network director – The AEGEEan – AEGEE's online magazine – AEGEE-Europe ../../.. AEGEE's Online Magazine Thu, 02 Mar 2017 08:59:42 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.7 ../../../wp-content/uploads/cropped-The-AEGEEan_logo-FBprofile-32x32.png network director – The AEGEEan – AEGEE's online magazine – AEGEE-Europe ../../.. 32 32 CD behind the Doors ../../../2017/03/02/cd-behind-the-doors/ Thu, 02 Mar 2017 06:00:22 +0000 ../../../?p=39393 Many people might know that the Comité Directeur, the executive Board of AEGEE-Europe (who is elected by the Agora) is based in Brussels near the European Commission, in a house that can be recognised mostly by the plaquette on the door. But how many of you have seen how the daily life goes for all the CD members? What do… Read more →

]]>

Many people might know that the Comité Directeur, the executive Board of AEGEE-Europe (who is elected by the Agora) is based in Brussels near the European Commission, in a house that can be recognised mostly by the plaquette on the door. But how many of you have seen how the daily life goes for all the CD members? What do we do during our everyday work? Read on to find out!

 

Behind the doors 4As we are elected by the Agora, the Comité Directeur’s main task is to work for the members and locals of AEGEE-Europe. This is highlighted especially in my position as the Network Director, as almost all of my tasks revolve around supporting the locals and the Network. I have 5 main “tracks” in my portfolio: Network management (which is the biggest) together with the Network Commission; Strategic Plan and Action Agenda fulfillment together with the Action Agenda Coordination Committee – which also includes the drafting part of the European Planning Meeting; Visual Identity together with the Public Relations Committee; taking care of the topic of Entrepreneurship, including the management of the external MY-WAY project as CD responsible (together with Pablo Hernández as the project responsible); and I am also CD Observer for the the Juridical Commission.

 

Since my position includes a lot of administrative tasks, I can usually be found either in the office, in the meeting room (as I generally have quite a lot of Skype meetings due to being CD responsible for many bodies) or in the archives digging up documents, but I also do some external representation (as all of us in the CD). In general, I start my day by reading my e-mails (even sometimes in bed [she smiles, ed.]) and trying to get awake as I am not really a morning person. Then, the day continues with either doing my regular tasks (which often include some ad-hoc requests from locals) or having morning meetings with the rest of the CD about important topics such as EPM preparations, etc. Then, after our lunch break (when I try to cook something nice) I return to my office computer and keep on working until the evening when my Skype meetings are usually scheduled – then I move to the meeting room and finish my day officially after the Skype meetings. Of course, my schedule is different when I travel– in that case I do a lot of on-the-spot tasks and the e-mails/administratives are put a bit behind. I do enjoy travelling, getting to know new places and people no matter the type of the event (internal AEGEE-events or external representation), nonetheless work is first for these kind of travels.

Behind the doors 1

 

On paper, my position might not look super exciting, but as I am working a lot with the Network there is never a day that is the same: sometimes people ask for information or help with some tasks, other days you get interested people asking how to found a new contact – sometimes I might see that I am a lot on Facebook and other social media, but I get approached in many platforms, so I will just adapt to whichever is more comfortable for the locals or for my teams. One thing that I really enjoyed until now is the CD on Track because I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know the locals better in their own cities and see how they manage in their everyday environment – hopefully, I can help and support them in case they need it.

 

Written by Tekla Hajdu, Network Director of AEGEE-Europe

]]>
Maryana Semenyak for Member of the Comité Directeur: “People can Confirm That I’m Full of Energy, Positive and Smiling Person” ../../../2016/05/09/maryana-semenyak-for-member-of-the-comite-directeur-people-can-confirm-that-im-full-of-energy-positive-and-smiling-person/ Mon, 09 May 2016 15:24:46 +0000 ../../../?p=35084 Maryana Semenyak is a candidate for a position of Member of the Comité Directeur (CD), preferred task External Relations Director. She is 28 years old and joined the organisation almost eight years ago (also being the President of AEGEE-Lviv for three years). Nowadays our current CD member is responsible for our Network Development and is willing to stay in office for a second term,… Read more →

]]>

Maryana Semenyak is a candidate for a position of Member of the Comité Directeur (CD), preferred task External Relations DirectorShe is 28 years old and joined the organisation almost eight years ago (also being the President of AEGEE-Lviv for three years). Nowadays our current CD member is responsible for our Network Development and is willing to stay in office for a second term, but with other responsibilities. Check out her interview!

