He describes himself as a stoic, stubborn and attractive person and he is the creator and developer of the Online Membership System (OMS) which will replace the old Intranet. Fabrizio Bellicano is our Member of the Month for February and in this article he explained to us how the Online Membership works and how it can change AEGEE in the long term. So this is how we got to know him better, through his continuous work for the new Intranet and his perspective as an IT person both in AEGEE and outside of it.

The AEGEEan: To begin with, tell us three words that best describe you and why.

Fabrizio: Stoic, stubborn and.. uh, sexy, yeah, so we have three S.

How did the concept of OMS (Online Membership System) come to life? 

Oh, there’s so much to say, I’ll try to be short and simplifying stuff..

AEGEE (i.e. the Comité Directeur) used to have a product called “Lotus”, back in the times when the computer applications weren’t networked: they received paper documents, and recreated the information inside Lotus to be handled by the CD.

In order to expand the functionality, a new system with online capabilities was designed: the Online Membership System. Due to the usual problem that we are also facing now (i.e. lack of HR) it was outsourced (allegedly to a company “friend” of the President at the time…). Specifications, however, were bad; in other words, we asked for a product in a generic way, and we got a product that generally works. Some parts are worse, some parts are ok. Clearly suboptimal, especially if you think that a loooot of money were spent to get that. Anyhow, that’s the current intranet.

What I am doing is a total revamp of the intranet, borrowing some parts from the concept of “OMS”, yet what I am doing is definitely not “the OMS” – the first code name for my project was “Calaf” (his name, and he ends up by singing “I will win”) except only me and Paul Smits keep calling it like this. The most important part of the revamp was the use of “marketable skills”, in other words, the technologies I am using for this project have been picked with two criteria in mind: 1) they are modern and easy to pick (a new person is able to get started soon); 2) they are in high demand in the job market. I hoped that this would foster IT students of AEGEE to jump in and help out, but I was too optimistic. I guess we’re not so full of volunteers after all… As it always happens, the more people take part in something, the less it’s being done (everybody thinking “somebody else will take care of it”.. simple social science).

What is the purpose of the OMS and how can AEGEE benefit from it?

Since the network is only one, it is stupid to make every local reinventing the wheel to make a system that works. The first purpose of the new system is to relieve IT resources on the local: think about shared website space managed by AEGEE-Europe, instead of paying hosting space, domain name, and perhaps mail server or other additional services.

How AEGEE can benefit is simple: the second problem the system wants to tackle is information management. Currently we have no clear way to obtain information about.. well, anything. Just as an example, I got asked once by the board of AEGEE-Amsterdam how to know where their members applied/to which events they participated (they have something like prizes for the most traveller or something similar). The point is clear: how is it possible that I have no data telling me what is going on in my own antenna?

The third benefit is, once all data is harmonised and we have a strategy on how/what/where to store data, it comes naturally that the interchange of such info is eased. Think you don’t need to submit members list anymore – a snapshot from the database of your members (hosted on AEGEE-Europe’s servers, as mentioned) will suffice.

What would you say is the biggest problem in AEGEE at the moment and how do you think it can be solved?

The biggest problem in AEGEE is that we’re not self-sustainable. We have such big ideas about saving refugees or opening locals in some places, that we are not realising this is blinding us. We are constantly spamming the word AWESOME, yet locals are closing slowly one by one. Why? It’s simple: intranet. Wow, you’ve spent two days in trying to bring your friend in AEGEE, you told her/him about SU, about NWM, about Agora, s/he gives in and joins AEGEE! S/he goes on intranet.aegee.org and registers. First impression: we are still in the ‘90s with that look & feel – user experience anyone? Second impression: wow, I registered, now I didn’t receive any email. Yet I can’t retry because it says that my email is already registered. Ok, we’re done here, goodbye and see you never.

AEGEE-Kyïv told me they lost a handful of members because of that – their problem is even worse, the page they received on registration is completely blank (the server errors). AEGEE-Siena is losing members in this period of SU applications. Many others are facing the same problem, yet just imagine closing those two antennae. And another one. And another one. We are slowly decaying – do you think we are still 13,000?

Oh, now that I mention numbers, last fun fact about intranet members: there are 60,000 (sixty thousands) members in the database, because when people forget their passwords they simply re-register….

ITC (Information Technology Committee) is right now very silent. Do you have any idea as how it can be brought to life again? 

 ITC is a body like any other, it needs HR, PR, FR. Some IT skills would be favourable, yet not necessary. I was very happy when this year (actually last year) the candidates were not just “nerds”. I don’t know what happened to them though.

How do you see AEGEE in five years’ time?

