At Autumn Agora Budapest it took very little time until a large part of the participants got dressed in the same blue coloured sweatshirt. The new AEGEE-Europe sweatshirt designed by the Public Relations Committee was being sold like hot bread and this has ensured the Comité Directeur that there is a demand for AEGEE-Europe merchandise.

It is therefore not such a big surprise that the AEGEE-Europe sweatshirt is nominated for The AEGEEans Choice Awards 2013 and neither is it a surprise that there will be a new hoodie launched in Mannheim next week. The AEGEEan interviewed some of the masterminds behind the project.

The AEGEEan: What was the idea behind the design of the AEGEE-Europe sweatshirt? Why do you think it is important to design merchandise for AEGEE?

Zsofia Komaromi: The sweatshirts were the first elements of the merchandising program that was launched in the Autumn of 2012. Our main aim with the hoodies was to create a sense of a common identity for AEGEE members, in other words, a sense of belonging to the organisation. We thought: wouldn’t it be nice to create something that all AEGEEans could wear to show that they are part of this organisation, and also use it to stay warm during cold Agora nights? Additionally, by using merchandise like t-shirts or pins, AEGEE can also get some visibility when it comes to externals, including potential members. And as a last point, but nonetheless important, a merchandising program can also be a source of income. As for the sweatshirts, all the profits from the sales were used to support the Agora Budapest.

Some people are asking about the design itself, why did you use a hot air balloon?

Erman Berkay: Let me start my words by explaining the concept behind the design. As we all know, AEGEE people love travelling and they do great work around Europe at different events and in projects. They travel a lot, and sometimes it gets difficult to even follow their check-ins. That gave me an inspiration about the design, and I created not a hot air balloon, but a pin that shows the location where you are. Originally, the design concept was created for the cover of AEGEE-Europe’s Annual Review, the Key to Europe 2011/2012, and we made the decision to use the same design for our AEGEE-Europe hoodies in order to keep the same identity for these materials.

Are you planning to launch any new merchandise this year for AEGEE-Europe?

Pavel Zborník: Yes, for Agora Rhein-Neckar we will have a sweatshirt again as the demand for them at Agora Budapest was quite big, so we will print them again, this time in a different color. We will also have new merchandise: plastic cups. For the next Agora that will take place in Zaragoza we have some plans, but we will not reveal the secret yet.

Guess we just have to wait with being impressed once again by the creative AEGEE minds.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

AEGEE-Zaragoza is going strong. Last time when The AEGEEan focused on this Spanish antenna was just a few months ago, when they were nominated for the best merchandise and the best flag-stealer. Since then the Network saw at the Agora Enschede that AEGEE-Zaragoza won both awards, and Pablo Ruiz, AEGEE-Zaragoza’s Public Relations (PR) Responsible entered earlier this year the board of the Youth Council of their region on behalf of the antenna. Furthermore, AEGEE-Zaragoza has been working on not one, but two new T-Shirts, and they got a new mascot.

The AEGEEan talked with Pablo Ruiz, AEGEE-Zaragoza’s PR Responsible, about what they have been working on during the last months.

The AEGEEan: For how long have you tried to enter the board of the Consejo de la Juventud de España of Aragón (Spanish Youth Council of Aragon)?

Pablo: Actually, it was something which came to us surprisingly. The Consejo de la Juventud de España (CJA) in our region, Aragon (Consejo de la Juventud de Aragon) has been suffering the consequences of this brutal crisis in Spain in the shape of budget cuts, no sponsors, and no incomes etc. with the result of several boards followed each other at dizzy pace.

Trying to save the CJA from disappearance, a few members agreed to create an “emergency board” without political tendencies to be accepted by all the associations. That is the moment when they thought about AEGEE, because we have those ideas in our basis, so we were the right ones.

How long did it take? Did you face any difficulties? 