The AEGEEan: One year in the Comité Directeur can be very long, but now you are running for a second term. How did it happen? Is your motivation still as high after one year in Brussels?12

Maryana: Indeed, it has been a very long and tiring year. On the other hand, I’ve had lots of experiences, challenges and emotions, that is impossible to find in any other place. When I just moved to the house in July last year, I heard two comments about living here: one was – “You will be happy to leave this house in one year”, another – “Living here will be the best year of your life”. I followed the second suggestion. People who knows me can confirm that I’m energetic, positive and a smiling person. The good example about my never-ending motivation could be the time that I’ve spent in AEGEE-Lviv as president for three years. I joined my local when it was a Contact Antenna, and I wanted to leave the board being sure that my work there was already done.

In the last nine months, as Network Director, you spent the biggest part of your time with the Network Commission. How was this collaboration and what did you achieve as the Network Director?

Due to my task portfolio, I’m in constant communication with the Network Commission and the locals. Certainly a person who is holding this position should like to be in contact with people almost 24/7! Luckily, I do like this part of my tasks. It’s interesting to work with Network Commissioners because during one year you have possibility to work close with more than 20 people, as half of the team change in December and later in June after Agora elections. We have daily communications and Skype meetings a few times per week. I was very happy to have the possibility to gather all 10 Network Commissioners at a live meeting in Brussels in December. In my work I wanted to get focused mainly on sustainable and health development of the Network. Even though Antenna Criteria does not always show a complete picture of the status of the Locals, we can take a look at some statistics: more than 50% of the Locals fulfilled all Antenna Criteria, around 30% were missing only 1-2 criteria, like report, list etc, what was submitted after reminders, approximately 15% – were facing different small or bigger problems.

And what about the other task of your portfolio, the Human Resources management? What is the best result you got in this field?

Apart from Network Development and Network Commission, I’m also appointed to HRC (Human Resources Committee), YMWG (Youth Mobility Working Group) and SUCT (Summer University Coordination Team). Due to my portfolio and personal interests, I was also involved in work with other bodies. We are changing now Speaker team of HRC, and I hope soon with new members we’ll be back on track in HR field, although a big research and development was already done in previous years. According to YMWG, we have organized trainings about funding possibilities. Of course work towards Visa Directive is very complex and bureaucratic, and one NGO can’t really change the whole system, but we should keep working on that field. Third part of the Network is from non-EU countries. The last but not least body, where I’m appointed, is SUCT. I suppose you’ve already heard about new elected team and their work. They are very active and implementing many new ideas this year. For more detailed descriptions of my tasks, I would suggest to check my personal Activity Report for Agora Bergamo.

According to your candidature, your preferred task in the future CD would be the External Relations and you understood it during the last year. Is it not a contradiction for someone who was Network Director, therefore more focused on internal issues?

It would be a mistake to say that I understood to apply for External Relations during last year. It could sound like I’m not satisfied with position that I’m holding now. I like being in constant contact with Locals and work with different bodies. But when I started to consider about applying for the second term, I decided that I’d prefer to work with a new portfolio as doing new tasks in the Head office will keep my motivation very high. I like to learn new things and challenge myself. Second, external world was always interesting to me. I studied International Relations at university. I was always taking active role in society. During this year I was also attending events and conferences in Brussels and sometimes helping in contacting another NGOs and partners. I don’t see these tasks as contradiction, as internal world of any institution or organization, including AEGEE, doesn’t exist apart from external world. Being involved in internal work for nine months already, I believe that I have gained the necessary skills to hold external work of association.

16

You uploaded a candidature program four days after the deadline expired. Why did it happen? Was it a last minute decision?

My final decision was made on the last day. I applied being in my room, as I was looking for some personal time and space in the house, and connection wasn’t the best. As I was copying and pasting my candidature from word document, the last part wasn’t submitted successfully on time. But the same night I sent the missing part directly to JC asking to upload it, as I didn’t have access. Apparently, it took some days to communicate, and at the end it was uploaded.

What are the things you want to achieve, carry on or change in AEGEE external representation?

Our organization has multiple contacts with different NGOs, institutions and platforms. The role of External Relations is to monitor and to have an overview of the benefits and different opportunities, what AEGEE can have collaborating with them, and vice versa – contribution that AEGEE can provide to them. We should keep introducing AEGEE and its achievements to partners and another organizations, in order to maximize our impact.

You want “to strengthen the cooperation with NGOs like ESN, BEST, JEF, JADE and others” and “bringing External work closer to the Network”. How are you going to do it? Why should AEGEE locals be interested?

It’s not the first year that we are focusing also on closer cooperation with students and youth organization that have the similar scope to AEGEE. With BEST, for instance, we keep very good collaboration, our members are attending each other events. Together with other NGOs, we can organise common projects, share experience and ideas, best practices and knowledge, learn from each other. There are fields, for example Youth Mobility, where only by working together we can achieve some changes in Europe. At the end members of other organisations are also volunteers who are taking active role in European society like us. We should take advantage of this collaboration, not only between boards of listed NGOs, but also between our branches.

In your online candidature, you stated that you plan to contribute “in such crucial areas such as Youth Participation, Youth Employment and Youth Mobility“. Can you be a little bit more specific on what should be done and why are these issues related to the External Relations position?

