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SPEAKERS & WORKSHOP LEADERS

Catherine Day

Catherine Day is the current Secretary-General of the European Commission.


In this position, which she has held since 2005, she is responsible to the
President of the European Commission and is in charge of the various
Directorates-General, headed by Director Generals. The Secretariat-General
of the Commission ensures the overall coherence of the Commission’s work –
both in shaping new policies, and in steering them through the other EU
Institutions.
She has an M.A. in International Trade and Economic Integration from
University College Dublin and went on to be the loan officer at the
Investment Bank of Ireland in 1974. In 1975 she became EC Information
Officer at the Confederation of Irish Industry and joined the European
Commission in 1979, becoming an Administrator in Directorate-General III. Later, she served in the
Cabinets of Commissioners Richard Burke, Peter Sutherland and Leon Brittan. She subsequently
served in the Directorate-Generals of Enlargement and External Relations before becoming Director
General for the Environment.

Ms. Day will open the Conference by focusing on the bigger European picture. How have the
financial and economic crises impacted Europe and its economy and what are the Commission’s
views on the future?

Wouter De Ploey

Wouter De Ploey is a senior partner in the Business Technology


Office of McKinsey & Company. Since joining the firm in 1992 he
has focused primarily on financial services. He serves banks,
insurance companies and service providers on strategic,
organizational and operational issues. He currently leads the
European Payments working group of the European Banking &
Securities practice and serves on the editorial board of ‘McKinsey
on Payments’. Within McKinsey, Wouter is also Global Learning
Leader for Business Technology, in charge of all technology related training across the firm (close to
100 training events). Wouter De Ploey holds a BA in Economics and in Philosophy from the
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and a MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan (Ann
Arbor). Prior to joining the firm he did internships at the World Bank, GATT (now WTO), Generale
Bank and Paribas Bank. He is a fellow of the Belgian-American Educational Foundation and was a
Researcher for the National Fund for Scientific Research (NFWO).

Wouter will speak about how companies react to crises, what they are doing to counter challenging
situations, which techniques they use, etc. Lean Management being one of the techniques currently
‘en vogue’, he has decided to go into more detail and explain what it really means.

Ignace Van Doorselaere

Ignace Van Doorselaere has been CEO of Van de Velde since 2007, a
stock-listed (Euronext Brussels) company, and one of the main European
companies in premium lingerie brands (Marie Jo, PrimaDonna and Andres
Sarda). He graduated as a conference interpreter (English, Spanish) in
1983 and decided to complete his education with an MBA, majoring in
entrepreneurial management and finance, which he completed at the
University of Pennsylvania in 1989. After a few marketing positions at 3M
and Puratos, he engaged in more strategic functions at The Boston
Consulting Group and Interbrew, where he was consecutively in charge of
mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy. After 3 years as a
member of the Executive Committee of Interbrew Western Europe, Ignace created his own
company: Growth Ethics, recently renamed 4F (flexible, focus, fair, fight). 4F stands for a
philosophy in entrepreneurship and management that focuses on growth through respect for people.

A quote: How can we create a society that wants to win and keep winning in a sustainable and fair
manner? How can we ensure that the notion ‘winning spirit’ becomes part of our genetics? ‘Winning
spirit with content’, based on quality, value creation, eagerness, values and principles. What are
the mechanisms that we need to boost in our society today in order to reach and anchor these goals
in the long run? Despite the crisis, Van de Velde is performing extremely well. What is the secret
behind this success?

Frieda Van Wijck

Frieda Van Wijck is a well known Belgian journalist and


broadcaster. A few years ago she worked as an editor for news
and current affairs programmes. More recently, she decided to
work as a presenter for programmes with a more cultural theme.
Typical van Wijck features are pertinent questions and dry
humour. Frieda will lead the debate at the end of the morning
between management assistants on the changes they have been
facing over the past two years.

Wouter Goris

Wouter Goris has a master’s degree in psychology and is an expert


in motivational psychology. He has broad experience in
developing and giving customized training on diverse topics, such
as mental health, stress management, and (business) relationship
improvement.

Develop a business relationship with your manager

In times of crises, a management assistant can play an important


role. During this workshop you will learn how to adapt to changes and how to use your newly
acquired skills to influence others by building and improving relationships.

Wouter Goris will present a mix of theoretical models and practical approaches which he uses in his
private practice. The central issue in this workshop will be a new motivational coaching style based
upon the Ferrari of motivational psychology: ‘the Self Determination Theory’. This coaching style is
called ‘Need Supportive Coaching’ and you will learn how to improve your own performance (asking
for feedback, staying solution focused, being assertive, …) and how to become a change agent in
your organization.

