Every month The AEGEEan selects a member of the month from the inputs we receive from the Network. In November the choice was Francesca Zorcolo from AEGEE-Cagliari. She has been a member of our association for some years, being in the team of Agora Cagliari 2014 organisers and President of the board of the Italian local 2015-2016. In November she was the Main Organiser of the Network Meeting (NWM) in Cagliari, the first in the history of the local, and was selected as SubCommissioner of NetCom Gabriele Scollo (AEGEE-Firenze) helping Italian and Maltese locals in FR. 

The AEGEEan: Who is Francesca in AEGEE?
Francesca: I have been a member of AEGEE since February 2014, and my passion for it has been growing since the first Agora I have been to, Spring Agora Patra, and even more with Autumn Agora Cagliari. I was part of the executive board for two years and my mandate has just expired. If people ask me who I think I am in AEGEE I always answer that I feel like I am kind of a mom to AEGEE kids. This year I am SubCommie for the Network Commissioner Gabriele until Autumn Agora Catania.

Who is Francesca outside of AEGEE?
I am a desperate economy student, a basketball referee and the former founder of a local LGBT association, as well as the founder of a start up about lateral thinking.

You have been nominated as Member of the Month of November. How do you feel?
I am embarrassed… Ahahha, just kidding, I feel very honored and proud, and I really want to thank everyone for it!

Your term as President of AEGEE-Cagliari just finished. How would you describe this year? What do you think is your biggest achievement with your board?
This past year has been one of the greatest of my entire life. One of the things I am most proud of is the fact that we were able to share more information about the European opportunities for our members and we were lucky enough to create a very well connected group of people!

You were the Main Organiser of NWM Cagliari. How did it go?
It was amazing! We pictured this event so many times before it happened, and when it did, our expectations were exceeded. This was because of the incredible people that participated and worked for it. I especially want to thank former Network Commissioner Lisa Gregis (AEGEE-Bergamo) and Financial Director Zvonimir Canjuga! We had so much fun, but it was also a learning experience for everyone.
What were the biggest challenges in organising the event? What were the biggest rewards?
I always want to keep up with everybody’s expectations. We were really worried about something going the wrong way, or not as we planned. But, as soon as we saw people very happy and proactive, we understood that everything was going in the right direction. I am very happy that we were able to talk about joining forces with other teams and many members have now double memberships. That is how networking works!

Name one good thing in AEGEE and one bad thing.

A downside can be that sometimes we are not able to share our stories with people outside AEGEE, and to let others know what we are, and in my opinion that is one of the reasons why the number of members is dropping.

On the other hand, the thing I love the most is the fact that it lets you feel like home in each part of Europe you are, and that inside AEGEE everyone gets the chance to grow and get experience in what interests them.

Let’s play a game. Describe yourself by using adjectives that start with the letters that compose your name.
Friendly

Reliable

Active

Naive

Curious

Emotional

Skilful

Creative

Altruist
What’s next for you?
I am not sure right now, but after spending these two amazing years working at local level, I think it is time to expand my horizons, and that is why I am very glad to be a SubCommie in Gabriele Scollo’s team, for something else we will see!

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

You can call her the NetCom of the Two Isles. Lisa Gregis, who cares about what is informally known as “the Rainbow Network” (part of the Italian locals and AEGEE-Valletta), decided to assign the organisation of her Autumn Network Meeting (NWM) to AEGEE-Cagliari, again on an island after AEGEE-Valletta organised the Spring NWM one. From the 3rd to the 6th of November, the Sardinian city will host a NWM that promises to be “rainbowlicious”. Let’s discover more about this event from Lisa and Francesca Zorcolo, President of the Italian local and Main Coordinator of the Network Meeting.

The AEGEEan: Why did you chose Cagliari?

Lisa: The application of Cagliari was simply amazing. When the NetCom received it, I thought they were applying to host an Agora, not a NWM! I thought “this is crazy!”. We should take their application as a model for the future. They are organising an amazing event and I’m really proud of them. The seriousness, passion and devotion they are showing for this event is inspiring for me. I feel I have to work even harder in order to not let them down.

Why did you decide to apply for hosting the NWM?

Francesca: We decided to candidate because the Network Meeting represents the successful completion of a path that we started a few years ago that had the aim of being more active on the European level as a local. We worked really hard and it’s an awesome achievement to finish 2016 hosting the first NWM in the history of AEGEE-Cagliari.

AEGEE-Cagliari Board 2015-2016

How many participants do you have?

Lisa: We will have 40 super lucky participants and we can’t wait to meet them!

What will be presented during sessions?

Lisa: The sessions will be about the new Strategic Plan, Summer Universities, fundraising, how to organise a thematic event, SWOT & sharing best practices, 60 Agorae in 120 Minutes, open space technology, board meetings, European Citizen Initiative, the State of the Network, we will talk about what happened at Agora Chișinău. I’m still building the programme, so something might change, but for sure in a week it will be definite.

Rooms where participants will sleep

What is in store for participants (facilities, meals, social programme)?

Francesca: We would like the participants to feel like guests who are coming here for meeting old friends. That’s why we have organised everything as best as we can offer: they will sleep in the hostel in the city centre, all the meals are provided in restaurants, there will be the famous Abis’ pub crawl, the cost being included in the initial fee, the European night and we will even try to take care of them before and after the event

Who will be a trainer?

