 BEHIND THE SCENES:
CHARLES-ERIC VILAIN XIIII
Managing Director, Lille Métropole Europe Convention Bureau
By Viviane Vogels
Charles-Eric Vilain XIIII, 41, is definitely not unknown in the meeting industry, but his recent move, away from his beloved Brussels, to Lille was definitely a good reason to take another look at a man who has just turned over a leaf in the book of life and started a whole new chapter.
A STORY OF DIFFERENT BALLS
As a recent convert to the great – and frustrating – game of golf, I queried our meeting place: Golf de la Tournette and his interest in golf. C-E and his family have been members for a few years in an effort to find a sport they can all play together both here and when on holidays. His two children, now 6 and 8, have also taken up the sport and are having fun. The Château de la Tournette is also conveniently close  to his home and is seen by the entire family as the ideal Sunday Brunch venue where Grandparents, parents and children can have quality time together.
The little white ball brought us very quickly to a larger set of balls and one of his great passions: croquet! The signature bow tie are a dead give away of the fact that C-E is a great Anglophile and therefore his love of all things English such as Tea and Croquet should not come as a total surprise. Having admitted to near total ignorance on the finer points of croquet, I find out that it is a real sport played on a grass field twice the size of a tennis court! Listening to him talking about his favourite sport, I quickly find out that croquet is more than a sport: it is a lifestyle and it definitely has our friend in its ban.
Croquet has given him opportunity to travel all over the world from Africa to the USA and many countries in between. And yes, our boy is good at it! He has participated and won trophies at many championships around the world, but is the convivial atmosphere that surrounds this sport that attracts him most. Listening to him talking about a croquet playing trip to Hawaii, sitting on an immaculate lawn surrounded by similarly spirited people and enjoying an great cocktail with a view of the ocean sounds like a plan to me and a very good reason to be as active as he is in the sport.
C-E is the President of the Croquet Federation of Belgium and can be admired in action at his club at the Château du Lac in Genval.
His latest croquet project involves writing a book about the world of Croquet.
”There are many books covering the rules and technical aspects of the game, but I want to write the book that accentuates the unique atmosphere surrounding croquet.  I launched an appeal via the internet for anecdotes and I have been amazed by the number of responses I got from all over the world!”
We have had a small ball (golf), then a large coloured ball (croquet), but there is also a medium sized white ball in the running for C-E’s attention: hockey!
Considering he is 41 years old, he came late to hockey: only 3 years ago! By now I am starting to get the measure of my interviewee: he acts on his ideas! When watching the children play hockey he thought it would be a nice idea to play with people his age and with other fathers started a new league in hockey: the Gentlemen! People who used to play when young or who had never played decided to give it a go and get together every Monday night at Uccle Sport where every other week they play a match…and drink champagne at half time!
Last but not least there is that ‘sport’ where one has to juggle many different balls in the air in order to get anywhere: politics! Charles-Eric is a candidate for CD&V in his home-base Uccle. Being raised in Flemish, he has a healthy respect of both cultures in our country and decided 5 years ago to get active in the local community as for him this seems the most rewarding level. I recommend his website www.vilainxiii.be for a better insight in his political beliefs and positions.
LA DOUCE FRANCE
The local community and his involvement in communities in general is important to C-E, it clearly enriches his life and has deeply influenced him in his career path.
Right in the middle of his election campaign last summer – 4 more votes and he would have been elected! – C-E was approached by Lille and found, as he describes it himself, a new challenge that permitted him to engage a higher g ear both on a professional and a private level.
No, definitely no regrets about leaving the Brussels Convention Bureau after 14 years. His smile – quite big when talking about his sports hobbies – gets even bigger when he talks about his new baby: the Lille Convention Bureau!
Q: What attracted you to the Lille project?
A: The combination of a dynamic destination that has a lot to offer and the challenge of bringing it all together and start a new office from scratch.
I love challenges, I thrive on them; did you know I started my own football club with its own newspaper age 12? Well, Lille is a bit more complicated of course, but I just love the fact that with a wonderful product at the base I can create and develop and promote a city which not only was Cultural  Capital of Europe in 2004 but is also a candidate for the organisation of the Olympic Games.
Q: Where to start when, as you say, all was to be done?
