NWM -Thessaloniki was held from the 30^th March to the 2^nd April in Thessaloniki. It was one of the first couple of NWMs that opened the spring season this year. It was attended by 30 participants, Spyros Papadatos from NetCom, Réka Salamon from CD and experienced trainers, such as Damien Moon Latacz from MedCom and Lucia Gavulova from Summer University.

The title of this article, which was inspired by Spyros Papadatos’s motto “Make the impossible, possible”, sets the beat and describes in the best way this NWM. It was a united collaboration between the local organisers, that surpassed every obstacle, and the European contribution of NetCom, CD and the other participating commitees. The result was a well organised NWM in both the logistic and the content-related aspects.

The participants came from various parts of the Network. Even though the element of the antennae coming from the distributional area where the NWM was organised was not prominent, this enriched the opinions and practices that could be shared during the whole process. The sessions were held in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and some of them in the local youth council settlement. Specifically, the participants had the chance to learn about the structure of AEGEE, prepare and present a SWOT analysis for their antenna, work on FR, HR recruiting and team management. Apart from this, there were sessions about Agora preparation and “Democracy in AEGEE”, a discussion about the future of AEGEE which was presented by Réka. The highlight though, according to many participants, was the Best for My Local session in which each antenna had the chance to share the knowledge and their best practice for recruitment. It was very helpful and enlightining, especially if we consider the fact that our Network is more and more threatened with shrinking. Moreover, the Open Space Technology, which hosted different discussions, from the Brexit to specifying the Point System, was the one that everyone enjoyed the most, due to the fact that they could be involved and participate actively. Laslty, there were very interesting sessions about the youth carrers within EU, which were presented to us by a representative of Europe Direct.

Despite the hard working during the sessions and the commitment with which everyone handled with it, the social life was enjoyed by everyone.  Thessaloniki is a city well known for its nightlife, tasty food temptations and hospitable people.

The participants had the chance to meet all of these through city tours, partying like superheroes in an alternative style pub, travelling back to disco times and tasting the local liquors in traditional tavernas, even when the NWM was finished. We couldn’t exclude the legendary European Night, which was mostly enjoyed by Spyros, our NetCom, Marios, the local representative, and Alperen from AEGEE-Istanbul, who won an Interrail ticket in the Best of my Local competition.

All these wouldn’t have become a reality without the amazing team of organisers from AEGEE-Thessaloniki and the main organiser, Stella Krokou. Within a hard economical situation in Greece, they managed to keep up to everyone’s expectations and hold an inspiring NWM. The have succeded in fundraising, covering all logistics, gaining the collaboration of the university (whoever comes from an antenna with a difficult collaboration with the university can understand how important this is). The quality of their effort was eminent from the fact that everybody had a wonderful time both during the NWM and after it. Personally, as a participant myself on this NWM, I would like to express my gratitude towards them and wish this NWM to reflect on them the same inspiration and create an equal motivation to them as they did for us all!

Written by Vasiliki Andrioti, AEGEE-Ioannina

November meant a lot of Knowledge Transfer focus for the Network Commission but also Network Meetings were organised all across the AEGEE Network so the NetCom had plenty of things to do. What they did exactly in these lasts months of 2013 you can read in this NetCom Telegram.

Arsenis Tselengidis

October started with organising the Network Meeting (NWM) in Thessaloniki! My first time as the main organizer – but Luis Alvarado Martinez and Beata Matuzska from the Comité Directeur, John Eikosidekas (AEGEE-Patra) and Andra Toma (Former Network Commissioner) helped me a lot! The following weeks I arranged two meetings in my local, AEGEE-Thessaloniki. In the first one I organized a NWM evaluation for organisers (in order for the next boards to have a good Knowledge Transfer) and I presented a short version of the HR cycle workshop for the members who missed it during the NWM. The next meeting was a preparation for the Agora in Zaragoza. The final days I helped our members with our exchange program with AEGEE-Tenerife.

I spent the biggest part of November by collecting KT material from the rest of the NetCom team and trying to establish a communication line with the most of my locals. I arranged Skype meetings with the two smaller Greek antennae in order to have an image about the situation there. I also had a discussion with a Romanian local about the difference between a NWM and a Regional Training Course (RTC) with the pros and cons of organising each one of them. Finally, I sent the activity plan to my locals and now I am collecting the feedback.

