{"id":36870,"date":"2016-10-04T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T04:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?p=36870"},"modified":"2016-09-30T12:31:58","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T10:31:58","slug":"philipp-blum-for-suct-its-a-really-good-feeling-to-help-people-to-have-the-summer-of-their-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/2016\/10\/04\/philipp-blum-for-suct-its-a-really-good-feeling-to-help-people-to-have-the-summer-of-their-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Philipp Blum for SUCT: &#8220;It\u2019s a Really Good Feeling to Help People to Have the Summer of Their Lives&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><\/b><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might have seen him on stage during the Agora in Bergamo, or most probably if you organised or attended a Summer University. Philipp Blum, 25 years old and living in Aachen, is doing it again. After a term in the Summer University Coordination Team as Publication and IT responsible, he is running for a second one aiming to cover the tasks <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of Information Technology and Materials.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cSometimes serious, but mostly a child\u201d as he described himself, he is in love with with coffee, travelling, photography, design, coffee, music and much more.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?attachment_id=36913\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36913\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-36913\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/unnamed-20-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"unnamed\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/unnamed-20-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/unnamed-20.jpg 479w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a>The AEGEEan: Why did you decide to run again for a position in the Summer University Coordination Team?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Philipp:<\/strong> Because the work was more fun than I thought, and it\u2019s a really good feeling to help people to have the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summer of Their Lives<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Also, due to the knowledge I gained this year, I could start to actually improve the functioning of the website\u00a0right away instead of figuring out where the files are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>You said that there is always room for improvements. What would you change (or improve) for next term, provided you will be elected?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simplified (digital) guidelines to make it easier for organisers to see what should be done when.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Easier overview pages that show if you forgot to fill something instead of yet another reminder email.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A streamlined\/shorter application process for participants.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?attachment_id=36872\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36872\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-36872 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philipp-Blum_MoM-Agora-edition-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"philipp-blum_mom-agora-edition\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philipp-Blum_MoM-Agora-edition-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philipp-Blum_MoM-Agora-edition-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philipp-Blum_MoM-Agora-edition-1024x683.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Your team put a lot of effort in giving content to SUs. Do you think you managed to change the direction? Would you consider it fulfilled?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I wouldn\u2019t consider it as fulfilled at all. Many people I spoke to still consider two (!) hours of content a day as too much. But if you want\u00a0travelling completely without content, I wonder why you would need AEGEE for this. With simplifying the booklets and website for organisers, as well as providing more help, I hope we can show that two hours of content a day is\u00a0not much at all and that it\u00a0actually improves the experience of the participants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think that organisers felt that we made some \u201cunfunny\u201d changes, but I also believe they recognise our good intentions behind it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>You said that you &#8220;use the impact of the project to get more information about our members (impact measurement)&#8221;. Do you think it is SUCT&#8217;s responsibility to work on the general IM or should this be done in cooperation with\/by other bodies?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I don\u2019t think it\u2019s SUCT&#8217;s responsibility to work on Impact Measurement per se, but the possibility to ask 3.000 people about their opinions shouldn\u2019t be wasted. So if the CD, ACT, the Working Groups or someone else can actually use this data for improving AEGEE and\/or Europe, I\u2019d love to help with gathering the data. The answers might be more representative than our 2013 Impact Study [<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">he winks, ed.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">].<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?attachment_id=36873\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36873\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-36873\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/philip.jpeg\" alt=\"philip\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/philip.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/philip-195x195.jpeg 195w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Last year you and your team improved the website, making it mobile friendly. Have you already thought about how to upgrade\u00a0it more?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, there are things we definitely want to improve. This year most work lay in the re-design, which didn\u2019t allow for much time to actually change the logic in the system. I would like to have visual landing pages for organisers, participants as well as the admins. That means that you have exactly one page you can always go to, and it will show you the status of your SU \/ application, and what is expected until when. So, for example, for organisers it would show until when it\u2019s expected to submit the program, with a direct link to do so. No more combining mails with ten\u00a0different links.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another, more unclear aspect is the development of the OMS. If it\u2019s actually coming, it requires a redesign of a huge part of the SU System &#8211; including all applications. It\u2019s something that shouldn\u2019t be done in the middle of the process, and will require quite some preparation. On the other hand, it will allow for new possibilities, such as developing native apps for the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>We are witnessing a constant drop of applications and organising locals. Do you think it is something related with the Summer Universities&#8217; appeal? If yes, do you have concrete actions in mind to reverse\u00a0this trend? <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?attachment_id=36915\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36915\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-36915 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/unnamed-2-1-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"unnamed-2\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/unnamed-2-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/unnamed-2-1.jpg 442w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>I think it\u2019s related to the fact that cheap travelling becomes more and more normal. People buy a 10\u20ac flight with Ryanair, sleep at couchsurfers.. Travelling with AEGEE becomes less distinctive to normal travelling. But maybe that is just my imagination? Here lies another connection with the Impact Measurement