The new Chair Team is ready to work

Robert Martinez Carrasco

Following the resignation of the former Chairperson Yvonne Antonovic, a new open-call for the Chair Team that will assist the Comite Directeur with the preparation of the Autumn Agora Budapest was issued.

The people selected to complete these tasks are Mariella Rapa (AEGEE-Valletta), Robert Martinez-Carrasco (AEGEE-Castello) and Alberto Cuesta Noriega (AEGEE-Oviedo) who will work together with Sygrit Andringa (AEGEE-Groningen), the Secretary of the Agora, in order to prepare the Autumn Agora in Budapest. All of them have experience in the Agora preparation and needed competences to do their best and assist with the preparation and organisation of the Agora. All selected assistants will remain in this position until the first day of the General Assembly, when the Agora will have to approve them to be able to preside the event.

The AEGEEan interviewed the selected Chair Team to find out more about what they have to deal with, but also why theyhave  decided to run again for these positions considering the fact that they have already been in the previous Chair Teams.

1. After the Spring Agora Enschede and everything else that happened, what made you to stand as candidates again and help with the preparation of the upcoming Agora?

Mariella Rapa

Chair Team: First of all, there were two vacancies to be covered; and let’s not forget that Agorae are the most important statutory events within the Network since they shape as a whole the direction we want to follow as an organisation. We all believed we could do our bit and, since we were already experienced in organising statutory events and working hand in hand with the Secretary General and the local organisers, we decided to apply, given the extraordinary situation which occurred after Agora Enschede.

2. Taking into consideration that it was short notice will you be able to manage?

All members of the team are experienced in terms of the work the Chair Team carries out. For Alberto and Robert this will be their third Agora organised; the second for Mariella and Sygrit. It has been a month since we were appointed and we are almost up-to-date in our check list.

3. Tell us what your tasks to prepare this Agora are?

We normally start with preparations three months before the Agora. It might seem too much time, but it is not that much, trust us! The first thing we do is setting up the application electronic system to have everything ready. We draft and issue several open-calls – workshops, proposals, AEGEE Fair manager, members’ applications, etc, and at the same time we are constantly in touch with the local organisers, advising them here and there and making sure they take into account everything what Agora requires. Finally we select the workshops to be carried out, we select the participants and we set up the agenda for the event. Setting up the agenda is always the worst bit, since one has to be good at Tetrix to fit all the content into a couple of days!

Sygrit Andringa

4. As we know from previous experience, team bonding or dynamic, however you wish to call it, is important so that each person does his job. What have you done about this?

The team has already worked together before. Mariella and Sygrit belong to the Chair Team since Agora Skopje and Robert and Alberto have always been “partners in crime” in anything done in AEGEE on the European level.
It is true that it will be the first time for the four of us together, but we know each other and we all have the very same goal: making a smooth Agora and facilitating the democratic processes in our association.

5. As we all know you have to be approved by the Agora in order to preside the Agora on the first day, what will you do in case the Agora doesn’t approve you?

Smile, take a seat somewhere in the plenary room and enjoy the Agora. It will be a tough moment, really, not only for us but also for the Agora itself, because at that time everything will be set up already. An improvised chairperson would have missed all the decision-making process and therefore lack important information in order to carry out Agora Budapest. In any case Agora decides and we will be happy with the outcome of that decision.

6. What happens if the Agora approves you? Will you remain in the office after Autumn Agora Budapest for the following EBM Malta till the Spring Agora Rhein-Neckar, considering that two of you are also members of other working bodies?

Alberto Cuesta Noriega

First of all, the cycle of the Chair Team will remain the same, meaning that at the Agora Budapest a new Chair Team will be elected for the next three statutory events. We have been appointed as a consequence of circumstances as an interim Chair Team, so our task is limited to Agora Budapest. Apart from that, the term of Alberto and Robert in the Mediation Commission finishes at the Agora Budapest (MedCom is renewed every six months). They will have no bond to any other European body should any of them decide to candidate for the next Chair Team.

Good luck with the preparations and see you all in Budapest!

Written by Andra Toma, AEGEE-Bucuresti