulting, Switzerland

  • Dominic Arnall, CEO at Open for Business, United Kingdom

  • Pawel Dygas, Member of the Management Board, UNIQA Polska, Poland

  • Stuart Bruce Cameron, Founder & CEO of UHLALA Group, Germany

  • Moderated by Tina Lickova, Senior digital researcher and product strategist, Austria

15:30 - 16:30

Low Hanging Fruits for entrepreneurship: Tourism

East meets West considers tourism, more than ever, a real unclaimed business goldmine, a real opportunity for not only LGBTIQ entrepreneurs. To emphasize this, we go a step further and show the possible entrances to these new endeavours in CEE region even with a deeper look - we focus on low-hanging fruits. Indeed, tourism offers great opportunities - it creates jobs, strengthens the local economy, contributes to local infrastructure development and can help to conserve the natural environment and important cultural assets and traditions, and reduce inequality and even more important, it allows the LGBTIQ community to take its rightful place in society.

  • Thomas Bömkes, Managing Director at Diversity Tourism, Germany

  • Giuseppe Giulio, Account Executive at Gay.it, Italy

  • Zsolt Jordi Erdei, Founder & CEO at Humen Media Group, Hungary

  • Moderated by Sandra Santoro, Founder & Creative Director at gettingmarriedinitaly ®, Italy

16:30 onwards

The East meets West Awards, Closing Words and Celebration!

What started a few years ago as a new topic on our conferences, the East meets West Awards, have become much coveted signs of appreciation for the work the winners do for the LGBTIQ community. We from East meets West meet people, NGO’s and businesses that are just very good in what they do for our community. We honour here for the 4th time the 3 award categories and give the winners a pat on the shoulder, an encouragement together with an original East meets West 2023 Award Trophy.

And of course, we end our 2023 Conference with a celebration. Join us!

  • Moderated by Laco Hudec-Subrt, Founder and CEO at STUDIO45 Vienna, Austria

 

The Registration

Registration is required to attend the 2023 International East meets West Conference in Vienna. But we made it again very easy. By clicking (or tapping) on the magic REGISTER NOW button below you select the way you want to participate - either in person in Vienna or ONLINE. As we are not insensitive to the effect of the ongoing geopolitical challenges on everyone's work, we are happy to offer all of you, the participation to the 2023 Conference again for free!

East meets West understands that sometimes the in-person participation of NGOs or as an individual might need an extra support. Contact us under events@eastmeetswest.eu to find out more about our NGO support program.

As we are this year in Austria and we leave you the possibility to support the crucial work of Austrian leading NGOs financially.

 

The Venue 

We are excited to share with you the venue of our 2023 International East meets West Conference - downtown Vienna, the UNIQA Tower (Untere Donaustrasse 21, 1029 Vienna).

East meets West is fortunate to join forces with UNIQA Insurance Group, one of the largest insurance groups in its core markets of Austria and Central and Eastern Europe! The UNIQA Tower in downtown Vienna has long been more than corporate headquarters. It regularly becomes the shining symbol of social topics. 

Located at the Danube canal and first opened in 2005, the UNIQA Tower was the first new office building in Austria to be awarded the EU Green Building label. The facade of the Tower always offers a surprise, just wait for the sunset to come! The UNIQA Tower is also a radiant ambassador of values. René Knapp, Member of the Board, on the motivation behind the project: "We are convinced that you have to show your composure, especially in times of great challenges and uncertainties. The value tower should be a shining symbol of our corporate culture and remind the people of Vienna night after night how important it is to work together for an open society and tolerance."

 

In Austria, from Austria  

We are back this year in Austria, our home country. As you are used from us in our previous CEE events, we will feature again an LGBTIQ reality check and bring you an updated and more correct picture of the daily LGBTIQ reality in Austria. In 2023 we will of course keep our high professional standard and focus on delivering real value to both our audiences, those in-person and those joining online. We will make streaming available to audiences across the whole world. We nevertheless recommend you join us in person in a real space for people to meet again.

By hosting our conference in Austria, and streaming the event to the whole world, we want to give a special attention to the Austrian LGBTIQ situation. By doing so, we also aim to create business opportunities for local LGBTIQ owned and operated businesses.

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Why to Join us in Vienna  

Vienna, the capital of Austria, offers a blend of imperial traditions, music, and endearing charm. A city that inspires with the old and the new alike, and always has a cosy place available in a coffee house or wine tavern. Vienna also has an active LGBTIQ community and is considered Austria's queer capital. Vienna is also a popular destination for international LGBTIQ travelers from around the world.

Queer Vienna City Walks

  • On the occasion of 2023 Vienna Pride, the guides from QWIEN, The Center for Queer History will lead you through queer Vienna on a different route every day from June 1st  to 16th. How much do you know about the queer history of Vienna? Its personalities, their fates, living conditions and how they paved the way for our community today? Tours include insights on State Opera and the fate of two inseparable friends, a prominent Colonel who made a career in the military of the Danube Monarch, the pink sheep of the Habsburgs and much more. See tours & book under: Queer City Walks 2023.

The 2023 Vienna Pride March (Regenbogenparade)

  • Vienna Pride 2023 will take place from 1st to 18th June. The highlight is the Pride Parade on 17th June, where more than 250,000 people are expected to celebrate and together. Another highlight will be the Pride Run Vienna on 3rd of June, when hundreds of participants will once again set an example for acceptance, running and in wheelchairs. These events will again be accompanied by numerous other events that will take place both virtually and on site. More info.

 

Our Supporting Partners  

Organising the 9th International East meets West Conference in Vienna would not be possible without the kind support of the following partners: