August and September, the first months of preparation for the Agora. These months, the Network Commissioners are working hard to serve and protect their locals. Next to the Agora preparations, all of them are also preparing their Network Meetings that have already taken place or are going to take place in the following months. Let’s read what Brigitta, Carmen María, Julia, Maria, Mattia and Natalia did in the past two months!

Brigitta Puskás

I was elected as Network Commission Assistant on the 20th of August. In the first two to three weeks I was trying to catch up quickly and start working as soon as possible. I received knowledge transfer from Mattia, who showed me the different tools NetCom is using and we discussed the most important things to be done by Agora Cagliari. I am very grateful to him for being patient with me and replying to all my silly questions. My two months as a part of the Network Commission have been full of excitement and new things to discover! I thought it would be quite challenging to work with people of whom I haven’t even met some, let alone spoken to, but the warm welcome and the immediate trust I received from them made it quite easy to feel “at home” soon enough.

These past two months I had two priorities. One was to make sure my locals fulfill the antenna criteria and to have their most pressing problems solved by Agora Cagliari. The other one was to gather as much information on all of them as I could whilst starting regular communication with them once again, since they have been quite neglected for a while and most of them weren’t really used to NetCom’s presence in their daily life. Another thing I thought would be essential for the future well-being of the locals in my area is to make their members meet each other. Although we have seen examples of cooperation between some of them recently, as I see it, antennae in this area work quite independently from each other. They do not talk much to each other and they fail to establish lasting ties among themselves. This is why I thought it would be a great idea to organize a NWM here, so we ceased our chance with AEGEE-Budapest in August and applied to do so. I have been very much involved with the preparations of this event in the past month and had meetings with AEGEE-Budapest’s board as well as the NWM’s organizers team and Ioana Duca, my CD pair.

Meanwhile, I still keep looking for my successor. Although I really like and enjoy the position, I also have a full-time job, I am writing my thesis and finishing university next year. This is a lot and I am not sure that I could contribute to NetCom work a 100%. Therefore, I will probably not apply unless I do not see a suitable candidate for this position. So if anyone knows someone or is thinking about the position her/himself, do not hesitate to contact me.

Carmen María López Banegas

These past two months, my team of subcommisioners (La Tripulación) and I have mainly been working on Renove IV and zNWM Autumn Network Meeting Zaragoza 2014. August and September were very active months as we were dealing with these two important events for our network area. Some antennae were still organising their Summer Universities and/or starting to arrange meetings for the new term, but we all managed to be in frequent contact.

AEGEE-Madrid did a good job with Renove IV and most of us are happy with the result and hope that the new members keep being involved in AEGEE after their SUs, not just locally in their own antennae but also going to the European level in a little bit of time. We are now focused on zNWM: participants, content and so on. The communication with Zaragoza and their organisation is excellent. The whole network area has big expectations regarding the discussions, possibilities of cooperation and topics of the upcoming NWM. We also discussed about antennae applying to the Academy Events on our mailing list, hoping one antenna or another can be partner of all of them so the possibilities for our members could increase. Two members had the nice idea to have me coordinate this, so thanks to Adela Pérez from AEGEE-León and Ruben Navarro from AEGEE-Tarragona.

On the NetCom team we were also dealing with many topics that should be finished before Agora Cagliari, when some of us will end our term. The main duty was preparation for Agora Cagliari with the whole Netcom team and the locals to update the antenna criteria, verificate applications as well as provide applicants and antennae with the additional help needed with that. Busy days for the whole network!

Julia Fuss

During the past two months, it required some effort for me to balance my university studies and NetCom work. Being a NetCommie requires a high amount of dedication to be there not only for the antennae, but also for the subcommissioners as well as fellow NetCommies at the same time. I feel like during the last weeks, I have contributed most to the work of the NetCom team by helping finalize some tasks of our work plan that we want to finish before Agora Cagliari. During the last month of my term, I plan on focusing my energy on the antennae and finishing my work in such a way that my successor can experience an easy transition. But first, let’s not forget NWM Aachen and Agora Cagliari!