These areas, apart from being focused on our current Strategic Plan, are also hot topics in Europe. The work on developing policy paper in Employment field is already done, in Youth Mobility – still in progress. As you might know, final task distribution is happening after knowledge transfer, depending on abilities of the team, and working in Comité Directeur obliges you to be diverse in your portfolio. These fields, that I’ve already mentioned in my candidature, are my preferences, where I would like to contribute. I would also like to empower AEGEEans being more involved in policy issues and active citizenship.

17

Five out of seven current CD members are running again for a position, how do you feel about the possibility of sharing the CD house with them again? Would you define the last year in the CD house a brilliant one?

Living in the house is quite challenging itself. You should learn how to respect each other’s needs and to compromise almost always. I would like to mention that I’m differentiating very clearly my working and personal space. And I felt myself comfortable in both. Probably my 7 years’ working experience is helping to organise and to structure my life in the house.

You needed a visa to stay in Brussels, but you had a lot of problems about this issue and still you don’t have it, missing also NWMs and EPM Leiden. Is it going to be solved if you get elected as External Relations Director? Are you going to be present in Bergamo?

When I was answering questions to my candidature at Agora Kyiv, I’ve received only one question: “How are going to work in Brussels if you are from Ukraine, as probably you will need visa?” Apparently it will stay the most popular question to me.

I would like to ask people stop perceiving it as my problem, as far as it is visa and residence permit bureaucracy problems in Europe. We are forgetting that Europe is not only EU countries, and main idea of AEGEE since the very beginning was Borderless Europe. I got the feeling (I hope I’m mistaken) that members are not giving enough patience, empathy and support in Visa issue.  The procedure of gathering all needed documents for long-stay is very complex and complicated. It started in August, and basically finished only half a year later in March. In total I prepared more than 50 documents. All my documents are successfully submitted, and I’m in the status of waiting for 2 months already, which is nothing in such situation.

If I would stay one year longer in CD, then procedure is easier – I’m just adding few updated documents to previous one. For Belgian authority positions that we are holding in CD are not specifically important, for them crucial document is our official registration in Belgium as Board members of NGO.

Of course my mood was very down in February knowing that I won’t be able to go to EPM Leiden or Spring NWMs. I was blaming myself that I applied for CD and now I need to go through this procedure. But then I realised that barriers concerning mobility of youth, and mine mobility in particular, cannot discourage me from my tasks and I can work being in Head office in Brussels.

I hope to see you all in Bergamo! But if not – then I hope my case will bring visibility to Visa issue in Europe and AEGEE members will work together in this field. We should bring awareness, deliver knowledge regarding the procedure, build understanding among members and support for documents of your friends around the Network.

State a thing you like and one you don’t like about AEGEE!11

Pros: Possibilities and challenges

Cons: Misunderstanding

 

QUESTIONS FROM THE READERS:

How could you work in Brussels for one more year if you don’t have the permit to live there after nine months? Do you think it’s wise to apply for another year before settling this issue?

I arrived in Belgium with Schengen Visa, that I could use for my stay for the first few months. But according to 90-days stay regulation in EU countries, I was supposed to apply for residence permit. I was elected at Agora Kyiv in October, so I have received official registration as member of Board Directors in Belgium in December. Only starting from that month I could officially work on gathering all needed documents. I finished and submitted the documents in three months. Currently I’m waiting for a positive answer. Applying for second or more times for residence permit, or long-term Visa, costs less time and documents, and it requires only copy of already existing one and updates of relevant information. Actually another year should be much easier than the first time. More details about my document status are in my personal Activity Report for Agora Bergamo.
In case you once again don’t manage to receive your papers in time during a potential second term, how do you plan to go to external events in Brussels where your ID will have to be controlled (especially in the last months with the increase in control due to terrorism)?

First of all, I would like to clarify that I’m successfully managing my documents, but this procedure requires a lot of time due to EU and Belgium law regulations. And as I’ve already mentioned a few times, I have been waiting for the answer for two months. Applying for the second time is always less bureaucratic and much faster. I don’t have any problems with attending events in Brussels. I’m using my ID and I have Schengen Visa in my passport. But in order to be eligible to stay longer than 90 days in EU country, I was obliged to apply for residence permit. Once I arrived to Belgium last year I was registered in the municipality. And currently I also have registration number for my documents.

Will you be so active on Facebook during working hours again next term?

What is working hours? We are supposed to work 8 hours per day. But average time in the office is at least 60 hours per week. Responding to your question, it’s not a news that Social Media is a working space nowadays. Currently I’m using more than 10 groups, five chats and five pages regarding my work. I assume that external position requires less contact through Social Media, as Network Director. It will depend on where I could catch potential members of my bodies, share and find information, events and contacts relevant to my tasks. As an official communic15ation channel, I still prefer email.

