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

Luca Bisighini, Italian from AEGEE-Brescia, is a 27-year-old travel addict and weird, as he defines himself. He has an MBA with a specialisation in International Trade and Business and he currently lives in Krakow, Poland doing an internship. He joined AEGEE two years ago and he became active both on the local and European level. After being elected as the third member of the Audit Commission during Spring Agora Bergamo, he decided to go for a second term to finish and/or implement what has been started in this term, but he also wants to bring new ideas.

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to run for a position in the Audit Commission again?

Luca: As I said in my application I promised it in Bergamo and I am not running away from my promises. Moreover, I liked this term as Audit and just five months seemed too short to me. I have ambitious plans and enough motivation to be a part of the Audit again. I want to continue working on plans for facilitating the life of Auditors in the future and give opportunities to lots of future students of economics.

According to you, what has been your biggest achievement in the Commission and what was the biggest of the entire Commission?

Personally I’d say getting more in touch with the finances of AEGEE, realising how locals behave by looking at the numbers, by what they present. This is fundamental if you want to set up criteria and make guidelines to allow people to analyse what locals are doing. I have been helped a lot by the previous two Audits who were in charge for a whole year: Mateusz Muszalski (AEGEE-Krakow) and especially Deborah Pistori (AEGEE-Cagliari), the spinal cord of this 2015/16 Audit Commission, God bless her. The biggest achievement of the Commission this Summer was to define our ideas more clearly and decide what we want to do together. We had some serious problems, but we solved them.

You seem to have a clear communication strategy in mind. Can you explain it, with a clear separation between internal communication and external communication?

First of all, during this term we had some kind of communication troubles within the Commission. I appreciate it to be among people who try to save the ship and lead it to safe waters. The issue I am referring to was mainly caused by continuous miscommunications. Also, during these months I had no opportunities to talk to any of the Job Shadowers. None of them showed up, which is kind of weird especially taking into consideration that in Bergamo I ran with one of them.

Actually I wasn’t leading the Audit, but this situation pissed me off (and I wasn’t the only one) due to the lack of basic organisation and leadership. Leadership is fundamental in the European bodies of AEGEE. If you are not a good leader, or a good organiser, well, you are wasting time. Because this was such a huge issue I mainly referred to an internal problem in answering your question.

We will implement the move to Podio, which I find fundamental to make this whole thing work. I would love to have a group of Job Shadowers: people eager and ready to be in a team, to learn lots of things and share their knowledge with me! That’s why we constantly need to be in touch with locals who are asking questions, with FATF, the CD, and the Medcom. Our credibility pass through our complete transparency, and precision in our work and in time.

Can you explain your idea about creating a set of criteria to analyse locals’ Financial Reports in more detail?

When I applied in Bergamo I already discussed my idea of making an Intertemporal Register of the finances of the locals. It’s something really basic in the world of accounting, and it is used to discover the right course of action in a multi-year period, to analyze risks, to prevent them by analysing economic behaviours, justifications to the numbers you see. We can do this for any kind of economic sector and for AEGEE branches too. We can even use these kinds of analyses within our locals. 

If we will analyse the behaviours of different antennae, we can easily establish which ones are at risk, which ones are less at risk and we can find the things they have in common. By adding the international standards “ISO 19011:2011: guidelines for auditing management systems” in the process of our work we can make a professional jump that this body has never experienced before. We need a Task Force for this step forward, so we need more auditors – I hope at least two will join – and a lot of Job Shadowers who have to become like Subcommies for Netcoms. That’s why I am excited and eager to have a Task Force ready to work with me if I will be elected.

You put a lot of emphasis on educating locals. How would you implement this in an efficient way?

One of the things I want to do this year is to explain to every single local that made some kind of mistakes what it is they did wrong. Also, explaining in detail how to fill out a Financial Statement and how to do bookkeeping will be fundamental. It will be one of the first things to implement during the first months of the next term. From Chisinau to Enschede we need to do a lot of educating and talking to locals. We should also try to provide them with more unconventional and non-formal educational tools, even though I am sorry to say that economic education is usually pretty formal. 

You mentioned that you will avoid “stealing problems” in locals. Not going too much into detail, why do you think this problem exists? Is it a big problem or is it limited to specific cases?

There are free-riders in our world in general, not just in AEGEE. There are people and locals who do not follow the main rules of the CIA or their own country’s national (and/or) European law. That’s absurd.