It just depends on the next two years, if we are placing our bets on internal development or not – and this involves IT, as I said, but also literally developing our members. The academy, LTCs – whatever it is, we have to instruct our members of what AEGEE can offer. Also, we should start thinking of more flexibility so that we can respond in time to events, instead of waiting six months every time just to change the CIA… we’re getting too much bureaucracy.

What do you plan to do next in AEGEE?

I just look forward to the Agora, and then I applied to the SU “Nordic smile” by AEGEE-Riga, AEGEE-Tallinn and AEGEE-Helsinki.

More on the long term, I plan to chill and have fun, contributing slowly but steady, and not rushing anymore (risking a burnout).

Written by Gabriela Geană, AEGEE-București

The Information Technology Committee (ITC) represents the evolution of the Information Technology Working Group established in 2010. The main goal of this Committee is to support and provide know-how in order to develop our network’s IT. A new board was elected for this important task and The AEGEEan interviewed them. Meet our ‘nerds’!

Dasha (on the left)

The AEGEEan: Could you introduce the new ITC team?

Dasha Shcherbyna: I have been a member of AEGEE for a year and a half and I already took part in three Agorae and joined the board of AEGEE-Kharkiv. I have a System Analysis and Administration Master Degree and I worked for 8 month as Project Manager in a IT company. I really like being part of ITC, because I am a the only girl on the board team (smiles). Jokes apart, our team is so enthusiastic and experienced and I want to do some really significant steps during our term.

Paul Smits: As one of the Board members of the ITC is a CD member according to the ITC Working Format, I had the opportunity to join in. I might not have the most knowledge on advanced IT things, but as a technical person I know my way around and can talk along to some extent. Unfortunately I have no academic background in hard IT, but also in my studies I learned some object-oriented programming. I am delighted with the new team, as they value the same things in IT solutions for AEGEE as I do.

Maurits Korse: I have been a member of AEGEE for quite some time now and within this period I have been a board member of the PRWG (ed. Public Relations Working Group now Public Relations Committee), member of the Mediation Commission, Key to Europe, Summer Uuniversity Coordination Team (SUCT) and have been involved, on the side, in various projects. On the local level I have been President of AEGEE-Enschede, member of the local IT committee and various other committees.

Ingo Müller: I am from AEGEE-Heidelberg, where I was Vice-President for one year and very active for 3 years, including the IT stuff and statutes rework. I was delegate two times and will most likely be at Agora Oviedo. Furthermore I am in the fourth year of my PhD in Database System in cooperation with a company (SAP).

All: It is cool to be aware that you can do something that matters and to serve the practical needs of the network. And now it is the time in AEGEE when we have a lot of interesting work to do to further improve the IT and the ITC. For example, there is the active development phase of “OMS” (online membership system), improving HR, trying to involve all ITC members in the different elements of the committee. And in general this is the place where we can try, and create an impact. We are young and want to contribute where we really can do it.

Do you have a brand new programme for your committee that you want to share with us?

Maybe it is not so brand new, but now our priority is to get our members active and involve them in the projects and tasks we have for the moment. We hope to involve all the ITC members into the different aspects of the ITC. That is not just making websites, maintaining servers and other nerdy things, but also dive a bit more into Internet Governance and other social issues related to IT. But back to the IT infrastructure. As Board we want to support the active development of OMS, help any AEGEE member with their IT questions and issues. To help everyone, we want to create a knowledge base with manuals and other common questions on IT. Most of this is already present, but over the years they have been put in several places so that the information you need becomes hard to find. So one of the things we want to do is close old and outdated websites and move all useful information to a single place.

Yes, the previous team made a really good job. We are in good connection with the previous board and our active members. They have helped AEGEE to the level where we are now, and are therefore very valuable to us. So we hope to continue the collaboration with them. The most important recommendation from their side was to create a sense of group feeling, so we are exploring options to strengthen the ITC community. A good start was to actually document who is working on what.

What is the current network status?

Ingo

The main tasks of the ITC are divided over various teams. Some of them are:

The Mail team creates aliases, solves issues concerning mailing lists and gives support to the network on the mailing lists.

The OMS developer team is working to replace the current intranet with a reliable and working management system.

The myAEGEE team maintains the current intranet and gives support to the network.

The sysadmin team, manages the IT infrastructure: like maintaining linux servers to host statutory websites, intranet and the antennae websites.

The Head Office team: maintains the Server and IT in the head office and gives support to the Comité Directeur.

The biggest problem now is a mix between an intranet not working (although that’s work in progress) and a server infrastructure that requires specific skills that are difficult to pass on to new members.

What do you think that should be done to fix them?

