AEGEE-Ploieşti, a small, but brave Romanian local is the first antenna to open the Network Meeting (NWM) season this year. Their event, “NWM Ploieşti 2016-Racking up milestones”, will grab your attention for sure. Even with the event approaching fast, the Main Coordinator, Alin Georgescu, took time to answer a few questions.
The AEGEEan: What does a NWM mean?
Alin : Well I think that a NWM is one of the most important events in AEGEE. First of all, because it’s more or less accessible to everyone, there are almost simultaneously organised in the whole network, in different regions and it gives members the opportunity to get to know what AEGEE really means at local and European level. Secondly, everyone has the chance to share their local and European experience, people can easily learn from each others, it gets European Bodies closer to the members, including the Comité Directeur (CD), and also the cultural exchange part counts very much, all these things mixed can be fantastic sometimes, maybe life-changing for some of us.
What is the focus of your NWM and how does it relate to the title?
Our main idea, besides thematic workshops that usually take place during a NWM (like event management, how to keep members motivated, fund raising, PR, issues that antennae confront, but also improvements and successful approaches), is to look a bit at what AEGEE achieved in the last 31 years, think about the present and what can we do next, starting from the local level.
What are the objectives?
First of all , we want to create a clear understanding in our minds of AEGEE’s achievements and through that to realise what this network can do and how much impact we can have in our society. Secondly, we want to look a bit at and analyse the current context of Europe, focusing on our region and to find out the most important problems that we could work on. As for the third part, we would like to find solutions for these issues ,and try to not just bring ideas, but to implement everything after we go back to our antennae.
What can you tell us about the place where it will be?
We are going to have a wonderful weekend in Bușteni, a small and very nice touristic city situated at the bottom of the Bucegi mountains. It’s a refreshing and gorgeous place to visit, but also the perfect environment for brainstorming, and I hope to convince people to come along and work together.
Any advice or tips-&-tricks for a NWM newbie?
If you want to meet AEGEE, come to NWM Ploieşti, it’s a must do for every newbie in order to find out what this organisation is about and the perfect place to meet new people, create partnerships and to find your place in our AEGEE family. And don’t worry, you don’t need to have much experience, we are here to learn from each other!
What was the impact of your first NWM?
The first NWM, where I was a participant, was in Cluj-Napoca in 2014. It was the moment when I decided to actually get involved in AEGEE, the first time when I met a CD member, the first time when I tasted this wonderful AEGEE experience on a full level. I don’t want to use big words, but to me, personally, it was life-changing. A lot of things and big decisions, that I took in my life, were because of that NWM. It was like a chain of dominoes, once the first one falls you cannot stop it, and I’m grateful to people that offered me that opportunity.
Is there something that you would like to add?
Don’t lose this opportunity, because who knows what you are going to do next?
Written by Violeta Croitoru,AEGEE-Iaşi