Réka Salamon – President

November was a month I was looking forward to – not only because of the quiet time in office that left me with more time to work on project ideas and applications, but also because it is NWM season, and during such an intense month with so many events around AEGEE, the network really comes to life!

I used a bit more quiet time to review the workload of CD, have meeting with CD members, update the task division and review the progress in our Activity Plan. While work-wise it was easier to check data, it was also difficult to work on our daily tasks since half of us were away for NWMs all the time.

I spent November also on research and development of project grant ideas, including collaboration opportunities with other organisations (capacity building on Erasmus+), and submitting a grant application for Agora Enschede. Together with following the policy processes on the European Solidarity Corps, submitting AEGEE’s contribution to the EU Skills Agenda and preparing for the general assembly of the European Youth Forum, the hub of the youth policy and participation sector: November felt like I was up to speed in Brussels to the extent that AEGEE needed to be. And that speed is a hyperactive one.

December started with the amazing adventure of taking a Network trip, visiting some of the Turkish-speaking locals around the time of attending NWM Ankara. This trip has not only grown my understanding of the struggles and needs of the network, it has also given a new boost of motivation to continue the work for strengthening our network, our locals, and bring the spirit of AEGEE to all parts of Europe, which is more important than ever today.

From inspiration, I arrived back to Brussels for the Christmas Party in our headoffice (external and alumni relations, ahem), the evaluation meeting of AEGEE’s activity in UYD Mollina, and meetings on AEGEE’s involvement on the anniversary of the Charlemagne Youth Prize.

The last week before closing the headoffice for Christmas holidays was spent in a strange feeling with all of us still working, but Christmas lurking around the corner. We were all ready to take a rest. Except that, for me, rest once again meant I only sent half of the usual amount of emails during the holidays. Happy new year to all of you!

Katarzyna Sokołowska – Secretary General

In the second part of November I went to NWM in Beograd where I could see how various is our network. It was a very valuable experience to be present on 2 NWMs in different parts of Europe. I can truly recommend you to participate in more than one NWM in the next semester. After that, I stayed in Brussels quite longer than during the previous months. At the end of November I helped with packing the General Mailing and went with Tekla to AEGEE-Delft to send them. I represented AEGEE on a few events at the European Commission about youth work and entrepreneurship of young people. During my time in Brussels I also solved all questions regarding staff management and our employee. The last task, which definitely brought me a lot of happiness and positive energy, was the Christmas party. Together with other CD members, on the 9th of December we hosted our Christmas party, so the first days of December my main task was to coordinate the preparations. During the last working day of 2016, with all the people from the office – with our employee Andrea and assistant Maria – we went for a Christmas dinner to sum up our year and integrate for the next year.

I would like to wish all of you happy, merry Christmas and amazing New Year’s Eve. [she smiles, ed.]

Zvonimir Canjuga – Financial Director

November started by attending the NWM organized by AEGEE-Cagliari. Numerous workshops and awesome participants made this NWM special. We also started coordination of EPM together with AEGEE-Zagreb organizers. Besides regular finance work, I was also focusing on the work with E.Q.A.C. and CIRC, and we have new teams with new work plans and results that you will see soon.  Also, together with the AUDIT Commission, I started to work on the concept of a new toolkit that will ensure proper KT for treasurers in locals and offer help with fundraising. The biggest point of this period was writing and submitting the Operating Grant, that is of highest importance for AEGEE. Together with other CD members, we successfully finished and submitted it. In November I also had the opportunity to travel to Athens for the Coca Cola Hellenic stakeholders annual meeting. After that, I participated to my second NWM organized by AEGEE-Aachen, and I can only say it was awesome event, and I enjoyed my time on both NWMs together with AEGEEans from all around the Network. I spent the end of my year repairing ALEX (one of our servers) and checking other IT infrastructure around the Head Office. In addition, GREAT and MY-WAY projects finished and it was time to recheck reporting systems and finish the transactions. Lastly, together with Lia we worked on the selection of the Interim Chairpersons for Agora. What is happening in January you will read in our next CD telegram.

Maarten de Groot – Vice-President and External Relations Director

In November and December I have been busy with the first preparations for EPM Zagreb: selecting the Content Managers and starting to work with them, discussing and determining the overall outlook of the event together with the rest of CD. Moreover, I have been coordinating the selection of the Franck Biancheri Award 2017: there were many good applications, but there could only be one winner – AEGEE-Budapest. The first preparations for the conference ‘Education for the Present, Democracy for the Future’, taking place in April, have already started. Additionally, I have started to work with the newly formed Agora Reform Task Force. Currently, we are still in the process of defining the exact direction of the task force, but more is to follow soon. A major highlight of these months was the Network Meeting in Moscow: just like many other participants, it was the first time I got to apply for a visa, and it took me some time and nerves to get it. However, it was totally worth it: it was a great opportunity for me to get to know another side of the AEGEE Network, and of Europe.