At the moment, I am working very closely together with the subcommissioners and members of AEGEE-Aachen to prepare the Network Meeting, which will take place October 9-12. The fast and reliable work of the local organizers as well as my NetCom team makes me confident that this event can live up to high expectations. I am looking forward to enjoying a ‘BEARtastic’ weekend! :) Only about two weeks later, the Agora will start. This Agora will signify important moments for some German-speaking locals: AEGEE-Aachen will sign the twin antenna contract with AEGEE-Warszawa, and the Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Dresden will advance to become a contact antenna. I feel delighted that we are taking small steps towards greater cooperation to strengthen our network at the same time. I am excited to see you in Aachen and Cagliari. Let’s keep on rocking, AEGEE network! :)

Maria Arends

The last two months have been a bit crazy for me: I started being a homeless person (not really of course, but I am feeling like a nomad and it’s awesome!) and meanwhile the work went on! In summer, everything went a bit slow, the locals were on vacation, but it was good as it gave me some time to get used to my new way of life. Now everything is back on fire! I am writing this as I am attending Julia’s NWM in Aachen (and believe me, it is amazing). I have been preparing for my own NWM in Sankt Peterburg, was able to start skyping with some locals again, am really happily surprised and overwhelmed by the new enthusiastic people in Sheffield, I met ACTie Monika Duda in person (finally!) and we came up with some plans for our cooperation.

As my fellow NetCommies already mentioned, being a NetCommie is exciting, hard work, and overwhelming from time to time, but in general it is just awesome! I am already looking forward to the next time I’ll be writing the Telegram, as by then Agora Cagliari has passed (and gosh, it will be so awesome), I’ve had NWM SPB (and knowing the Nordic Stars NWMs and the hard work of AEGEE-Sankt-Peterburg, I can only say that it will probably be equally amazing), and I will have started my NetCom Trip! So, not much to say now, as until now the work was mainly from behind my laptop, but that’s gonna end very very soon and I couldn’t be more looking forward… Stay tuned!

Mattia Abis

August started in the best way possible, since I took part as organizer in AEGEE-Cagliari and AEGEE-Napoli’s TSU, which was a great occasion to live AEGEE again in a more relaxed atmosphere far away from a laptop, something I was dreaming of for months. But August also had a big minus since I got 40 degrees of fever, while outside my house everybody was going to the beach. Meanwhile, with the NetCom Team, we finalised to deliver our proposal for the Network Meeting Reform. It has been one of the most satisfactory moments of my term, because since I entered in the Commission, people were already discussing about it and it was time to get some practical result.

In the same month we selected also our new NetCom Assistant, Brigitta Puskás with whom I had the privilege to Skype and give her some knowledge transfer. If I have to find a link between August and September it would be for sure the organization of NWM Brescia. This time the organization ran smoothly and I was not nervous as with my previous experience in Salerno, because I had a better idea of what we were going to do and, why not, what a Network Meeting in general is! I think I kept a better communication both with local organizers and trainers and I could go to Brescia surer about the results of the event. Just one thing made these two months very bad, namely the resignation of Arsenis as NetCommie. With him, we lost a great Speaker and friend and the Network lost a person that was really taking care of his locals.

Natalia Ivleva

In the last two months my main task was preparing the NWM in Kharkiv. I have contacted trainers and speakers to discuss the concept of workshops and presentations at the NWM, kept contact with the local organizers and prepared myself for the NWM. Also in September I had a Netcom trip. During this trip I’ve met board-members from AEGEE-Kyiv, AEGEE-Lviv, AEGEE-Ivano-Frankivsk, AEGEE-Odessa and AEGEE-Minsk. Moreover, I took part in a Project of AEGEE-Kyiv “Sangria for Like” at city fair. And of course I worked on my part of our Work Plan during this time.

Sorry for the short message but now I’m on my way to NWM-Kharkiv!

September began already and things start to be more active in AEGEE again. The Network Commissioners however haven’t stopped working and they are here to share their experiences of the last two months with you. The Agora applications opened in August and there were some deadlines the locals should follow. This month, you read the Telegram of Ana Potočnik, Arsenis Tselengidis, Burak Topaloğlu and Lia Tuska.

Ana Potočnik
NetCom life can be pretty crazy! Working in different languages with many different teams and people is a huge challenge. Things changed a lot since the last Telegram. As I promised I focused more on the work with my locals, I visited some of them on their Summer Universities, slowly revived our Facebook group of active members and established regular contact with most of my locals and their board members.