How quickly do you answer e-mails?

I’m receiving approximately 30 emails daily, that I should respond, find the solutions or prepare some tasks regarding requests. Of course I’m trying to respond as soon as possible to everything, but due to workload and big amount of requests, it could take also more time.

You bring up your “perfect understanding of the structure, our strengths and weaknesses” but you didn’t give any examples. Can you please shortly describe our two biggest strengths and how we could use it more? and our two biggest weaknesses and how we could improve it?

Did I say perfect? There is nothing perfect in this world, but we should keep working on it. To me, as I have already mentioned in my candidature for Agora Kyiv, one of the biggest power, that we have in our organisation, is diversity! It can bring us achievements in different areas, establishing new projects, breaking stereotypes and building understanding, collaboration among us. Another big strength that I would like to name is opportunities, that AEGEE members can get through our organisation, opportunities in participation, in experience, and at the end in big changes.

Despite the fact that we are an amazing organisation, of course we are facing many different problems. Digging in archives I could assume that we have improved our administrative part of association. But unfortunately, we are working less with political impact. It could be only my opinion, but I would like to see us working more on hot topics that are happening in Europe and beyond, on different crisis and conflicts, elections and referendums, etc. The initiative should come from WG, Project teams, Locals and of course from CD members. The other weakness, that I would like to point, however it’s also common for another organisation, is non-recognition of volunteer practices. Currently we are working on it.

If you could only make one big change in AEGEE’s current state, what would you want it to be and how would you contribute to it in the position you are running for?

No barriers! No physical or participation borders, language or cultural borders. Nowadays we are still facing many barriers concerning Mobility of Youth in Europe. We should work towards educating and bringing awareness to our members about current problems, organising different activities and discussion tables, fighting against it. It’s a long term process, and sometimes our impact could be very small, but to me this is what AEGEE was doing and should continue. After receiving personal experience in field of Youth Mobility I would like to work more on Visa Directive inside the Network and participate in that field.

What part of your task as CD member did you manage to accomplish and fully fulfill during this year?

The main task of my portfolio was to supervise the sustainability of the Network, support locals and assure constant communication, what also required a big amount of my time for the administration, such as Antenna Criteria. I have focused on stable and healthy development of the Locals. It would be quite impossible to measure whether it was fulfilled or not, as far as this task should always be in progress. All detailed explanation about my tasks you can find in Personal Activity Report. Some examples that come to my mind are below:

  • Ensuring the same quality of sessions and implementing new application procedure for NWMs, together with Network Commission and CD;
  • Improvement of SU project, thanks to the members of new elected SUCT;
  • Printing Key 2 Europe in Kyiv within the budget and delivering it to Brussels;
  • Representing AEGEE and organising events in Brussels;
  • Support of Think before you Vink campaign;
  • Applying for residence permit, which is a very difficult and long procedure;
  • Improvement of living condition of the house!

13You mention that you were the “main responsible for all external events in Brussels this year”. Can you please elaborate? How many events? What was the content? How many externals were present?

So far three main external events were held: Handover ceremony, Back to Brussels and the AEGEE Day. I was responsible for the event for our alumni Network Les Anciens “Back to Brussels” in September, which is happening once a year in Brussels, we had more than 50 members participating in it. In April, I organised the event presenting AEGEE Day project for partners and externals in Brussels. It was very well-organised event. We combined three topics: presenting the history of AEGEE and its main projects during 31 years of existence, launching the AEGEE Day project and Europe on Track 3rd edition. We had more than 50 guests representing 15 different NGOs, institutions and companies. I was coordinating also some internal events in the house, such as the AEGEE Day activity on the 16th of April. I was responsible for organisational part of the Leadership Training Course.

Definitely I’ll be responsible for future events till the end of July, or longer if I’m elected.

If elected for external relations, will you be responsible for fundraising? What is your experience with corporate and institutional funding?

As you might know, task division is taking place in August, once all team finish their knowledge transfer, tasks are divided for new term. For instance, in our team we have three members who are in charge on fundraising. I have experience in fundraising on local level. I can’t assure now who will be main responsible, but I can contribute in this task.

Was your team aware that you decided to rerun?

Since the very beginning I announced to my team, that my decision had not been taken yet, and regarding this decision I’d need more time to think and to consult with my family and friends. Final decision was taken on the last day after conversation with them.

