The Autumn Agora in Cagliari is coming close, but the pre-events are even closer. AEGEE-Milano for example is ready for a group of 25 participants between the 24th and 27th of October, showing them their beautiful city under the name “Discover Me (Iano)!” The AEGEEan spoke to President Michela Marin and Vice-President Alexandra Vilcu to find out more about one of the stops you can make before the Agora.
Why did you decide to organize an Agora pre-event?
Because Milano is one of the main gateways in Italy for the people from across Europe and we supposed that a lot of AEGEEans would stop in our city to take the flight to Cagliari. Wouldn’t it be a great Agora preparation to spend some time with our antenna?
How many members are involved in this event, and how did they get involved?
There is a good mix of new and expert members who work together, and will do their best for a successful event. We started to talk about the event during the promotion of the Summer Universities, to make sure that AEGEE activities become a more concrete concept for the newbies who had not yet participated in any events. Some of them took part in a Summer University this summer and they came back contaminating all of the group with the typical enthusiasm derived by that experience.
You have room for 25 participants. Why did you decide on this number?
The number was chosen according to the availability of the hostel, but also to have the right number of people that can get to know each other in a few days.
What can your participants expect during the event?
As Milano is a city mostly famous for business and for being the economic capital of Italy, very few people know that it also has a cultural side. Therefore, we will let our participants discover the cultural treasures present in Milano. Apart from the “classical” sites, such as Duomo di Milano, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Palazzo Reale and Arco della Pace, we will also include museum visits, such as Castello Sforzesco, or the National Museum of Science and Technology, dedicated to the famous painter and scientist Leonardo da Vinci. And last but not least, culture in Italy is also about food, as well as culture in Milano is also about fashion. So, we want to show that side of Milano too, which is creative, beyond the apparent rigidity of business suits.
What will be included in your fee of 75 euro?
Accommodation in a hostel, two meals per day, tickets for public transport and museum entrance tickets.
What are your expectations of the event?
Although the number of days is quite small, we expect that the organizers team will be on their maximum potential, and that the participants will have a good time, and form strong friendships. In the applications that we received so far, which are quite high in number, we can see an interesting mix of nationalities, which is a great thing, because the more variety exists within the group, the bigger the likelihood for participants to learn about each others cultures.
Will participants get the chance to travel to the Agora together?
We leave the participants the choice to travel to Cagliari how they prefer, but of course we will give them all the necessary information required and the opportunity to stay in contact with each other, as well as with our members who will be going to the Agora.
The name of your event is “Discover Me (lano)”. Why did you go with this name?
The title has a double meaning: the first is literally about the discovery of Milano, our beautiful city, which is a city of business, but also a city of art, creativity and invention. The second is “discover me”, so it is about the discovery of the other people that we come into contact with during the event, their personalities and their cultures. Last but not least, I’m not sure if you remember, but last year we organized an event entitled “Look @ Me (lano)!” It is like in life: first you look, then you discover, and who knows what next year will bring. So, stay tuned!
Why should AEGEEans pick your event as their stop before the Agora?
Well, if what we have already said is not enough, we should add the fact that, although we may not be a very-very famous Antenna, compared to others, or considering the quantity of organized European events, we are really just a treasure of an antenna waiting to be… discovered. Our atmosphere is warm and cozy, and our main value within our group has always been friendship.
What do you expect of the Agora in Cagliari?
This Agora is going to be a blast! We expect lots of participants in a beautiful setting, such as Sardegna. For us as an antenna, apart from already experienced members attending as delegates, we will also have promising fresh forces who will attend. And this means an extra boost of encouragement for them to become more active on the European level.
Want to apply? The event can be found here.
Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen