The AGORA is streaming live all the time, so all the ones, who by one reason or another couldn’t make it to Budapest, have the opportunity to keep up to speed with the official part of this event from home. But not for nothing do they say that it is the little things that count. So here are just some of the little things that you might have missed from the live streaming.

The AEGEEan was lucky to obtain top-secret information that will be only revealed tonight. You, my dear readers, will be the first to know. The Network Commission (NetCom) cups will be officially released. Now all of our beloved Network Commissioners (NetCommies) will not only have T-Shirt to unite them, but coffee mugs to help them wake up on the last two mornings of the AGORA. This obviously means that they just have to be on time and full of energy now. No excuses!

The opening ceremony can definitely be remembered for the Hungarian dances and the Hungarian Magician. Even though we may not have seen any true white magic, nevertheless, many got to laugh at the tricks with the rope and rings accompanied to all types of strange and peculiar songs. Some lucky ones even got to get a souvenir to take back home. We are sure that those cut off pieces of rope will be cherished in their homes forever… or maybe not.

The first two parties opened with a big bang. The clubs might have been a bit crowded, but what can you expect from such huge event? The Suit-up party was just a warm-up for the rest of the AGORA nights. Some truly went all out for the Bad Hair night. All the ones who couldn’t get a wig or spray their hair with any crazy color were able to improvise with ALDI bags, ponytails or just plain-old hair jelly.

The delay of the vice-chair, who was elected so smoothly, with no objections whatsoever at the Extraordinary Agora, cannot be left unmentioned. Thomas Leszke was told to have been dreaming of AEGEE-Düsseldorf while we were all already hard at work at the first plenary. Now this is a joke that really needs to be explained. To start off, Thomas is from AEGEE-Köln. When speaking about the relationship between Köln and Düsseldorf, one might compare it to that of Barcelona –Madrid or Moscow – St. Petersburg. Basically, if you ask for a Düsseldorf beer in a bar in Köln, you will be kicked out. The same is true the other way around. Now that the background story is in place, we can have our small laugh at the “punishment” Thomas had to endure.

Last but not least. The plush-toy flash mob was a very nice way to start this Friday. A good cause and a great way to help out. Thank you, dear organisers, for such a wonderful idea.

A separate thank you to Christian Bussar, AEGEE-Aachen, and Dasha Onokhova, AEGEE-Moskva, for the pictures. 

Written by Olga Volovyk, AEGEE-Kyiv

It is a hard time for AEGEE now. While we should all be excited about our General Assembly starting tomorrow in Budapest, a call changed our mood. We were informed that Frank Biancheri, founder of AEGEE-Europe, had passed away on October 29th.

The members of AEGEE have reacted instantly to the news, sharing their memories of meeting him, remembering how innovative his ideas were, how he had the ability to create debate around him, making new ideas flourish in the minds of those who had the opportunity to meet him. His belief that youth was a necessary actor in the building of Europe has inspired generations of active citizens in Europe inside and outside AEGEE, and we will miss his questioning approach to everything.

During the Autumn Agora Budapest we will dedicate a minute of silence at our opening ceremony and we will for sure have him very present. But, at the same time, we want to offer all people who has been inspired by him an open space for expressing their feelings.

Please use the comments thread on this post for sharing your last words to him. Go to the end of this post and you will find it there.

Written by Comité Directeur

For most of you Olimpia Parje’s (AEGEE-Bucureşti) name is already known, and her list of previous positions in AEGEE both on local and European level is quite outstanding. This time Olimpia is offering her help in Mediation Commission (MedCom) where she has put her candidature forward. Besides of reading the usual questions and answers in her candidature application, we asked her some more interesting questions.

The AEGEEan: Please, update The AEGEEan readers about your current life. What have you been doing since Agora Enschede both in AEGEE and your private life?

Olimpia: I finished my master degree in July, after which I went on an extensive two weeks trip through the Balkans where I saw a lot of nice places and met a lot of great friends (from Istanbul to Zadar and Ljubljana, through Sofia, Belgrade, Bar, Zagreb and last stop in Budapest) – my own kind of “ceremonial” trip of finishing a complete cycle of education. Shortly after I was helping out with the Travelling Summer University (TSU) of AEGEE-Ploieşti and AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca.

