This Telegram is not only special because it is a true new year edition, but also because it was written in the new house (even though half of the videos were shot in the old house, the other half in the new one already).

Even though it can be frequently heard at the beginning of our videos that “it was a busy month”, we felt not only mental, but physical tiredness by the end of the month, due to the moving of decades of AEGEE history.

But beside the courageous change of the headoffice, we did many more things as well, in order to keep AEGEE on track and even to go beyond every current limits.

This was the month of the extremely active EBM preparation and the kick-off meeting for the European Parliament elections of 2014 has also taken place in January. Moreover, all of us were working on Youth in Action and different applications.

In this month, Luis and Lucille went to Paris to meet the Advisor of European Affairs of M. Hollande. Besides, the preparation for Health 4 Youth press conference has already started, so as for the spring Network Meetings.

What else happened this month? You can check them in the videos!

Luis Alvarado Martinez (President)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkfR2p1mvTU]

Pavel Zbornik (European Institutions and Communications Director)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8ShYvQpDd8]

Miguel Gallardo Albajar (Projects Director)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sITHT45sA0Q]
 

Anna Gots (Financial Director), Beata Matuszka (Network and Human Resources Director), Kathrin Renner (Vice President and External Relations Director) and Lucille Rieux (Secretary General)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBS-hIR-0OU]

Even though Agora Budapest is still a fresh memory, it is time to think about the next statutory event in AEGEE: the European Boards Meeting, also known as EBM. Situated in an exotic location (the beautiful island of Malta), and organized by AEGEE-Valletta, a very active and popular antenna. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

However, we have to remember that the EBM is about half the size of an Agora, as far as the number of participants is concerned.

What do we need to know about the EBM, compared to the Agora? How important is a good motivation letter? How can you stand out of the crowd if you are a new AEGEE member, without much experience? This article will discuss the selection ofparticipants for this event.

In a quest to gather the necessary information, we asked for help the newly-elected Chair Team, consisting of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of 2013, Alla Resheten and Paul Smits. First and foremost, what we need to bear in mind is that the EBM is not an Agora: it is not a general assembly, and it is not about elections, and voting on proposals, or the future structure, rules and regulations of AEGEE. Having said that, the EBM is still considered a statutory event, and Alla Resheten describes it as “the biggest thematic conference of AEGEE, where at the same time we draft an Action Agenda for the next planning year.”

What is the application method, and what is the Chair Team looking for when choosing the participants? Alla explains very clearly: “This year the application system was changed a bit. Apart from submitting the application on the usual statutory applications website – applicants will also need to fill a survey. The selection will be based on those survey replies. As usual for EBM it is not only the Chair Team who is deciding who will be accepted, but also members of the Content Team, Secretary General and Projects Director”. Paul Smits adds: “For the EBM it is important to have quality participants. We need motivated participants who are willing to get involved and take action. We will try to determine what the real motive of an applicant is and select according to that”.

But what if you are new to AEGEE and do not have much experience, but still need to prove that you are motivated and ready to get active? Paul has the answer: “Make clear what your ideas considering Europe are, and your motivation to put time into it. Everything is possible if you want it enough. The EBM is not about AEGEE’s structure, so don’t bother with that. It is about taking action and learning about the thematic aspect of AEGEE. I do encourage all applicants to at least look at the Strategic Plan and Action Agenda before writing their application. By doing so, new members can have a clear view of what AEGEE has been focusing on”. Therefore, documentation is the key, as well as the willingness to express your ideas and to get involved on a higher level within the organization.

What about the destination? We know Malta is a dream place, but is it easy to reach? Paul believes that “Valletta as a city is in no way inferior to Budapest. Valletta, as a beautiful, vibrant, culturally unique and multifaceted city, will without doubt attract many members from all over our precious continent. Its location is very appealing, being the capital Mediterranean dream, but is does not have the beneficial geographically central position in our Network like Budapest has. It will be harder for people to come, but I still expect a lot of interested applicants”. Indeed, we can give some extra tips about how to reach Malta. The Malta International Airport is served by airline companies such as Ryanair, EasyJet, Vueling, Air Berlin, Alitalia, Lufthansa, and, of course, Air Malta.

EBM Valletta is taking place between the 28th of February and the 3rd of March 2013. Do not miss this chance! More AEGEE life and opportunities to get involved in this amazing reality are waiting for you. See you in Malta!

Written by Alexandra Vilcu, AEGEE-Milano

Léa Charlet is no stranger to AEGEE and no stranger to The AEGEEan since she used her great photographer skills during Agora Enschede and Agora Budapest for the magazine. However, for EBM Valletta Léa will have to put the camera aside just a bit because she will be busy focusing on the AEGEE fair for which she has become responsible of.

Léa is 23 old from Versailles but has been part of AEGEE-Paris for quite a while and she is also the president of that particular French antenna. Now she is doing her Erasmus in Bologna. She will have the same tasks as former AEGEE fair responsibles have had in the past Agorae, the only thing different is that she has less people to think about.

The AEGEEan: Congratulations on being selected fair manager, why did you chose to apply for the position?

Léa: I saw the open call first, but didn’t think I was suited for it. Later, the secretary general of the Comité Directeur Lucille Rieux talked to me about it, and kind of convinced me to apply for it.

I take it as a way to learn new things, since I never did something like that before.

Stressed, because I don’t want to mess up, so until the fair is finished and successful I could not be really happy or proud about it.

A lot of things, but especially to meet different and interesting people, and there’s a lot of them in AEGEE. Every new project drives you to work or to know new people. I only hope to be able to do everything for my studies.

The AEGEE fair has been struggling to get attention from participants of the Agora, do you have any ideas how to attract them to the fair?

I have some ideas but we didn’t talk about it yet with Anna Gots (CD responsible for the fair red.). One of them is maybe to have a drawing competition on a huge paper on a wall in the area of the fair, however, since we don’t know yet the exact configuration of the room I can’t tell if it will be possible.

I’m writing the open call for the bodies of AEGEE, which will be sent during this week.

The AEGEEan would like to congratulate Léa on being selected as  fair manager and wish her good luck with her preparations.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Bernice

It has been a while since we published news about EBM Valletta so The AEGEEan grabbed the opportunity to have a little chat with one of the main coordinators, Bernice Saliba, about the process so far.

When asked about how it is going with the organisation, the answer is that the organisers have now formed the teams with sub-commissions and distributed the different tasks. Every team has started their preparations so they are slowly gearing forward to increase the amount of their work, and AGORA Budapest will definitely be a strong boost.

The organisers are working hard on the preparations of the event itself, and cannot reveal any big secrets yet! However, what Bernice can inform us about is that she has personally been in contact with His Honour the President of Malta’s office, and that he has granted AEGEE-Valletta his patrimony for the event. Bernice has been working in PR and marketing along with another board member who is chairing the sub-com, Martha.

Furthermore, the organisers are in contact with Members of the European Parliament and people who work for the European Union in order to arrange the best debates within the EBM for the participants, and besides the Patrimony of the President of Malta they have also already achieved support from various ministries and the representative of the EU Commission in Malta.

It is obviously a good thing that AEGEE-Valletta is already doing well with their preperations for the event, because there is the possibility of reaching big popularity in terms of applications when that time comes. AEGEE-Valletta is so prepared that they are already now looking to find the best accommodation as possible, while discussing any back up plan that might be needed for any situation.

If this does not answer all the questions you may have about EBM Valletta then come to the AEGEE fair in Agora Budapest (only for official and extra participants). AEGEE-Valletta considers the AEGEE fair an excellent opportunity to meet AEGEE people, hear about their expectations, and promote the event itself.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København