In AEGEE, we have several committees to support the work of the organisation, such as the newly revived Human Resources Committee (HRC). As the name says, this committee works on the human resources of AEGEE-Europe in many different ways. An example of this would be the Human Resources Regional Training Course, which was organised in Passau last January by AEGEE-Passau and the Human Resources Committee.

The idea of organising this training course started at Agora Chisinau after a meeting with the Network Commissioner Mareike Ritter and her local members, Antonia Erich and Svenja Kupke from AEGEE-Passau. They said: “Many members of the locals at the meeting shared their troubles with recruiting and motivating the new and old members in their local. We got so excited that we started planning right away while sitting on the floor under the stairs in the plenary hall. One hour later the entire event was mapped out!”

After the approval by the board, the members of AEGEE-Passau were ready to organise the event with not one, not two, but four main organisers. As Antonia and Svenja said: “Who needs one main organiser when you can have four? Cindy, Jana and we (Svenja and Antonia) were the perfect match! Nobody wanted to be left out. So, we basically did everything together. We did distribute some tasks but they stayed constantly in the loop on everything. One of our main assets was that our group consisted of different AEGEE-Passau generations: Andrea as our oldie but goldie, Cindy as previous secretary and gossip board member, Jana as the former president, Svenja as AEGEE-Passau mommy who takes care of all her little ducklings, and Antonia as our should-have-been-in-the-board but timing is a bitch member. Not to forget our amazing current board (Dom, Jasmin, Charlotte, Saskia, Roman) and our working group that supported us in any way possible.”

The decision was made to cooperate with the Human Resources Committee to provide the content, for which two trainers, Andrea Schmelz and Svenja van der Tol, travelled to the south of Germany to deliver sessions on the basics of Human Resources, the Human Resources cycle, identity, feedback culture, motivation, teamwork, recognition of potential, knowledge transfer and conflict management. The knowledge gathered at the sessions was implemented afterwards in case studies, in which practical tasks had to be solved in small groups. As Matthias Felder from AEGEE-Bamberg said: “All the workshops were perfectly prepared and there was a clear structure in everything as content. The theoretic part of the workshop was well linked to a case study, that always followed the theoretic part, so we needed to put the knowledge into practice. Thanks to the awesome atmosphere and the awesome trainers, this event was one of the best I attended so far and I hope we can put all the ideas we got into practice in our antenna.”

Besides the sessions provided by the HRC, a guest speaker, Heike Ehmann, from the locally based company MyMuesli was invited, who told the participants more about the Human Resources of their company. The presentation by MyMuesli was an addition that was well-liked by participants. Peter Suligoj from AEGEE-Ljubljana expressed this affection as: “The guest speaker from MyMuesli was a great choice. Heike presented herself in a very approachable manner and was willing to explain everything. Furthermore, the training made sure that our questions were on point. I imagine there is an opportunity here to collaborate with working groups such as the Youth Employment to prepare questions, that we as members could think about, and ask on such occasions. I see this as a process of fitting the newly gained knowledge in a bigger picture, and as something, we should try and facilitate.”

It wasn’t only the content that was well-liked though – good ratings were also given to the logistics of the event, which were provided by AEGEE-Passau. Antonia and Svenja: “The long planning and sleepless nights paid off! There is nothing more rewarding than getting so much positive feedback from participants and trainers. We can honestly say that we would do it all over again! The constant and great communication in our team and with the HRC made everything so easy. Sweet participants + awesome and patient trainers + motivated organisers and helpers = an unforgettable event!”

Overall, almost a month after the HRTC took place, the trainers, local organisers and participants all look back with positive memories on a well-organised event by an enthusiastic and motivated group of people. The training does not stop in Passau though, as far away as it might be for some. For more training on Human Resources in AEGEE, the committee is always there to cooperate with locals on topics related to HR! Feel free to get in touch with us via hrc@aegee.org!  

Written by Svenja van der Tol, Human Resources Committee

Recently the Comité Directeur distributed the Open Call (OC) for autumn Agora 2014 organisers. In the meantime people in Zaragoza and Patra work hard on preparing the best Agorae ever, despite being organised in two countries where the economic situation could be better. The AEGEEan interviewed Angela Campos from Zaragoza and Costas Deltouzos from Patra to get an update on the two events.