When I joined Audit I heard some vague stories from the past about “hey in this local XYZ ten years ago this happened”, or “this person used the locals’ money to buy the kitchen of his/her flat”. I mean, it might be funny at first, but it’s not funny in the end. Several antennae died due to debts, and were then born again like a Phoenix. Luckily it’s not a big problem,  but we need to take clear and really serious actions to prevent this from happening again. Maybe we can propose some solutions at the Spring Agora in Enschede.

Currently you are Audit Commissioner, Coordinator of the Migration Interest Group, part of the Finance/Fundraising/Social Media team of Europe on Track and Subcommissioner of the Rainbow Area. Considering the workload of the Audit Commission, do you think that you are involved in too many projects? How would you be able to manage everything without neglecting any of your positions?

Anna Bortoletto from AEGEE-Udine asked me the same question in Bergamo, and I managed to find time to do each single thing in this term since then. Team work and effective, precise use of the tools and time we have is the answer. Even if it makes me sleep a few less hours, working for all these AEGEE projects is rewarding to me.

Lisa’s Subcommie Team this year was probably the strongest and the one that worked the most. I have no doubts about it. We made inquiries first, then we tried to improve a lot of the weaknesses we found. We discussed problems and areas where every single local can look for improvements, such as IT areas and ways to improve HR and recruitment. Next year, I’m certain a lot of antennae will adapt their strategies based on our advise. 

The Finance Team of Europe on Track is something lot of antennae/projects in Europe should be jealous of. I love the project, it’s utterly brilliant and fascinating, but since this year’s edition it was troubled. I wanted to contribute with my expertise to make it work better, and make it more digital: an edition to remember.

The Migration interest group grew because of a series of events. We were able to exploit in such a great way: a great edition of the EPM, a really active Facebook group and in the end my Policy Paper on Migration were such great catalysts. We are growing and raising awareness on such a difficult topic. People in the group have great enthusiasm and a lot of creativity, attention, passion for the topic. I almost have goosebumps all the time, I am proud of every member of MIGR. And they represent the perfect AEGEE spirit I hope is alive in other groups and projects too. If I have to list one problem, I would say that I won’t have enough time to go to Brussels for the live meetings for all these projects. Of course, the Audit Commission will have the priority.

You have been very open about your plans in AEGEE. Would you push your ‘career’ further by running for CD in Enschede? If so, do you think this would be wise considering there are no other candidates for Audit as of now?

I am really grateful for having received so much positive feedback regarding my work, about what I do, and about what I say. I really think that this year I will work in the Audit in order to create something worth remembering which can facilitate and inspire a new generation of Auditors to have the kind of financial discussions we have been missing. With regard to my intentions toward running for CD, 2017 will just be a year devoted to the Audit Commission for me. I know more or less 20 people who are not in the CD now that might be new CD members in the very near future. I don’t know what my future holds, but, if something should change in my intentions: since I was born on June 18th and my name day is on October 18th and generally 18 is my favourite number … What about Luca, CD 20…18? [he smiles, ed.]. For now it is Luca, Audit Commission 2017, it sounds wonderful to me.

You can read his full candidature here. 

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

27 years old and from France, Damien Latacz from AEGEE-Aachen is ready to run for a second term in the Mediation Commission. He has been living in Germany for the past four years and he is studying Metallurgical Engineering. He loves to cook and hike, and he loves winter. One term in the Mediation Commission was very satisfying for him and he found that it was “the balance between self-development and helping the network”. 

The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to run for a position in the Mediation Commission?

Damien: I like working in the Mediation Commission. It is both challenging and rewarding. Challenging because you have to adapt yourself to others and modify your perception to be able to help. And rewarding because you can actually help people in difficult situations. This is a job I like, and I want to continue it.

What is the thing (or are the things) you are most proud of in your previous term?

Without hesitation, the team. We are really different people, with different ways of thinking, and we complement each other to get an impartial and objective understanding of situations.  I am also quite proud that we started developing trainings and visuals, but that is more for the long term, and I hope the next teams will continue in this direction.

For several years now, candidates for the Mediation Commission have put “Visibility in the Network” in the programme, without reaching apparent results. What is your feasible idea to reach this visibility?

It is indeed difficult to be visible when we are not allowed to talk about much of our work. This year already, thanks to our workshops, more people know that we at least exist! This year, I would like to find a way to make Data Privacy more interesting. Not just the DPPS, but in general. I hope when people will realise how important and impactful data privacy is, and how knowing about mediation can improve your daily life, they will be more interested in the MedCom. It is something we have to change in our association in the long run, and knowledge about it will bring visibility.