First off, we hope to find new members, and make our current members enthusiastic for the things that are coming. HR is therefore important. For instance we hope to have continuous OMS development. Next to that we are focusing if the IT in AEGEE can be made less demanding on the available capacity. This way maintenance and development of new awesome tools, or maybe even an true AEGEE mobile app becomes easier!

What is the OMS and its current development status in our network?

Currently a handsome member has moved to the CD house to be the lead developer of this long overdue project: Fabrizio Bellicano.The idea is that more than a product, we need something that would make our members interested in joining us – otherwise we could just have outsourced the development. Why spend AEGEE-Europe money if we have volunteers! For now there are some questions under discussions about management system and other things, such as the supporting infrastructure on which the OMS will be running. Making the right decisions makes the OMS future-proof, eases maintenance while providing new opportunities to make the IT in AEGEE even more awesome.

Mauritz

If you think of AEGEE in 10 years which are the main changes that might happen in the IT?

The ideal situation is to have one system which will contain all functions that can make communications and collaboration as easy on European level as on local level . For example groups, creating events, calendar, comments, chatting, email communication, elections, statutory functions, surveys, custom forms, and other tools. If you have an idea, share it with us so we can put it in the bucket list! In other words, as long as our system is neat and works like a charm, the network can collaborate much better and realise their ideas much quicker. So in 10 years, we as ITC and you as members of AEGEE shouldn’t face the problems that we are facing now!

Are you looking for new members to join your team?

Paul

Of course we will be glad for all new members: fresh ideas and forces. At this moment, for the current tasks we are looking for people who can contribute on developing OMS. Also we need a person who is able to help maintaining one of the servers and has time and knowledge to support other webmasters. But in case you have a good idea, you are also welcome to join and realise it together with us!

So, don’t hesitate and join ITC. It’s a good place to develop yourself, gain experience, get and share knowledge. And if you are afraid that you don’t have enough IT skills, don’t worry, because you don’t necessarily need them, and if you want we can help you learn! To join, you can find our application form right here.

Written by Larisa Smajlagic, AEGEE-Verona

During AEGEE’s European Schools (ES) everyone gets inspired and even more motivated. These trainings have a unique, empowering atmosphere, yet the value of the experience can only be understood after attending one. The Information Technology Committee (ITC) in cooperation with AEGEE-León is organizing an Information Technology European School (ITES) in May, 25-30. The AEGEEan interviewed Giuseppe Colicchia (Peppe), speaker of the ITC as well as Nuria Viñuela Rodríguez, coordinator of the event.

The AEGEEan: The ITC rocks. You all are very dedicated to creating a new OMS (Online Membership System) as well as organizing the next ITES where IT knowledge will be shared and discussed among the participants and trainers. Tell us what this ITES will be about?

Peppe: Taking into account the needs of our association, we’ll try to determine which are common situations where IT resources – in terms of collaboration tools and well known software – could be useful, and how. I guess there’s a common thread within these kind of activities made by IT responsibles (and board members in general) across the network, and sometimes the availability of working examples could help a lot. So, stop reinventing the wheel and let’s share best practices! Teambuilding and knowledge sharing need to be keywords in the Committee: OMS for instance is possible just if we make it sustainable, with proper development and support teams.

The AEGEEan: You became a member of the ITC after ITES 2013. What motivated you in joining and why do you think it was a good decision?
Peppe: Last year’s ITES was organized by AEGEE-Debrecen, where trainers gave a global overview of AEGEE technological infrastructure followed up by global needs (with a set of possible solutions) and topics of general interest. My aim was to know more about the AEGEE world – it was my second event after EBM (European Boards’ Meeting) in Valletta – especially from a point of view that fits with my personal interests. It has been definitely a good decision! That general overview and the concepts learned were the kick start to be active on the European Level, and I still get much more of what I give: this keeps up my motivation!

The AEGEEan: European Schools are always exceptionally intense events of our association. What would you tell to potential applicants why participating is highly recommended?
Peppe: We’ll have not less than 25 hours of lessons, where the curiosity of participants will be satisfied by an open space full of resources. It’s not our intention to further explore a single tool or scripting language, it would be in contrast with the idea behind the event: propose a solutions-oriented approach to help board members solving weekly issues using common instruments. The nature of the event is open, some sessions (a 20%) will be filled on demand and participants will be invited to show ideas and solutions as well: sharing is caring, see you in León!

The AEGEEan: AEGEE-León was selected to host the training event. What should we know about the organising antenna?