I also started breaking my own rules. Before the NetCom I tried to keep “work” related things away from Facebook, now it has become my second workspace and the most efficient way to keep in touch with locals, my subcommies and the rest of the speaker team. (smiles) So Facebook changed from a place on the internet, where I was able to escape from real life, turn off my brain and just numbly scroll trough posts I usually had zero interest in, into a place on the internet with a constant and intense AEGEE buzz.

The NetCom is definitely one of the most challenging and interesting things I have done in the last years and even though I have a lot of fun working on my tasks, it is sometimes pretty damn hard. (smiles)

Arsenis Tselengidis
The last two months (July & August) my work focused mostly on the Speaker related tasks. That means I had to deal with the Working Format of the NetCom, the Working Plan, the management of the timeline for the NWMs, etc. The month of August was even more complicated for me, because I had to deal with my moving out from Greece to Sweden for my Master studies too.

On those last lines, I would prefer to address the future NetCom candidates! Dear AEGEEans, being a NetCom is a very demanding job. It’s actually a job! You have to work every day (including the weekends) and stay sleepless if it’s needed. So if you are thinking about candidating, then manage your time. Do not study or work at the same time. If you believe that being a NetCom you will travel a lot, then you are right! But the issue is that also during the traveling you have to work! A looooot!!! Sometimes, we, the NetCommies, prefer not to travel, because you have to work harder before the travel and even harder after it, in order to catch up with the team. Another last thing; candidating for NetCom member, does not mean that you are candidating for Germany, UK, Spain, etc., but for becoming a member of a team. So, that means that dealing with your locals is only 50% of your work. Dealing with the aim of the team is the other 50%, but the most important one! Many people were good with their locals, but only few of them were good NetCom Team members. Keep it in mind!

So, what else is NetCom besides workaholism? It’s the place where you will feel the mom and the dad of thousands of AEGEE members and a place where you are going to meet the most awesome people of your life (like…. Mattia or Ana!), where you will laugh and cry, feel nervous and excited. But most of all, you will feel a proud AEGEEan. I hope to see you all again, somewhere in Europe!

Burak Topaloğlu
During the last two months, I have been busy for some period, as I am also the president of AEGEE-Eskişehir. I had to work on our SU during 2-16th of July. After that I spent all the energy I had left on my NetCom tasks. I issued an open call for the of the Autumn NWM for my Network (Eastern Mediterranean and Caucasus Network) and after two weeks, AEGEE-Mağusa was selected. It will be under the leadership and contact of Hulusi Kilim who is already subcommie in my team. The date of our NWM is the 20th-23rd of November 2014 and the name of NWM is defined as NWM Mağuza “Meet the Mediterranean”. I have also contacted my locals about Agora preparations. After the selection results of Agora Cagliari, I plan to organize a skype meeting with delegates about how to be more productive and how to contribute more to the Agora. That’s all from me for now. I hope to have an amazing Agora in Cagliari. I keep my fingers crossed!

Lia Tuska
July and August were the months of the Summer Universities. Most of my antennae organised Summer Universities, so this period was quiet from their side. But this doesn’t mean that it was a quiet summer! I attended Leadership Summer School, I was an organiser at AEGEE-Sofia’s Summer University and during and between those amazing events, I had to work hard for the NetCom. I couldn’t find Wi-Fi all the time to work, so I spent many hours at Studenski Grad’s cafes in Sofia. When I finally got back home (after more than a month), I had to organise everything while I had a fever and a post-event depression. I was happy to finally have a meeting with the Organizing Committee of “NWM Nijmegen: Discover Europe the Dutch Way!”, where we discussed about the content of the NWM. I also had a meeting with Holger Schmitt and my CD-mate, Paul Smits, in which I updated both of them on the status of my locals and informed them about my plans for a NetCom Trip in October (for more info wait for my next NetCom Telegram). Last but not least, I started my Knowledge Transfer with Arsenis Tselengidis since he resigned and I am also going to be responsible for the Greek locals till Agora Cagliari.