An interesting point of your candidature is “Improve the knowledge of the network about basic mediation techniques” stating that you have already started this in some NWMs. Can you please explain it further?

Mediation is a huge field, with many different theories and techniques. It is a mix between communication, psychology, languages, etc… We all do it at some point, especially in AEGEE, but we don’t realise it. If you know about it, you can improve your work, and the satisfaction you get from it. The workshop we created is really about the basics, but hopefully it helps people think actively about it, not just in AEGEE, but in their everyday life.

Do you think that mediation skills are underestimated in an association like ours?

Absolutely! People usually think of mediation as the last solution in case of a serious conflict, but you can use it every day. In our association, we work in teams a lot, with people from different cultures, and this can lead to some misunderstandings. We also work on Facebook a lot, where the things you can say are limited. Mediation skills help you detect this, and work towards better communication, which means better work.

Once again, there are not enough candidates for Medcom. Since probably this interview will go out when you will still be the only candidate, explain why (motivated) people should apply for Medcom.

Because it is something you cannot have anywhere else in AEGEE. You do not just help people, you also learn a lot yourself. Skills that will be valuable for your employers, for relationships, or even just for yourself. And the challenges and cases we have, push us to improve ourselves to be able to help. If you do your job well in MedCom, you will help the Network and come out a better person! Who would not want that?

Related to that, why do you think people are not applying for such a position?

As I mentioned in previous questions, I think it is a combination of not knowing what we do, and not seeing how impactful it can be on our work in general. I hope that by improving the knowledge of the network about the topics we work on, more people will be interested.

DPPS is very complicated to understand and to develop. What is the status now? Do you think that the timeline you set in Agora Bergamo is feasible? Do you think that, provided that you will be elected, you can push the implementation further?

First of all, a reminder that MedCom is not responsible for the implementation, we just help people respect the rules. Currently, the Commissions do follow the DPPS. The OMS is late, but when it will be there, it will solve many problems. Maybe some parts of the timeline will be a bit delayed, but in general, it is feasible.

The OMS has always been the main problem, because we don’t have that many people interested in creating it, and it is a huge workload. But we are one of the biggest associations in Europe with an IT system that is completely outdated. It holds us back, we need to realise this, and MedCom will surely continue lobbying for a better structure.

What is, according to you, the job of a good Mediation Commissioner?

First, you have to be open minded and patient, to help people in conflict understand each other and work together towards a resolution. Second, you have to keep updated on Privacy laws and agreement, to check if the DPPS is still up-to-date, and help people in AEGEE understand and follow the rules. Two sides of the same job: one more neutral and helping, the other one more active and explanatory.

You can read his full candidature here.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

“If my house was on fire and I could only save one thing, it would be my fridge”. How to disagree with Ralitsa “Rali” Mihaylova from AEGEE-Berlin, one of the six candidates for a position in the Summer University Coordination Team. Bulgarian by birth, the 21 years-old Ralitsa joined AEGEE-Berlin in February 2015 and now she is the treasurer (and unofficial mascot – the Bulgarian Bear) of the German local. She is studies Comuputer Science and she works as a motion designer. Within the SUCT, she aims to cover the task of Publications Responsible.

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

Ralitsa: I have the skills, the motivation and the spirit for the job and since my term in the board is coming to an end and I’m definitely not about to stop being active in AEGEE in the near future, I didn’t think twice about candidating again.

You already run in Autumn Agora Kyïv with great competition. What has changed in the past year?

I got to experience the SU project from a lot of new perspectives – I was participant, main organiser and I helped the SUCT with PR materials. I got a better understanding of the current issues and a clearer vision of what Summer Universities are about and how they can reach more of their potential. The only thing that hasn’t changed in the last year is my motivation!

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

Definitely! I think the workload is overwhelming for four people, even if they are insanely productive. It’s also a great way to get more AEGEEans interested in the development of the project.

In your candidature you said you developed a clear idea of how you want to contribute to raising the event quality and getting more new members and non-members interested in participating. What is your idea?

The thing is that today cheap travel with awesome people is something you can find in a lot of places, some even easier and cheaper than Summer Universities, so promoting them in this way is equivalent to saying ”nothing special”. Everyone who has participated in a SU knows that it’s about way more than just travelling, and so should the people who haven’t done it yet. That’s why it all starts by clarifying the meaning of Summer Universities and the participants we want to target. I want to ”cut out” the cliches from the PR materials and social media and concentrate on the self-development, thematic content and of course on AEGEE. To expand the reach of promotion and information, I want to create more interactive content (videos, animations, infographics) and partner with other student organisations with similar member groups and activities. Other improvements I would make are expanding our pool of trainers beyond AEGEE bodies (mainly by cooperating with other students’ organisations), providing help with materials and activities for compulsory sessions and establishing stronger link between organising locals and our WGs and Projects.

How would you foster good communication between locals and Working Group and Projects?

By increasing the visibility of WGs and Projects on the SU communication channels and working on clear guidelines for what the cooperation should consist of, for example setting a minimum for thematic content and activities, and requiring a tangible end result – it could be a common project, publication, etc. That way it’s mutually beneficial and it can be a very effective promotion for future events or initiatives.

How do you envision the cooperation with other students organisations?

AEGEE has great partner organisations like ESN and BEST and I don’t see a reason why we can’t make our SUs more visible to their members and offer their trainers to cooperate with our organising locals. We have a lot in common with other student organisations, but in some areas our vision and approach is completey different, which is why I think a cooperation like this would be an amazing learning experience and should be encouraged more.

This is a recurring question when it comes to Summer Universities: the decreasing number of applications and local organisers. What do you think about these issues?
About the number of applications, I think it’s a natural result of the existence of Ryanair, Tinder and all the student projects you can participate in literally for free. We can’t and we really shouldn’t compete with them based on ”cheap and fun travel” anymore. If we put more effort into reaching people outside the network and do it with the right message and the numbers keep going down, I will personally go count the applications, because that’s impossible! As for the number of organising locals, I don’t think we have a deficiency of SUs. What we should work on is filling the event quality gap, mainly by paying extra attention to smaller and inexperienced organising teams.

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

As for the locals that struggled because of other factors, I think that before organising their next SU, they should think about their weaknesses and work out solutions first. If it is a lack of HR they could ask friends from nearby antennae to join as helpers, or organise a TSU. If their SU didn’t get enough exposure on social media, they can think of more creative ways to promote it than the usual facebook event. If they don’t have anyone who can deliver workshops, they can cooperate with a WG or project and ask for trainer reimbursement. Overall if the team is motivated, a big part of the issues are solvable, and turning to SUCT for help is always a good decision. Quality events are the best PR!

Does this ring a bell? One of the Summer University videos of this year was edited by Ralitsa Mihaylova. Check it out:

You can read her full application here. 

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

Alya Vykhodtseva and Viktoria Leonenko are just two of the most active members during Agora Kyïv. Alya was in the PR team and Viktoria was external communication and University team leader. They both learned a lot from this experience and enjoyed it while doing so. Naturally, because they did an amazing job, they were also nominated for Member of the Month, the Agora edition. So, we thought of asking them a few questions to get to know them better. 

The AEGEEan: Hello, let us begin by introducing yourselves.

Viktoria: Hi! I am Viktoria Leonenko, Secretary of AEGEE-Kyïv 2014/2015 and Board Advisor 2015/2016

Alya: I always thought one could easily meet a person like me in the transports or in the street. No, seriously, I’m just an average student from Kyïv. I study psychology, try to do something else aside from lessons – including performances at the university and recently AEGEE, – and I am quite a regular and simple girl, absolutely the same as dozens of people in our city. I think that’s rather good than bad.

How long have you been members of AEGEE?

Viktoria: I joined AEGEE in April 2013, so, it’s almost two and a half years since I am a member of this amazing organisation.

 Alya: Right during the Agora I kind of celebrated my own small anniversary – six  months in AEGEE. I joined the local in the middle of April this year, so I’m perfectly  sure the following years will give me way more AEGEE-experience then I have now.  [she smiles]

 What was your biggest accomplishment in AEGEE so far?

 Viktoria: Organising Autumn Agora Kyiv 2015 and the ReBuilding Democracy project.

 Alya: Then again, I think in future (the nearest future, I believe) I will achieve way  more, but for now I already took part in some events, which definitely were a good piece of experience. After the LTC right after my “initiation”, I was a helper at the Ukrainian SU and it certainly exceeded all my expectations. I never thought it would be such a cool thing, and I’m happy it ended up as such. Later I gave a hand with the organisation of a couple of parties and, of course, almost all the time spent in AEGEE I worked for preparation of the Agora and I suppose it is my biggest achievement so far.

What were your tasks during the Agora?

Viktoria: I was External communication and University team leader. So, I was in charge of communication with the government and I negotiated for Agora location (Kyïv National University Taras Shevchenko).