Nuria: AEGEE-León is a pretty big antenna, with approximately 100 members, our Summer Universities have been among the highest rated ten for several years now, and we work a lot into the already finished Youth in Action Program and now Erasmus+ (we already had 2 European Volunteers, and we will host an Erasmus placement with us). At the next Agora, Spring Agora Patra, we also will sign a Twin Contract with AEGEE-Catania.
Last year we celebrated our 10th anniversary, and this year, with all our new and motivated members, we are in the best moment to host an event as the ITES is. Last months we hosted an RTC and we are working hard preparing and exchange with more locals and our SU.

The AEGEEan: What can participants expect from the city and the social programme?
Nuria: León was founded as Roman settlement and since that time we have a very rich culture and history that you can feel in all the city, with monuments, the old town, our cathedral, the ancient streets…

León has a good atmosphere since it is a students’ city: during almost all week you can find open places to have fun with your friends, drink a beer or even better, a great wine,  and taste our famous and delicious tapas.

In the social program our participants will see by themselves all these aspects: the cultural side, but also the student nightlife.

The AEGEEan: Tell us, why our readers should not second guess themselves but apply instantly to this great event.
Peppe: Take a look at our webpage: would you say it was made in 15 minutes without any deep knowledge? There are no tricks, just resources to use properly and to adapt to your needs. After the event I’m quite sure you’ll be able to create a page much better than this.

Nuria: Because the ITES is not only going to be a European Training School, it will be an event for sharing, sharing of knowledge, best practices and experiences. It will be a good training for all the participants to be ready, to become more active AEGEEans. Also, the end of May is the most beautiful season to enjoy León and its spirit. :)

Thank you for your answers. It surely is an excellent opportunity to broaden our horizon on IT matters. Grab the chance, check out the event’s website HERE and apply HERE.

Written by Balázs Kovács, AEGEE-Debrecen

Lia’s name and face can be quite well-known for many of us. Despite having joined AEGEE just a couple of years ago, she has been motivated from the start to be very active both on local and European level. Especially after being Arsenis Tselengidis’ subcommissioner, she feels prepared now to run for Network Commissioner herself. She is a member of AEGEE-Kastoria, but she is running for NetCom as a member of AEGEE-Sofia. You might wonder why – and so, we invite you to take a look at her words.

The AEGEEan: First of all, Lia, introduce yourself. Who are you, and how did you join AEGEE?

Lia: I am Evangelia Touska (but everyone calls and knows me as Lia) and I study Computer Science at the Technological Institute of Western Macedonia, Kastoria campus. Currently, I live at Iraklia, a small city close to the Greek border with Bulgaria. I joined AEGEE on May 2012, when AEGEE-Kastoria was founded. I was IT Responsible and Secretary of AEGEE-Kastoria and I am Vice-Speaker of the Information Technology Committee, Secretary of the Human Rights Working Group, Arsenis Tselengidis’ Subcommissioner responsible for AEGEE-Athina, AEGEE-Nicosia, AEGEE-Patra and AEGEE-Peiraias, PR of The AEGEEan and Network Commission’s assistant .

The AEGEEan: You are very experienced in AEGEE – but which have your favorite experiences been so far?

Lia: On the local level, my favorite experiences have been working with the rest of the board of AEGEE-Kastoria for two years and surprising AEGEE-Sofia members on the local’s 22nd birthday by showing up at the party. On European Level, I really enjoyed the European Level meeting in Zaragoza and I love working with the HRWG board.

The AEGEEan: You are not only a member of AEGEE-Kastoria, but also AEGEE-Sofia. You helped last summer in their events and now you are running for the position of NetCom from this local. What connects you so strongly with Bulgaria?

Lia: Bulgaria is the first foreign country I’ve ever visited. As said above, I live really close to Bulgaria and my first visit to Sofia was when I was 9 or 10. At my first event (Agora Budapest 2012), I met some of AEGEE-Sofia’s members and AEGEE-Sofia became AEGEE-Kastoria’s mentor. They have visited us at Kastoria and so have we.

I am member of AEGEE-Kastoria since its birth, but unfortunately, I don’t live there anymore. Actually, couple of days after I moved back with my parents, I left to go to help AEGEE-Sofia with organizing the Leadership Summer School 2013 and then I was participant at their Summer University, so I stayed there for a whole month. I really liked their motivation and the fact that they organized two big events in one month. When you spend such a long time with people you connect with them. They had already considered me their member before I joined AEGEE-Sofia. So now that I might move to Sofia, I decided and officially became their member.

The AEGEEan: You have been Arsenis’ subcommissioner. If elected, would you keep working with him as subcommie?

Lia: If elected, there is going to be an Open Call for my position. During the one-month Knowledge Transfer period, I will prepare my successor and later in case they need any help, I will be there.