As I said before, it was not a problem to become a part of it; the difficulties started after our inclusion. After several years learning how everything works in AEGEE, a new universe of terms, words, acronyms and abbreviations was in front of us: a new “Sect”. We are again newbies here, real rookies, but this is a great chance to make more contacts with other youth associations to create new synergies and to be in touch with the regional government.

For people who do not know that much about CJE and how it works in Spain can you then explain a bit what is it and what does it mean now that AEGEE-Zaragoza has the vice-presidency?

The CJE means exactly Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de la Juventud de España). This is a platform (you can consider it as a lobby) where all the youth associations, as AEGEE, for example, have a space for them. Its aim and objectives are the promotion of active participation of the young people in the economic, social and cultural development of the country, quite related to our purpose in AEGEE, isn’t it?

I am, on behalf of AEGEE-Zaragoza, in the role of vice-president in the CJE in Aragón, our region. So this is a great chance for our antenna to be more in touch with the administration and other associations, having the choice to create some synergies through this position.

Are there any other exciting projects that AEGEE-Zaragoza is working on these days?

Right now, we have just finished the incredibly hard task of reaching a satisfactory ending for our Summer University, a project I am sure most of the participants will mark as a “10” event, but that is the past already. For the future, we have started to think about a Local Training Course (LTC) for the new rookies, a Welcome Week for the Erasmus students and, above all, a quite important event about the structured dialogue in the European Union (EU), a meeting where youth is the main topic treated from the point of view of the European institutions.

Last time we published an article about your antenna it was about the “I Jamon” t-shirt, since then you won The AEGEEan award for the most popular merchandise, what does this mean to you?

One of the biggest honours an antenna could have! We are tremendously proud of this award. It is so exciting when you have seen this t-shirt travelling to the Niagara Falls or to the Mongolian Steppe, and these examples are real!

Long live the Jamón t-shirt! The time for the new design has come!

And you specifically won the best flag-stealer award, however not many people know what you did to deserve it together with Sergio Cristobal. What did you do?

I think the point of this award lies in the simplicity, elegance and beauty of the theft: my partner in crime, Sergio Cristobal, and me… we just asked for the flag of AEGEE-Ogre to its owner (and she cannot put forward that she is not an experienced member) to contemplate it. Of course, after that she did not see it anymore…

The last but not the least, we’ve heard that you are working on a new “motto” for AEGEE-Zaragoza. Can you reveal any new details on it? What will be it, how will it look, when will you “release” the next AEGEE-Zaragoza merchandise?

I am not allowed to reveal ALL the details of the new campaign. I can tell you that we have already a new t-shirt released for the whole “audience” in July, where the motto is “Zárágózá, the longest city name in the world” (And sorry, but you will need an inhabitant of our city to explain you why in – person).

However, if you know just a little bit about our antenna, for sure you would also know that we could not stop in such a “polite” motto. At this moment, we are working on a second one, only for real AEGEEans, connected with our “new” traditions. Furthermore, I can add that our new-born mascot will be related with this topic as well. If we are lucky, both of them (our mascot and the second t-shirt design) will be presented at the Autumn Agora Budapest.

Could that theme be related with the Anti-Cobra “movement” that AEGEE-Zaragoza started? A theme that has grown in popularity already, especially in Spain, but as Pablo Ruiz says it is a theme quite difficult to explain if you have not seen it. Hopefully, the Network will be greeted with more exciting news like this from AEGEE-Zaragoza as well as other antennae in Budapest.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

AEGEE-Zaragoza is one of the most famous antennae in the AEGEE Network. This fame derives partly because of the highly efficient branding campaign that they have done over the past couple of years with their “I love Jamon” t-shirts and stickers.

 The original idea was originated by the masterminds of AEGEE-Zaragoza. Jonathan del Castillo Gil from AEGEE-Zaragoza took the responsibility of designing the different ideas that came up and in the end the “I love Jamón” was chosen. This slogan is a tribute to the famous “I love NY” t-shirt but they replaced NY with Jamón, bringing the theme closer to the great love for pig meat in Spain. “Aragón and the jamón is like Romeo and Juliet, an inseperable love,” Jonathan explains the thoughts behind the t-shirt.

In Zaragoza the phrase “I love Jamon” is furthermore well used in Zaragoza and the rest of Spain because it derives from a song by a group named Berzas, using the melody of “I love Rock N Roll” by Joan Jett. For some this may ring a bell because AEGEE-Zaragoza used this song in the EBM Izmir and Agora Skopje as part of their roll-call, a roll-call which was not nominated for the best roll-call award for The AEGEEans Choice Awards 2012. However, what did get nominated is the AEGEE-Zaragoza “I love Jamón” t-shirt which finished the Facebook poll in leading position with 76 votes (Nr. 2, the AEGEE passport, received 48 votes).

AEGEE-Zaragoza selling their t-shirts at Agora Alicante

I love jamón in every corner of Europe

Now this legendary t-shirt has been around for quite some time. The first edition was produced for their Summer University in 2009 “The Transiberian Jamón Express.” However, calculating how many t-shirts have been sold throughout the years is not an easy task. For one AEGEE-Zaragoza is very generous and always gave the t-shirt to all their participants in the Summer Universities that they organised. Another reason is that it has always been the responsibility of the different boards of AEGEE-Zaragoza and having had several boards pass in this “I love jamón” period makes it even more difficult making a calculation. However, pictures of different nationalities wearing this t-shirt with pride in all different corners of Europe proves that it is a high number, a number which Jonathan estimates to be around 1000 (in which about 100 have been given away as a gift.)

I love Jamón sticker

Developing the branding

Now RyanAir makes it quite difficult to transport 100 t-shirts to be sold at different AEGEE events so AEGEE-Zaragoza had to come up with something to promote their new “theme”. This resulted in the “Yo amo el jamón, y el pan untadico con tomate” sticker which as well can be found in different corners of Europe such as on the computer in which this article is being written right now, in Denmark. Several people have the idea that the t-shirt and stickers are a tribute to “Pantumaca”, which is bread with tomato from Cataluña, but actually the t-shirt is a tribute to the pig and moreover to a certain type of meat from Aragaon (Jamón de Teruel).

The future of AEGEE-Zaragoza branding

Back in December 2011 AEGEE-Zaragoza produced its last round of “I love Jamón t-shirts. This decision was made because times are changing. There are many new and super active people involved with the antenna and they have gotten the responsibility of coming up with an idea for a new t-shirt that will represent their march in the antenna. “We adore the “I love jamón” t-shirt and we always wear it with pride because we believe that we can be innovative with a new slogan, and triumph once again,” says Jonathan.

Top secret slogan

AEGEE-Zaragoza is on the verge of deciding which slogan will be the future of their antenna. They have various candidates but also feel the pressure of coming up with something extraordinary after the Jamón success. According to Jonathan it goes as far as the CD having anxiety about the next t-shirt, “Alfredo Sellitti calls us just about every day”. The whole world is waiting and AEGEE-Zaragoza has actually received orders on the new t-shirt even before knowing how it will look like. “AEGEE members are very crazy and they know that only crazy ideas derive from AEGEE-Zaragoza,” Jonathan continues talking about the project.

One of these crazy ideas could be “anti-cobra” which is a greeting technique out of the extraordinary created by AEGEE-Zaragoza member Samuel García Calleja. However Jonathan does not confirm nor denies that this will be the base of the new slogan. He tells The AEGEEan that it could be complicated using this technique for a t-shirt when it takes so many years reaching the expert level that master Samuel has.

What he can confirm is that the t-shirt is on its way. He says that the t-shirt should most likely be in Brussels during the upcoming week (for approval) and AEGEE-Zaragoza intent to bring it to Agora Enschede. However, the limitations that the cheap RyanAir flights bring make it difficult to bringing enough t-shirts for everyone. The only thing they can promise to the Network is that they will not disappoint.

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København