Alya: Since June I worked in the brilliant PR team, which obviously was an amazing experience. Actually I think every team did a lot for the event, and we are not an exception. Moreover, I’m proud that our team was responsible for creating the image of the Agora, and I think we did well. [she smiles] I was also responsible for the page of ReBuilding Democracy project and later, directly before the Agora, I worked in PR at the Agora Fair team, which also turned out to be a group of amazingly warm, friendly and goal-oriented people. So I hope my small contribution to the overall work was one of the bricks which actually built the Agora.

What was your overall impression of the Agora Kyiv? 

Viktoria: We had been working hard during the year and I hope that participants enjoyed what we have done as for us it’s the most important thing. For me Agora happened too fast, so I even didn’t notice how it was and I didn’t enjoy it as before. By the way, Agora is my favorite AEGEE event. To be honest after Agora I had mixed feelings: on the one hand, I felt finally released from Agora’s headache [she laughs] and on the other hand, I felt empty and I realized that I need to change values and start another page in my life.

Alya: I had waited for it since the first time I heard about it. And I must admit it was even better than I imagined. Just the fact of hundreds foreigners coming to Kyïv and Ukrainian students coordinating everything seemed almost impossible to me. I’m proud it turned out to be not only possible, but also well-organised and of great quality.

Do you have any future plans in AEGEE? 

 Viktoria: Now I am Board Advisor. I will help and advise our lovely new board. For sure, I will support the new Secretary, but she is doing a really great job even without me. [she laughs]

 Alya: Not that I had some certain plans, but I already imagine what would I like to do and for now it seems to be something inbetween PR and organising events. As exams are coming I’d probably spend some time studying in the following months, but after that I’m going to pay way more attention to AEGEE things and maybe offer a couple of ideas for spending time together, for example. As for some long-term plans…well, I never plan those ahead, because nobody knows what can happen and change them all, right? So I have a rough idea, but won’t plan everything in detail. [she smiles]

What are your future plans in life?

Viktoria: I prefer to keep in secret my future plans and to only show results. [she laughs]

Alya: Difficult to say for sure as well, but I have some general aims and directions. To start with, I’m thinking about getting a master’s degree abroad – most likely  in the Netherlands, so for now I consider possible variants and study languages. Besides, I’d really love to get some experience in working with human resources, so as soon as education allows me (in Ukraine it’s around the third year at university), I’m planning to put it in practice at a job. But aside from that, I’ve also always loved writing and have some experience in writing articles, so I think trying journalism can be a good idea as well – really, why not? What I’d love to be a part of my future is travelling. I already know that as soon as I can afford it all by myself, I’ll visit Iceland – always dreamed to see the land of ice and fire with my own eyes. I have an amazing example in my family – a person, who inspires me a lot and who visited almost all European countries, a couple of Asian countries and the USA, so I sincerely hope to overcome this amount of countries. [she smiles]

What hobbies do you have?  

Viktoria: I love riding the bicycle, reading dystopian novels, hitchhiking and, of course, travelling!

Alya: When I’m asked this question, I understand everything I do as a hobby is very amateur, but still, I love it. Probably my biggest love is music – I can hardly imagine a day without singing, playing or at least listening to my favourite tracks. Maybe if in my early childhood I had decided to dedicate my whole life to it, I would be a music student now, but I happen to play just for my own pleasure and I’m not complaining about it. Anyway, I always loved the feeling of getting myself lost in music and I think it will always take a special place in my heart. Another thing I love is writing and I’m used to write poems and stories since I wrote a fairytale when I was 5 and my mom said I will be a great writer. But then again, it is still a hobby and writing helps rather to splash out some emotions. I also have a couple of hobbies people sometimes consider to be unusual for a girl. For example, as almost all men in my family work with computers and electronics, I watched it since childhood and, of course, I was extremely interested in it. So, now I’m able to fix some small problems with my computer by myself, but somehow it surprises or even scares people – I honestly have no idea, why! Also, I have always loved cars and recently I took the course of traffic rules and engine building, and while others are listening to music or talking while sitting in the car, I watch the road from the front seat, rate the passing cars and discuss the new Hyundai and the last generation of Ford Fusion. On top of that, I love watching football and can name all the players of FC Bayern München. I have absolutely no idea why people say these are not things for girls – I think they just don’t know too many girls. [she smiles]

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

Not only did AEGEE-Cagliari successfully host the Autumn Agora in their city in October, this summer they also organised a very successful Summer University in cooperation with AEGEE-Napoli. Apart from that, they have also been active with several other initiatives, proving to be a very active antenna. For this reason, they were elected as the Local of the Month: November! The AEGEEan spoke to Damiano Deidda, President of AEGEE-Cagliari, about this wonderful Italian antenna.