Apart from these internal AEGEE processes, Réka and I have represented AEGEE at the European Youth Forum General Assembly in Varna (Bulgaria). Apart from the board elections, the Work Plan of the Forum was finalized and adopted, and – interesting for us – advocacy on civic education is included in it. I have also contributed to a workshop on e-participation that was hosted by us within the framework of our participation in the EUth project. Lastly, the event provided an opportunity for me to talk to other youth organizations about the state and future of the ‘Free Interrail Ticket’ idea that is being developed inside the European Parliament, and that the Agora asked us to actively follow and contribute to. Apart from this event, I also attended the Members’ Council of European Movement International, the European Angst Conference and the Steering Committee meeting of the European Civic Forum. These different events have helped me to get a better understanding of the playing field in Brussels: who the relevant players on certain topics are and how we as AEGEE can effectively work together with some of them in order to realize our own thematic priorities. Our European Citizens’ Initiative ‘More than Education – Shaping Active and Responsible Citizens’ is currently the main project for which we look for partners in the civil society. I hope to be able to work more on this from January onwards, together with the task force.

Joanna Pankowska – Projects and Communication Director

In the period of November and December I travelled twice to Berlin to attend the Communication Seminars organized by European Movement International. Just as my colleagues, I also attended a Network Meeting and I must admit that it was a very nice break from our daily work. Both AEGEE-Leiden and NetCom Loes did their job faultlessly. By the way, during the NWM we went to the streets to collect signatures for ECI! At the beginning of December, I also had a live meeting with the ECI Task Force, and a week before the Europe on Track team visited Brussels. I went to a few conferences and meetings, of which the most relevant were the Meeting of the Education Network of European Youth Forum and the Europe Angst Conference by European Movement. Shortly before Christmas break, I organized a skype session for all the Interest Group Moderators in order to discuss the place that Interest Groups have in our Organisation. Thought this whole period I was collaborating closely with Maria – our Communication Assistant.

Evangelia Touska – Human Resources Director

Coming back from NWM Zielona Gora, I had to finalise the preparations for the Hackathon. In the end, we had 11 people attending the event and they got the chance to improve their knowledge about the current status of the Online Membership System and share their views about the Project. Later that week, I helped with preparations for the General Mailing.

The following week, I attended “Greek-Turkish Relations and the Geopolitical Aspirations of Turkey” by the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, where I got updated about the current status of the Greek-Turkish relations. At the same time, I was in contact with the Human Resources Committee and the Academy, participating in their internal meetings.

At the beginning of December, our server ALEX, after three months being in a coma, finally got back to functioning, so I had to check if all its functions were working properly, together with Zvonimir. Meanwhile, with Tekla we participated on the selection of participants for EPM Zagreb 2017.

The last week in office was intensive, we had our last monthly evaluation for 2016, which I moderated. With Zvonimir we worked on the selection of the Interim Chairpersons for Agora. Last but not least, I had the Information Technology Committee’s live meeting on the last weekend before I left the house for Christmas holidays. We got the chance to clarify the tasks of each person in the committee and to plan for the future.

Tekla Hajdu – Network Director

For me, November finished with two major tasks to concentrate on (apart from the regular ones): helping out with the Operating Grant by collecting the plans of locals for 2017 and coordinating the General Mailing. Making the packages might have taken some time indeed, but thanks to the help of my fellow CD members, our CD Assistant Maria and AEGEE-Brussel-Bruxelles for the transport, we managed to take and deliver the packages to Delft, where AEGEE-Delft helped us sending them to the addresses of the locals. [she smiles, ed.] On the 6th of December, I attended the Startup is MY-WAY conference, which was held in H-Farm, Italy, and where I spoke in a panel about the role of student organisations and how implementing your own ideas plays a role in AEGEE. The following day, I participated with Pablo Hernández -CD 53 member- in the partners’ meeting of the MY-WAY project, in order to prepare for the reporting and the closing period in early 2017. During December, I was also working on EPM preparations with supporting the selection process of participants and planning the Drafting part together with ACT. I also managed to attend the Christmas party of AEGEE-Aachen, which was a lot of fun for the end of the year. In the last weeks of December I hope to enjoy my holidays but also to continue working on the EPM, supporting the NetCom Speaker Team for the preparation of the NetCom Meeting in Brussels, supporting the new Speaker Team of PRC and evaluating the term so far with JC.

