The Netcom TimesEBM Riga 23rd of February 2011 Riga

IT’S ALL ABOUT QUALITYDear Network,

You are holding the first Netcom Times of 2011. Since Agora Istanbul some changes have been made in AEGEE. There has been a revival cam-paign of the Working Groups, a guideline for the quality of events got published and we are now using a forum instead of our beloved AEGEE-L. We, as Netcom, will also miss this mail-ing list, nothing is as satisfactory as receiving a lot of e-mails, but we have to agree that there are better ways to have a good dis-cussion. But nor a mailing list, nor a forum is the best way to develop great ideas. The best way is to come all together, have good facilitators and focus a few days on the topic. So here we are in Riga now, to talk about the future of our organisation.

The Network Commission knows where we want to go. Therefor we are facilitating some parts of this EBM. Come see us at our workshop and ex-change best practices to organise a high quality event. Find us at the AEGEE Fair and ask us all your questions in person. Or if you have suggestions about the functioning of the NetCom and you want to discuss this with us, come see us at the Round Table Discussion!

This edition of the Netcom Times is a summary about quality. You can read an article about the quality of events, a story about the quality of travel-ling , some good quality comics and an interview with different opinions about the quality of the Network Commission. Do you want to share your opinion too? Come see us during one of our sessions, catch us in the gym or during the parties. We are al-ways there to serve and protect!

Yours,

Yanike Sophie,

Speaker of the Network Commission

Words from the Speaker

Who cares about quality anyway?by Olimpia Pârje

I trust most of you remember our recent long discussion on AEGEE-L about the aim and purpose of our associa-tion and how we’re working towards them. I could start by saying that people care about quality. That all people care in general about our work and the quality of it so we needn’t be so pessimistic in our approach.

But that’s not really true. Most people don’t care. In general. They simply don’t care, not about the world, about starving children, polluting the environment, what’s really happening in Egypt “at the doorsteps of Europe” as someone put it. They simply don’t care. Not until it’s being brought to their attention, staring at them in the face until they can’t look away any further

and cannot stand to sit idly by any longer.

It’s the same with our organization. Who cares about AEGEE, what we do, the aim we’re fighting for and if we are achieving it or not? We are ambitious to say the least. We want to change Europe, break down borders and achieve peace and coop-eration where heads of states, governments and other much larger, much richer or-ganizations have failed mis-erably. Boy, do we think a lot of ourselves or what?

And why shouldn’t we? We are indeed the future of Europe, are we not?

But in AEGEE on one hand we have the ones who want to change European society, create a borderless Europe while promoting nice ideals of freedom, de-mocracy and equality, and

on the other we have new members who want to en-joy themselves and don’t know what AEGEE is really about. Some only know and care about their little corner of the world. Until they are personally faced with other realities.

We have to put these people togehter, an encoun-ter from which everyone come out diffrently from how they went in. So here we are in AEGEE, a large melting pot of different, of-ten contradictory and some-times parallel perspectives.

People don’t care about the quality, until they are faced with crappy stuff, and realize that they’re not do-ing what they’re supposed to be doing, that they’re so far from where they re-ally want to be. And here we are, a network of young

people, students from across Europe, who want to practi-cally change the world, bit by bit, getting lost along the way between all the tiny steps and all the big parties. It’s time to realize how far we are from reaching our aims, and how we should rethink and react to get to them.

And here we are again, in our EBM, trying and fight-ing, still sincerely believing in the idea of a borderless Europe. From the president to the one-day member, who’s just started his expe-rience in AEGEE. We care, we try harder and if we work even harder in all our proj-ects, events, planning and administrating, being more serious and more respon-sible, and proffesional, every time we get just a bit closer to making our dreams come true.

STEPS TO IMPROVEMENTby Lucille Rieux

Quality again! As you’ve understood, by quality event, we do not mean that AEGEE events until now were not good. Cause they were. Yet, we believe that in order to help the whole network keep a certain coherence in its ac-tion, as well as for the as-sociation to really stick to a “common line’ (represented by the strategic plan), a few new steps have to be taken. How to do that? Here go a few ideas that you should keep in mind and discuss within your antenna:First of all, don’t forget that, as member of the AEGEE network, you commit to a common vision, and that any activity proposed (on local or European level) should fit in our Main Fields of Action, and more specifi-

cally in the Focus Areas of the association, defined in the strategic plan every 3 years. For instance, you can privilege European thematic and trigger cooperation with other local associations which are also involved in those thematic (European identity, European con-struction, youth mobility in Europe…) Then, cooperate! Luckily, we have a wide range a Working Groups and proj-ects which are actively con-tributing to proposing wise, problematic and challenging contents, and who are eager to cooperate with local an-tennas. In the last months, not less than 3 European projects, namely YOUrope Needs You!, Higher Education Day, and Youth UnEmployment, proposed locals to join their action days’ initiatives! One day

event is not much of organi-sation; it has a very positive local impact and gives also a stronger image of AEGEE externally! AEGEE-Gdansk, AEGEE-Istanbul, AEGEE-Groningen, are a few exam-ples of the locals who took part in those initiatives, and they can assure you that it was worth it. And what about Summer Universities? Already a lot of antennas took the opportu-nity (and the challenge) to cooperate with a Working Group/Project Team and give a deeper content to their events. Yes, it is sum-mer, but we are young (and bright) and isn’t it always alluring to learn and dis-cuss new issues? And isn’t AEGEE about that: being able to mix serious topics with a lot of fun and real cul-tural exchange? Then, let’s work for it!

One more rule or a pleasant surprise?

by Olga Iatsyna

Close your eyes. Turn on your fantasy. And now imag-ine AEGEE world without NWMs…You go to Agora, and you sit alone on plena-ries as you don’t know any-body there. You see people around you and you’re not sure whether or not they are from your region. Want to know more about European Level, get involved, share experiences, exchange solu-tions? You want to make a joint event with nearby lo-cal, but you don’t know even the name of their president... This is what can also hap-pen with you if you miss such an important event as the Network Meeting!

Did you know that since Agora Istanbul attending at least one NWM per year is obligatory for boards to ful-fill antennae criteria? One more rule to the list of rules, which your local is obliged to do? No, believe me, it’s

much more than rule, it’s a big help and a favour for you.

Now you have the great possibility to easily get one more “plus” to the list of cri-teria fulfilment, but it will be such a pleasant “plus”! It keeps inside much more than you expected: getting new knowledge, attending great workshops, hot discus-sions, meeting new friends, planning new projects and, what is the most important, you do all these with people, whom you can see much more often than twice a year at the Agora – people from your neighbouring area!

Do you still have any doubts if it’s worth going to a NWM in your region? Have another look at the list of antennae criteria. But now behind these letters you will surely feel inspiration, motivation and overwhelm-ing desire to attend the next Network Meeting in your region!

TRAVELS THROUGH THE NETWORK – PART I – nov `10 - feb `11

Place Date NetComKyiv 5.03-7.03 OlgaMağusa 11.03-13.03 DoğuşNovi Sad 17.03-20.03 MilicaSibiu 17.03-20.03 OlimpiaBratislava 24.03-27.03 DóraGranada 24.03-27.03 Luis

Upcoming NWMs

by Yanike SophieAs active member of AEGEE I live in Europe. Literally, be-cause I don’t have a home in any city. I wanted to visit all the locals in the network. But with only 6 months to visit over 200 locals means I can stay a maximum of one day at one place. I decided to choose quality over quanti-ty. Which happens to be the theme of this paper.

After our Netcom Meeting in Barcelona in November I started my trip and I hitchhiked through the Iberian peninsula, ending in Porto.

Travelling while you are netcommie gives a new di-

mension. Instead of visiting churches and museums, I carry around my laptop and look for bars with WiFi. I prososed a temporary break-up and during Christmas I decided to leave my lap-top home and found out Where does Europe End in Marocco.

Completely refreshed and tanned, I made up with my laptop. Not because I missed him, but because in the current international environment I simply can’t survive without. So together we took off to Budapest. Not with any particular rea-son. Just because it was the cheapest flight ticket to a

place I never went before. In Budapest I sent a text message to Dorá Kocsis, Network Commissioner of this area, that I have arrived in Hungary. She happened to be in Budapest, so I got a citytour and we did a hiking-trip in the hills.

After an invitation from Eszter Virag Rab, former speaker, to come to Pécs, destiny told me to go that way. Here I learnt more about being a netcommie, and life after being a net-commie, apparently there is .

After missing the bus to celebrate Orthodox new-years with AEGEE-Nis, I decided to go to Beograd.

During a meeting with AEGEE-Beograd I had a good conversation about the history of Serbia and former Yugoslavia. An interesting experience to take the bus the day after to Kosova and listen to a different history there.