You can read her full candidature here

 

Written by Mattia Abis, AEGEE-Cagliari

]]>
Tekla Hajdu for Member of the Comité Directeur: “I Have Now a Deeper Understanding of The Problems and Challenges the Network is Facing” ../../../2016/05/06/tekla-hajdu-for-member-of-the-comite-directeur-i-have-now-a-deeper-understanding-of-the-problems-and-challenges-the-network-is-facing/ Fri, 06 May 2016 11:41:55 +0000 ../../../?p=34740 Tekla Hajdu, a 24-years-old Hungarian student of Leadership Management, is one of the candidates for a position as Member of the Comité Directeur. She joined AEGEE-Budapest almost four years ago becoming their PR responsible and then Vice President. She got elected as Network Commissioner during Autumn Agora Cagliari and chosen as NetCom Assistant from Agora Kyïv until now. Preferred task? Network Director but… Read more →

]]>

Tekla Hajdu, a 24-years-old Hungarian student of Leadership Management, is one of the candidates for a position as Member of the Comité Directeur. She joined AEGEE-Budapest almost four years ago becoming their PR responsible and then Vice President. She got elected as Network Commissioner during Autumn Agora Cagliari and chosen as NetCom Assistant from Agora Kyïv until now. Preferred task? Network Director but not only…

 

tekla 1The AEGEEan: Many people already heard your name: former PR responsible and Vice President of a big local, former Network Commissioner and Vice Speaker of the team, currently NetCom Assistant. Now you are running to become our new Network Director or, if needed, Communications Director. Why would you prefer to cover the first one? What motivations lie behind that preferred task?

Tekla: I applied as a Member of the Comité Directeur, where there are no fixed positions, but of course we can have preferences about the tasks that we would like to cover. My European Bodies experience as former Network Commissioner and Vice Speaker mostly covers tasks connected with the position of Network Director. I am currently also a member of the NetCom team, where I really enjoy the work and the initiatives of the team, so further supporting them and the newly elected Network Commissioners is the main motivation that encouraged me to apply. Also, I have now a deeper understanding of the problems and challenges the Network is facing, and together with the Network Commissioners, I would like to continue working on the projects. However, due to not having fixed positions I would also be open to accepting other tasks, if the team requires me to do, and my local level experience and educational background allows me to take over some Communication tasks as well.

As mentioned before, you covered several task related positions and your deep NetCom experience must be a good starting point for this new possible adventure. What do you think you achieved during your NetCom term? What did you achieve during your NetCom assistant  experience?

I honestly think that I developed a lot during my NetCom term, as the position is challenging, but very rewarding: I started as a person with a lot of enthusiasm, but with less general knowledge about what the locals are facing, and I have ended my term as a member of a team who is always thinking about new ways how to improve the work of locals with many initiatives and successful projects – I am glad that I could be a part of such an awesome team like ours was. I think my biggest personal achievement, during my term, is that my former locals have started to regain their trust in the Network Commission and their assigned Network Commissioner. In this part of the Network there were many resignations and changes, and I was the first one after a long time to fulfill my term and provide continuous support for the locals. My experience as NetCom Assistant rather deepened my knowledge in the overall situation of the Network, and my focus is more directed to the internal work of the Network Commission, of the current NetCom team, so my biggest achievement in this period is rather learning how to support them and with what tasks I can ease the enormous amount of work that is facing Network Commissioners, as working with the locals is only one (but very important) part of NetCom work.

One of the most immediate task you would take care of is our Network Development. There are different ways of development, probably the most taken paths have been found new locals or strengthen the existing ones. In your program you looked more oriented in opening new ones. Is this the best path at this moment for AEGEE?

Actually, opening new locals is the third pillar of my programme. My first and most important initiative would be to evaluate how the Network’s current situation is, as within the Commission we have certain knowledge and information regarding how we see it, but it would be also important to know the Networks’ input regarding their roles and their perception of the current situation of the Network. The NetCom team has already started to take initiatives towards this (come to our Progress Meeting at the Agora where we are going to talk about the current situation and number of members plus active membership in AEGEE). I would like to continue with this direction and make a research out of the information I can get with the survey I plan to launch together with the NetCommies. I would also like to look for more opportunities to support current locals with looking for other ways of financial support and improving the Internal education within AEGEE. But to answer your question, I believe that especially in the recent political atmosphere and situations that we are facing it is important to welcome people who would like to join our organisation with open arms and give more support to Contacts to be able to become Contact Antennae (and later Antennae).

In case you will find yourself in opening a new antenna, do you have any previous experience? What are in your opinion the problems a new contact or you and the Netcom can face?

tekla 4During my term with my SubCommissioners we have started to map the possible locations and finding interested people to found a new contact, but at the end we did not reach any concrete outcome by founding a new local. However, due to the preparations we have made I am well aware of the process that a person has to go through when founding a new local, and I have been part of the Pro-active local founding NetCom project where we were looking for ways to actively support opening new contacts, so I believe that with the knowledge transfer received in case I get elected I will be able to participate with sufficient knowledge and experience. Also a lot depends on the founding team’s enthusiasm and former AEGEE knowledge when they decide to open a new contact in a city within Europe. In my opinion, the biggest problems are lack of support from the University at the early stage for getting new members for the contact, and local regulations regarding the Statues and the operation of the contact– in some part of the Network legal environment and regulations are still a problem for even Antennae and Contact Antennae as well. If the Network Director, the Network Commissioners and other bodies and locals of AEGEE can provide support for contacts to overcome these problems, I think they can develop faster and tackle these challenges.