Marilyn Vanbesien

Marilyn Vanbesien is a dynamic business coach who works with high potentials
and young managers. She is remarkably passionate about professional challenges
and has energy to spare! Marilyn is an ICF certified Coach and co-author of the
book ‘Profession: Management Assistant’ (2007). Her projects cover a wide range
of sectors: Telecom, Finance, Global Retail, Energy, Construction,
Pharmaceuticals.

From Stress to Wellness

Energy is one of the most important ingredients in our lives: we need it to work,
to laugh, to act, to bring our projects to reality, to make other people move,
etc. Wellness starts when you are able to pursue these activities in a dynamic
and serene way. Efficiency comes from the very same channel. When you feel
stress, you might misuse your energy, lose it or waste it.

Step 1: Understand
Energy is a matter of 'body', but also, and most importantly, a matter of ‘brains’! And so is stress.
What are the mechanisms of stress? What produces stress? How does it appear?
We need to understand all about stress so we can find the clues for changing stress into positive
energy and...wellness!

Step 2: Find solutions


There are many ways to take control of your stress, each one having a different impact. We need to
find the one that best matches our needs, possibilities and daily lives.

Step 3: Action!
What are the first steps towards wellness you can implemented as of tomorrow?
And you? What's your action plan going to be?

Carolyn Moody

Carolyn Moody, Dip ION, is an international Optimum Nutritionist and


Transformational Coach with twenty years experience in health and wellbeing.
She founded Body Balance Integrated Health in 2004 and has helped many
people develop a strong sense of self-belief, and excellent physical, mental and
emotional health. A published author in many magazines and with her own book
'Nurturing Superwomen', Carolyn has worked with the following organisations,
amongst others: Aspria, MasterCard, Procter & Gamble, NATO, SHAPE,
EuroControl and Management Centre Europe.

How to leave the office with more energy

In a hyperactive world where the focus is on being busy and DOING, it can be hard to switch
off one's mind, especially the nagging mind chatter. We all have something like 60,000 thoughts per
day, most of them repetitive and many of them negative. That can be exhausting!

Discover why your over-busy mind drains your energy. Learn how balancing your blood sugar and
your diet can help increase energy, and how guided visualisations (a method of meditation more
suited to the Western mind) can help you take the first steps towards a peaceful state of BEING.

Come along, bring your busy, chattering mind and take the first steps towards a peaceful state of
being and more energy!

Norms & Values Workshop

How to make choices in your career

This workshop will focus on how to define your own Norms and Values, and how to match them with
those of your company. What do you do in case of conflict? The workshop leader will be announced
shortly.

Robert Van de Walle

Robert Van de Walle is a Belgian judoka, and was the first


judoka ever to compete at five Olympic Games. He won the
gold medal in the men's half-heavyweight category at the 1980
Summer Olympics and in 1988, at the relatively late age of 34,
he won a second medal, a bronze, in the same category. He
competed in his fifth and final Olympics in 1992, reaching the
quarter finals. He continued competing successfully at the
highest level of competition for several years after that.
During his career Van de Walle also captured three European
titles. Together with Ingrid Berghmans he was the face of Belgian judo in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Currently, he is 8th Dan Judo.
Robert Van de Walle, is not only a sportsman. His enthusiasm has led to other achievements as well.
In 1985 he set up the Resourcement Centre. His extensive experience in coaching leaders and
organizations from all over the world, has given him the background he needs to support people in
demanding, rapidly evolving and challenging environments. The secret of his success lies in the
notion of synergy between body and soul, constructive teamwork, and the infectious enthusiasm of
the ‘master’.

Discover the path to mastery

Growing towards mastery is a path everyone can follow, for as long as they live. Let Olympic
champion, coach and mentor Robert Van de Walle inspire you with insights that you can apply to all
aspects of your private and professional life. Using the concept of unity of body, mind and skills,
you will gain awareness of the way your mental attitudes influence your behaviour and social
interactions. You’ll be motivated to think about your values, your potential and your energy. Robert
Van de Walle will demonstrate how you can improve your resilience and contribute to finding a
balance between decisiveness, performance and wellbeing. Parallels with Olympic achievements
will give evidence of character development, mental alertness and physical fitness, in addition to
discipline and technique.

Herman Konings

Herman Konings has a PhD in theoretical (and consumer) psychology (cum


laude) and is founder of Belgian trend and future research agency Pocket
Marketing/nXt. As a renowned Belgian trendwatcher, Herman is sought
after as a speaker by companies and organizations throughout Europe. In
addition, his insights have been featured in Belgian/Flemish and Dutch
media since 1999

If you(r company) want(s) to be successful in the future, you need to know


what the different generations like and how you can build this into your
personal/business plan. So, as a perfect closure for the Conference,
Herman will be offering us a glimpse of the (near) future and the trends of
tomorrow: the age of Latte Macchiato!

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