Together with AEGEE-Prishtina we also once again agreed how unfair VISA applications can be. I hope they will be able to at-tend the Agora in Alicante. Whether Spain recognises Kosova as a country or not, why won’t bureacray let young idealists travel freely through Europe?

After these not under-

standable things I met with Milica Lukovic, Network Commissioner, to continue on a netcom trip to Albania. Tirana is a beatiful city with beautiful surroundings. When I told this to the pres-ident of AEGEE-Elbasan he adviced me to enjoy it now, as the city is uncontrollably expanding into the nature surrounding it. It made me angry. There is so much to do for the Environmental Working Group in this part of the network.

Here... to be continued!Come to Agora Alicante

and get your copy of Netcom Times there as well and see the rest of the story!

THE

ADVENTURES

OF

NETCOM

by Luis Alvarado Martinez

What do you think about the current quality of events in AEGEE?

Mickey: In this matter we need a better definition of a quality event. What kind of quality do we aim to? Learning, culture, results, number of shots drunk the previous night?

Alla: In general a lot depends on the local which is organising event. If it’s local with huge experience or local with really motivated and hard working people – I believe that events there are quite nice and with high quality. But I’m really optimistic concerning this year’s SUs. We have one third of all SUs which will be organised in cooperation with Working Groups or Project Teams, all 77 SUs will have specific topic and prepared content part.

What is the current situation of AEGEE Europe’s visibility to

the outside world?

Alla: I can say that we have quite a good position in the outside world. AEGEE is really appreciated by our external partners and they really value our impact on society. But we need to start working more for the external world, we need to create not only result-booklets of projects which we cannot “sell” to externals, but we need to work for changing something in the world around us, to have valuable impact in our future.

Mickey: AEGEE is still highly confused with those dirty brainwashers from a satanic sect called AIESEC. Institutions like us but only if we submit old papers, because we have achieved good results in the past but not recently. Right now in terms of numbers of activi-ties we might look cool. The quality issue is related to an-other question but the num-bers of activities it’s indeed impressive. Chapeau!

What do you think

about the current Focus Areas of the NetCom?

Mickey: NetCom’s focus areas? I didn’t even know they exist! The real question is “what is the NetCom doing?” The Network Commission is a link which job is to make the local level understand better the european level and vice versa.

Alla: I was really happy to see that NetCom also decided to work for increas-ing quality of our events. Increasing quality of our events will also increase quality of AEGEE work. I was an organiser of numbers of events in Kyiv and I was really happy to see how qual-ity of events was improving with each event. Suggestions for future: I would really like to see supporting coop-eration between weak and strong locals.

How do you see cooperation between NetCom and CD? Any tips to improve it?

Alla: As we have a com-mon Focus Area - quality assurance I’m working quite a lot for it now. As you know we’ve made few steps at the beginning of this year to-wards our aim: we’ve imple-mented reporting system and we are checking care-fully event’s descriptions before approving. We’ve created events guideline fol-lowing which no one will have problems with event preparation.

Mickey: Yes, there are plenty of rooms for im-provements. First of all there’s no need to have a speaker or a vice speaker, or a vice of the vice speaker or a speaker team as it is now. Actually why does the NetCom speak? To speak takes time from work. You ask about cooperation with the CD, but I say that the Agora and the Statutes make them different and inde-pendent. The CD is not the European level but only its administrative body, there-fore the NetCom should keep an eye on the CD but focus more on how to sup-

port & spread the ideas of Committees, Working Groups and Projects among the network.

What do you think about Mickey Turati’s claims about NetCom being a waste of mon-ey for AEGEE Europe?

Mickey: That guy, what’s his name? Mickey Turati... I think he is right.

Alla: To be honest one year ago I would totally agree with Mickey. One year ago being Vice president of my local and not receiving any emails/calls or what-ever else for NetCommie gave me an impression that NetCom is just for free trav-els. But after EBM Krakow I’ve understood that I can-not judge about whole NetCom by only one per-son. I was following work of NetCom starting from Agora Leiden and I really appreciate their work cause they are the connection be-tween us, AEGEE-Europe and our locals.

DOUBLE INTERVIEW: ALLA AND MICKEY

CONGRATULATIONS......................... IT’S TWINS !by Hara Kogkou

Two years have passed since AEGEE-Peiraiás and AEGEE-León decided to become a family! The recipe was simple: the very good relationship between the members of the two antennae and a successful exchange the previous year that brought them more close that they could even imagine! Since then, meet-

ings and exchange of SU organizers have occurred, strengthening like that the bond of these two locals! Every time we are surprised to see how many things we have in common and we are always trying to pass this to our newest members! So, now it’s our chance to make this official by signing the twin antenna contract at the EBM in Riga!