The AEGEEan: And what have you learnt from this time as his subcommissioner?

Lia: I was thinking of running for Network Commissioner before Arsenis asked me to become member of his NetCom Team. After five months of being his subcommissioner, I feel more prepared than ever to do it. I have partly learnt how Network Commission works.
I was always responsible, on-time for the deadlines and extremely patient. Sometimes, you don’t have to learn something new, still you need to practice the skills you already have.

I have helped all the locals that I am responsible for to register at Erasmus+ database and all of them made it. I’m proud of them And I I made two trips to meet with three of my locals (Athina, Peiraias and Patra). From those trips I understood that Skype meetings are the easy way, but the personal contact is more efficient.

The AEGEEan: I always hear from previous netcommies that their time at the NetCom is probably the most rewarding experience they have had in AEGEE. Why do you think so?

Lia: While being NetCommie you contact not only one group of people, but more at the same time. Most of the times, you contact people who are not speaking the same language as you and you travel to visit them. You are like a parent to them, they are happy that you are there for them when they need you. Doing all those things I referred, you develop yourself and this is the most rewarding experience.

The AEGEEan: You have a very ambitious programme that starts with having a team of experts and subcommissioners. How are you planning to select them?

Lia: For the team of experts, I will select them depending on their experience. Some of them will also be subcommissioners, but I want to have not that experienced members in my team, too. My goal is to motivate them to be more active. I will select them with the help of my already selected team and considering their opinions, I will choose the proper ones. I am also going to ask for feedback from the Focus Area (if they agree or not) about my decision, in order to make it more democratic.

The AEGEEan: Our readers would like to ask about the existing gap between the local and European level of AEGEE. Would you consider making some implementations to reduce it? In case you already thought about it, what are the ideas you would like to be put to work?

Lia: Being member of locals that are active in European Level, I didn’t feel that gap until I became Subcommissioner. There are many locals that don’t know enough about it or think that European Level is just the Comité Directeur. With Arsenis and the rest of our NetCom Team, we decided to have some Local Training Courses regarding the European Level. I am going to follow this example, too. Also my team and I are going to create a newsletter translated in the languages of our Focus Area. Members will be free to help at the translation.

The AEGEEan: Not many people have heard about the Grandparent system. What is it about?

Lia: I love Grandparents’ System. I first heard about it from AEGEE-Patra. It is a Human Resources system. An old member of a local is grandparent of one or more new members to initiate them to AEGEE. When the new member needs help or advice about something on AEGEE, the grandparent is responsible for them. It helps the local to keep the new members for longer and it lightens the workload of the HR Responsible. AEGEE-Thessaloniki arranged me as my sister’s grandma and currently she is their Secretary and PR Responsible for the Pre-Agora event The Lord of Wine: the Return of Dionysus.

The AEGEEan: And do you plan to establish new locals?

Lia: Of course. I have already helped with founding AEGEE-Kastoria and I know the whole process. Plus, there are people who asked for help and advices to establish two new locals. More info about them, after Agora Patra…

The AEGEEan: Which are the three words that describe you best?

Lia: Smiling: Most of the time, I am smiling. That’s because I believe in the power of positive energy. Quoting Fotis Pastrakis, “I can’t imagine Lia being angry, sad or crying”.
Multitasking: I can do many things at the same time. Sometimes doing only one thing makes me feel strange.
Energetic: There are times that we can feel disappointed. I don’t let this feeling get over me. My dreams motivate me to keep up and I just enjoy the route!

The AEGEEan: And which are your hobbies outside AEGEE?

Lia: My favorite hobbies are knitting and cooking for my friends and family. My secret ingredient is that I put love in both of them. I love walking on my own or with one of my three dogs. Sometimes I watch television series or movies. Last but not least, the thing I do every day and I personally don’t consider as hobby, I meditate for at least 10 minutes or more (depending on my free time).

Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona/Leuven

Peppe Colicchia, the current speaker of the Information Technology Committee, has been a member of AEGEE-Pisa for two years already, even though now he’s back in Sicily, where he comes from.

From his place in “the most beautiful island in the Mediterranean”, Peppe took some time to talk to The AEGEEan about the current plans of the ITC, after coming back from a very intense, but productive, meeting in Brussels to work on the new Online Membership System, which all AEGEE members will soon benefit from…

The AEGEEan: First of all, Peppe, congratulations for being elected as Member of the Month of February! For those who don’t know you, please introduce yourself!

Hi, I am a twenty-twelve years old guy from AEGEE-Pisa! Even if I recently came back to the most beautiful island in the Mediterranean, Sicily.

