I will talk here about the magical Spring Network Meeting (NWM) Paris: what we did there, what changed and improved from the previous one and what remained as cool as it always was
Some things to highlight: the fantastic group spirit of the region, evident increase of participation from French and Portuguese antennae as great news, warm welcome to Contact AEGEE-Covilhã and its members (you’ll rock!), fantastic performance of the Network Commission (NetCom) which showed they are on the right track, Comité Directeur’s extraordinary contribution and, of course, amazing work of AEGEE-Paris organising such a nice event and taking good care of us. Léa Charlet, president of AEGEE-Paris: “This NWM was amazing for lots of things and for once we were really a region. I am also really proud of the job all the team of AEGEE-Paris did.”
There were loads of workshops and talks very productive because of the debate, exchange of ideas, experiences and opinions, perhaps with the aim of increasing our involvement in local and European projects. Some others were too focused on letting new members know what AEGEE is which was also really good due to the background of the participants; an excellent occasion to understand better the association structure, its vast fields of actions and possibilities.
Thanks to the amazing work of the NetCom, Pilar Lop, and her crew, the Tripulación, the workshop and talks were pretty productive, much more participative and interactive, useful and sometimes even fun. Álvaro Espinosa, subcommie: “All the participants gave us their best and this excellent predisposition from them made everything easier for the trainers who had worked a lot during the previous weeks.“ Pavel Zbornik, CD: “Participants were also quite active which is not typical on other NWMs.”
We had the great pleasure of having between us not one but three members of the Comité Directeur (CD), President, Luis Alvarado, Secretary General, Lucille Rieux and European Institutions and Communications Director, Pavel Zbornik, which all made this NWM wiser. Their contribution to the talks and debate were crucial because of their experience, knowledge and willingness to share and discuss with the region. Pauline Létard, subcommie: “Having Lucille, Luis and Pavel here was really awesome, the network is their baby and they know how to encourage us!”. The debate we missed before came out there… Loads of opinions about many topics including that breaking issue “AEGEE identity” (to be continued). Luis Alvarado: “We were able to exchange views and opinions altogether inspiring many of us once again to continue striving for a better Europe.“ Lucille Rieux:“The NWM was really inspirational, the participants really contributed, we had nice discussion, and there was a very nice atmosphere there.”
Let’s talk about Songeons and the social bit… The accommodation, meals and care that AEGEE-Paris provided us with was excellent! What could be better to wake up and get ready for the sessions? “Bonjour!” Léa, playing her trumpet from room to room was a noisy but lovely way to begin the day! Coffee breaks and some games also helped us to wake up before and between sessions and made us relax and laugh.
And what about the parties there? “French Style” party on Friday was a good start to meet others and make contacts. The best style and elegance mixed with some funny customs and stereotypes. AEGEE-Paris invited all participants to try a typical French cocktail ‘la marquisette’ and we played some funny games.
On Saturday we had the European Night with loads of food and drinks from a few different countries, with traditional songs and special taste round for the President of AEGEE-Europe, Luis Alvarado, and the main responsible of the NWM, Florent Fauchille, who had to tried all drinks!
There were also some mascots to be earned back at the NWM and, of course, task assignments for the antennae members at the very end of the NWM.
Thanks everyone for being there! Keep on rocking amazing people!
Written by Carmen María López Banegas, AEGEE-Alicante
Pictures by Alejandro Sánchez, AEGEE-Madrid and Tiago Soares, Contact AEGEE-Covilhã