... OR IS IT? by Kacper KulhawczukA typical addicted AEGEE person has to travel around Europe all the time. AGORAe, EBMs, NWMs, SUs etc… All of them spread around Europe. So you have to travel and there is one rule. Cheap means slow, expensive means fast. Planes are the fastest, most comfortable but the most expensive. Train/bus/car is cheaper, more adventurous but could be uncomfort-able for longer time and it’s not so fast. There is a third way you can use – hitch-hiking. It’s absolutely free, most adventurous and fun, the speed is unpredictable and you WILL meet a lot of new, cheerful and helpful people.

You can say “Yeah, yeah hitch-hiking is cool, but un-predictable, slow, dangerous bla bla bla”. With attitude

like this it will probably be worst time of your life full of stress. But you can gain a lot of things and moments that you are missing when you are going by plane for example. What things?

A feeling of adventure and traveling which was killed in airplanes. You will travel dozens of times by plane in the future… when you will be already CEO of your company. And who will take a CEO in a suit from the side of the road?

Meeting new people. When autostoping, you HAVE to meet new people, who are for sure helpful (they stopped for you) and probably were hitch-hiking in their past (around 80% of drivers were) and ready to tell you the stories. Despite travelling with friends by car – you will never meet so many people so fast in a train

or plane. And most of them are just crazy!

Last one is unpredict-able (and mostly unforget-table) moments. Sure, you can have awesome time in bus for 30 hours but nothing will be as exciting as hitch-hiking. I was singing with a driver, changing the flat tire, being “attacked” by German polizei and getting helped to get to the better place by a French one. I was a “copilot” of angry and late truck driv-er, I was made to sightsee anything in France (when the guy got to know that I’m just crossing his country, he get outside the highway and show me Remis) and met drivers that have common friends with me. I was taken by sport cars, buses, police, taxi driver (for free!) and the motorbike is the only mean of transport that I’m waiting to hitch-hike with…

HITCH-HIKING FOR AEGEE-EVENTS, WHY NOT?

JOIN THE FAMILY AND DON’T LOOK

BACK!The big il AEGEEdrino Family has something new on offer: from 30th April, 2011 (Agora Alicante), six new qualified people are needed who want to offer their knowledge and support to the network, travel, meet new people all over Europe, help them with their problems, and make the Agora happy with lots of success stories. The name of this job is „Network Commissioner“.

If you are interested in, or just curious about our work, you are very welcome to con-tact us anytime. But don’t forget, if you enter this family, you can not get out easily…

by Milica LukovićThere are many members among us who appreci-ate what AEGEE offers nowadays. Let’s see what members with different ex-perience really think about organizational changes and improvement of quality:

“AEGEE doesn’t need to change structurally and qualitatively, only quantita-tively, ie. that we promote the idea of AEGEE better and more so many young Europeans get “infected” with AEGEE virus... espe-cially the countries with AEGEE traditionally weak..

We need to maintain and even increase the vol-ume of entertainment proj-ects in AEGEE.

What is good about these projects is that they have also cultural charac-ter, are much more relaxed and have more time to get to know the city and coun-try... usually at conferences and debates is quite differ-ently, people do not have much time to go out and are mostly indoors ... also the target of AEGEE are young,

and young people definitely prefer to party.”

Emanuel,1999 member“I believe that AEGEE is

very well structured organi-zation and that there are no crucial things to be changed. Regarding “fun events” they should be always part of any organization, because they will, first relax people, and second - motivate them to do something or maybe make their own. It’s a really nice opportunity for cultur-al/opinions/experience ex-change in casual way which is more interesting to every-one, to be honest.”

Ivana, 2010 member“I am satisfied with

a structure, but I would make thematic part more serious. About events that are offered..I am not com-plaining, it’s diverse, there is something for everyone. Good thing about AEGEE events is that they make you brake the stereotypes but also present your city and people in your way. If it is not as it is, I wouldn’t be a member!”

Ana, 2008 member

TOGETHER FOR THE FUTURE OF EUROPE!by Thomas Leszke

When AEGEE was founded in 1985, hundreds of young Europeans came together, motivated by the same goal: to develop and promote the idea of a unified Europe. They met because they wanted to achieve some-thing together, something big that none of them could achieve alone. This is how it started.

We have to ask our-selves: What are we doing today in AEGEE? Are we still working on something together? Or are we all working on different small things – things of local, private interest? Ask your-

self: What are you doing in AEGEE?