In a recent interview with The AEGEEan Chema Rueda told us that working with FR for the Agora is difficult so The AEGEEan decided to interview Angela Campos from AEGEE-Zaragoza who is the responsbile of fundraising. She tells The AEGEEan that when deciding to organize the Agora they were fully aware of the economic situation and the difficult task it was going to be. “Getting money is always hard work, but the more help you get, the easier it is, and I can tell you we have a really motivated team working on it.”

When getting deeper into the subject Angela recognizes the difficulty of getting money as a big challenge “Actually it’s the biggest problem you have to face when you are an organizer. I think it complicates everything because while you are working on other tasks, money is always on your mind. By the way, I think that fundraising used to be the main challenge for each core team and we will go ahead. Our main goal has always been to organise the best Agora ever, regardless of the economic situation we are living in.” AEGEE-Zaragoza is doing everything they can to make sure it will be an Agora that everybody will remember “We are looking for fundraising everywhere, we are calling all the enterprises we know, asking for help from our region, trying everything, doing our best and we always welcome any help we get. It’s known that hard times make you stronger and every effort is being made to improve the ZarAgora.” One of the impressing deals that AEGEE-Zaragoza managed to get was together with Spanish railway company Renfe and buscompany Alsa to ensure that participants arrive in a great way to Zaragoza.

It is not only ZarAgora organisers who are trying to impress everybody with a fantastic event. Agora Patra organisers are also facing similar challenges but also have manners to overcome them. Main organiser Costas Deltouzos comments “Both Spain and Greece face big problems because of the economic crisis and of course fundraising is not easy in this period. So before applying as a host antenna for the Spring Agora, we wanted to be sure we would be able to do it even with little fundraising in money. We analyzed the basic needs (lodging, meals, facilities) in order to have an Agora in Patra and started fundraising them in kind. When we got the first meetings with University, the Sports Center and the Vice Mayor and got their support, we knew that we can host this Agora! Of course not all of the needs are covered yet, but we have a nice FR team working on it”, he says with a smile.

AEGEE-Patra

Another thing that the two antennae share is the eagerness to prepare of members and helpers in the best way for the Agora. Recently AEGEE-Zaragoza organised a Local Training Course (LTC) and Patra has something similar in mind “We plan to have several team building activities. First is a big Regional Training Course (RTC) with the other Greek locals before the end of the year, either in Patra or somewhere close. The aim will be to both make young members more active and educate the future helpers of the Agora. Then we plan to have close communication with all helpers involved throughout the preparation phase. Finally one month before the Agora we will bring everybody together again and work specifically on team building.”

Up until now it has not actually been official when the Agora in Patra will take place but it seems that the dates are set. “There was a big discussion on when the Agora should take place. Initially we wanted it to be during the Greek Easter holidays, but since the facilities were not available at that time, we decide to postpone it to later. So the dates selected are April 30th to May 4th 2013 and it will not be changed unless there is a huge need.”

Costas at the first Agora Patra meeting in May

In the past hosting an Agora or an EBM has been a cost to antennae financially, so The AEGEEan asked Costas how they in Patra work to assure that they will have enough financial means to cover the big event. “The fundraising strategy aims in several directions. One part has to do with local institutes/foundations and authorities, where our strong point is that we are bringing 1000 European students in Patra, a city that is not known widely abroad. So all these local partners are eager to help us have a memorable Agora. Second part has to do with companies, both local and international, that see this event as a big promotional campaign for their products. The last part has to do with European institutes that want to support us because the theme of the Agora is about youth participation and the European Parliamentary Elections 2014.”

The YVote2014 project kicked off in Valladolid recently and will be organizing another event in Las Palmas in the beginning of October. They will also have a big influence on the Agora in Patra and Costas elaborated on it when asked whether or not they will work together with the YVote2014 project team “Yes, during my visit in the CD house this June, I had a meeting with the project team of YVote2014 and expressed to them our will to have this theme for our Agora. We both agreed that a cooperation between the Agora and the YVote2014 project would be beneficiary for us both! The key person for this cooperation is Alma Mozgovaja that is member of both Core Team of Agora Patra and the YVote2014 project.”