We didn’t receive the telegram of Mateusz Dokurno, but you can read his activity report and the reports of all other NetCommies by subscribing to the NETCOM-L@lists.aegee.org

It is summer and while most of the AEGEEans are attending Summer Universities or are on vacation, the members of the Network Commission are still working. In this Telegram you can read about the work of Julia Fuss, Carmen María Mólim, Natalia Ivleva, María Arends, and Mattia Abis during June and July.

Carmen María Mólim
During these last two months I changed from subcommissioner to NetCom Assistant; a change that has been easier thanks to the great help of Pauline Létard, the whole NetCom team and especially Mattia Abis who has been very helpful and patient with me.

Working together with my team of subcommissioners (La Tripulación), we started organising the next Renove (an event for newbies and oldies to meet and share which is supposed to help teambuilding within the members of the antennae of our area and raise cooperation between all of them). We also started organising the next NWM, which will be hosted by AEGEE-Zaragoza and we are willing to apply all the suggestions received by the participants in our last NWM in Alicante to make it memorable as possible for everyone.

Even if these months are supposed to be a bit quiet due to summer holidays and the organisation of Summer Universities, I kept in close contact with my team and with the antennae, being there when needed. I think it should stay this way and even better.

Julia Fuss
During my two months as Network Commission Assistant, I received a lot of knowledge transfer from my predecessor, Holger Schmitt. Together with a great team of subcommissioners we started making plans to assist the work of our locals better, for example by supporting them in updating their website to correspond to AEGEE‘s new visual identity. It was great to see the diversity of events taking place during June, ranging from a music event in Passau to a beer tasting in Leipzig, a LTC in Osnabrück or a meeting of all Rhein-Neckar antennae.

After making plans for my network and getting to meet the people from half of my locals, it was time to get to know the other awesome NetCommies at our NetCom Meeting in Budapest. During this weekend, we not only took the time to get to know each other and build a stronger team, but also started to convert our ideas into reality full steam ahead. After learning a lot about how the Network Commission functions and having long intense discussions with everyone, I cannot wait to start working on not only strengthening our network, but also the ties with other European level bodies.

Nowadays I work in close cooperation with the organisers of NWM Aachen which is to take place mid-October. We started on a promotion strategy as well as developing a programme for a weekend full of discussions and networking. I must say that I am really looking forward to this event and to what will happen during the next two months. :)

María Arends
The last couple of months have been really exciting! The transition from being Patricia’s subcommie to becoming a NetCommie went quite smoothly, and I’m trying my very best to keep up her hard work! I found a team of subcommies (they’re all great and motivated!), I had a great number of Skype  meetings and I have been starting to discuss my plan for a huge NetCom trip in November with Holger. Being a Network Commissioner who doesn’t live in the region she takes care of, I believe it is important to at least have one personal encounter with all the locals and to help them on the spot, hands on, with whatever task they could use me for.

Besides this, we had the NetCom meeting, where we discussed the plans that we have for this period until Agora Cagliari, it was amazing, motivating, and great to get to know the team and really feel the team spirit. I guess we should also thank Maartje Natrop, our Academy trainer, for that! Last but not least, I worked on the usual: keeping in touch with the antennae, organising the NWM, helping the antennae to develop themselves, and looking for (and finding!) opportunities to found new ones.

Mattia Abis
The last period has been very intensive. After I joined the Speaker Team, I have been involved both in working with my locals and the management of the Commission. Within the last one we managed to create our Working Plan untill Agora Cagliari and we created working groups that will take care of every goal we want to achieve untill the end of the semester.

I found the time to put the NetCom Database in order, to create an index of it that’s up to date and that future NetCommies can use easily. I talked with the newly elected members and got to know them better. Unfortunately, I could not take part in the NetCom meeting but my team mates kept me informed about discussions and results. About the work with my locals, everything was quite calm since the Summer University period started and they were busy with the organization of their events. We contacted each other every once in a while just to fix urgent situations or discuss important issues.

These two months have been very important for me because I joined the Speaker Team and I had to get more responsibilities that I would have been avoiding in the past six months. Everything is becoming a challenge, a possibility of growth for me and for the Commission and, although sometimes it is very tiring, I am really enjoying to work with Ana and Arsenis with whom I am starting to have a good personal relationship. They are prime examples to follow for their dedication to our organisation. Last but not least, I am also working on the next Agora in Cagliari, which will be a very important event for the locals I am managing and a great possibility of collaboration between them.

