AEGEE-Ploieşti, Local of the Month for this September, is a small, but strong antenna who is proving that dreams can come true if you dream big enough. This fall they organised a Network Meeting (NWM) called Racking up milestones, that was a big success among participants and they do not seem to want to stop. AEGEE-Ploieşti is filled with AEGEE spirit, ready to build amazing projects in the future, and we can’t wait to see what they will do next. Here is our interview with Mihaela Tătaru, President of AEGEE-Ploiești.

The AEGEEan : Tell us a bit about your local.

Mihaela: AEGEE-Ploiești is a fairly young local, and I’m saying this because, in October, we celebrated our sixth anniversary.

How many active members do you have, and how do you keep them motivated?

Since our local became part of the Network of AEGEE Europe, the number of members has varied between 30 and 40 people. Now we have around 10-15 active members and I’m glad that in the past two years we had some members who demonstrated their motivation and devotion to AEGEE.

We proudly say that we have two members who are more active at the European level: Tedi Martinescu in Your Vision for Europe project’s team and Alin Georgescu, our former President, who was part of the planning team for Ideas Factory Leon, and who has recently been elected at Agora Chișinău to be a Network Commissioner. Furthermore, we encourage all our members to apply for the hundreds of events happening around Europe, from Agorae to New Year’s Eve events and get steeped in AEGEE spirit.

How was the NWM, from the planning stage until the outcome?

Organising our first Network Meeting was a big challenge and a really big adventure: from the time when we had to prepare the budget and the social programme, until we had all the logistic  arrangements done. We must say that this NWM was the result of an ongoing effort of our former President, Alin Georgescu (Main Coordinator of our NWM), to go beyond local possibilities and to overcome habits and the so-called “comfort zone” in order to have a broader impact.

Being part of the organising team, I can say that we learned a lot regarding time management, and the importance of having a strong team and the same vision on the event. The results, seeing that participants were having fun and enjoying the event, was really rewarding. This way I want to say thanks to every participant who took part in this Network Meeting.

What are the strong and weak points of your local?

We have six board members: Mihaela Tătaru (President), Florinel Tudor (Vice President & Secretary), Ana Rusu (Tresurer), Cătălin Avram (HR Responsible), Florin Tătaru ( PR & IT Responsible) and Cristian Ivan (FR Responsible). We all try to do our best to achieve the best, and we think that a motivated board is a really strong point of our local, so that we can motivate our members to be more active.

Moreover, another strong point of our local is that we have members with European experience and we are eager to learn from them.

Talking about weak points, we think that a small number of active members, the lack of partnerships and funds are some of them, but we believe that with hard work we will succeed.

What can you tell us about you future projects?

European Day of Languages is just around the corner! We are working to have a good event, and this is not all! Soon we will have a Local Training Course (LTC) for the newbies of our local. We have also set up board meetings, as well as monthly meetings to inform our members what course AEGEE-Ploiești is planning on taking.

Of course, it is well known that soon we will have our traditional project, the Christmas Charity Event. We are thinking of making an exchange with another AEGEE local. Because we are talking now about how the future looks for AEGEE-Ploiești, we proudly announce that next autumn we’ll host the Public Relations European School (PRES)

How visible is your local in Ploiești?

The main goal of the board is to increase our visibility in Ploiești. First of all, we want to be more active in our university, and this means that we are ready to have more local events (workshops) inside the university.

Secondly, as President of AEGEE-Ploiești, I attended several meetings of Prahova`s Youth Forum working group (its aim and objectives are the promotion of active participation of young people in the economic, social and cultural development of the county). Right now we are working to establish CCPT (Consiliul Consultativ pe Probleme de Tineret Prahova [EN. Prahova Consultative Council on Youth Issues]), which means Prahova`s Youth Council and I are, on behalf of AEGEE-Ploiești, the founding members of the council, if the initiative will be approved.

So this is a great chance for our antenna to be more in touch with the local administration and other associations (NGOs), having the choice to create some new partnerships and increase our visibility through this position.

Written by Violeta Croitoru, AEGEE-Iaşi

Every AEGEE local is trying to build amazing,  fun, unforgettable events every year, but to create a quality event, that has the impact that organisers want, is not so easy. But organisers are not alone in this process because Events Quality Assurance Committee ( EQAC) is always willing to help and they are only one e-mail away.

The Events Quality Assurance Committee of AEGEE-Europe aims to support locals and organisers to ensure a better quality of events taking place in the AEGEE network. Providing guidelines, quality indicators, assessment and evaluation forms, the Events Quality Assurance Committee’s main field of tasks consists of: helping the locals with event planning, cooperating with bodies on a European level, promoting events, and increasing the quality of events regarding content and logistics. Other examples are: having a better overview of AEGEE events for an easier impact measurement process, and improving educational events to aid the recognition of non-formal educational methods.

Each member has three of four NetCommies assigned, and the relations with the assigned NetComs are fundamental for compliance with deadlines. All of EQAC’s activities are based on the ”Framework of Quality Assurance of the Non-Formal Education Manual”, edited by the European Youth Forum and every change and development of the committee has to follow the steps of this manual.

Their aim is to support and advise organisers of events in all phases of setting up an event, and the committee invites all present and future organisers of events to approach every EQAC member, should there be any case of doubt or need for proper advice, stating that: “We’ll be more than happy to support you!”.

From the EQAC’s point of view, the one thing that is a must in order to have a successful event is a clear goal, a well defined purpose. This recipe for success is the foundation for a good organisational team, and allotting a proper amount of time for planning and testing various aspects of an event is key. Nevertheless, experience is the one quality that makes the difference in the end. For this, they advise you to start as a participant in various AEGEE events, to continue with organising small events, to meet people that have more experience and can give you tips & tricks and to check the guidelines before building an event.