A: The French have a tendency to compare among themselves and therefore I needed to rethink the positioning of Lille on an international level rather than a national. We elaborated several plans: 5 years, 3 years and 1 year plans, and in order to have all the individual players continuing on their own my first goals was to make them think as a group rather than as individuals. Very early in the game I organised “the Lille meeting industry encounter” with all players; over 100 participants turned up and got together in working groups to address the most immediate needs. It was a rewarding day, very open-minded and full of goodwill to forge ahead with the new structure of Lille Convention Bureau. My reward is that after only 3 months we could show positive results, it proved that we are on the right track!
Q: Practically this means?
A: We continue what we started on the repositioning front, creating the new image. We will issue regular newsletters with the latest developments; a new internet site is being developed to become an important tool for the partners and the buyers. We are also in the process of developing a new Meeting Guide and I take this opportunity to invite all readers of BBT Online to put the date of 20 September in their diaries! That day Lille comes to Brussels with a great workshop and the presentation of the  new Meeting Guide at this great venue
K-nal.
Q: So how did a Belgian end up in France?
A: Working in France is very different to working in Belgium, even in the north, close to Belgium, the mentality is close to ours but…still different and that is another challenge that I enjoy. To start with the recruitment agency had over 80 candidates, but I think that it was exactly the fact that I was Belgian and therefore strong in languages, combined with my professional experience that swayed them fairly soon in my direction.
Q: What do you wish for in your first year in function?
A: I know that I have a long way to go and that we need to lay careful foundations to build upon for the future, but I am confident that, looking at the results of the meeting (Lille meeting industry encounter) back in March, the work groups that are very active, that we are going in the right direction. So my dearest wish is to create this necessary foundation that will permit us to give our visitors a professional welcome, this will take a lot of training and that is being developed right now.
CHARLES ERIC VILAIN XIIII ON …..
BOOKS
 Like the busy man he is C-E has not a lot of time to read, but he does take time every day to read his newspaper (La Libre Belgique) and consults the internet for the reviews of the other papers. So, no books on his bedside table but…a notebook for those moments that usually come in the middle of the night when a brilliant idea springs up and you need to write it down before sleeping on and asking yourself in the morning what that idea was again. Surely a maneuver many of us recognize!
MUSIC
Little did I know that I had a former DJ sitting  in front of me so he confessed to a very eclectic taste in music as is to be expected from a DJ. He has a vast collection of records and CD’s and this is why he was delighted when his Brussels colleagues offered him a super I-pod as a going-away present. This now has all his favorite music on there and is the constant companion in the car on the drives to and from Lille.
CUISINE
He quickly skips over favorites such as Berber, Belgian and Japanese Sushi to come to his absolute favorite: the Italian cuisine. One of the restaurants he likes most in Brussels is A l’Ombra, Rue Edith Cavell in Uccle for its simple approach, no menu just  suggestions of the day and a great wine selection. The “Scheve Lavabo” is his local pub on Monday nights after hockey practice.
C-E is obviously also discovering the eateries in Lille, but no real favorite has surfaced yet. From his many travels to London he speaks fondly of what has become an institution in that city: Kettner’s : a champagne bar in the heart of Soho where the simple food is delicious! I have known it for more than 30 years and can heartily recommend it.
TRAVEL
Having worked for Nouvelles Frontières, C-E has of course had many opportunities to travel but cannot be described as your average beach, sun destination tourist. As newly weds he and his wife went rafting in Nepal, where they met up with friends from New Zealand, their travels all a bit uncharted and definitely unplanned which in their eyes, makes it even more special. Obviously his croquet adventures have given him opportunity to travel to countries around the world, other trips have taken him to far away places such as Laos, Cambodia, Madagascar, just to name a few.
Now that the children are getting older C-E and his wife take city trips where history and fun are equally mixed, summers are usually spent in the South of France in a house the in-laws own there, but on the way down they stay of the beaten path in farms or in a tent.
Winters one can find C-E on the slopes with Club Med, the perfect all-in solution for families and for finding good skiing opportunities.
Charles-Eric had me fooled with his English Gentleman’s image, behind the bow tie I found an adventurer, a man who fights for his convictions and with eclectic tastes and definitely a man who has shifted his life in a higher gear and enjoys every minute of it!
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Charles-Eric Vilain XIIII