Just about a week later I got my first “real” job. I’m currently working at the Representation of the European Commission in Romania, doing some communication work and website administration.

This summer you stepped out of  Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) and Advocacy Team. Why is that?

Actually I didn’t step out of ACT or Advocacy Team. My term in ACT was over in August and I simply decided I wouldn’t go for another term as I wanted to do other things.

Regarding the Advocacy Team, nobody really stepped out, the activity simply got a bit slower after Agora Enschede and soon after the European Commission announced modifications to the proposals that we were mostly pleased with. So you could say the team reached its goal and that’s why it’s not so active anymore.

Why did you decide to apply for MedCom and why now? Did somebody in the current / previous teams motivate you (and who)?

After Agora Enschede I was looking around and trying to find my place again in AEGEE, see what else I can do and how I can be involved – as I don’t feel like I’ve had enough of it yet! – and the idea of MedCom came up in a casual conversation, though I can’t remember with whom exactly I was talking. There were quite some people in the end who were supporting me and trying to motivate me more to apply, especially when I was still undecided. The most enthusiastic advocate was definitely Ermanno Napolitano.

Could you give us one situation where you have acted as a mediator and that has helped to solve the issue?

There have been a few “opportunities” for this while I was working as a Network Commissioner. One particular situation comes to mind when there was a problem in one of my locals, where the board members were not getting along and it was damaging the local, so I stepped in and after talking to all sides, brought them together and devised a solution in the best interest of the local. The local has been doing much better after that, but I’d rather not mention which one it was.

Have you worked with other MedCom candidates before? What is your opinion about candidates?

It’s funny, it feels like I’ve worked with Ermanno Napolitano and Maurits Korse forever, even though we were never directly in one team working together. I guess it’s just a familiarity that the European level gives you. I’ve had a chance to work with them for bits and pieces, with Ermanno while he was in the Juridical Commission and Members Commission. Maurits was a great help with the locals’ map for the Key to Europe when I was its Editor-in-Chief.

But I have a feeling we’ll have great chemistry as a team and would work really well together. As they are both quite awesome people and with their experience in AEGEE, their personality and what I see as their biggest asset – their great involvement and caring for AEGEE – they will surely become great members of the Mediation Commission. They already have my full trust.

What else would you like to add?

I’m looking forward to our two very exciting Agorae in Budapest! And even though I hope there won’t be many instances when our help as a Mediation Commission is needed, I’ll be there to serve (and protect). Sorry, leftover NetCom spirit… (smiles)

Written by Anita Kalmane, AEGEE-Ogre

The current Network Commission (NetCom) team as well as the previous Network Director Jüri Kirpu have prepared a proposal for the upcoming Fall Agora Budapest 2012 about the antenna criteria. You can read the proposal itself here. The AEGEEan gives you an opportunity to better understand the idea behind the proposal and the planned changes. 

NetCom in their meeting in Katowice

“The proposal will aim at improving the quality of the Network as such, by including points which will reduce the work of the Network Commission and the person responsible for the Network within the Comité Directeur (usually the Network Director),” sums up Jüri.

The proposal itself stretches out on 3,5 pages, mainly being more precise about several criteria rather than changing them. For example, the current contact antenna (CA) criteria says that CA should have at least 10 members, while the proposal makes it more concrete – “Have at least 10 members who are not a member of another local upon the contact becoming a contact antenna. The members list has to be sent to the Comité Directeur (CD) for approval.” As NetCom Speaker Wieke van der Kroef says, it is beneficial for the locals as they will have more clear guidelines what is expected from them, why is it needed and how to fulfil each criteria.

Another change is a possibility to sign the Convention d’Adhesion (CdA) not during any statutory event, but just at Agorae. Jüri clarifies that only Agora represents the voice of AEGEE, therefore it is more fair to ask the new contacts to sign CdA there. The proposal also specifies that new contacts should send an application to join AEGEE, not a motivation letter as it is mentioned at the moment. Already now the NetCom has prepared a possible form which the interested people will be asked to fill in. The form has concrete questions which would be important to know for AEGEE to make a better decision. Wieke recalls that most of the possible contacts were asking what exactly should be included in the letter, therefore this is another step to make the process easier for them.