Some time ago the NetCom and CD faced some problems about using logos and AEGEE related names for contacts, that was banned. Will you be strict or do you think something should be changed in this procedure?

I think that recently there is an improvement in this field: contacts are now provided a toolkit that contains not just information, but also visual elements that they are allowed to use thanks to the collaboration with PRC. The key factor here is informing the contacts: in some cases they are not entirely aware of the elements of AEGEE they are allowed to use (such as logo, and AEGEE- name), but we should definitely watch over this carefully and remind them what is correct and what should not be followed. In general I would like to be rather strict about this, but it depends on the situation, and the NetCommies’ (and other European Bodies’) input about the status of the case is also quite influential, so I would consult with the relevant European Bodies in each case to be sure in making the best decisions.

One of the biggest problems of a Network Director is the definition of its role and it got frequently confused with the NetCom Speaker. Are you going to better define what is your role maybe with the Network Commission in order to work better during the year? Or maybe it is possible to find a balance without creating new rules and definitions?

I personally think that the Network Director should be also part of the NetCom team, not just the CD member appointed for Network Development and communicating CD decisions to the locals. However, Network Commission is an individual body, and the Speaker team is the one who is responsible for managing the Team. Therefore, I believe that the Network Director’s role should be rather an observer regarding internal decisions of the NetCom and a link between NetCom (and the locals) and CD to provide the interest of the Network to CD decisions and get information, but also to give information and the necessary materials to the NetCom and the locals (so to have this link for both ways). In my opinion new rules are not necessary to set in case this agreement is made at the beginning of the term and respected throughout the collaboration.

Talking about Antenna Criteria: the number has increased in the last years. Are the locals respecting them or are they struggling? Are you going to be strict or flexible about their fulfillment?

Due to my Non Disclosure Agreement, I cannot fully answer this question – what I can tell is that in general I would say the locals are trying to respect them with their available resources and capabilities. I am in favour of pursuing the locals to fulfill most of them, but, if the exception request is viable, I am of course going to grant it.

Since the Local Training Courses (LTC) are now Antenna Criterion, as Network Director how will you encourage local in organising them? Will you solicit the Financial Director to grant more money to locals in need of trainers or funding?

In my opinion, organising an LTC can help the local educate their members, train new trainers and develop the local activities of the antennae, contact antennae and contacts. They are already used as recruitment tools in some locals, others consider them as an educational tool for members, while some of the locals have just started to put emphasis on organising them. However, apart from being an Antennae Criteria, I would try to provide financial help (to see a way to give financial support to LTCs as well, not just to Regional Training Courses (RTC)) and giving more support for how to hold trainings (as sometimes this is the biggest problems for locals) with improving the current internal education guidelines for LTCs in collaboration with the Academy and other European Bodies (such as videos, suggested session outlines, etc.).

How do you plan to bring Action Agenda closer to the Network initiatives?

tekla 5How I see it currently is that some locals who are interested in/well-educated in the Action Agenda are contributing a lot to it with many events, others have even problems with grasping the concept of it. The key again, in my opinion, is information and education, and with a strong collaboration with Action Agenda Coordination Committee (ACT) I think this can be improved – also relying on the locals’ input and giving the chance of changing a field, if the Network does not find it viable.

What do you think about the current Network Meetings (NWM) situation? Should its definition be modified again or do you think too much standardisation can also be dangerous in such a beautiful and multi-coloured network?

With the former and current team, we have already worked on reforming NWMs in terms of content and organising, and I believe that we are going in the right way, but I think the definition since Agora-Cagliari does not need to be changed much as it is quite clear and distinguishable from other events (such as RTCs). I think that in regards of NWMs the most important should be always the locals’ needs: there should be some sessions which would be the same in other NWMs as well, but the program should always adapt to the participants’ needs regarding sessions.

There are five candidates but only four positions as members of the Comite Directeur. It means at least one of you will be out: why should our readers vote for you?

Because I am a reliable and a hard-working person who strives for the best to achieve in her work, and has sufficient experience in the organisation’s functioning, how to lead a team and how to be a good team player. Also I would like to see AEGEE as a wonderful place for finding what you like to do most, and I am willing to devote my energy to make this dream come true for others as well.

 

QUESTIONS FROM READERS:

 

How quick do you answer e-mails?

Usually within 24 hours due to being used to NetCom policy and the internal policy we used in our Board in Budapest, and when I’m abroad or less available, I try to check them as much as I can and respond if super urgent (depending on wifi connection). In general I try to be as available as I can in many communication channels.

If you could only make one big change in AEGEE’s current state, what would you want it to be and how would you contribute to it in the position you are running for?