Europe is much more complicated today than it was 25 years ago. It is not easy to make a change in Europe just like that. But still, we are in AEGEE to shape the future of Europe. And we don’t do this just by organis-ing Summer Universities, travelling around and creat-ing a big European family. It is not just the European experience that makes us European citizens. A true European citizen – that we all want to be – has to de-velop ideas for the future of Europe, and fight for these ideas.

So, the first step on our mission in AEGEE is to de-velop our ideas. I have seen many good ideas already. But only few have been turned into reality. Because... yeah, why actually?

What we are missing in AEGEE is planning things together. We have to act as one organisation – not as 209 different local organisa-tions. But of course, working together with so many peo-ple from so many countries is not easy.

Our instrument in AEGEE to make it easier to work together is the Strategic Plan. Here we define all to-gether which things we want

to achieve on a longer term. This year, we are drafting the next Strategic Plan for 2012-2014 – a unique op-portunity for all of us to give AEGEE a new direction.

But we must be aware that drafting a nice docu-ment is only the first step. Afterwards, if we don’t focus our activities on the aims that we write in the Strategic Plan, this document will be useless. That means that you as an AEGEE member have a personal responsibility: to help writing the Strategic Plan this year, and to imple-ment it afterwards with your Local, your Project or your Working Group!

AEGEE PUZZLES ME SOMETIMES! WELCOME BACK,

ROTTERDAM!

EditorialPublisherNetwork CommissionEditor in Chief & Layout

Olimpia Pârje

Graphic art:Dóra Kocsis

EditorsMilica Luković, Kacper Kulhawczuk, Lucille Rieux, Luis Alvarado Martínez, Thomas Leszke, Pierre Vassallo La Rosa, Olimpia Pârje, Hara Kogkou, Yanike Sophie, Olga Iatsyna

Special thanks to:Evita Meiere, Michael Makowiecki, Alla Resheten, Michele Turati, Alfredo Sellitti, Doğuş Kaya, Alexander SieberE-Mailnetcom@aegee.org

Clues for the crosswords..

Across1. Founder of AEGEE-Europe (6, 9)5. Winners of the Best Summer University 2010 (8)6. The mailing list used by Turkish antennae (6-1)8. This city (like its antenna) is said to never sleep! (6)9. One of AEGEE’s newest antennae in the network (7)11. AEGEE’s most impor-tant document (3)

12. Was nominated as Honorary Member of AEGEE-Europe in Agora Kyiv (6, 5)14. At every Agora, this antenna always sings “Viva …….” (7)15. The antenna that lies in the Far Far West (3, 6)16. This antenna lies in the eternal city (4)18. The SUPS was held here in 2009 (8)21. The best night of an AEGEE event (8, 5)

Down2. Spring Agora 2003 (9)3. This antenna is at the very North of AEGEE’s network (8)4. They are here to serve and protect (3, 3)7. The Agora that was tor-mented by a Volcano! (6)10. Human Resources Working Group? (7)11. AEGEE-Oviedo’s mas-cot (8)12. Biggest project in AEGEE (2)

13. The first EBM was held here (8)17. AEGEE’s most popular DJ (6)18. It is one of the most requested Summer Universities in France (5)19. The number of nation-alities presently living at the CD House (5)20. This working group used to be seriously creative (4)

by AEGEE RotterdamAfter a silent period for AEGEE-Rotterdam, we re-inforced and reorganized AEGEE contact Rotterdam. The board of AEGEE con-tact Rotterdam and the stu-dents of Rotterdam are very enthousiastic about its pur-pose. Many activities have been planned for the up-coming year. These consists of business days, discover holland trips, membership weekend and of course very exiting parties. We hope to involve all the students in this international city and make the most out of it. We are looking forward to estab-lish a good relationship with all the AEGEE locals.

See you in Rotterdam!

WHAT’S NEXT?

TENERIFE!

by AEGEE TenerifeTenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands. It is of vol-canic origin and offers won-derful landscapes of moun-tains, beaches and woods. Due to its climate it is often called the island of the eter-nal spring.

The majority of the pop-ulation lives in the north-eastern part. The university is located in the UNESCO protected town La Laguna, whilst Santa Cruz is the cap-ital of the island.

Tenerife has a very rich culture, a mixture of prehispanic, spanish and latinamerican traditions. The most famous event is its carnival, the second largest of the world. It’s people are known to be very open minded, tolerant and hospitable.