Lisa: The trainers will be Zvonimir Canjuga (CD), myself (NetCom), Gunnar Erth (Les Anciens), Carolina Alfano (SUCT), Damiano Deidda (AEGEE-Cagliari), Alessandra Caddeu (AEGEE-Cagliari). Maybe there will be space for someone else, but still I’m happy we can have many trainers with very different experiences, so we can provide the best learning environment for our participants.

The core team of NWM Cagliari

Who is in the core team?

Francesca: The core team is composed by 10 members: Paola, incoming responsible, Thomas, social programme responsible, Antonio, fundraising and logistic responsible, Roberto, logistic responsible, Fabian, meal responsible, Federico and Matteo, IT responsibles, and myself who coordinates.

Did you apply for any funding or did you get any help from the university?

Francesca: In order to offer the “NWM of our dreams” we studied a strong fundraising strategy. That’s why we have applied during this whole year to several call for bids from our university, from our municipality, of our region, and also private ones. Moreover, we have organised different events for self-financing and we have gained some sponsorship for cutting the costs.

One of the rooms where sessions will be held

What is special about AEGEE-Cagliari and the city of Cagliari?

Francesca: AEGEE-Cagliari is first of all a family! We support each other, we study, train, eat all together, the success of one is the success of all of us. I think this is what makes us special and what helps us to always have active members.

Cagliari is an amazing city and we will be lucky to stay in the city centre for the entire event. We are hoping that the weather will be nice, as it usually is.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Even if you are not from AEGEE-Cagliari, you might have already come across the name ‘Claudio Gennaro’; albeit from either policy proposals or one of the handful of Summer Universities that he already organised. With his involvement in a lot of SUs, it comes to no surprise that he is now running for the highest organ coordinating them.

The AEGEEan: Could you briefly introduce yourself?

Claudio: I am Claudio Gennaro, you might remember me from movies like “Three years in the JC” or “Let’s change all the commas in the CIA”. I am 24, a law student for some more months and AEGEEan since 2011. I live in Agrigento, Sicily, and I am member of AEGEE-Cagliari, Sardinia.

Why did you decide to run for member of the SUCT?

Thoreau would say “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life”; this would easily represent my relationship with AEGEE and its educational possibilities. Moreover, it would be an amazing opportunity to repay AEGEE with and for the skills I gained from it.

What is your past experience with organising or coordinating Summer Universities?

I have been main organiser, co-main organiser and member of the core team of five SUs. I have also been (the best) participant in one (wonderful Break Bad in Madrid) in 2014. Since 2012, I cannot imagine calling this season of the year only “summer” without “university”.

What are your plans to improve or maintain the quality of the SUCT and of Summer Universities?

For what it would concern my tasks, I will focus on a clear communication with local organisers. My previous AEGEE experience taught me how to clearly explain a set of rules contained in the CIA to people who approach it for the first time. Constant availability will also be a priority.

Do you already have plans of cooperating with other bodies of AEGEE as the SUCT?

Cooperation with other bodies of AEGEE is surely crucial to improve the content of SUs (such as better PowerPoint presentations or material for trainers), and I will do my best to strengthen the relationship of the SUCT with them, being proactive with new ideas. Anyway, realistically, I would not only rely on that. This will have to be discussed by the entire new team to come up with a common strategy.

What would you encourage locals to incorporate into their Summer University Programme?

Life changing experiences. Undoubtedly SUs represent our main source of new members and must be appealing to catch as many of them as possible, but we also need to differentiate them from “normal” holidays to maintain their special status of “life changing” events. I would encourage local organisers to let their participants meet the diversities of their cities: a day spent listening to the story of a refugee or a young entrepreneur counts more than a day spent at the beach. Make it count!

How would you propose to make the less applied for Summer Universities become more appealing?

I believe it is impossible to determine a common path for ALL the locals. We need to consider their dimension as association, city, budget, HR and many other variables. Our locals are extremely heterogeneous and it would be a terrible mistake to consider them all in the same way. Being a member of two locals of different shape and having organised SUs with both of them, I believe myself to be in a position of understanding better the functioning of different locals. I would focus on knowing better each local organiser who needs particular help for the preparation of their SU and on how to boost the content of their programme according to their strengths and weaknesses. PR will definitely play a key role for them (but I am the wrong candidate to answer that).

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Willem Laurentzen, AEGEE-Nijmegen

He loves PR and Social Media and you can tell by reading his candidature. Lorenzo Ligas is 23 years old and he is from AEGEE-Cagliari, where he covers the role of PR responsible for the Italian local. He has been working on Social Media and Public Relations for three years now and he is a student of Communication Science at the University of Cagliari. After having covered the task of PR responsible of Cagliari Summer University, he aims to take the next step by managing the PR of the Summer University Coordination Team.

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to run for a position in the Summer University Coordination Team?

Lorenzo: I want to challenge myself in a great project such as Summer University.

The current team started a sort of Interest Group about Summer University (Supporters)б in which people helped the SUCT. Would you like to keep it alive?

Yes, having supporters for the SUCT can help the team as well as let more AEGEEans be active at the European Level.

You do not have much experience in European bodies, but your working experience outside of AEGEE is impressive. What are the best assets you can bring to the SUCT, provided you are going to be elected?