Future projects, that EQAC is working on are: the development of a new assessment form system, the development of a new evaluation form, data mining and impact measurement, and the development of a badge system. AEGEEans can find out more about what all of these mean, how they work, and other future projects at the Agora in Chișinău.

The saying “strong essences are held in small bottles” proves to be true because the Committee has only three members, plus four additional members who belong to the EQAC Task Force. The latter are a kind of ‘job shadowers’, being specialised in developing one or more tasks, for example the data mining or the badge system.

If you see yourself as the most experienced event organiser of your local, as someone who is responsible, reliable, willing to help with organising quality events, or you want to learn even more and put event management in your CV by learning the Europe-wide approved form of quality assurance then join EQAC to learn how to improve the planning management and evaluation of your events for you and for your local! EQAC is offering plenty of opportunities: working in an international and intercultural team, working in cooperation with different European bodies of AEGEE-Europe, personal development in the field of quality assurance and much more. For becoming a part of an enthusiastic team, do not miss the open call for new EQAC members that will start soon after Agora Chişinău!

Written by Violeta Croitoru, AEGEE-Iaşi

It is said that , on this Earth , there are never two people that experience exactly the same thing, but one fact is for certain: AEGEE is a whole new world, where you can find the most amazing experiences, meet extraordinary people, discover new countries, gain priceless memories and it all starts with a small step.

A few days ago somebody asked me about my best experience in AEGEE and I was completely lost for words (and this is not so usual for a law student that loves to talk). So, I decided to go for a walk down “memory lane”, hoping to find the answer to this question. The conclusion was a big surprise for me as well, but now I can say that my best experience in AEGEE was:

My first workshop as a trainer for Human Rights Day

Considering the fact that I am a law student, Human Rights Day was the perfect opportunity to share my legal knowledge and to raise awareness about the importance of proper information when it comes to our fundamental rights and how a democratic system should look like. But there was a big problem: my shyness and fear of public speaking didn’t fit the fact that I was supposed to speak in front of fifteen people for about one hour-and-a-half. At the end of the day, the message I wanted to convey was more important, and all of my shyness jumped out he window, making the event a real success. I can honestly say that this project made me fall in love with AEGEE, but…no, this was only the beginning! My actual best experience in AEGEE was:

Regional Training Course organised by AEGEE-Chișinău

The amazing people from AEGEE-Chișinău were the first AEGEEans that I was meeting outside my own antenna, and I was really impressed to see that they were treating us like family. Moreover we had the chance to exchange ideas, to meet people from other Romanian antennae and to talk about the upcoming Agora Chișinău. The fact that I was in the middle of the planning for the biggest AEGEE event, the Agora, was really overwhelming and exciting. Not to mention the fact that Agora Chișinău was supposed to be my first Agora… but it wasn’t and this makes me think that my absolute best experience was:

AEGEE Day Celebration

I saw one of my dreams come true: me and my team made AEGEE history, because 2016 was the first time when AEGEEans celebrated AEGEE day. This project was my best experience in AEGEE, because it showed me that I only need one thing to create amazing events, amazing memories and that thing is a well-kept secret: passion. One of my favourite quotes is “Passion changes everything” and it is 100% true, because I was still a newbie in organising a big event, but I had passion and this is what AEGEE does to you in the end: it pushes you outside your comfort zone and gives you confidence in yourself… speaking of confidence, now I wonder if perhaps the next experience was my best experience in AEGEE. I am thinking about:

The Conference named: “A Borderless Europe: A blessing or a burden?” 

The people, the topic, the discussions, making new friends or the fact that an amazing European conference was taking place in my own country. I do not know what made it a memory that always puts a smile on my face. This conference was a perfect way to practice my English and to share my ideas, my solutions about Europe and the European Union, because this event was really challenging from the beginning until the end. Once again I was meeting extraordinary people, with captivating life stories and funny, addictive AEGEE stories. I was sitting in a room, on a basic blue chair, but at the same time I was traveling around Europe, because a German guy was telling me about the economical situation in his country, an Italian girl was describing the famous Italian food and a Croatian girl was sharing a small part of her Croatian sense of humour. Events like this bring the following phrase to life: “I was like a kid in the candy store”, because I wanted to hear more stories, to discover more countries and cultures, to meet new people, to make new friends and to get more involved in AEGEE. And I did it. Five days after the conference, I was traveling to Bergamo and I think that this was truly my best experience in AEGEE.

Helper at Agora Bergamo

A thousand people were walking into a gym. No, this is not the beginning of a joke, it was the Spring Agora 2016. Bergamo was the place were the word “overwhelming” was not enough to describe the feeling that I had as an Agora newbie. The story started like this: I got accepted as a helper, booked a flight alone, in a country I never visited before, at the biggest AEGEE event… a normal day, right? I am a person that likes to talk and to write, so words are like my super power, but when it comes to expressing my gratitude towards AEGEE-Bergamo, I am at a loss for words. From the first moment, I was considered a member of the AEGEE-Bergamo family and those ten days spent there were the funniest, most challenging , crazy, extraordinary days so far… but this is still not my best experience in AEGEE.

In the past year , since I’ve joined AEGEE, I am sure of the fact that my best experience is AEGEE is a puzzle made from the small moments, the small steps outside my comfort zone, and the new friendships. The best experience for any of us can be just around the corner. Take any opportunity, book a flight to a new country, dare to experience a new culture, because a small thing can make a big difference!

What about your best experience in AEGEE?

Written by Violeta Croitoru, AEGEE-Iași

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