Energetic, challenging, inspiring: Over the course of the last year, we met a number of people who did incredible things, gave us the means to evolve, and contributed so much time and effort that we want to thank them. UNICEF, our strong international cooperation partner, made possible that we have a strong foundation to work towards our goal of an access to education for every child. The organization of the first global Interact conference – the Interchange the World | 2018 Convention – and of our enchanting Artists‘ Ball „La Soirée“ to raise funds was supported by individuals and institutions from Boston to Singapore. All of these people deserve a big Thank you:
Christa Laimer, Dr Gudrun Berger, and all their supportive colleagues at UNICEF Austria for bearing dozens of hectic calls, e-mails, and unrealistic ideas we could still realize in the end.
Josip Susnjara for his extremely generous discount on the Kursalon Wien, the breathtaking location of La Soirée, and his team for supporting us in making the evening go smoothly. All the guest speakers who committed to traveling to Vienna just to make the Interchange the World | 2018 Convention an inspiring event:
Eleanor Duckworth, PhD, who flew over from Boston, US, to share her insights from decades at Harvard University and working with Jean Piaget.
Dr Wilson Goh, who agreed to contribute the campus of Amadeus International School as the venue for our convention and participated as a guest speaker.
Dr Royston Flude, FRSA and Barbora Gulejova, PhD, who traveled from Geneva to Vienna to share their knowledge about education and from CERN, respectively.
Dr Sidney Cambridge, who came from Heidelberg University in Germany to give an introduction to current research in neuroscience.
DI Nicola Pasquero, MSc, who spent hours discussing the Convention with us and told his story – ranging from BMW and L’Oréal to Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy – at ITWC.
Michael Scheibenreif, PhD, from UNICEF who shared his experience from working in Malawi and the use of drones.
Monika Fröhler, the right hand of Ban Ki-Moon and CEO and leader at the Ban Ki-Moon Centre in Vienna.
Andrea Jungmann, MA, as Managing Director for Sotheby’s Austria and Hungary and Senior Director for Sotheby’s London.
Billy Batware, MA, for presenting his role at the UN Office for Drugs and Crime.
Natanya Tinnefeld, MA, who invested a lot of time and energy in helping to find the best framework for our expert panel discussion and shared her extensive knowledge about primary education as a teacher.
Martha Ross, MA, as an expert in the IB school system.
David Hagen as a UNICEF child rights expert.
The team of Amadeus International School who ensured that everything is in place on the day of the conference and beforehand.
Vöslauer, MyMuesli, and DerStandard for their generous sponsorship of the ITWC.
Everyone who made La Soirée absolutely unforgettable – artists, who contributed their time and talent for free, sponsors, and the organization team. Yury Revich | Violinist Brendan Goh | Cellist Maria Gschwandtner | Contortionist Lucca Lucian | Mental Magician
Allegra and Joachim Tinnefeld | Violinist and Guitar Accompaniment Daria, Vanessa, Medlina, and Anja | Rhythmic Gymnasts and Olga Mayer | Trainer Alexander Schiele and Daria Arokhina | Dancers Paul Palvis | Juggler Marianne Korec | Juggler Nikolaus Fortelni | Magician Julian Moosbrugger | Stilt walker Nikolaus Margreiter as „Felician“ | DJ Michael Schmidt-Ott | Auctioneer Steven Reichen | Quadrille Hannah Resatz | Make-Up Bernhard Dippold and Elias Giselbrecht | Videographers
Sponsors and supporters Louis Vuitton | Special thanks to Nicola Pasquero ** **Montblanc | Special thanks to Ka-Ming Man Coca-Cola | Special thanks to Philipp Bodzenta Wilhelm Reismann Rotary Club Wien-Stadtpark | Special thanks to Miguel Kertsman Rotaract Club Wien-Albertina | Special thanks to Alexander Dabsch
Without your help, this amazing year would have never developed in such a wonderful way. We connected Interactors from more than a dozen countries and got thousands of children into school. We are very much looking forward to another round but until then, let’s have a look at our photos and videos from this year!