How and when did you join AEGEE?

I became a member two years ago, when some friends of mine introduced me to the association. I knew them as a group of friends, and they were working in the expansion of an antenna. I went to a first meeting with them and soon we started having lots of fun together and organizing local activities.

Why did you join the ITC? What can you tell us about your time as Speaker?

The approach I had with the ITC was similar as the one I had with AEGEE-Pisa: finding a group of people doing something interesting together and having fun doing it. So now, as speaker, my primary task is to represent the committee, “trying to overview” the activities, understand if there are some tasks in which people would like to be involved and if there is something more to do for the association in terms of IT.

OMS Meeting at the AEGEE Head Office

You were recently at a very relevant meeting for the ITC in Brussels. What was it about?

Yes, in ITC we are managing permanent activities and working on projects. We cannot improve the current system so we are working on a new tool: the Online Membership System.  It has been in the air for a long time but, for many reasons, it was stuck at some points. And now we are working to move on and finding strategies to implement it.

How would you define the Online Membership System, and what can you tell us about it?

OMS is a modular system to manage data inside AEGEE, that means: offering functionalities that will support administration level (CD), European Level bodies, locals and members. The aim is to rely on a single node, this could avoid to have scattered applications that could confuse. It’s long but it’s a need, and the result will be for sure better than the actual intranet from several perspectives. ITC offers real solutions for real problems, and the IT world is more complex than how it appears, but we are very lucky that actually very experienced people are managing our systems (and I think AEGEE members should thank them).

And when will AEGEE members see it implemented?

In Zaragoza we had a progress meeting and we showed a timeline. But going deeper into the project we saw some missing details, so we were too optimistic and we will be unable to fulfill that timeline. Actually there is no release date for that, we are defining step by step things to do dividing the job in small tasks, because it’s a quite complex system. We have a route and we are moving on, this is important from my point of view.

Which other plans does the IT Committee have?

Well, a service we are offering to the locals is the possibility to have for free a website according with the corporate Visual Identity, using a nice web template made by the PR Committee. We are working on a systematic solution to store data hierarchically, so we’ll adopt a groupware for documents and an open Wiki: both potentially very useful for knowledge transfer. We also hope to become Eduroam Identity Provider (free wifi access for AEGEE members). “Dulcis in fundo”, a mobile app for statutary events to provide useful info to participants.

Also, you recently announced that you are organizing the IT European School with AEGEE-León. Who should apply for the ITES?

First of all, I want to thank all three locals who have applied; the choice was so difficult, indeed! We will talk about several interesting things for locals as well as for the people that want to actively give a contribution to global AEGEE needs. I am sure AEGEE-León is preparing an exciting social programme, in the meanwhile we are defining the topics. This ITES could be a first step for cooperation with IT responsibles of the locals, because we think that sometimes they need to reinvent the wheel all over again, so a collaboration among them could be useful, especially for new members. There will be also space to share best practices. The teambuilding is very important, this is what I would like to create.

ITES 2013 in Debrecen

What about you: what makes you so interested in the field of IT? Is it what you work for?

Yes, this is my field and I am currently working on the “technical” side of the advertising world. And maybe I am also a bit geek, so it helps…! But, surprise, I don’t have a smartphone. To be honest, I have a tablet, but not a smartphone… It’s a personal conviction! I hate Whatsapp!!

Could you tell us any AEGEE members that have inspired you?

Pavel Zbornik, for his professionality. Beata Matuszka, for her energy. And Costas Deltouzos, for his freshness!

What about your next plans? Will you be in Agora Patra?

Sure thing, I will be in Patra where ITC will try to have another Progress Meeting to share with the community our work and, as OMS is a project for AEGEE members based on their needs, we will be there listening to them, for a better understanding of the way to build a useful and friendly IT system.

Every day, as AEGEE members, we use the technology, services and applications that are available to us, ranging from browsing a website to get information about a certain Working Group, through sending emails from our aegee.org account, to asking for support when we cannot login to the Intranet. We rely on AEGEE’s IT services to provide the necessary infrastructure for our work but we barely get a chance to take a glimpse behind the scenes, and get to know those people whose invaluable work makes all of this possible. Presenting you Wim van Ravesteijn, Dilyan Palauzov and Christian Bussar, the following paragraphs will show you how working in the IT field of AEGEE can be more than a passing task, and become a source for personal development, enriching one’s life.

The AEGEEan: What are your responsibilities in AEGEE when it comes to IT matters?

Wim van Ravesteijn has been active in the ITC (formerly ITWG) for over 10 years.