Written by the 54th Comité Directeur of AEGEE-Europe

Réka Salamon – President

October started with the multipliers training of the GR-EAT project – we welcomed 15 participants in Brussels for a week-long training on the basics of recognition of volunteering. GR-EAT publications will continue to be used as training material in AEGEE – you will see soon! Besides the training, we also organised a small round table with other organisations in Brussels to create a network of organisations working towards recognition. As leading partner of the two-year-project, it has been quite an adventure for AEGEE – the project is the result of the work of three consecutive Comité Directeur (CDs) and Projects Directors [she smiles, ed.].

Autumn Agora Chișinău was my ninth Agora – with all its surprising and not-so-surprising elements. From an organisational side, I was really moved by the commitment of a small group of organisers facing a huge amount of troubles – and the Agora still turned out to be an unforgettable experience for all of us! AEGEE-Chișinău has shown us what dreams are made of: hard work and dedication.

October is a busy month in Brussels, so the second half of the month I spent with caring for our external relations – from attending the Civil Society Day and Education Training and Youth Forum of the European Commission, to meetings with the European Youth Forum, European Movement International and others. Also Agora Chișinău happened to be at the same time as the Lifelong Learning Week – which was a great place providing many organisations with a chance to get in contact with policy-makers and present their work. We had some catching up to do on this after getting back from Chișinău!

Katarzyna Sokołowska – Secretary General

My last month was full of travels. After the Agora, I represented our organisation at a few events. First I went to Sofia where we were discussing human rights and social inclusions with young people. After that, with Pablo Hernandez – previous External Relations Director – we represented AEGEE at the meeting with partners of the MY-WAY project, which took place in Lisbon. I finished my October travels in Maastricht where the preparation meeting with partners for YO!Fest took place. Remember that you can still apply to run your workshop/ activity! [she smiles, ed.] After that I spend a few days in the office, where I was working mostly on staff management and administrative tasks.

The Network Meetings (NWM) season has started, so the first weekend of November I spent in Manchester. That was a totally new experience for me – the fist time I attended a NWM which had “only” 30 participants. Before this I had participated in NWM only in Poland – you should check what I’m talking about. [she smiles, ed.]

Now after being busy with meetings for a week in Brussels, I’m leaving the office again and going to NWM in Beograd [she smiles, ed.] There are a lot if travels, but also meetings with new and inspirational people! Hope to see you around! [she smiles, ed.]

The last weekend of October, I had a live meeting with the Youth Mobility Working Group. We were working on what objectives AEGEE has to achieve during the last year of the current strategic plan.

Zvonimir Canjuga – Financial Director

October started with on a good tone. Together with Andrea we had a meeting with several partners to discuss potential new collaborations for the year ahead. Also this time of year is hectic for every Financial director of AEGEE, because it is time for your respective locals to pay the membership fee.

This was also a time of preparation for the Agora. Numerous discussions, preparations, reports, follow ups etc. were the main things happening for me during the preparation phase of the Agora. Also there is our beloved CD house, which is not a new house, as you might know. So I was also spending some time on fixing small things to make our lives in the house easier. Then the Agora came and I was really glad to be among our members, to discuss about the future of our organisation.

After the Agora a lot of paperwork was needed to be done, so this was occupying quiet a lot of my time. As well by the and of October our biggest project, GR-EAT, finished. Now it will be two months of reporting to close the project in proper way.

In November it is time for NWMs. I am a lucky one and I have two Netcomies that I am working with, Mareike and Lisa. NWM Cagliari was simply amazing and I am really looking forward for NWM Aachen.

Regarding the future steps, I have to go to Athens to attend a Coca-Cola stakeholders meeting, NWM Aachen, do some European Planning Meeting (EPM) coordination and some Operating grant writing. To find out more about what is happening with us please read the next issue of the telegram [he winks, ed.].

Maarten de Groot – Vice-President and External Relations Director

A couple of days before Agora Chișinău started, I attended the European Civic Academy in La Rochelle (France). It was an event gathering close to 200 representatives from a wide variety of civil society organisations, and there were meetings of the European Civic Forum and Civil Society Europe on the side. The central theme of the event was ‘Democracy in Europe – missing links’, and the event was meant to make the link between (organised) civil society, the academic world and grassroots social movements. It was a very interesting event, highlighting both the importance and the limitations of the civil society for democracy in Europe nowadays.