The AEGEEan: First of all, congratulations on becoming Local of the Month! What was your first reaction when you heard the news?
Damiano: It was a great satisfaction! We want to thank all of you for your choice!     

How many members does AEGEE-Cagliari have right now, and how many are active?
We have around 150 members, and 40 of them are very active! This is one of the greatest positive factors of the Agora. We created a great and enthusiastic group, I’m so proud of my members!

What makes AEGEE-Cagliari a unique local in the AEGEE Network?
Our antenna has very important traditions, thanks to all old members, who taught to us to always work in a professional way and to do it with passion. Finally, we could show them what we learnt and we made them proud of us.           

One of the reasons for your election as Local of the Month was the organisation of the Autumn Agora in October. How did the idea to organise an Agora come about?
Well, organising an Agora was always in our mind. At each Agora we participated in, we always talked about the possibility to bring the statutory event to our own city. After ZarAgora, which was super-inspiring for us, we decided to have a meeting to study all the possibilities and to contact possible supporters, and fortunately, we received positive feedback from some institutions and we were brave enough to get out of our comfort zone, so we applied. It was the perfect time to dare.            

How do you look back at the Agora?
A lot of things changed. The most visible change can be seen in our lovely members and the great group created during the Agora preparations. Another change is the visibility and attention institutions and sponsors pay to our organisation and what we do. We sensitized our city about European fields such as youth mobility, international dialogue, students’ rights, active citizenship and non-formal education. For us it’s very important, because we had the chance to amplify these important themes.          

What tips do you have for other locals who would like to organize an Agora or an EPM?
My suggestion is to not think about organising an Agora as a far-off dream. It was for us too, but we decided to dare and to present the candidature with a bit of courage (I think this makes the difference). It’s a great responsibility, but if you start working hard from the beginning onwards and you dedicate your time, passion and enthusiasm, you will have great results. Don’t do it only for your local, but also for your city – it will be thankful! And don’t forget that AEGEE gives you superpowers with the support of our friends around Europe.

During the Agora, there were many helpers from all over the Rainbow Network. Do you often cooperate with the other Italian locals?
It was the first time we worked together for a big event. We have a lot of friends and we create and collaborate with our local activities, exchanging material and best practices for our LTCs and members’ management.  In particular, during the last year, thanks to our NetCommie Mattia Abis, we created an incredible group and a real rainbow spirit that you could see during Agora Cagliari.

Next to the Agora, you also organised a Summer University together with AEGEE-Napoli. Do you have Summer University plans again for this year?          
Yes. We’re already working on the next Summer University… We have a lot of ideas, and of course it will be surprising! Stay tuned!           

What are your plans for the future with AEGEE-Cagliari?
On December we’ll have elections to change our local board, and, after the knowledge transfer, we’ll start with our local activities. We will organise a conference about international opportunities, seminars, promotional days around Cagliari University, our LTC, and, of course a very special Summer University and another surprise (did you know that in 2015 our antenna will celebrate its 20^th anniversary?).

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

During a long and engaging closing plenary, AEGEE-Kyiv was anounced as the host local for the Autumn Agora 2015. Minutes before the announcement we spoke with Anna Pykhtina, current president of AEGEE-Kyiv, to know better their feelings towards this big event. 

The AEGEEan: First of all, what were you doing when the CD delivered the news? and how did you feel?

Anna: That should be a story for a stand-up comedy show or something. As I was the one who sent the application, I received the answer. I really didn’t know that they will tell us in advance. I always missed the last hours of closing ceremony because of my early flights from Agoras, so I never saw that selected local are able to do a presentation and say something.So, it was Tuesday eve, I came back from AEGEE-event, promising myself that I won’t open laptop and go directly to bed. Well, I failed as there are too many AEGEE-things to prepare before Agora Cagliari. I was preparing something for SUCT and saw email with word Agora in the title, opened it, read and without any emotions got back to my tasks. And then I understood WHAT was written there. I had no words. I just printscreened the text and sent to my best friend Mariia (also AEGEEan) and one more person. We all were shocked and super-happy. But I had to reread the e-mail several times. I thought it was a joke first. Especially knowing that so many other locals applied and they announced it. And the first thought I had when I woke up next morning was “God, Autumn Agora 2015 will be hosted by AEGEE-Kyiv!”

You said that you told only to Mariia and one more person, Do your local knows now? 