Antonija Parat

Autumn has been incredibly busy and inspiring. In October, university started for most of my locals, and I encouraged them to use this time to promote AEGEE and to get them to join. I visited AEGEE-Beograd to talk about AEGEE at their Tea Party promotion event. I also helped AEGEE-Zagreb by visiting the Scholarship Fair where they had a stand. I walked around, talked to people about AEGEE, and I was glad to see a lot of interest. For me it was really fun to talk to people who know nothing about AEGEE, it reminded me of how I started – as PR responsible for AEGEE-Zadar.

Then I went to the Agora, where I was very inspired by my locals and had so much fun with my Netcommies. Bihać and Tuzla signed the Convention d’Adhésion, and my antennae were sitting in front row to support them. It was great to see. November was the transition period in NetCom, so I tried to make sure all ‘newbies’ feel prepared and integrated in the team. The end of November was marked by intense preparations for NWM Wien that just finished, and it was yet another learning experience that gave me a lot of ideas to discuss on our upcoming NetCom meeting.

Anna Móricz

During the last couple months the antennae have been working mainly on getting new members at freshman camps and throughout events organised at the campus in Pécs, Budapest, Debrecen and Piliscsaba. All of the locals were represented at the Agora in Zaragoza, where they were actively participating as well as by giving presentations. During ZarAgora my locals have been extended with three Czech-speaking locals.

The cooperation has not been the best amongst the locals, however we are going to work on it in the future by implementing a social gathering for all Hungarian-speaking locals. They locals are willing to collaborate during the upcoming Network Meeting.

Last but not least at the last weekend of November I participated at the NWM Wien, which has been organized by Antonija. During many inspirational sessions I truly learned I can contribute in a more effective way to my locals’ work, meaning a good preparation for the upcoming two NWMs and for possible mentorship programs as well for more international events.

Dominique

Dominique Lenssen

October, the month of the Agora and a lot of preparations: helping my locals prepare for the Agora, making my Activity Plan presentation and getting ready for the meeting with my locals! I am lucky to see the board members of my locals quite often; before the Agora, we had the first Nedertop of this year in Utrecht. We discussed many topics, such as fundraising, the Dutch Youth Council and the fun event.

Last months, I also have been working hard on Network Meeting Utrecht, which has just taken place. I visited AEGEE-Utrecht twice to meet with the organizers, stayed in touch with the speakers and the participants were selected. In November, I gave a presentation about AEGEE-Europe during the Europe night of AEGEE-Amsterdam. At a study abroad fair in Ghent, I helped AEGEE-Leuven with promotion, which at the same time was a great opportunity to talk all day long with their board. I combined this with staying in the CD house with AEGEE-Leiden, who visited Brussels for their hitchhiking competition. Now I am preparing my new Work Plan and our NetCom Meeting (NCM). After the Agora, I have been elected as Vice-Speaker of the NetCom, so preparing the agenda of the NCM is one of our first tasks!

Holger Schmitt 

After being newly elected at Agora Zaragoza as Netcommie I started to organise myself how to take care of my network. So I talked with many people from the German-speaking locals discussing how to divide tasks and topics for the network in the best way. I had an intensive exchange with my predecessor Inez and with many others on how to communicate within the network the best and what specifics can be found in the area of the German-speaking locals. Since I have been member of AEGEE for a long time I got in contact with older members who now live in cities where AEGEE existed before in order to start an initiative like in Bayreuth and Erlangen. I got in contact with AEGEE members who now live in  Jena and Dresden in order to start founding new groups in this cities. Therefore I established an East-German Group to exchange best practices and to organise a regional training course.

Finally I took part in the NWM Poznań for which I tried to motivate as many Germans as possible to participate. I experienced for the first time to be a trainer and to be involved in the organisation of a NWM. I met many great people and learned a lot from the very active Polish-speaking locals.

Also I started planning for the next NWM which should take place in spring in Germany. So I am in contact with members from AEGEE-Heidelberg, AEGEE-Bamberg and AEGEE-Erfurt to talk about the possibility of organising the next NWM.

Written by Network Commission