Wim: “I’m responsible for the webserver Zeus, hosting almost all websites in AEGEE, as well as the Head Office servers. For Zeus, it means maintaining the server, creating new accounts, assisting users with problems, and writing some tooling to make the life of the users easier. For the Head Office, it mainly means maintaining the servers. Next to that, for 10 years already by now, I take care of the Agora and EBM applications.“

Dilyan: “In AEGEE, we use @aegee.org email addresses and mailing lists with @lists.aegee.org and I ensure that these email services are constantly up, running, and improving. This means maintaining the mail server, dealing with spam, and doing the best to deliver the emails sent to the @aegee.org addresses to the real destination mailboxes. Apart from the everyday task of creating email aliases, there are some long term ideas, like integrating the creation of the mail aliases with the intranet databases, updating software, migrating from one software to another, or installing new software for new services.”

Christian: “My task is the user support of the AEGEE Intranet, which keeps the account data of every registered AEGEE member and their position within the organisation. You need to access your account for all event applications and this is why the most demanding time is during the application period for statutory events and of course the Summer Universities. The general task is explaining people how to recover their passwords or generating interim passwords for them. The challenge of user support is being available almost every day, because naturally you don’t want to keep people waiting for longer than 24 hours.”

The AEGEEan: Most of you have been involved in this type of work for a very long time, even up to 10 years. What has kept you motivated all this time?

Wim: “Maintaining your own webserver is the dream of every IT student. You can always build your home server, but without lots of users, this is not much fun. AEGEE provides the environment to provide a reliable service to lots of people. It gives you experiences that you cannot learn from books. Finding the right balance between security and user experience is the most complicated part, but by doing it for many years, you know where is the right balance.”

One of the aims of Dilyan Palauzov is to constantly develop the email systems of AEGEE.

Dilyan: “On the one hand, there is the technical challenge, and the experience I get in this field.  If you want to work in the area of IT, you need to learn a huge amount of theory, and when you apply for a job, you can list what you have learnt. AEGEE gives you the possibility both to learn theoretically and to put this in practice, for the benefit of both yourself and the organisation. On the other hand, my motivation also comes from a sense of responsibility, as I have always had the feeling, that if I do not do my work right, the rest of AEGEE will not be able to exchange emails and they will not be able to work productively.”

The AEGEEan: What are the next steps for you in these positions? Are you looking for people to get involved in your work?

Dilyan: “I’ve been in this position for too long, and I am looking for somebody to take over this challenge. Three months ago there was an open call for new members, and currently the mail team consists of Christophe, Clemens, Mateusz, Olimpia, Richard and me. The teammates do great work in answering the daily mails, but I wish there were some people to develop new software, or just make changes in the service, besides keeping the current service level. To join the mail team, experience is not at all necessary, as it can be gained along the way. What is important is the motivation and willingness to do things the right way, polished, with an attention to details. So if someone would like to learn to set up servers and email software, and is ready to ensure that the mail server is going to work non-stop, I would be glad if he or she supported me.”

Christian: “My personal situation has changed recently because I am now working full time which gives me a lot less free time than before, when I was a student. This means I don’t know exactly if it is possible for me to carry on this position for much longer. User support for the Intranet it is a quite easy task to fulfil, and you don’t need much insight into IT, just have to be able to handle an easy web form with drop down menus and check boxes. Furthermore, it is not fully about giving away positions, in fact we’re calling ourselves the myAEGEE Team, but are missing actually some faces beside me, so the first step might be to get some more people involved to share the workload, especially during the Summer University application period.”

Wim: “The next step for me in AEGEE is retirement. Well, I said that some years ago already. My involvement in AEGEE is little right now. I’ve joined Les Anciens already some years ago, that was when I left my position in the board of AEGEE-Academy. That was basically the last involvement from my side in AEGEE, except for the IT work.”

The AEGEEan: In AEGEE you work in the IT field, but what do you do in your everyday life?

Wim: “Over three years ago, I started working in an IT company in Deventer, The Netherlands. I started as Java developer, which is still what I do most of the time. In addition to that, I also take care of maintaining our internal servers, planning new development and second line user support. We develop web applications that are used for primary healthcare in The Netherlands. So, basically I do the same as I’ve done in AEGEE (servers and web development), only now I get paid for it.”

Christian Bussar is currently pursuing a PhD degree at the University of Aachen.

Christian: “You can separate my life into four phases, which are working on my job, doing sports, doing AEGEE related things and sleep. Since I’ve just started my job a few weeks ago, I am still trying to adjust my schedule a bit here and there, but I have regular office hours doing my PhD at the University of Aachen. In my free time I enjoy doing a lot of sports like kung-fu, swimming and fitness gymnastics, which I do usually every second day, if possible.”