During our very own Agora in Chișinău, I once again realised what European democracy in practice looks like (at least within AEGEE), with the discussions on the Focus Areas and their ratification being a personal highlight.

The second weekend after the Agora, I had the pleasure to welcome the Your Vision for EUrope project team in the house. As a previous member of this project team, I knew that it would be a weekend filled with many hours of working and further bonding of an already very close and hard working team. Many issues have passed the agenda, such as the relaunch of Faces of Europe, and upcoming thematic conferences, so stay tuned for their updates.  

Apart from these highlights and other ongoing issues, I have also worked on the first preparations for EPM Zagreb, the establishment of a new round of the Agora Reform Task Force, the establishment of a Task Force pushing forward the free Interrail ticket discussion, and the preparations for NWM Moskva.

Joanna Pankowska – Projects and Communication Director

Due to my position I am in contact with many thematic European Bodies, but with some of them more intensively than with the others.

Last month most of my time was spend with the Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT). Since the new team has been elected at the Agora, it was a very crucial time to plan everything. We had a live meeting in Aachen and I must say – cooperation goes very smoothly.

The other team I was in contact with a lot is the newly established Society and the Environment Interest Group – also very flourishing.

Before the Agora I was collecting reports from all the European Bodies, reminding people about them and putting them all into one booklet – this took some time. I was especially in contact with Working Groups, since I was helping them with writing their Activity Plans.

Furthermore, I travelled to Berlin for two days in order to attend the European Movement International Seminar on Public Affairs. I also attended some events in Brussels connected to European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) and spend some time working on the website of our Initiative (sign!) and many other aspects of the ECI. By the way we still need a lot of help, so do not hesitate to join the Task Force.

This is all thematic work, but I also have a second portfolio for which I don’t always have as much time as I would like, namely communications. Luckily I have help from Maria who is our Communication Assistant since 3 weeks ago. Together with her we are doing our best with social media, websites, newsletter (check the new look!) and everything else that falls under communication.

Evangelia Touska – Human Resources Director

October, the month of the Agora. During the first half of the month, most of my time was taken up by Agora preparations. I am responsible for the communication with local organisers and the Chair Team. Now, I can say that I couldn’t be more satisfied with the results of Agora Chișinău.

Right after the Agora, I attended two external events. The first one was the “Why coding matters in Europe?” debate by ThinkYoung, where we discussed about the coding summer school that was organised last summer, where students that participated shared their experiences. Lastly, we discussed the issue of not enough girls studying and working in coding professions.

The second one was the “European Education, Training and Youth Forum 2016” by the European Commission, where we attended the panel discussion about the new Skills Agenda for Europe together with Reka and Mayri, and I joined several workshops on different topics, like understanding skills intelligence, making education systems more inclusive and digital skills and competences.

The following week, together with Joanna and the developers of myAEGEE, we issued the Open Call for Hackathon. During the last weekend of October, I joined the meeting of the AEGEE-Academy Board, where we discussed about our collaboration and the future activities of  the Academy.

Coming back to Brussels, I was delighted to receive 19 (!) applications for the Hackathon. Almost all of them were quality applications. The selection was hard, but we chose the ones that filled the requirements for the development of myAEGEE.

At the same time, I participated in various Skype meetings with the Human Resources Committee. I am glad to see the Committee functioning with many motivated members. Finally, I had a Skype meeting with the Information Technology Committee about the future of the Committee and the new Information Technology Interest Group.

With the rest of the Comité Directeur, we had our first meetings for EPM preparations. Also, with Joanna and Maarten we had our first meeting with the new Agora Reform Taskforce.

Last but not least, I attended the Network Meeting Zielona Gora, where I experienced a NWM different than the ones I’ve been to before. I delivered two sessions, one about the current status of the Network, including consultation and feedback to the work of the Comité Directeur, and one about our European Citizens Initiative on Civic Education, which participants liked so much that they signed up right away. On my way back to Brussels after the NWM, I felt more motivated to keep on working hard.

Tekla Hajdu – Network Director

For me October was mostly Agora preparations: checking Antennae Criteria and identifying locals in risk to be downgraded/deleted, plus supporting to-be-upgraded contacts. During the Agora I was responsible for locals’ registration, other CD tasks and finalising Network Statues Update together with the Network Commission.