Thank you! Yes it is true, I do not have so much experience in European bodies, but I could use my years of experience developed outside of AEGEE for the project. I am a Social Media enthusiast and I love creating PR strategies. This year AEGEE-Cagliari socials had an impressive growth: plus 850 on Facebook and plus 300 on Instagram since I started. I’m confident that the experience I gained as PR Responsible, as well as my non-AEGEE experience into festivals, clubs, cultural events and writing, could be helpful for SUCT.

How would you help locals respect Visual Identity?

Giving them the Visual Identity booklet, as well as to provide instructions on how to add the SU watermark to their pictures. Of course I will also respect the Visual Identity for both local and SUCT materials myself.

You were PR responsible for the last Summer University of AEGEE-Cagliari. What was your strategy? Do you think it was successful? Do you think that it can be applied (with the due changes) to all Summer Universities?

I created infographics for the promotion. Sharing them both on Facebook and Instagram with a weekly schedule, using trend hashtags for AEGEE, Summer University and AEGEE-Cagliari. During the event, I used Instagram and Facebook for images. I used Facebook streams for most of the activities. After the event I edited the photos our photographer made, using Lightroom.

I think it was definitely successful, but of course there’s always something to improve. Since I started promoting the Summer University, our social media had a big increase, and we were pretty satisfied about the number of applications. This PR strategy could definitely be applied to the SUCT.

This is a recurring question when it comes to Summer Universities: the decreasing number of applications and local organisers. What do you think about this issues? 

Cheap travelling has become a trend in the last years since the introduction of tools as Hostelworld and Airbnb in Europe. Therefore offering “low cost travelling” is no longer a selling point for a Summer University. I think that personal development has to be an area to focus on, with the same importance of the social programme and entertainment. And we have to spread the AEGEE-spirit more. We should share the idea that being part of a Summer University is a mind-blowing experience, and being an AEGEEan is a lifestyle.

I think that the reason behind the decrease of local organisers could be found behind many aspects: less active members, weak HR and PR strategies, difficulty to contact local istitutions, lack of funds. These aspects scare locals to challenge themselves into organising a Summer University. A possible solution could be creating Facebook working groups in order to share best practices and webseminars to locals. Creating guidelines on how to organise a Summer University, how to fundraise, promote etc. I think SUCT has to become a strong presence in locals’ lives.

In the application process we often see that certain locals are very popular, while others even struggle to find participants and (in extreme cases) are forced to cancel the Summer University. What are your thoughts on that? Do you have any idea to try to level this phenomenon?

Yes, promotion is a problem for some antennae. Some Summer Universities look more interesting than others, maybe because they build a good promotion or because they are settled in more famous locations. It would be useful to work side by side with the PR Responsibles of the SUs in order to give them advice and look at how to promote the Summer University. As SUCT, you can prepare general guidelines for all the locals and then customise them in case of special needs. Every Summer University has strong points and something interesting to offer, you just have to find the best way to show them.

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

AEGEE-Cagliari proposed a SU, based on sport and boat trips, to give twenty-five young people from every part of Europe an unforgettable experience. Its entire title was “Bigger, Better, Stronger: Sardinian Challenge”. Thanks to the work of very experienced AEGEE members, the Sardinian Antenna organised an event which made the participants love the island. The journalist Matteo Lai was an organiser of this overwhelming event and told us something about it.

Have you ever thought to unify some of the most beautiful beaches in the world with sports activities? AEGEE-Cagliari proposed a Summer University where participants could enjoy the Sardinian sea with some rare classical and new games, such as Bubble Sumo, Kayak, Military circuit. The participants spent some days at the sea, not only swimming a lot, but also listening to music on a boat, for example. The main organiser and coordinator of the SU was Thomas Muntoni, AEGEE-Cagliari’s Internal Vice-President.

He could count on the contribution given by seventeen organisers, some of them very young members of the Antenna: Alberto Unali, Alessio Usai (Logistics Responsible), Antonio Pintus (External Vicepresident and Games and Activities Responsible), Antonio Cicalese (helper, AEGEE-Salerno member, and Games Responsible), Fabian Raab (Drivers Responsible), Fabio Pilloni (Treasurer), Federico Aru, Francesca Amelia Zorcolo (President), Lorenzo Ligas (PR-Responsible), Marco Augugliaro (Meal Responsible and FR-Responsible), Miriam Muntoni (Games Responsible), Nicola Motzo, Paola Letizia Murru (Secretary and Incoming Responsible), Roberto Perra, Silvia Liciardi (HR-Responsible and Social Programme Responsible), Valentina Atzori (Sessions Responsible), and me, as IT-Responsible, Cagliari City Tour Guide and Driver.

There were often two very experienced members, Sasha Ghorpade and Davide Lecca, essential to cement the group. Already during the second day the participants tried our Military circuit organised by Federico: you can think about some training for soldiers adapted to civilians. The final result was surprising because all guys managed to complete every task ordered by the teacher on the grass of Pitz’ E Serra Park.

The authors of this sports miracle came from every part of Europe: Goran Borovcanski (Macedonia), Dayana Tzvetkova (Bulgaria), Aleksandra Icic (Serbia), Djordje Ristic (Serbia), Kimberly Beijersbergen (the Netherlands), Félix Laencina Escobar (Spain), Albert Podraza (Poland), Olivera Lukic (Serbia), Marian Vavrynchuk (Ukraine), Laura García Rueda (Spain), Santiago Navarro Román (Spain), Furkan Ocak (Turkey), Vasiliki Andrioti (Greece), Valerie Bond (the Netherlands), Elena Barinova (Russia), Fatma Jasmine Hazirlar (Turkey), Valerie Schlickovà (Czech Republic), Ferenc Màthé (Hungary), Edina Marton (Hungary), Mandy De Graaf (the Netherlands), Philip Laeborg (Denmark), Carmen Gálvez Estévez (Spain), Alexandra Kurilova (Russia), Darnel Lloyd (Dominican Republic).

On the same day (Monday 1^st of August), the participants enjoyed an excursion to the Devil’s Saddle with the essential help of Roberto Mastromarino (Mastro, for friends) who accompanied the participants up to the top where there were two tables with lots of cold beers as an aperitif to enjoy the sunset and admire a breathtaking panorama of Cagliari. The day ended with the traditional Pub Crawling at Cagliari’s city centre. Both the organisers and participants had a lot of fun, also thanks to the kind of tasks included in the alcoholic game, like promoting our next Network Meeting with a short video or repeating some embarrassing Italian words [I laugh].

The 2nd of August was my birthday and the day of the City Tour in Cagliari: my international friends followed me through the Roman Amphitheatre, Saint Efisio’s Church, Yenne Square with the statue of Carlo Felice of Savoia, Viceroy Palace, Saint Remy Bastion. They were entertained with some games to make the city tour a bit funny, such as reproducing the word “AEGEE” with their bodies and singing their national anthems where many people passed by. I believed they would be tired after one hour and a half of walking but they were really strong, and Mastro helped me showing them other sides of the historical part of the Sardinian capital.

Then, we had lunch in a restaurant near Saint Remy Bastion, where my birthday was celebrated while eating a cake slice and singing a song “built” with my first and last name. On the evening we moved to Selargius, a town close to Quartu S. Elena (the place of the accommodation), where our friends discovered the Bubble Sumo: you have to push three other people away from a circle, while all the players are inside a huge plastic ball. We organised a Bubble Sumo tournament which was won by Valerie Bond. As we were in a football field, we could not resist the temptation -because we are Italians- to play a football match with two mixed teams of organisers and participants.

After everyone danced in a disco at Poetto beach, named “Lido”, they woke up and went to a place called “Marina Residence” for our Cooking Workshop about “ravioli”, introduced by Sasha and his grandmother. The European students were involved in preparing this kind of pasta and, after two hours, their bodies were covered in flour. We got full of ravioli and we went to a beach ten minutes away from the location of the workshop to attend a lesson in canoeing; even though it was forty degrees in the shadow [I smile]. It seemed that the participants did not feel the high temperature.

Do you think our friends were tired and wanted to sleep? Not in the least! They were ready to get crazy at our Pool party in Borderline, near Cagliari. That party was considered to be the best of the entire Summer University by all the participants: not very often you can drink a cocktail, dive in a swimming pool and dance to cool music with a deejay set by Valentino Poddie (Poddi for friends) until four o’ clock in the morning in an amazing location like the Borderline. On the 4^th of August, it was time for a new sport: Brasilian Ju Jitzu, in a gym of Quartu S. Elena. The teacher explained the basics and some movements of this martial art so that the participants could begin to throw each other on the floor for an hour [I laugh]. Moreover, our friends could not stay in Sardinia for twelve days without visiting one of our best cellars, the one in Dolianova, where they tasted some of the sweetest wines in the island and they ate “malloreddus” (or gnocchi), a Sardinian traditional pasta. They also discovered the best Sardinian beer, Ichnusa.

Have you ever danced reggaeton on commercial music on two connected ships while you sip a spritz? It is possible and our participants did it. Our friends danced a lot at”La Paillotte”, a very famous club close to the Devil’s Saddle, in a place called Calamosca. The European hosts not only visited Cagliari, but also Villasimius and Cuglieri. In particular, they sailed with a touristic ship named “Matilda” along “Donkey Head” beach and Cabbages Island. It was one of the most awesome days in the SU, many people dove from the ship and made a lot of selfies with their mobile phones. In Cuglieri’s wood, organisers and participants celebrated the European Night. It was also an occasion for drivers to relax and not get worried about the lucidity of our participants, because the place of the European Night was only ten minutes away from the accommodation (inside a monastery) walking. In short, we did not need to use any taxis.

On the same day, we spent some hours on the Mari Ermi and S’Archittu beaches. On the last day, the organisers received a real surprise that they would not ever expect: after the votes for “The Best of”, as it normally happens at Summer Universities, Philip handed over a plastic table, on which participants had written the name of the organisers with some messages and congratulations for the hard work in preparing the event or of feelings about our beautiful land. It was a clear signal that they had really appreciated our programme and even, despite my impression [I laugh], Valentina’s lessons about AEGEE structure and Civic Education that were held in the gym. I was with a group that understood the aim of the event: the importance of practising some sports with a right diet (the Mediterranean one). Among those guys I met some really special people that I hope to see again very soon somewhere in Europe. At AEGEE-Cagliari SU there were also some love stories, of course, but the details will remain a secret among the protagonists of this magnificent hot event.

Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari.            

Last March, AEGEE-Cagliari organised a seminar on entrepreneurship, giving students the necessary knowledge to start their own start-up. For this reason, they were chosen as the ACTive Local of the Month. We spoke to Francesca Zorcolo, President of the local, to find out more!  

ACT: Congratulations! As we would like to get to know this month’s winner, could you tell us a bit more about your local?
Francesca: This award is really a surprise for us, thank you so much Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT)! AEGEE-Cagliari was “born” in 1995 and so far we are the only antenna on our beautiful Sardinian island (we are working on that as well). Currently, we have about 110 members, among which 40 active one. We work in a constant and active way at the local level to promote the principles of AEGEE-Europe, and also at the European level we try to be present as much as possible!

You have organised the “Professione Startup” seminar. Can you tell us more about your event?
The seminar lasted for two days, one focused on theory and one focused more on practice, with the goal to give a thorough knowledge about the profession of entrepreneur. We invited several experts and consultants in the business field, who started their work on our island and were recognised for their innovation power. During the first day, purely theoretical, these experts gave lectures in front of the participants. The topics, chosen by us and tackled by the experts, were how to start a business and make it stand out in the start-up national environment.

The experts in this field explained the start-up world basics and its internal processes such as working stages; research of team members; colleagues’ relationship; how to best motivate the team; working methods and how to best advertise one’s business or product to the consumers. These highly trained and engaging experts succeeded in depicting the current job market and how we, with our ideas, can shape the future.

On the second day, March 18, the participants were involved in a workshop in which they put into practice all the skills learned on the previous day. The group work, carried out by the participants, was based on specific practical cases taken from the business world such as identifying products that make elders’ life easier or finding services suited to redevelop historic goods and local products. It was without any doubt a great occasion to challenge ourselves and be in the shoes of an entrepreneur developing brilliant ideas for start-ups in a full learning environment.

Why did you decide to organise this seminar?
The idea for a “Profession Startup” came in 2015, following the desire to give young people alternative methods for their employment. We also wanted to offer a new perspective for all the people that wish to create their own business and realize their own ideas, but do not know how to start. Our main goal, besides offering important info and first-hand accounts by field experts, was to create and develop some useful practical skills for the participants so that they could challenge themselves and compare their own ideas. Unfortunately, because of the current university system, students do not have many chances to engage with self-made businesspeople. The opportunities for youngsters to develop group-work skills and to challenge themselves in those practical jobs that mirror the activities of a start up are not enough. For this reason we decided to fill this gap with our work, passion and goodwill.

What was the result? 
This is the second edition of the programme, which we decided to propose again, because last year we received so many positive feedback. Our desire is to keep on developing this programme, by examining the topic, in every edition, in new and different ways and perspectives. 50 students from the University of Cagliari participated in an active way. Their favourite session was the workshop in which they were able to put into practice, in a business case scenario, the theoretical knowledge acquired the previous day. At the end of the workshop, every group presented its own project to the other participants, having the opportunity to receive feedback and compare their works.

Moreover, we wanted to deliver the message that start-ups are suitable for all, not only for students of Economics. Intelligence does not need to be studied, all everyone needs is will, hard work and having a dream. A great example of that is the life of one of our experts, which aroused great admiration among the participants. This person started by being a liquor seller and although he did not hold a degree, did not have many financial means and did not work in a friendly environment, succeeded in designing and developing an internet application, which today is downloaded in every corner of the world and translated in more than 20 languages.

Why do you think the Action Agenda is important for the Network, and what would you say to another local that is thinking about organising something related to the Action Agenda?
We believe that the Action Agenda is very important because it allows us to work as a coordinated network: by having a set of focus areas on which we can concentrate our energies, we can have a great impact on reality. TO be more specific, we have the possibility to examine the same topic, at the same time, but in a total different manner according to the parties involved. All the locals should be encouraged and spurred to give their own creative contribution to the Focus Areas. For that reason we tell them “throw
yourself into it! You are going to feel much more as a part of the network”.

Which sentence would describe your local and your event? 
We put passion in everything!

The AEGEEan also covered AEGEE-Cagliari’s entreperneurship’s seminar in another article. To know more about this seminar, click: here.

Written by the Action Agenda Coordination Committee

AEGEE-Cagliari opens its doors to all (members or not) to engage in the business world with Job Start Up. This seminar organised by AEGEE-Cagliari in collaboration with the University of Cagliari and E.R.S.U. Studies Cagliari has become a full immersion of two intense days, rich of entertainment and learning. A workshop that had the objective to offer the participants a brief but comprehensive overview of what is the new way of entrepreneurship, which is having success now more than ever.

This idea of “Profession Start Up” was founded in 2015 by the desire of the board of AEGEE-Cagliari to offer alternative methods of employing the young, and a new perspective for those who want to create their own business and realise their own ideas and do not know where to start. The questions from which we started were in fact: how can you start a start up? How should you act?

During the first day, purely theoretical, several experts in the field and consultants have explained the basics of the startup world. Starting from the internal mechanisms such as working stages, the research of the team members, the search for funding for the startup, the importance of leadership in the team, the relationship between various colleagues etc.

During the second day, on March 18th, the participants took part in a workshop in which all the skills learned on the previous day were put into practice, also taking personal skills into account. As industry experts, the association invited various brands and prominent experts who are very successful in this new world of Start Up, not only in Sardinia, but also in the rest of the world. Engaging and highly trained professionals have been able to better illustrate the working reality and shape the future with their own ideas.