Dilyan: “I recently moved to Nürnberg, where I develop software. I like travelling, cycling, walking around, reading books about IT and articles related to emails, or listening to the radio.”

The AEGEEan: Is there anything else that you would like to share about your experiences in AEGEE?

Wim: “I joined AEGEE in 2000. During all those years, I’ve travelled a lot, seen lots of places and made lots of friends all over Europe. I’ve learnt to cooperate with people from different backgrounds. Many people you meet several times, but you always want more. Unfortunately, many friends live too far away to meet often, but whenever there is a possibility, I try to meet people when I travel somewhere. AEGEE has thought me so many lessons. And though it took a lot time away from studying, it also gave me lot of practical experiences next to all the theory from my studies. It definitely helps me now in my daily work. Without AEGEE, my life would be totally different now.”

Dilyan: “When I look back after some years of work, I realize how much the work in AEGEE has developed me both on the social and the technical aspect. It is hard to foresee how a person doing voluntary work will develop him or herself by this work, but being unpaid allows you to determine for yourself what is important and lets you work on making it real, just because of your inspiration and independent of commercial interests.”

Christian: “Even though I only found out about AEGEE late in my studies, it made my whole life somehow connected and looking to shape the future of Europe, and this is quite amazing, I think. Thank you for everything, AEGEE!”

As these stories show, there are a lot of opportunities for AEGEE members to find the field of IT that they would like to get to know better and develop their skills. As Dilyan puts it, “The scope of the work is very broad, and you shouldn’t be afraid to break something in the beginning, as breaking stuff is part of the learning process.” If you would like to find out more about their work, or better yet, get involved in it, do not hesitate to contact Wim (wim@aegee.org), Dilyan (mail@aegee.org) or Christian (myaegee@aegee.org).

Written by Zsófia Komáromi, AEGEE-Budapest

Dear Network, I would like to introduce you to one of the people behind the scenes of AEGEE tech. Our very own Wizard of AEGEE, speaker of the Information Technology Committee and IT Responsible of the UnEmployment Project – George Dimitrakopoulos. He is our new Member of the Month. 

The AEGEEan: Congratulations, did you expect the nomination?

George: Thank you! It is a great AEGEEan honour for me!!! The truth is that it was a wonderful surprise when I was informed about it.

Could you please tell us about yourself and your AEGEE history?

I am 26 and I am PhD student in Bioinformatics at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department of the University of Patra, from which I graduated 2,5 years ago. Beside programming, I really like books, films, theatre and of course travelling. That’s why I joined AEGEE-Patra  four years ago and since then, I have participated in numerous amazing events of all kind (cultural, SUs, Agorae, NWMs, exchanges…). I am active in the local level, where I have organized many events and been in the local board, and in the european level as well, where I am member (and currently Speaker) of the Information Technology Committee and IT Responsible of the Youth UnEmployment Project.

You are the genious mind behind OMS, could you please tell us about that?

The information technology field is where I can offer the maximum to AEGEE. Currently, I am actively involved in the development of the new Online Membership System (OMS)  which is intended to replace intranet in order to cover all our needs. Specifically, one part of it, the ‘JC module’, has been succesfully put in action in Agora Budapest. Via this system, it was possible to manage the proposals and other votings (rollcalls, reports, motions etc). It is still under development and new features have been implemented, such as proposal submissions. Also, for the upcoming Agora, we plan to include in the system electronic  elections for candidatures. At this point, I would like to mention that all of these things happen with the support of Manos Valasis, to whom I would like to say thanks for his work.

What are your future personal plans regarding AEGEE?

The biggest aim is, as mentioned before, to launch OMS with full functionality as soon as possible. Otherwise, I don’t have any other long-term plans. Of course, I am willing to contribute to the improvement of IT facilities of our beloved organization. Finally, I am still involved in activities of my local, although I would like to shift to an advisory role.

Will we see you at the Spring Agora or perhaps during one of the Summer Universities this year?

I have applied for the Agora and I will decide definitely if I am going or not in the next couple of days, but I definitely want to. About the SU’s, it is still early to tell, but I’d like to discover a new place this year, too!

If you were to describe your AEGEE life so far in three words what would they be?

Travel, People, Volunteering

Last question, any advice to both your locals and new members everywhere?

Take the chance to do something different! For me, AEGEE proved to be a life-changing experience. Live new experiences, travel, get in contact with new cultures , learn, make friendships, take part in activities. Whatever you like to do, you can always find young people from all over Europe to discuss it with, share ideas with and to realize your plans with their help!

Written by Andra Toma, AEGEE-Bucuresti