Actually, I won’t tell them until the final results in Agora. I did tell people who won’t be present on Agora, like Alla Resheten, for example, and some others from the team, but I want it to be a real surprise during the Agora. This is going to be a massive surprise, then.

What was not a surprise was seeing Kyiv as a candidate since your city is always on the top list of possible applicants. What pushed you to apply this time (for real)?

Well, the idea to organize such important and big event appears in mind of every board member, I guess and you already told, Kyiv is always the one who is expected to apply – great location, big number of experienced and dedicated members, city itself.. and this idea was always in my mind since I became board member in October 2013. It was right before Agora Zaragoza but we realized that we do not have so motivated members. And I would never let us apply if we were only 99% sure we are ready.

It’s said that everything happens for a reason. And I agree with this statement. Because one month after Ukrainians went to the main Kyiv Square (Maidan) to protest against the decision of ex-president V.Yanukovich to postpone the signing the EU-agreement with Ukraine. To be honest, we couldn’t handle with local events and weren’t able to predict what will happen next day. Half a year later, trying to attract more participants to come to Summer University in Ukraine, answering maybe 1000 questions about the situation, seeing that such important events like Network Meeting are attended only by 5-10 members (mostly of the closest locals) and talking to our Network Commissioner I realized that it is essential not only for our region, but the whole Network, as nowadays situation and it’s consequences are concerns of the whole Europe. And I believe that it will be great event to both organizers and participants. For the first ones, I’d like to invite as much helpers from other locals as possible. It is one of my targets for this year: to unite and all together represent the voice of the youth of Ukraine, to have needed support from government and have better promotion, of course. For participants and guests it will be also unique experience – to gather in historical place, where the real fight for the democratic future happened and taking into account what’s happening now between Russia and Ukraine, it is so important not to ignore it, but to shed the light on the situation, discuss it and share the opinions, give recommendations and hear thoughts of others. Thus, it will be useful to share experiences and knowledge. Therefore we, AEGEE-Kyiv, cannot find better possibility that invite the whole Network and host the biggest statutory event – Autumn Agora 2015.

Although having joined his local, AEGEE-Tarragona, only a little over a year ago, Arnau Robert decided to think big after being the Audit Commission’s Job Shadower, and applied to be a member of the Audit Commission. During the upcoming Agora in Cagliari you will have the chance to ask him all your questions, but before that The AEGEEan asked him some questions too! Read on to get to know all about this guy from Tarragona, his motivation and his plans with the Audit Commission if he gets elected!

The AEGEEan: First of all, the most important question: why did you decide to run for Member of the Audit Commission?

Arnau Robert: I always loved economics and accounting, and I have relevant experience in accounting and financial statements because of my studies, and my work as Treasurer & Cash Management Officer in a chemical company. At Agora Zaragoza I discovered the Audit Commission, and I immediately thought that I could contribute a lot with my knowledge about financial statements. In my opinion, an audit is an expert in accounting, and he does not only check the accounts, but he can also give advice or new ideas.

Which relevant experience do you have for the position you are applying for?

I have studied Business Administration, and Finance & Accounting Bachelors at the Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona). I did my Erasmus at NEOMA Business School in France, studing a MSc of International Finance. At the moment, I am Treasurer & Cash Management Officer for all the companies of BASF group in Spain and Portugal. In the past I have been Accountant and Controller in many multinational companies, such as Clariant, Kellogg’s, Flowserve, or Barcelona Life Science. At the same time I am also studying a Master in Financial & Accounting Management, with the specialization of Audit at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona. This Master’s specialization in Audit is the reason why I feel so confident in my candidature for Member of the Audit Commission.

What is the most important thing you learned during your term as Audit Commission Job Shadower?

During my work as Audit Comission Job Shadower I have learned a lot about the internal administration organization. I think that the Comité Directeur is currently doing a very good job with the financial statements, but there are many things that I think are important to do better.

What are your plans for the Audit Commission if you get elected?

If I will get elected, the first thing that I will do is to create a direct hotline between the Audit Commission and the Financial Director in many ways: permanent contact by e-mail, Skype, and virtual share points in order to work together to ensure the optimal economic situation of AEGEE. I would like to analyze the full process from the beginning. Later on, I would like to make an open call for students of economics or business, who are called to help with eventual rises of work.

Which “professional audit tools” do you plan to apply within AEGEE-Europe?

