The 2 candidates for the ESOMAR Presidency 2023-2024 are Nikki Lavoie (FR) and Alain Mizrahi (UY). In order to get to know them a bit better, they respond to my 8 questions on separate interviews:

1. How would your friends describe you?

2. What languages do you speak?

3. What are your hobbies?

4. My oldest brother once told me "You cannot be the president of a country until you've survived a child's adolescence". What do you think?

5. What was your perception of ESOMAR before being elected for Council the first time and how have you evolved it?

6. What has been your best contribution to Council?

7. Why should an Esomar member vote for you for President?

8. Finally, can you share a funny anecdote from your ESOMAR life?

INTRODUCTION BY JOAQUIM BRETCHA - ESOMAR President 2019-2020

One of the main learnings of being the Esomar president is that you learn what the job is about after having performed it for quite some time. As with all new jobs, the "learning by doing" is essential regardless of what you think your readiness for the post is. Furthermore, as we can see in all candidacies, there is a large consensus on where to head the association to. A thorough work has been done these last years to rethink the Value Proposition and there is a common understanding of what pillars we must base our actions on. This is why in the election of the Esomar president, I believe that the "how" is at least as important as the "what". When we all share the "what" the real difference is in the "how". The "how" to me is the "leading style" ; in other words, it is the personal and professional beliefs and values of the individuals

The Esomar President has two main fronts to cover, the internal and the external. Both of them are extremely broad and varied. "Nuances", this word coming from the word "cloud" in Latin brought to English via the Medieval French word "nue" that turned into "nuer" and then "nuance" are everywhere. The President must inspire members, the broader community, the Council and committees and the professional staff as well as guarantee the financial sustainability while ensuring the effective activity of the entity.

The new president will face a very new team that needs to assure the good legacy of the past years as well as bring fresh ideas and action. The new president will need to devote a substantial part of his/her time and all of his/her aptitudes and good attitude. We have 2 very good candidates with experience of 2 terms on Council and many more years as Esomar members. They are willing to take this challenge and just for this reason we all must be appreciative. Kudos and thank you to you Nikki and Alain.

Let's get to know them a bit better by listening to their answers to 8 very concrete questions. Let's hear from the next ESOMAR President

After having listened to my 2 guests, I hope you have enjoyed this interview as much as Nikki, Alain and myself have. I also hope that now you know the two of them a bit better and can enrich the ideas you have from their videos and statements. Please, take your time to watch and read those. Not only for the presidential candidates but for all candidates. I can tell you from experience that standing up in front of the global crowd is not easy. You need to confront and overcome the natural insecurities from the open exposure. They are brave. They want to serve our community. Let's take some of our time to listen to what they want to tell us. Let's take some time to make our choice and select the next Council