AEGEE-Patra was earlier this year elected as Local of the Month because of being so efficient with HR and distributing work amongst different teams, and talking with Costas it seems that all of  them are busier than ever “After the summer holidays and the exam period of September, all the sub-teams are starting to work hard again on their tasks. The IT team is working on our website, the HR team is recruiting new people, the PR team is creating our visual identity etc. We are working also on creative ideas on how to rock ZarAgora, but I can’t say more at the moment!”

Guess we just have to wait a bit more to experience how AEGEE-Patra wants to surprise us at the Agora in Zaragoza next month!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

Renovar is Spanish for “Renovate”, which, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary means:

1: To restore to a former better state (as by cleaning, repairing, or rebuilding)

2: To restore to life, vigor, or activity : revive <the church was renovated by a new ecumenical spirit>

Years ago, the Spanish government started a plan called “Renove” which consisted of giving an amount of money to everyone who wanted to change his car for a new one, renovating the fleet of cars and trying to get more environmental friendly ones. Later on, many projects were called “Renove”, all of them with the same spirit: restoring something to a better state. Of course AEGEE couldn’t be an exception.

AEGEE is pretty strong in Spain, but let’s not forget that in many antennae the same group of people have been working throughout many years, without a proper generational change. That’s why the idea of renovating the boards surfaced at the NWM in Granada, and one antenna was the perfect place to put it into practice: AEGEE-Madrid.

Opening ceremony

The idea was to have one event right after the period of Summer Universities (when most of the new members are willing to hear more about AEGEE), with a big amount of fun and the correct amount of information about AEGEE, mixed with some time for the antennae to bring together oldies and newbies and create a team.

The event itself was so succesfull that people were asking: “So… where is it going to be next year?”. The seed was sown and no one could stop it, we needed a Renove 2.

After some months, Sergio Oliveros, from AEGEE-Madrid, the person trying to create once again the antenna of AEGEE-Valladolid, came up with the idea: “I have the perfect place to hold Renove 2!”, and at the NWM in Burgos, the same event where he signed the Convention d’Adhésion for AEGEE-Valladolid, he shared the great news: they were willing to organise Renove 2.

Of course, it’s not easy to organise an event like this one (200 participants is like a small EBM!), especially for a newly created antenna, with a main organiser (Sergio Oliveros) experienced in AEGEE, but an organiser for the first time nevertheless, and most of the other organisers as newbies, with no experience either. It wasn’t easy, but just like last year, many people from all around Spain offered to help. This is the AEGEE spirit, and this is how we live in our Network.

The gym with the 210 participants

The event started on Thursday, with the first people arriving in Valladolid, but the main programme started on Friday, when the 200 participants and organisers were all together in Serrada (the village where we stayed). Due to the magnitude of the event (for a new antenna like AEGEE-Valladolid this was like organising an Agora), they decided to start the event with a special opening ceremony: singing! With the guitars of Anita and Consu (from AEGEE-Coruña and AEGEE-Valencia, respectively), the amazing voices of Olga, Cristina and Espe (AEGEE-Oviedo, AEGEE-Santander and AEGEE-Las Palmas) and the… let’s say “crying-cat-like” voice of Sergio Oliveros.

Right after the show, since we were in the land of wine (Serrada is in the middle of a Protected Designation of Origin area of wine), we enjoyed some wine tasting (12 different wines in total) with “tapas” (small complement of food usually offered with wine in bars). This was right before the European Night, which was, actually, the strangest I’ve ever been to, since the place was so small that we needed to go from table to table and ask “Where are you from and what did you bring?”.

On Saturday, after a really cold night in the gym, we woke up to enjoy the morning activity: visiting a wine cellar and a vineyard. And right after lunch, the most famous part of Renove: the group games. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the place where we were supposed to enjoy the games and the organisers had to change the location to a wheat field, which was full of stubble. Due to this, the organisers had to change most of the games (which included running barefoot or crawling) in the very last moment, which was far from easy.

At night, the main event: the wedding of the mascots of AEGEE-Bilbao (a sheep) and AEGEE-Valladolid (a lamb). In my opinion, the most incredible fact of the wedding was that a truce was agreed before the event and most of the mascots attended the wedding without anyone trying to steal them (at least for few minutes). Of course, the different groups of the event, this time based on the different characters that can be found at a Spanish wedding (aunts, grandmas, drunks, gatecrashers, etc.), dedicated poems, dances, and even hip hop songs to the couple (yes, this is weird, but it’s AEGEE, and we sing French songs in European meetings…).