By professional audit tools I mean the processes and ways to check the accounts and administrative system. In the Audit career you learn a lot of financial tricks and ways to make up the real situation of the economy. In the Audit literature we say that there are two kinds of controls: the general, and the application level controls. For the General Controls we understand the Developing of Systems that ensure the efficient work and the administration of changes (change of Financial Director, for instance).

For application level of control we understand: to check the origin of the data (invoices, bills, bank accounts, money in cash) and ensure it. The entrance of this data has to be reliable and free of mistakes, so we would check that this is done correctly. The output of data, the accounts of the association, should reflect all the financial and economic transactions that AEGEE-Europe had during the fiscal year, and could take the opportune decisions.

Last but not least, how will you make the accounts of AEGEE-Europe more transparent and easy to understand?

How many of you know what the Audit Commission really is? What do you think that the Audit Commission does? I found that a lot of people ignore our work, and in my opinion it is one of the fundamental works of AEGEE. We ensure that the financial statements reflect the real situation of the association. I want to believe that you really care about what AEGEE-Europe does with the money that you pay every year. If you really care, the best way to know it is with the financial statements; and if I am elected as Audit Commissioner I will work in order to make the finances of our loved association more transparent. I would create permanent channels of communication with the interested people, the AEGEE members. 

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

After doing a lot of work for his local, AEGEE-Torino (including being the superhero of their Summer University), Luca Lombardo decided to take the next step and contribute to the European level too, by running for member of the Audit Commission. During the upcoming Agora in Cagliari you will have the chance to ask him all your questions, but before that The AEGEEan asked him some questions too! Read on to get to know all about this guy from Italy, his motivation and his plans!

The AEGEEan: First of all, the most important question: why did you decide to run for Member of the Audit Commission?

Luca: As soon as I got comfortable with the work of my local I always wanted to do something on the European level of AEGEE, too. One of my dreams is working in the Comité Directeur: I cannot think of anything more fulfilling than giving it all for AEGEE every day. Between the roles of the CD I fancy the idea of being the Financial Director, I do not really know if I will ever have the right circumstances in my life to try though, as right now I am trying to build my career in the game development business. All of the previous notions brought me to think about the Audit Commission: I would train my existing but not fully developed financial know-how by doing, I will work for AEGEE, and I could still pursue my current work. Did I mention that I love numbers?

What relevant experience do you have for the position you are applying for?

For the theory I studied Math for Engineering and, even if I have interrupted my studies for now, I had many exams (125 credits, which is more or less two years). All of them involved Math and one was on general economics, including balance sheets. In practice, I have been covering various financial responsibilities for my antenna when needed: budgeting, bank management, writing balance sheets, etc. Also, when I joined AEGEE-Torino the antenna was very small, but now it is growing fast. We lacked knowledge about associations and AEGEE-Europe’s structure, but we were holding up thanks to a few hard-working people. I believe this to be crucial, because from the Agorae I attended I got the feeling that most of the Network resembles this reality and I therefore believe I can help those antennae with my experience, before, during and after the Audit Commission.

What makes you the perfect Member of the Audit Commission?

I could use a lot of words on how I do things but I think the best way to judge candidates is upon how much their interest coincides with the Network. What are the main reasons for an AEGEE member to run for Audit Commission? Helping AEGEE, liking the Audit work or filling their curriculum? I got all those but on top of it I really want to sharpen my financial know-how because I will be covering that role in the future too in a business of my own which is an even stronger motivation to do a good job and give it all.

What are your plans for the Audit Commission if you get elected?

The obvious focus is the smooth running of the Audit’s responsibilities: checking the financial reports within the prescribed time limits, effectively communicate with the other AEGEE bodies, search for sub-commissioners and mentor them, and proactively assist the local treasurers in their reports (when needed).

How do you plan to assist local treasurers in their reports?

I plan on contacting them well in advance and have them tell me what I can do to help, I plan on being very proactive on this because I know how weird it may feel for a small antenna’s treasurer. Often you cannot even phrase what your needs exactly are.

Last but not least, since you wrote you want to look for ways to improve the current system: what should be improved, and how will you deal with it?

Mostly I believe it is the accessibility of helpful material that is the weakest spot: we have a lot of tools but not nearly enough people use them. I believe the Members’ Portal is very handy but not enough used and I plan on manually going through the Network to make sure that all boards know what tools they have access to. With manually I mean as direct as possible: writing to an antenna’s mail or Facebook page is not direct enough most of the time, I will obviously do that too but when possible I want to get to the people directly through common friends. This cures the symptom, though, not the disease, I do not have a clear idea of how to solve the root of the problem yet, but I will work on it.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen