When I accepted the position of PR responsible in my local, I only had a vague idea of what it means to promote a non-governmental organisation. So I was lucky that only few months later AEGEE-Nova Gorica / Gorizia organised Public Relation European School 1 in October 2012 in Slovenia.
And there we were: 35 people and 12 nations, with 35 different attitudes and backgrounds.
This is what can come together when an antenna sends an open call. This is who can live together in the city centre of beautiful little Koper at the Mediterranean Sea. This is who can even work together to gain new knowledge about public relations. And this is who can have tons of fun together during the sessions and, of course, in the evening.
Those AEGEEans, including me, from all over Europe decided a while ago to take up the challenge of a European School and travel to Slovenia, to Koper. The first obstacle we met on our way was to find out, where Slovenia can be located. Soon we learnt it is not between Finland and Sweden and it is also not to be confused with Slovakia, but actually it is the only country in the world in which name you can find “Love”. And therefore arriving at the seaside, where the sun was shining, welcomed by our dear organisers, warmed our hearts.
The following days were filled with workshops such as Media Relations, Communication Skills, PR Crisis Management, Teamwork, Branding and PR Strategy and lots of others.
Each different workshop was of special interest to at least one of us. Everyone was able to tell stories of their own local antenna about non-working PR strategies, a crisis they had to handle or their troubles to get in touch with the local media. And even though all of us were convinced of their broad knowledge of social media…well, we also had to accept that there are lots of things we did not know about Facebook, Twitter and Co.
Before the work day ended, we sat together in our case study groups where we were handling issues of our fictive antennae and also discussing issues of our cultural differences. The trainers did quite a good job to mix us up according to our cultural stereotypes. How could they, for example, put a Portuguese, a Spanish, an Italian, a Slovenian and a German together in one group? Well, they did not have any creeps to do so and lucky we have been. It was great to work together and we created some good solutions to our fictive problems. In the end, we all share one common idea and in AEGEE you soon start to feel comfortable in an international environment.
Those mixed groups were an important aspect of our training course in order to work on certain tasks. Once we had to create a short video to answer the question “Why AEGEE?” One group came up with a short story about a guy whose life was enlightened as soon as he discovered AEGEE, another group answered the question with an emotional video featuring values like friendship.
Of course, the program also allowed us to visit the city and enjoy the sea breeze. In the evenings we relaxed with bowling, playing pool and dancing or we were just talking and gossiping in our hostel rooms.
And in the end?
In the end we had so much to bring home – so many new things that we can share with others. It is not only about the knowledge or the new friends or the connections. It is about the energy that comes together at a place like this. The input, the power, the motivation, that each one of us has inside and that shows its full potential in places like this.
What we learnt at this European Schools is not only how, but also, that we can conquer the world if we want to.
And personally? Well, my board co-members are showing some good nerves at the moment listening to all the ideas I brought back.
Written by Andrea Schmelz, AEGEE-Passau
This project has been funded with support from the European Union. This publication/communication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of information contained therein.