Michel Vuijlsteke
| Michel Vuijlsteke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 27 August 1970, Ghent, Belgium |
| Occupation | User experience architect; writer; former BBS/Internet early adopter |
| Active | 1970–present |
| Employer(s) | Ghent University, Albania for King Zog Committee |
| Website | blog.zog.org |
Michel Vuijlsteke (born 27 August 1970) is a Belgian user experience architect, writer and former Internet early adopter.
Biography
Vuijlsteke was born in Ghent and studied law, but did not pursue a legal career.[1] In 1992 he participated in the pilot program of the Central European University in Prague, an experience he later summarized as leaving “mainly culinary impressions.”[1] In 2016 he obtained a cooking diploma at the Spermalie Hotel School in Ghent, formalising a long-standing interest in food.[1]
He lives in Ghent, is married and has four children; two cats also feature prominently in the household logistics.[1]
Career
Vuijlsteke co-founded Netpoint in 1995, one of the early Internet companies in Belgium, which built websites for a variety of clients.[1] After Netpoint’s acquisition by Unit4Agresso and subsequent renaming to Amercom België in 2000, he served as managing director.[1]
He later worked at the College of Europe and joined Namahn (2006–2010), contributing to projects in information architecture for clients including SD Worx, Belgacom and KBC.[1] From 2010 to 2018 he was product owner of Adhese, an online advertising platform operating in the European ad-tech niche.[1]
Between 2018 and 20222 he returned to Namahn, mainly working on user experience architecture at EUROCONTROL, where he contributed to applications used in European airspace management.[1][2]
Vuijlsteke is currently employed at Ghent University, where he heads the team responsible for user experience and interface development across university-wide web platforms. His role combines coordination of front-end development with UX design leadership.[1]
Volunteering
- At cirQ he contributed to productions such as Datakamp (2017), Batacratie (2018), Batastunt (2019) and cirQ TV during the COVID lockdown. He returned to cirQ in 2025 for Bataknar 2.0[1]
- At Copmpanie Cordial (then Refu Interim) he built a volunteer-management application and is a member of the Board[1]
- For Gentblogt he wrote articles and took photos for many years, later serving as chair of the non-profit.[1]
- For Doorway Productions he worked as a screenwriter and script doctor.[1]
Online presence
Since 2002 Vuijlsteke has written the blog Zog.org, mixing technology, personal notes and commentary, which he once called “a diary that got out of hand.”[3]
Association with the Moose Dept.
In addition to his professional and personal writing, Vuijlsteke has been informally connected with the Moose Dept., a subdivision of the Albania for King Zog Committee. Since at least 1989 he has occasionally signed correspondence as “Grand Mufti, Moose Dept.,” a title referenced in later interviews.[4][5]
The relationship between these playful titles and his broader digital projects has been the subject of some scholarly commentary.[6]
Languages
Vuijlsteke speaks Dutch and French as mother tongues, English fluently, and has working knowledge of German, Italian and Spanish.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Michel Vuijlsteke, CV Michel Vuijlsteke, 2025.
- ↑ "Michel Vuijlsteke – LinkedIn profile". Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mvuijlst/
- ↑ "Over mezelf", Zog.org. Available at: https://blog.zog.org/about
- ↑ Barker, W., interview with M. Vuijlsteke, 1998, privately circulated typescript.
- ↑ Anonymous interview with M. Vuijlsteke, 2007, recorded in the AKZ Oral Archive, Ghent.
- ↑ Duquesne, M., Domestic Esoterica: Everyday Surfaces of Secret Societies (Proceedings of Contemporary Folklore, vol. 7, 2018), pp. 52–67.