In the 2nd half of the month, I was mostly involved in the necessary after-administration of Network Status Update and we also issued the 2nd round of Regional Training Course (RTC) support together with Zvonimir

In the 1st week of November I had the live meeting with the Action Agenda Coordination Commitee, where as CD responsible I participated through the whole weekend. Together with Zvonimir we have selected the locals who’ve received RTC support for the Winter round of applications.

I was also involved in the preparation of and attended NWM Barcelona, which was my 2nd Network Meeting after NWM Ploiesti as attending CD member.

In the upcoming period I’ll be involved in writing the Operating Grant and arranging the General Mailing for the locals.

Written by the 54th Comité Directeur of AEGEE-Europe

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.

Usually everything slows down in AEGEE during summer time. However, in this NetCom Telegram you can read about the things that some of the Network Commissioners did during June and July to keep working for the Network and preparing for the autumn.

Anna Móricz

After getting to know my tasks as a Netcommie better, I got in a closer touch with my antennas. The Hungarian-speaking locals are mainly suffering from bad communication and cooperation between the antennae. Fortunately, throughout the summer the situation turned out to be better.

During June the locals were busy organizing their Summer Universities. AEGEE-Pécs found its way out of the FR problems by working really hard, and their good work could be an example of best practice for small locals. Unfortunately, participation and involvement in the European level has not been raised significantly. However, during July the interest increased, and some participants got motivated to become active on the European level, and they will be starting their “career” in Human Resources European School (HRES) or in Valladolid.

The cooperation between locals continued; Piliscsaba actively helped both Debrecen and Budapest, which could be again a good example for smaller locals how to be active on those European level events which they cannot afford to attend.

Overall I can say that my locals have done their best during these last two months and hopefully good memories will further and develop their work even more.

Claudio Armandi

June was quite a relaxing month, but since a real Netcommie never sleeps, I dedicated myself to planning activities, lying on my cozy sofa with a Berliner Kindl on my side. As a result, we have a new Italian local, Verona!  Many AEGEEans will be able to visit the city of lovers again. And yes, they will have the chance to appear at Juliet’s balcony and touch her lucky breast again. Just for seeking luck, obviously. If you are more into opera or gladiator fights, you can opt for the Arena.

The decision might have been influenced by my sofa companion, but in July I selected the hosting local for my next (and last) Network Meeting. I am really looking forward to meet you (yes, you reading right now) in Foggia from October 10^th to 13^th! I think organising a NWM will be quite a challenge for a new local. We will see how they sort it out. I am sure they will rock!

As a side note, time is approaching for me to think about the end of my term. If you are wondering what it takes to be a NetCommie, what do we do and what kind of underwear we wear (when we wear some), don’t be shy and approach me!

Dominique Lenssen

At this moment, I am in the middle of my holidays, probably like most of you.

Unfortunately no Summer University for me, but still enough AEGEE and trips to enjoy myself!

In June I attended the youth conference in Zagreb about the enlargement of the European Union. Attending this conference also gave me the opportunity to meet with some of the Netcommies, and we could talk about our work and plans in real life. Normally we have our meetings on Skype, but I could totally get used to meetings in person in great places like Zagreb.

In June I also attended the Nedertop, hosted by AEGEE-Groningen. This is a meeting for board members of the locals in my area, during which we talk about several topics. It is tradition that new board members come to the Nedertop in June as well, so this was a perfect moment to meet these enthusiastic people, who cannot wait to be in charge of their local.

Besides these trips, I started working on a manual for twin antennae and mentorship system. At this moment we only have a twin agreement between AEGEE-Delft and AEGEE-Passau, but NetCom is dedicated to have some more agreements signed at Agora Zaragoza. So if your local is looking for a twin antenna, you can always contact one of us!

Inez Wenta

For many of us summer is the time of less intensive actions and more relaxing, but we do not stop working! Together with other Netcommies we developed a new format of Network Meeting (NWM), that you will be informed about soon! The first of these new NWMs will be in Poznań. Together with Netcommie Bartek and the main coordinator, Justyna Zielska from AEGEE-Poznań, we are working to make it as amazing as possible.

Manuals are a very important part of our work as NetCommies. I am responsible for the Local Training Course (LTC)/Regional Training Course (RTC) manual. It will be a guide for organising such projects, how to manage logistics, the content and ready-to-use cases. So everything you need to know in one single document. We hope that it will be of help during the knowledge transfer period. The next step will be translating it to different languages. If you think you can help with this do not hesitate to write to us! I hope you all have a great summer, travelling, relaxing and going to Summer Universities! And gathering new energy for the upcoming academic year!

Patricia Anthony