Among these, to name a few, are: Giorgio Pisano, founder of Target School, makers of Sardex, Alessandro Vagnozzi, Chairman of Sardinia Confindustria Young Entrepreneurs Group, founder of J-service srl; Nicola Siza, business designers, for startup consultant Apply and director of Hub / Spoke; Alice Soru, founder and head of Open Campus, Alessandro Orgiana founder YOUSARDINIA, Mirko Podda and Alberto Unali, participants of the last edition of Lab Contamination Cagliari and founders of startups BXTAR, Maurizio Battelli, CEO of LYNX Srl etc.

A student of University of Cagliari, Sara, who was asked about her experience and impressions as a participant in this workshop in March, said: “It was the first time I participated in a seminar of this kind and I must say that this experience has far exceeded my expectations, especially with regard to self-interest for the startup world that was born after this seminar. […] In these two days I learnt more than I expected. I would gladly have this experience again and I would recommend it to everyone, even to those who at first glance, do not think they would be interested in entrepreneurship. I would love if a “second level” of this seminar was organised, so we can learn even more! “

Written by Laura Pace, AEGEE-Cagliari

Incredible things always happen during an Agora. The AEGEEan checked old material and asked some old members for interesting stories about this issue, a funny way to approach the upcoming Spring Agora Bergamo and read some legends of the past. 

The Agora can be something legendary for those who have never been there, since they probably heard many stories before departure. For those who already experienced it at least once, it is something incredible: a thousand of people from all over Europe, a huge common commitment, great discussions, fabulous encounters, moments of sharing and great parties. For the people organising it, it is something very different. More than one year ago, I had the honour of being an organiser of Autumn Agora Cagliari. If you ask me to say what it looks like, I would probably say tiring, challenging and agitating. If you ask me why, the answer is easy: anything can happen, even if you planned it in detail.

For every organiser there is always a precise moment when s/he realises that the event started, in my case was the following episode:

On the 28^th of October 2014, a sponsor gave us two cars and a big van. They were quite big and none of us had used a van before. We drove them to pick up CD members at the airport and, after greeting them, we put the luggage inside the last one. Once ready to drive it, an alarm rang showing that the trunk was open, we closed it many times without any result and then we thought it was a van problem. Of course the reality was very different, because as soon as we had entered the highway we heard dozens of horns around us: two bags of our former president Paul Smits broke out in the street forcing uncountable cars to make extraordinary riggings and we had to walk in the middle of the street to take them back.

Anything can happen

After that moment, many stories I heard about disasters during previous Agorae came to my mind. Maybe you do not know but a lot of weird things happened during our statutory events in the past. Not all the things regarded only organisers or were bad, some of there were actually very positive. But of course at that moment I started thinking about the worst possible scenarios.

To start: one of the things to know about the Agora is that it didn’t always look like it does today, at the first ones there were not that many participants. During Agora Salerno 1989, about two or three hundred participants were present and local organisers picked them up at the train station by car! It was the very same Agora during which the Berlin wall fell down and a participant said: “We did not know about the fall of the Wall. There were no mobiles, no one saw the news. I read about it on Monday after the Agora”.

In 1994, Agora Montpellier started at a plenary hall but finished on the market square of the French city. Why? According to our source “the freshly re-elected President of AEGEE-Europe, Dorian Selz, did not accept the election result, because he got only 52% of the votes. Before a new candidate could be voted, all the members of the Agora had to leave the building since it was closing time. So they gathered in front of the building and elected the successor, Christina Thorsson, there”. Still, it was not the worst result ever for a presidential candidate. In 1998 Stefan Seidel from AEGEE-Augsburg was elected with a poor 38%. At first he did not want to accept it and said: “I will go home now”. But people convinced him to stay in office. A bad mistake since at the next Agora his CD got a vote of confidence and lost it.

The first day of the Agora in Athina in November 2002 was overshadowed by a blackout. Suddenly the plenary hall went dark. In this case, the reaction was amazing since organisers lightened a couple of hundreds of small candles and gave the Juridical Commission president, Yuriy Tokarsky, a flashlight which he held on the Agora booklet so that President Tomak Helbin could present the CD report. It was accepted with an overwhelming majority. The organisers of autumn Agora Zaragoza in 2003 had bad luck. They could not get the promised location and had to move the Agora to an old fair instead. The participants were sleeping inside that giant hall, when one of them turned on a switch, which he mistook for a light switch.

It was the switch for the ventilation and a dead bird, which had ended its life near the ventilator, fell down – right on the sleeping bag of a Dutch participant. The history had a revival in the last years when AEGEE-Zaragoza was chosen as host of the Autumn Agora 2013, some people in fact wondered if participants were going to stay in the same place again: it was not, the event was hosted in a brand new structure used for Expo Zaragoza 2008 and the organisation was simply amazing!

An incredible year: 2006!

If there is a year champion for incredible statutory events, that’s definitely 2006, since in both the Agorae which took place an incredible fact occured. At Agora Warsawa 2006, about twenty couples which found a lonely corner in a garage to spend some nice time with the respective partner: they got registered by a surveillance camera and watched live stream by the guards.

As this history can be familiar to the readers, not so known is the case of Agora Napoli 2006: in the late afternoon of the 1st of November the water boiler plant of the Fair broke down. It was the All Saint’s day, national holiday in Italy, and the same is the 2^nd of November (All Souls’ day). Organisers desperately tried to find a plumber but it resulted in an impossible mission! One of them said: “The only solution to find a plumber in Napoli on the 2^nd of November is to look for him at a cemetery”. The situation was not fixed and participants started a huge protest because of cold water in the showers.

