Claudio Armandi, still at that time Network Commissioner, decided to organise the Autumn Network Meeting (NWM) before Autumn Agora Zaragoza so all the Italian-speaking and Maltese locals could gather together in Foggia. This was a first-time for the Apulian Contact of AEGEE-Europe in organising a European event and for most of the participants was also their first time in the city.
Every time we gather together, we share our doubts, our issues and we get a lot of feedback from friends, because that is what the Rainbow Network is about. We support each other, we give advice and we share our experiences. Beáta Matuszka was the Comité Directeur (CD) appointed member and we loved it: with her knowledge of the Italian language and culture, she’s now an honorary member of the Rainbow Network. Her endless energy drove us in the deepest secret of Human Resources problems and solutions. This is a topic that Italian antennae really care about- finding new members and motivating them is very hard and our Network is suffering of lack of fresh meat to take over once the more experienced ones will leave. Of course, we also had some sessions about the European Level and the upcoming Strategic plan. Plus, we were very lucky to have a member of the Visual Identity team, Francesca Russo from AEGEE-Padova.
The social program was awesome, but the European Night was just fenomenal. It took place in a mansionon the countryside, under a starry Apulian sky with the best food and drinks from Italian regions with a touch of jamón, palinka, becherovcka and Belarussian vodka. The local organizers even provided heavenly tiramisu to finish the dinner. Nobody could complain, of course!
As said before, the members of our Network are very close to each other so we were very exicted when we discovered that the Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Verona would sign the Convention d’Adhésion during the NWM. Seeing how much Larisa Smajlagic and Angie Zandonà care about the contact and the programme they have in mind helped us to refresh our motivation. The Convention d’Adhésion is usually signed in front of the whole Agora, but an exception was made and all the participants sang beautifully.
Even if we loved our time spent in Foggia, it’s undeniable that organising such a big event in a Contact of AEGEE-Europe was quite a gamble. Giuseppe Fascia, from the future AEGEE-Foggia, said that “there were definitely strengths and weaknesses. Among the strengths we can include the innate ability of some of our members to handle situations under pressure, have the self-control , and all the previous experiences of almost all organisers in organising any kind of events.” For Beata Matuszka from the CD, NWM are her favourite events and she “was really glad that Foggia was accepted as organisers as the NWM, it is indeed a great opportunity to learn and I was amazed by their enthusiasm and their perfectionism. I was really satisfied with the work of the Network Commissioner, Claudio Armandi, I think he did a great job building up the content and supporting the locals prior to the event and during the NWM as well.”
We were a little bit emotional since this has been the last NWM organised by Network Commissioner (NetCom) Claudio. He saw his Network, our Network grow (three contact were established) but he is not worried about the future. “Every new local has a different meaning to me since they have different stories. I will always bring them in my heart as something that belongs a little to me.” he said “I am happy they will be in safe hands after my term, it’s always difficult to let your babies go and walk on their own.”
During this NWM, NetCom candidate Mattia Abis from AEGEE-Cagliari presented himself and started sharing his programme with us. This was a good chance to meet personally not only him, but also other candidates for different positions in ZarAgora, too. Even if our Network is often labelled as a sleepy one and not very involved in the Europeal Level, Autumn Agora Zaragoza saw an invasion of Italian candidates, be it for Mediation Commission, Network Commission, Summer University Coordination Team and Chair Team, making Claudio even prouder.
Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia
Pictures courtesy of Gabriele Basile, AEGEE-Catania