Wieke recalls that the idea got more concrete this summer during the NetCom meeting in Katowice. Since then the previous and the current NetCom team as well as Jüri  were working together on developing the proposal. Jüri’s previous experience in the CD helped to propose changes that, as he hope, will make with this proposal. “We have also looked at the structure of organisations such as Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) to see how they do it and if we can learn from their approach to making sure their new members realise what their work contains,” adds Wieke. Of course, the proposers are open to suggestions and possible changes in the proposal. The presented idea is based on their previous experience, but “more people can generate more ideas,” smiles Jüri.

NetCom in their meeting in Katowice

“I do hope that all people will take the time to carefully read the proposal so they understand our plans and to prepare possible amendments. This so we can discuss all ideas and end the prytanium with an even better proposal that makes sure all members understand AEGEE and their duties within the association,” Wieke invites.

Written by Anita Kalmane, AEGEE-Ogre

Dear Network, once again it is the time to share and prepare you a little bit for who you are going to see at the Autumn Agora in Budapest. We have here with us the president of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca & former CD Assistant, Ioana Duca, who will be answering a few questions about herself, her candidature for SUCT and future plans.

1) So, Ioana, you are no stranger to AEGEE, locally or Europeanly speaking, tell us a little bit about being president and some challenges you faced during the Summer Universities you organised.

Being president can be more difficult than some of you are thinking. For me it is a pleasure to work with my team and it is not something new. In the previous board I was the Secretary and I worked a lot with our HR responsible, treasurer, PR responsible, let’s say that I was doing a bit of everything and for a president it is really important to know how to deal with all these things. It is a pleasure to share my knowledge with my team and to help the new ones learn more and grow at the same time.

Organising a Summer University is a challenge all the time. Even if you prepare everything in advance, before and during the Summer University, you will still have to change a lot of things. It is a continuous work, using plan B, C and sometimes even D. It is good that the alphabet has so many letters! This summer was the craziest one for me: organising 3 SU’s ( “Cross the ECOpath in Central Europe”, “AEGEEans, Y U No Feel Transylvania” & “The Wild, Wild. ..East!”) and helping the 4^th one (“Romanian Traddictions”), it was a real challenge for me but a real pleasure at the same time. I like to organise, sleep less, spend time finding cheap solutions, take decisions on how to share money or how to save more, be faced with different problems, I like to be very active.

But the biggest challenge  this year was a visa related one. In the first TSU organised by my local, AEGEE-Piliscsaba and AEGEE-Gliwice (“Cross the ECOpath in Central Europe), we had a problem with a Ucranian participant and he couldn’t join us in Hungary. He was forced, at the border with Hungary, to go back to Romania and come directly to Poland. Unfortunately, we keep having this kind of problems.

2) Speaking of Summer Universities, just after it ended, the one organised by AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca-Piliscsaba-Gliwice, made it as The AEGEEan’s SU story of the week. What was it like to find out that your SU was the one voted for?

It was a nice surprise for me to see that our SU was voted as the SU story for one week, but at the same time, it was a confirmation that all the work and all the problems and challenges were not in vain. For me, organising an SU is not a burden, but with any type of event, when you have a lot of problems, you start thinking harder about all your decisions. In the end, we had an amazing  SU – visiting 3 countries, having an extraordinary group of 22 participants and great organisers and helpers -, and it was even better when I saw that by being the SU story of the week, others learned about this, too.

3) Being President is no easy ride, so what made you apply for the position of CD Assistant?

I decided to apply for CD Assistant because I needed a new challenge and I wanted to get more involved. It truly was a challenge to work at the same time in Brussels, as assistant, and in Cluj-Napoca, as President of my new board and as part of several teams of SU organisers. It is good that we have internet, Skype, Facebook and e-mails! All these helped me a lot, because I was living in Brussels, working with the AEGEE archives, but spending a lot of time on the internet as well, in order to do research, have meetings, and basically work for my local and its SUs. Both the previous and the new board of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca supported me, as my stay in Brussels happened soon after the elections and during the transfer of knowledge period.

