Name: Tim Vandendriessche
Age: 37
Works at SEAUTON since: September 1st 2014
Function: Independent Staff Member
Dream-destination: San Francisco
Likes: travelling, social media, going out for dinner
Dislikes: cold and rainy weather
You used to be a lecturer at Howest. How did you become a project manager at SEAUTON?
“Fifteen years ago I wanted to visit the Microsoft headquarters in Seattle with my students from the multimedia and communication technology classes. SEAUTON organised that trip for us. It was the start of a close partnership and for five years they organised our trip to Seattle. We then decided we should take our IT-students to Silicon Valley and San Francisco and again it was SEAUTON that organised everything for us. Last summer, SEAUTON asked me if I would be interested in organising these trips myself, as a member of their own team. Since I had always loved to organise college-events and the study-tours to the US, I accepted the offer. Now I’m doing what I love to do most and hopefully I can continue to do so for many years.”
What is your job at SEAUTON?
“Mainly I organise the study-tours for colleges and universities, but I am also responsible for SEAUTON’s social media strategy. The organisation of these tours is completely in my hands, from contacting local companies to booking flights and hotels. Every project is different, and that keeps it interesting.”
Which SEAUTON-project is your favourite so far?
“Since I have only recently joined the company, I would say the Howest goes USA trip to San Francisco in 2010. I was still a lecturer at Howest, but it was a very memorable trip because we were ‘trapped’ in New York for almost a week. A volcanic eruption in Iceland had disrupted the air traffic in large parts of Europe so all flights back to Brussels had been cancelled. There we were, with 80 students with a very limited budget and no place to stay. Luckily SEAUTON was able to find accommodation for everyone and they organised some low-budget activities for us in New York, such as street singing on Times Square. We had some great media coverage thanks to these actions; we even made it to national Belgian television. It was a wonderful experience.”
What kind of event would you like to organise at least once?
“I have spent so much time working on study-trips to the States, that I would love to organise a car launch in Europe once, preferably somewhere in the south where the weather is nice.” (laughs)
If you could give us one tip about event organisation, what would it be?
“The same one I used to give my students: don’t postpone your work. It always takes more time than you think.”