I would try to bring the members and the European Bodies closer. I really liked the period when the CD was able to visit the locals personally, I feel like that currently the European Bodies are sometimes further away from the locals then ideal, and I would really like to have this approach back to the Network. I would try to have more occasions for European Bodies to meet with locals, not just mostly Network Meetings and Statutory events such as case study trips or providing financial opportunities for organising international teams to be able to meet face-to-face more often, not just virtually.

From your own experience, you know that NetCom is a huge amount of work. If you’re elected as Network Director (ND), what ideas do you have to improve the cooperation between ND and NetCom?

In general due to being aware of the workload a NetCom is facing, I would try to have the cooperation as supportive as possible depending on the Network Commission’s request. I also think that appointing Assistants for coordinating the internal work of the Network Commission helps to ease this workload (in our case it worked well). I have some other suggestions as well, but I think this is a topic which should be discussed with the Network Commission first before coming up with more concrete ideas.

In your candidature we can read a lot about researching, evaluations, etc. Don’t you think that we already had enough about this kind of reporting and control during the last years? Why should the Network again be handled in this bureaucratic way? Is it the solution or the cause of our issues?

tekla 3I think that for my plans my research would be necessary to make in order to get an objective overview of the Network’s current status and to make statistics that have not been done for a while. I believe that in order to keep objectivity and be able to rely on data and facts, not just assumptions, sometimes we need tools that are more strict and reporting. I would try not to do too much controlling as we also have to respect that we are volunteers and contributing to many things out of our own interests, but there are some things where you can only get input by using more bureaucratic tools or sticking to the rules.

 

You can read her full candidature here

Written by Mattia Abis, AEGEE-Cagliari

]]>
Bartosz Sudorowski for Comité Directeur: “We have to spend time with the people from the Network” ../../../2014/04/21/bartosz-sudorowski-for-comite-directeur-we-have-to-spend-time-with-the-people-from-the-network/ Mon, 21 Apr 2014 15:30:25 +0000 ../../../?p=22690 Bartosz Sudorowski, or Bartek, has been a member of AEGEE-Zielona Góra since february 2010 and is very active on a local level ever since. At Autumn Agora Budapest he was elected Network Commissioner and now he aims to be the new Network Director of AEGEE-Europe. Let’s discover more about him. The AEGEEan: Can you tell a little bit more about… Read more →

]]>

Bartosz Sudorowski, or Bartek, has been a member of AEGEE-Zielona Góra since february 2010 and is very active on a local level ever since. At Autumn Agora Budapest he was elected Network Commissioner and now he aims to be the new Network Director of AEGEE-Europe. Let’s discover more about him.

The AEGEEan: Can you tell a little bit more about yourself?

Bartosz: So, I’m 23 years old and I’m studying Political Sciences, but before that I studied German. I love fishing and working in the garden. My hobby is singing. I sang both in a choir and in a blues band. I do not like when I’m alone… I have to be with people all the time. That’s why my familys keep on saying that I’m treating home as a hotel: I only sleep and eat there. I live in a small village 10 kilometres from Zielona Góra (where my local is), but I love it there, because I love nature, and I have the opportunity to spend time outside with fresh air. I’m a member of the fanclub for the speedway (a motorcycle sport ed.) team of my city.

The AEGEEan: What will be the first thing you will do as a Network director?

Bartosz: First, I would like to send an official communication to all the locals to introduce myself, hoping for fruitful cooperation between us. Next to that, I’ll send a survey to the Network Commissioner and Presidents, asking how they imagine our cooperation and what they expect from me. In my opinion, people have to take part in creating rules for work, because when the ideas about how to work together will come from them, it will be the best platform for us to cooperate in the best way. When just one person is making rules for cooperation between a lot of people, then it’s not democratic.

The AEGEEan: We know that regular CD members won’t have a fixed position, but you expressed the will to be Network Director. Currently, Pauline Létard (AEGEE-Toulouse) is running for the same position. What will you do if you are both elected?

Bartosz: It is very difficult to answer to this question. At first, we’ll discuss together with the other CD members and we will try to find the best solution for the Network. Then, when the decision is made (it doesn’t matter what we’ll decide), I’ll cooperate together with Pauline, and I’m sure that it will be a very fruitful cooperation. (By the time this interview was made, Pauline Létard was still running for a position in the Comité Directeur. She later withrew her candidature. ed)

The AEGEEan: On your application you mentioned the LSO. What is this exactly?

Bartosz: Local Status Overview. The Network Director has a database of all the locals with their points (it’s about fulfilling the Anntennae Criteria). As a former Netcom, President, and Secretary of a local I know very well how important it is to inform the Network Commissioners and boards about the current status of  their locals. I want to do my best in doing this task.

The AEGEEan: You wrote about having office hours during your time as Comité Directeur member. I presume you referred to 9 to 5 working hours. Do you think they are going to be  enough with the workload you have in the CD house?

Bartosz: I think that this is a misunderstanding. By creating office hours I meant that, apart from my standard work as Network Director, I would like to create a special duty for people. I’ll announce the office hours one week before, and I’ll be able to speak with everyone on Skype, mail, phone, Facebook, Twitter, and all the other platforms. This duty is the first step to make the European level closer to the local level.

The AEGEEan: The gap between the European Level and locals is under the sun. As CD member, how will you take care of this problem?

Bartosz: How the Network Director, Comité Directeur and all of the European level can be closer to the Network? They have to spend time with the people from the Network. We have to start with the easiest things, like even sleeping in the gym together. We have to be together with the people every time. Secondly, there is my idea about the duty of a Network Director. I think that all the bodies have to try to do this. We need to allocate a special session in every NWM about the European level as an obligatory part of the NWM’s agenda. I would like to cooperate with other bodies to create a special, cyclic, short program with the title: “Let’s know each other better”. Once per week we’ll publish three people who are active in the European level on Facebook and Twitter with their photo, a short description about their hobbies and generally about themselves with their contact information.

The AEGEEan: How do you think the lovely initiative to extend the Bone Marrow Donors Registration Day to all of the Network will match with the Network’s needs?

Bartosz: Again I have to clarify my idea. I would like to implement the idea of Bone Marrow Donors Registration Days beyond the borders of Poland. If locals accept and implement this idea, is a decision that can only be made by those locals. I know very well that all the locals have other needs and sometimes they have a very strict workplan throughout the year, so they may or may not accept this idea. However, I would like to say that thanks to this project AEGEE can have a common platform that will create more external recognition. That can be a part of our visibility. I know that for example the Summer Universities are very popular. But when an organization has a lovely initiative like this one as a flagship project, a platform to cooperate together all over the continent, all the medias could talk about us. Thanks to this, we’ll have more opportunities to find new partners, and finally and most importantly, we’ll have a real influence on saving lives. This is not only beautiful speaking, there are real numbers behind it. On the first edition, we got 5600 potential donors registered, in the second one 17500, and in the third 12500. In six days, only in one country, we registered more than 35 000 people. This is more than in the last five years in all of Europe! So back to the question – I think that a lot of locals will want to get involved with this beautiful idea.

And now, some questions from our readers.  

The AEGEEan: Do you consider yourself as a team player?

Bartosz: Yes, of course.  I’m in AEGEE for more than four years, and I was a part of a lot of different teams (9 LTC as a coordinator, trainer, team member, 4 NWM – 2 on the team, 2 as Netcom, member of a team/coordinator/helper of more than 100 AEGEE and non-AEGEE projects). Also, I’ve been a member of the Students’ Parliament for five years now, I’m a member of the biggest team of students fest of my city and I was a member of the board of my local four times (President, Secretary, Vice President, FR-Responsible). So yes – definitely I’m a team player!

The AEGEEan: Did you learn to speak English? How are you going to survive one year by speaking only English?

Bartosz: I was expecting this question.  Yes, I’ve got lessons, and now my English is good. I’m not saying that it is perfect, because that will be a lie. Nobody is perfect and everyone is learning all of their life. I’ll do my best to improve my worst sides, but when you are asking about my English, I can answer that it is much better because of the work I did in the last months. I know that some of CD members don’t speak French and despite this they successfully fulfill their tasks. I speak German too, which can appear to be helpful.

The AEGEEan: You were a Network Commissioner who was very national oriented. Why do you believe that you will be able to orient a team like the NetCom where the first priority is the European focus and not the national, thus going against your own actions?

Bartosz: People who are thinking that I was “a very national oriented Netcom” aren’t well informed about my work. Me and Inez Wenta (AEGEE-Toruń)  were the first Netcommies who proposed the idea of interregional NWM’s, and we actually did it. We held an interregional NWM between our Networks. Then – you can ask people who are coming to NWMs of my Network. I’m saying to the participants every time: “Don’t focus on your country”. This organization has two levels – local, where you are learning and working for the local and yourself, and European, where you are working for the whole organization. I was the first Netcom in the history of this Network who implemented more than one thematic part on the NWM, and one of those parts was only about the European level (EL). You ask me why? Because I know that without EL this organization won’t have the opportunity to exist. I want to implement the Idea of Bone Marrow Donors Registration Day in other countries, because my priority is the European focus. In my local we hold workshops about the European level three or four times per year, in order to give members the opportunity to develop them and push them to be active on EL. So finally: if I wanted to be focused on the national level, I would only have been a member of NZS (Niezależne Zrzeszenie Studentów, Independent Students’ Union ed.)  – the biggest national student organization in Poland. My priority, however, is the European Level, and to show to the Network that EL is not so scary, and it is for everyone who is ambitious, wants to develop him/herself and wants to be influencial in the youth’s life in Europe.

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Venezia

]]>