Finally, on Sunday, we enjoyed the training part of the event, starting with the amazing presentation of “What is AEGEE”, held by Fernando Campo from AEGEE-Santander. It was his last event in AEGEE and he wanted to say goodbye somewhere where the sky was the limit. Although this presentation was usually held by Juan Hernandez with huuuge success, Fernando chose to hold it this time, and it was more than amazing. Everybody enjoyed it quite a lot.

To finish the event, everyone was grouped in antennae and talked about their future and what people could do for the antennae. I’m pretty sure many new members will be active after Renove… once again!

Games during Renove

My congratulations to AEGEE-Valladolid for being such a new antenna and having the courage to organise such a big event like this one.

See you at Renove 3!!!

Written by Juan Sordo, AEGEE-Oviedo

Human Resources European School (HRES) – Kyiv, 1st – 8th April 2012

During one week, young people from AEGEE and other organisations gathered in Kyiv to improve their knowledge about human resources and to live through a wonderful experience together.

Are you more of an implementer or a shaper? Is everything alright regarding human resources in your local? If your answers are no, no idea, and it can never be, you might be interested in taking part in one of the next HRES.

When I applied to this event, I did it because I observed some problems in my local and I was wondering what we could do, as a team, to improve some issues such as motivation or division of tasks. I got accepted.

Next stop: Kyiv

First I thought I was going to simply land in Kyiv, then I discovered my journey was going further. My fellow comrades and I actually landed in HRlia, a new world for me where the inhabitants are called HRliens and the leaders called trainers. There were four trainers: Bernadette Polya (AEGEE-Budapest), Irina Buruina (EFPSA-Europe), Elmar Kristapsons (BEST LVG Riga) and Guillermo García Tabarés (Comité Directeur). Their aim was to accompany us in our journey to this new and wild territory.

Next to them, we could find some more familiar people : the AEGEEans from Kyiv. Their friendliness made us felt at home and they shared leisure time with us and gave us a nice insight into their food and culture, even if some of us missed a good dark coffee from time to time.

Thanks to our four guides, we made our ideas clear and improved our knowledge on human resources. One week is short when you enjoy what you are learning, but we could tackle the main topics : recruitment, motivation and keeping up performance, communication, team building, coping with different personalities, need for analysis, and solutions to resolve problems.

Please describe a tea bag

The approach was soft and through experiments. We did many games. The one that stuck to my mind is the one where we had to describe a tea bag, which proved to be a very clever approach. After dividing us in two groups according to our personality test results, we were given a simple task : describe a tea bag. While one group remained at describing the material, size, texture – objective features – the other added emotional elements – subjective features. When each team had to show the other group its work, eyebrows were risen from each side. Everyone was thinking : “They got it totally wrong!” or “They missed a part of it!” Then we received a big lesson in humility : both groups did shape up, according to their understanding of the task.

Important lesson learned

Eventually, we all understood that in order to make a team work efficiently and in harmony, tasks have to be clear and not ambiguous, communication is a key element in all human exchange, every kind of personality can be an asset to teamwork, but as HR responsible we have to be able to make each of us able to make his/her talents blossom for the common good.

Letter to myself

The last day of the training was the climax. We finished doing some yoga, relaxing, thinking of the knowledge we gathered, reflecting on ourselves and our development and aims. We also got the opportunity to let the people we shared the week with know what we thought of them and what they gave us. I think no one could deny that opening this envelope with all the comments from our colleagues was a special moment. I kept the envelope and I have a look at it from time to time. Also, I am really looking forward to receive in seven months the letter I wrote to myself and to see what my expectations were and whether I fulfilled them or not.

When I arrived and after the first days, I could realise all the mistakes and wrong paths we chose in the previous work of our newly formed local. I think this Human Resources European School is an important step for each local that wants to improve its functioning on the local and European level. All in all, I would advise anyone to do it, because you get to know new and amazing people, you accumulate new knowledge through experience sharing and you get to discover a new country and the numerous ways that a potato can be cooked. You get to know a new part of yourself.

Written by Ines-Kristel Jurado Alvarez, AEGEE-Strasbourg