Recent years

Lately there have not been such big cases if we exclude huge delays in the agenda, a vote of confidence, some locals which left the plenary for protest, a broken motorbike in Agora Patra 2014 or participants who had to move their luggage because of handball match (they were already informed about it). These can be considered as funny or sad thing things which happened. Except for two cases.

Most of us probably remember the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland, which stopped the flight traffic from the 14^th till 23^rd of April of the same year. I guess you can imagine what happened: Agora Leiden was taking place from the 15^th till 18^th of the very same month: the perfect moment to destroy the travel plans of hundreds of AEGEEans, especially for their route back home, and create difficulties for organisers who had to take care of them.

If we also consider the CD members as organisers, since AEGEE-Europe is a partner organiser of the Agora, we cannot forget Agora Struga 2011 organised by AEGEE-Skopje. Because of an argue between the CD and local organisers, who increased the event fee one month before the event, for the last days of the event, the organisers disappeared leaving the CD and some other improvised helper managing the whole organisation – starting from the wake up till the welcome pack preparations!

The good God of AEGEE resides in Athina

It is possible that some organisers of Agora Bergamo or Autumn Agora Chisinau are getting scared while reading this article. In that case we should also remind them that AEGEE has a good God ready to solve every situation…and probably he is a member of AEGEE-Athina. Somehow the Greek local managed to solve not just a difficult situation but even two!

In the far 1992, this local organised an Agora which not took place in Athens but in Kōs, a Dodecanese island in front of the Turkish coast. You may wonder why they wanted to host the event there and the answer is quite easy: Agora was taking place in Spring, in Greece the weather is always nice so let’s gather all the participants in Athens to make a nice boat trip all together! While the organisation was running perfectly, only four days before the event an organiser switched on the TV and saw the sailor’s Labour Union president declaring started an unlimited duration strike because of high taxes. A panic attack caught the Greek organisers which started thinking about all the participants meandering around the Pireaus port and possible solutions to avoid it. One of them, was to meet the same president of the Union Labour – which they did but without results. The second solution, which now can sound very funny but probably in those moments was not, was to get an appointment with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and ask him to talk with the minister for the Defence to get a military vessel and transport all the participants to Kōs. Through some contact they succeeded to get the appointment.

At 11 am, two days before the Agora. The minister is taking part in a high level meeting with the Greek PM and the president of the Republic. Organisers are in front of the office ready to meet him, but at 11.05 they see everyone leaving the building and packing their things. They wonder why and they ask one of the officials “Is he coming?” – “No he is not coming at all, he just resigned 5 minutes ago because of disagreements on foreign policies”.

In case you wonder how participants reached the location, the story says that the greek minister of Finances (of course pure coincidence) accepted the requests of the labour union the day right before the boat departure. That’s how Agora Kōs could take place.

In case you do not believe to this story, you can download the 10th AEGEE anniversary booklet and read about it there (p. 92).

To end

Dear future Agora organisers, as you could see, also in the darkest situations there is always light and space for hope, and the people of AEGEE-Athina can confirm it for sure!

It has not been an isolated case since we also heard that while spring Agora in Barcelona 1999 was taking place overshadowed by the Nato air strikes against Serbia (with lots of people arriving late, because of many flights cancelled or rerouted), among the participants was Jasna Bogdanovic, President of AEGEE-Novi Sad. She took the opportunity to leave the country and was hosted by the President of AEGEE-Barcelona. They fell in love and got married.

So we wish you good luck and may the good God of AEGEE be with you!

Written by Mattia Abis, AEGEE-Cagliari

AEGEEans are used to working online sending an insanely high amount of mails per day, but this work, especially if done by boards, sometimes needs to be done in a cosy office where everything can be stored. We decided to take a tour to AEGEE-Budapest, AEGEE-Cagliari, AEGEE-Enschede and AEGEE-Verona offices, discovering that not every local has one.

AEGEE-Budapest office

AEGEE-Budapest got its current office five years ago and it is shared with another organisation. Peter Sczigel, President of AEGEE-Budapest, said: “It’s small but cosy. It’s located in the Corvinus University of Budapest, where the majority of our members are from. Inside we have lockers, computers, comfy couches and a lot of memorabilia”. AEGEE-Budapest organised three Agoras, Autumn Agora 1991, Autumn Agora 1995 and Autumn Agora 2012 and they still have some stuff from those times, things they are proud of. Of course, they meet with members outside of the office too. “We often meet with our members in bars next to our uni. We have regular social drinks and other events there.” concluded Peter.

AEGEE-Cagliari office

Another that organised an Agora some years ago is AEGEE-Cagliari. The Italian insular local has been in the current office for ten/fifteen years. “It is located in our university, at the Economy department.” said Francesca Zorcolo, President of the local. “We got everything we need in order to work for AEGEE and to receive members or potential ones. Every year the current board add something to the office, as picture collages, t-shirts from their summer university, etc”. Endless days of working in the same enviroment can be extremely tiring, but it can also create some lovely memories as Francesca confirmed: “I think that one of the best memory is when we worked for the Agora and the meeting lasted so long that we had to have dinner with pizza at the office. We were not less than ten and we were really really tired, but still happy and excited”. The walls of an office can be small, so AEGEE-Cagliari tries to find new places for their members’ meeting, going to the beach too.