4) Was your experience as a CD Assistant that which determined you to run for SUCT?

I was thinking about it before as well, but this experience helped me make the final decision. Being the Assistant of the CD, I had the chance to learn more and so I wanted to get more involved. I also met some new friends, who supported me in the decision to run for SUCT.

5) How does it feel to know that you are running against two other people for the position of Project Director?

It is good to see so many motivated candidates, all wanting to work hard. I know that all of them are really good, with a lot of experience, and one of them is also an old friend of mine (a participant of the first SU I’ve ever organised). I’m sure that we’ll have a perfect and hard working SUCT team.

6) I won’t ask you if you think you are more qualified, but I will ask you: what if you don’t get elected as Project Director? What will you do then?

It is hard to say who is more qualified or who will be elected as Project Manager, but I’m sure that no matter the results, the team will do everything to implement all new ideas and strive to make the best out of their time as SUCT and out of all the upcoming SUs.

7) About the future, regardless of the outcome of the election, are you planning to run again for President of AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca?

Being President has given me the chance to help the others learn more about AEGEE and grow enough as to be themselves future candidates for the position of President. It is very important for a local to have fresh and motivated leaders, so that’s why I’ll let others be next year’s candidates. But because I’m an AEGEE addict, I’ll always continue to help my local, as well as other locals.

The AEGEEan wishes you a lot of luck, Ioana, and we’ll see you in Budapest!

Written by Andra Toma, AEGEE-Bucureşti

In the preparations of the Agora The AEGEEan is again looking for a responsible to capture moments on film during the Autumn Agora Budapest 2012. One possible photographer who is perfect to help out – Dasha Onokhova from AEGEE-Moskva. She took fantastic pictures at the EBM Izmir and has been working on the latest Key2Europe (K2E) so there is no doubt that she knows how to work a camera and what comes out of it.

Just like The AEGEEan gave the readers the opportunity to get to know the photographer Lea Charlet before Spring Agora Enschede, the journalist Patricia Anthony took the time to get to know Dasha and the reason behind her love of photography.

The AEGEEan: First of all, how did you find out about AEGEE?

Dasha: My friend told me about this organisation. He found AEGEE, when searching for some internship, but actually he is not so active anymore. But I am an active member in my antenna and I am trying to be even more active on the European level. I cannot imagine my life without AEGEE – it is my family. AEGEE brings a lot of opportunities, positive emotions, great people and love! All together we will make our future the best one!

You have recently been working on the K2E, how was that experience?

Working with the K2E was a good opportunity for me to become more active with AEGEE on European level and to work with an amazing and talented team! But it is complicated to work online, everybody doing his or her job, but they need to collaborate and understand each other in order to get great work in the end.

How long have you been interested in photography?

I started being interested in photography about three years ago, when my father bought a semi-professional reflex camera for his hobby, and it became my hobby too. Now this is a hobby which brings me money and shows my views to the world.

Why do you like photography?

Photography is my passion! For now I cannot live without my camera. Through the lens you see the world in a different perspective and you want to show this amazing world to everybody! In photography you can stop time, catch the emotion, capture the history, and make people happy with these memories!

Besides being an active AEGEE member and loving photography, what do you use your time for?

Besides AEGEE and photography I study interior and exterior design. I want to make the beauty of our world more functional, and more ecologically friendly. I am also a very active person, I love to be engaged in new activities every day and gain new knowledge.

Why were you interested in taking pictures for The AEGEEan?

Dasha took pictures like this during EBM and will behind the camera in Budapest again

First of all because AEGEE is my family, and The AEGEEan is like an album with all memories, but it is also a communication tool for members and the rest of the world. And this way of communication must be clear, informative and interesting. So I want to show AEGEE in a good way and make happy memories!

Dasha is going to be the one behind the lens in Budapest capturing all the moments on film! So make sure that you will stay tuned to the website, if you want to keep up with the live updates, pictures and possibly videos posted here and on Facebook. 

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København