Natalia Ivleva
During these two months I was very concentrated on communication with my locals in order to better understand their needs and I was planning our future work together with my SubCommies Olya and Vika. Also I’ve been at NetCom meeting at Budapest at the end of June and I had a great experience there. First of all, after this meeting we knew each other better and built a good team which is ready to work hard for the whole Network! In Budapest we also started drafting our common Work Plan and I already started to work on some tasks. Moreover, now I’m working on our upcoming NWM-Kharkiv, which will take place in the middle of October. We already discussed the concept of our meeting, talked about the main topics of the NWM and started to work on it!

It’s already summer and as usually everything slows down in AEGEE. However, the Network Commission had their meeting at the end of June in Budapest. In this NetCom Telegram you can read about what some of the Network Commissioners did during May and June and what was done during the NetCom Meeting.

Ana Potočnik
The last two months of my work were mainly dedicated to knowledge transfer. Even though I talked a lot about the NetCom with Antonija Parat, there were still many things I had to learn. The previous team opened a lot of discussions, which were never properly closed. So it was up to our team to read all the discussions give our input and start closing the topics.

We had a very fruitful and fun NetCom meeting in Budapest and I am very happy we will finish cooperation agreements with the Academy and Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) soon. We discussed ideas from the previous team and our own initiatives, but since most of us are newbies (eight out of eleven members joined after Patra) we are working on them step by step [she smiles] The last thing we want is to feel overloaded after only two months of our term!

As you can see my work was mainly focused on NetCom team and my Vice-Speaker tasks. Next month I am planning to put more energy and time into working with my locals. I will visit some locals on their SUs and organise Skype meetings to prepare them for the beginning of the school year… You will read more about this in my next telegram. Have a wonderful summer!

Arsenis Tselengidis
My last two AEGEE months were totally different. In the first month (May), I was still a Network Commissioner and I was dealing more with local issues. Also, after the Agora I had to focus on the local distribution between the Network Commissioners. A real battle I can admit! My locals, since then, were separated into two different areas of the map of Europe and they were dealing with communication problems. Thus, I had to defend their interests. The first move happened and Balazs Kovacs took half of them. It was hard to give away locals that I was working close with for six months, but I know that now they will have better chances to come close with other locals of the network.

The second month (June) was more stressful! Two of my four active SubCommies joined Balazs in order for the locals to not feel the changes too much and another SubCommie became Network Commissioner. Thus, I had to rebuild a new SubCommissioners team from the beginning. After being elected as a Speaker of the Network Team I had not only to deal with my own bureaucratic tasks, but also with chasing the other Network Commissioners to do theirs! I can say the second is much harder than the first one. Becoming a Network Commissioner is not always as you think it is… You must spend 60% of your time with the team and 40% with your locals. Being at the Speaker team is almost 85%-15%! But as the time passes, thanks to my awesome Speaker Team and the rest of the NetCommies, everything starts to flow smoothly!

Lia Tuska
Most of the last two months work was my Knowledge Transfer. The area I am responsible for is new to me, so I want to thank Dominique Lenssen for answering all my questions. I had to start a new team, which for now consists of Svenja van der Tol and Boudewijn Steenhof. Still, if there is anyone interested to join our team, they can contact me! Together we decided to have AEGEE-Nijmegen as hosting local of the Fall Network Meeting. It was exams period so most of my locals were quiet.

That’s why right now I deal with my tasks in the NetCom team and specifically the NetCom Telegram. In May, I contacted the former NetCommies to share their Telegram. In June, since it was exam period and summer is already here, most of us are busy and couldn’t make it. I blame summer for this and I believe that the following Telegrams will be written by more of us.

We had a great time at NetCom Meeting in Budapest! We invented a new way of teambuilding, discussed old and new ideas, shared experiences and concerns and had amazing trainings by Maartje Natrop from the Academy. That’s it for now… Have an awesome summer and you’ll read more about my work in my next Telegram!

Unfortunately, Balázs Kovács and Burak Topaloğlu weren’t able to write an update about their work in the last months.