AEGEE-Enschede office

AEGEE-Enschede is probably the only local owning a pub, the famous Asterion. Right above it, the Dutch local has their office, located in a building called De Pakkerij right in the city center, shared with other three student associations. They have a room where the board usually work with a big table in the middle of the room and five desks with computers for the board members. Next to it they have a meeting room where their committees and external partners are welcomed. There is also a place to chill with few computers for members to work and join the board for lunch or tea or coffee.

Wietske Jousma, President and European Affairs of AEGEE-Enschede, said that “The best feature we have  in our office is our chandelier which was bought by a committee years ago and all this time it has been hanging from our ceiling. However, the previous board thought it was so ugly that they replaced it. One of the members of the committee who bought it insisted it should be back in our office, so we decided this year to give it a new place in the office. Most of the fake diamonds have fallen off the chandelier, but it doesn’t matter. It is back where it belongs!”.

AEGEE-Verona meeting

Not every local is lucky to have an office. This is the case of AEGEE-Verona, located in the north-east of Italy. Refounded in 2013, they hope to have one very soon, meanwhile they meet in a downtown bar called Caffé&Pistacchio. Sara Bottacini, treasurer of AEGEE-Verona, said “It has a basement where we can have some privacy and silence. We have been meeting there since January 2015. It’s nice, there are some sofas and armchairs and it’s located near the university area”. They also meet in university’s classrooms or common areas such as the garden of the canteen. Not having an office also means that they cannot keep memorabilia or AEGEE documents in a common place, but they divide it among the board members.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Autumn Agora Kiev is approaching really fast, applications have been aproved and candidates are waiting for the moment when they will find out if they will get elected or not. Matteo Secchi from AEGEE-Cagliari is running for Public Relations of the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT) and has already some ideas of what he wants to do if he will get elected. Read more below to find out what he told the AEGEEan.
The AEGEEan: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Matteo Secchi: Hi, there! I am Matteo from AEGEE-Cagliari, member of this awesome association since 2013 and every day spent with and for AEGEE was a big pleasure. As many members of AEGEE, I started by joining a Summer University, and what was more like a joke for me at first, is now one of the most important things in my life.
Actually, after some Summer Universities (SUs), Network Meetings (NWMs), local activities, and the amazing Autumn Agora Cagliari 2014, I am the Internal Vice-President of AEGEE-Cagliari.

The AEGEEan: Why do you want to run for member of Summer University Coordination Team?

I decided to apply for Summer University Coordination Team because Summer University is the project that signed all my career in AEGEE and it has a big signification for me. For me, it is the best event. You see smiles everywhere, organisers and participants enjoying every moment together, and when this all comes to an end, you become nostalgic and you realise that you become a family with the others 30/35 amazing people and all you want is to have one more day and to remember all the good times. It is something that I can not describe.
For this reason I think I am good for this team, and because I want to share all my knowledge with the others, to maintain and improve this incredible project.
I choose Public Relations because this year I made the promotion for the Summer University of my local and the result was quite good. I always liked the public relations field and I also want to help the rest of the team with creating some imputs for the future and improve the Summer Universities.

Being member of SUCT will take some of your time. Are you still studying? Can you dedicate yourself and your time for this team?

Actually I am not studying and I am unemployed, so time is not a problem! Also, when I take a task, I honour it no matter what, even if I find a job, because for the next year, my mind will be set only on the Summer University Project.

Do you know the others who are running for SUCT? How do you think that you are going to work together in case you get elected?

That is a really funny question. Actually, I know all the candidates, I met them during the events I took part in. I met Carolina in my first NWM and she saw me growing during these past years and she is also a very good friend of mine.
Lia was a participant with me in Summer University Project School this year. From the first moment we became friends thanks to the awesome work of SUCT and trainers and as well of the great group that was there. After that, we both applied to Travel Summer University “Adventure Time” where I met Rali.
As you can see AEGEE is not that big, but going back to the main question, I guess I will not have a problem in working with them, firstly because we are friends, secondly because we already had the possibility of working together.

Do you already have some ideas and plans for the next year Summer Universities?

Actually, I was thinking about this these days and also watching all the work that SUCT has done this past year.
I want to improve and continue the work that Suzan started last year and I want to mention what she said: “The power and effectiveness of SUs can be told to people by personal stories. As being the face of the project I would like to collect the stories of participants and organisers including funny stories and small anecdotes about what changes in their life after this unique experience and create a blog/page with different sections and multimedia.”
Also, one of the most important thing for me is to motivate people to fill in the evaluation form because it is a really a big thing for a local, especially for the SU project itself, and not so many people give credit to this short but very helpful form.
That is just a little part of all, I still have a lot of ideas but I will have to work with the team to make them possible!

The AEGEEan: Why do you think that you are good for SUCT and why should people vote for you?

Actually, I cannot convince everybody to vote for me because most people do not know me, but try to ask the ones that met me somewhere in Europe or my local. Probably I am just a little point in this big network but all the people that trusted me, never complained.
Between local events, Summer Universities as well as participant and organiser, Autumn Agora Cagliari and other events, I guess I have the right experience to try to be a SUCT member.
I know that I will do my best and I will spend all my time and all my energy to Summer University project because I really care about it and I hope that this will be enough.
Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

You can read his full candidature here.