we could do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My ideas include a better, consistent level of content on all SUs, as well as a better fostering of expectations by Outgoing Responsibles. If SUs are advertised with \u201cCheap, drinking and girls on a beach\u201d, of course participants\u00a0don\u2019t want to see the city and learn the local language. If SUs are only advertised with \u201cAll day classes\u201d, you might want a bit more relaxing in your summer vacation. Of course, a big part of SUs is\u00a0about young people relaxing and partying, but there\u2019s way more to the AEGEE spirit than just this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides, since I joined AEGEE all I heard was \u201cshrinking\u201d of the network and how to avoid it. First of all, those numbers are not the only thing that measures the success of our organisation, and secondly, the numbers aren\u2019t shrinking that much (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/0B9HnHhKBzDWqb1RjLUJkRzVpdms\/view\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">source<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). We still have 50% more applications than spaces for Summer University, and I would rather concentrate on strengthening the weaker SUs (which don\u2019t have enough applications) than on the overall numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?attachment_id=36916\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36916\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-36916\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1889-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"img_1889\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1889-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1889-195x195.jpg 195w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1889-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1889-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1889.jpg 1932w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>How would you improve the cooperation with Working Groups and Projects?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, for some Working Groups there\u2019s the need to start a cooperation before we can improve it. Seriously, it\u2019s a shame if a WG can\u2019t even provide a compulsory session.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luckily, not all is bad. For example, I am really impressed by the cooperation of the Civic Education WG in Warszawa, which provided the entire\u00a0content of the SU, and I think it could be a great example for other cooperations. I am sad that the ES SU didn\u2019t work out this year due to lack of applicants, but I believe there\u2019s lots of potential here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To improve, I would start even earlier with sending emails to Projects (etc.) and Locals with suggestions\u00a0of cooperation, directly showing benefits of cooperation, so the local doesn&#8217;t decide to do it on their own before a request for\u00a0cooperation arrives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>How would you reduce the waiting time during\u00a0the online\u00a0processes?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We could implement some kind of games on the website to speed up the waiting time. Tetris, anyone? No, to be honest, there\u2019s not so much that can be sped up by the SUCT. All in all, I could imagine to shorten the application period a bit, but I think the overall process is already pretty quick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?attachment_id=36917\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36917\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-36917 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3775-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"img_3775\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3775-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3775-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3775-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>A real speed-up would be if tasks by organisers would be done in a day, which is highly unrealistic. Because there are\u00a0so many organisers from so many countries, and the fact that we\u2019re all volunteers, we can\u2019t just give one day to approve participants. Some locals meet during the week, others on weekends, some might have exam periods&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another way to speed up the process would be to remove the role of the Outgoing Responsible, which would speed up the process by around a week. It\u2019s an idea we talked about already, but we still believe in the important role of the Outgoing Responsible. As I said, I think a right expectation of SUs is important, so I would rather work on improving the\u00a0work of the ORs than to remove it yet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>In the application process we often see that certain locals are very popular, while others struggle even to find participants and (in extreme cases) are forced to delete the Summer University. What are your thoughts on that? Do you have any idea to try to level this phenomenon?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s certainly true that the location is a major factor for a Summer University to be more popular. Not only because a well-known location attracts more people, also because of the costs of travelling there. Opposite examples are \u201cextreme\u201d destinations, like Transiberian Railway, or something new, like Ireland this year. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think there are three aspect to easily distinguish\u00a0yourself from the other SUs:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/?attachment_id=36918\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36918\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-36918 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_4396-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"img_4396\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_4396-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_4396-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do\u00a0your SU in a time where there are not many other SUs. I heard enough people that wanted to attend a SU in September (because of their possible vacation), but there simply was no offer. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Offer unique content. A city tour, beach party and small language course is nothing differentiating. Offer extreme sports, offer long travels, offer specific topics like photography or a larger language course &#8211; anything to separate yourself from the rest!<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do something new, something more extreme. Why not have a SU solely on a boat? Why not go hiking for two weeks? What about including a flight in your Summer University or make Hitchhiking not a part, but the topic of your SU? (PS: If this has been here before, I\u2019m sorry. I\u2019m not as wise as Gunnar yet <em>[he winks, ed.]<\/em>\u00a0)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>You can read Philipp&#8217;s\u00a0full application <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/statutory\/ag1610\/candidate.php?login\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"excerpt\">You might have seen him on stage during the Agora in Bergamo, or most probably if you organised or attended a Summer University. Philipp Blum, 25 years old and living in Aachen, is doing it again. After a term in the Summer University Coordination Team as Publication and IT responsible, he is running for a second one aiming to cover&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/2016\/10\/04\/philipp-blum-for-suct-its-a-really-good-feeling-to-help-people-to-have-the-summer-of-their-lives\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":36914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[650,3],"tags":[677,322,2136,956,410,754,1935,42],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36870"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37063,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36870\/revisions\/37063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeus.aegee.org\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}