In Agora Patra we saw some changes to the Network Commission. Goodbyes had to be said to Antonija Parat, Dominique Lenssen, Holger Schmitt, Kristóf Papp, Meltem Darakcı, Patricia Anthony and Vira Kakhnych. At the same time, the Network Commission gave a warm welcome to Ana Potočnik, Balázs Kovács, Burak Topaloğlu, Lia Tuska, Maria Arends, Natalia Ivleva and later to Julia Fuss. April was Agora preparation month for the whole team and May meant a lot of Knowledge Transfer for the Network Commission. In this NetCom Telegram you can read about what Antonija, Holger and Meltem did during their last months as members of the Network Commission.

Antonija Parat
Although my last two months in the NetCom were a little bit more relaxed than usual, there was still plenty to do. My NetCom work in April mostly consisted of preparing my locals for the Agora, as well as the NetCom team. I had the chance to visit the pre-event in Skopje. I really enjoyed being there and connecting with their new board. Many members of my locals traveled together from Skopje, and the whole Agora was a great bonding experience for us. In April I was also preparing NetCom candidates for Patra and I was happy to see the new generation on stage. I truly wish them the best of luck. After the Agora, there was the knowledge transfer period, where I helped my successor Ana Potočnik and the new Speaker Team adjust to their new roles. Unfortunately, May also brought the Balkan floods, which kept me quite busy as I was volunteering, as well as helping my locals to spread the word in order to get help. It was a tough time, but I’m proud of the way locals handled it. Overall, my year in NetCom has been intense in the best possible way, an experience I will always cherish.

Holger Schmitt

The last two months for sure have been the most exciting in my AEGEE life. First, I was in constant preparation for the Agora with the whole Netcom team and my locals in order to update the antenna criteria. Also I had the chance to visit AEGEE-Leipzig and I met some other AEGEEans in Berlin. Together we prepared our NWM “Cooperate, Develop, Act” in Bamberg in May. Then, the Agora in Patra took place, where I had the chance to meet so many representatives of my locals and had a good discussion at our meeting. Having the awesome experience of my dream coming true and getting elected as member of the CD at the Agora the follow-up and preparation period started. So we restructured our NetCom team, organized the succession for my Netcom area and experienced our NWM together.

In Bamberg, we all experienced some intensive ideas and best-practices sharing as well as the joint development of new projects and events in the upcoming year. It was impressive to see how much the representatives from each local were willing to help each other. We had discussions about board management, fundraising, event management, Strategic Plan, a Yvote Activity and we started working on a common google calendar for events in the NetCom area as a follow-up of the NWM as well as on a boards manual for newly elected boards. Besides, we also set up a common media campaign with our new media responsible Benjamin Feyen from AEGEE-Düsseldorf. Another highlight was meeting two representatives of BEST Erlangen who shared their experience with us and established cooperations with AEGEE. My thanks go to the great team of AEGEE-Bamberg for the organization of the event. Also I would like to thank all of my locals as well as my great NetCom team for the joint work and the things we could achieve in the last period.

Meltem Darakcı
In April, I was quite busy with the Agora preperations and in May we had the knowledge transfer in order to make Burak ready to be on duty as soon as possible. Apart from that, in the last three months we, as the NetCom team, showed a great example of activism for Ukraine’s, Turkey’s and the Balkan’s hard times that they have been through. I wish the new team will have the same sensitivity. I am very happy to have been part of the NetCom team where I built strong friendships, learned a lot, made mistakes but most importantly developed myself . Yes, NetCom tasks are more than one single person can tackle and they take a lot of time from your daily life, but at the end it’s all worth it because you’re working for the association that changes your life. And I was very lucky to work with two great teams whom I call NetComhoods. During this one year we made mistakes and we learnt from them, we shared and we developed ourselves together. And I was very proud of my SubCom team when I saw two of my SubCommies candidating to replace my position. I believe Burak will do a great job as a NetCom.

At last, many thanks to my SubCom Team who were there whenever I needed them: to Ruşan Can Akal, Elmar Guliyev, Burak Topaloğlu, Engin Ergezer, and our last minute suppporter Hulusi Kilim, to Antonija and Inez for not only being a good colleague but also being good friends of mine, to Beata, Miguel, Pavel for doing a great job and their support. Besides, from the Network I have received a great motivation and support all the time that is why I also owe them a huge thank you. Hope to see you somewhere in Europe!