Key 2003/2004 - AEGEE Europe

Public Relations European Schoolt the Public Relations European School (PRES), partici-are taught the secrets of public relations with aApantsfocus on journalistic skills, presentation techniques and creativeapproaches to work. Participants get to know the worknot only of the PR director in a board but also the work ofjournalists and the other media people they have to cooperatewith. The majority of the PRES participants have hadprevious experience with public relations.Sibiu25.04 - 01.05.03Cristina Martus (AEGEE-Passau), participantWhat was your motivation for takingpart in the PRES?On the one hand, my main motivationfor taking part in this event was the wish to get toknow the techniques of effective and professional PRwork. This knowledge was urgently needed in myantenna, as our local board planned to establish aPublic Relations Working Group. On the other hand, Ireally wanted to experience a European School. Forme, the Public Relations European School representedan ideal combination: the chance to gain a lot of knowledge,meet AEGEE people, and to work and party withthem (as in every European School) whilst getting adeeper knowledge of the field of public relations.How successful was the implementation of the plansyou had before the PRES?The PRES motivated me to work in the field of PR:together with the PR person in the board, we built upthe local Public Relations Working Group. With knowledgeof a range of PR methods, we could develop anew promotion strategy. We attracted new membersand motivated more of our existing members to getactive. We also started to pay more attention to ourpatrons, and to inform them and the media about ourfuture plans. The PRES gave me a lot of motivation forthe work in my local board and gave me the will tokeep on elaborating our PR strategy.Project Schoolhe Project School (PS) is a completely new event in 2003,Twhich aims to teach its participants how to manage acomplex international project. The goal is to maintain thequality of European projects within AEGEE. The trainingranges from the choice of a suitable topic and establishing aproject structure, to communication between the projectteam and the participating local antennae.Komárno30.11 - 07.12.03Sandro D'Onofrio (AEGEE-Termoli), participantWhat was the biggest difficulty you had to overcome?In the middle of the week, whenthe first set of simulated projectscame to life, we had a very difficultmoment. The huge amount of workbegan to show on the trainers:they were tired. At the samemoment the participants didn'tseem to take the projects seriouslyenough, and it was only thanksto the incredibly strong will of thetrainers that everything becamevery interesting again. They managed to overcome thefatigue and found the same motivation that they hadhad at the start, giving us a great example of how tobe a professional and responsible trainer.What was the most unforgettable moment of theevent?If I have to choose one moment, it would be the lastgeneral feedback round. We did our best to cooperatewith the trainers, helping them to understand what hadworked well and what needed to be improved. The finalfeedback round was very emotional, being together asa group for the last time, talking together and recallingeverything we had done. But even more special wasthe open discussion about the training programme. Thetrainers were clear and honest with us, explaining whatthey saw as problems, and the participants did theirbest to speak in a concrete way, to analyse the situationsdeeply and to find possible solutions.Gunnar Erth (Former CD member), manager PRESand Project SchoolYou are probably the most experienced Internal Educationevents manager in the history of AEGEE. What was yourmotivation for becoming a manager once again?The biggest motivation and challenge at the same time wasto reform the concept of the PRES. I suggested the firstPRES myself, back in 1998, which was conducted by thePRWG board at the time. When Bert Rösch,manager of the second PRES in Karlsruhe inOctober 1999, needed a new case managerat short notice, I created a completely newcase, which also contained several elementsthat became standard for every EuropeanSchool. The reformed PRES concept, whichwe developed in 1999, was also copied forthe next three editions of the event.However, I was never really happy with it, Ithought it could be a lot better, especiallyseeing how well the European School concept developed inthese years. So, when I was asked to be manager of thePRES in Sibiu, I saw this as a chance to create a completelynew event, which would cater much better for the needs ofAEGEE members in terms of quality and quantity.The concept of the Project School was used for the firstFundraising European SchoolUtrecht, 4-9.10.03time. What were the difficulties you had to face?The idea of the PS was born in May 2003, and the mainchallenge consisted was to create the concept for thisevent totally from scratch and organise it within sevenmonths. While writing a programme proved to be easierthan expected, finding enough good trainers who knowabout project management both in theory and in practice,proved to be quite hard. I was very happy to get a lot ofsupport from the AEGEE Academy and from very experiencedactive and former members, who helped a lot increating the event. At the same time we had to overcomealso the scepticism of some people.After all those internal education events you managed,what was most special about the Project School?After a normal European School, usually one or two peoplejoin the Comité Directeur but I am sure the ProjectSchool will have a higher output. I really loved the waythe participants acted and interacted, the solutions theyfound for the problems we gave them. This ProjectSchool did not change anything in particular in my life, butit marked the end of a period in my life: it will be the lastevent I ever organise in AEGEE, and therefore it was a niceconclusion to my active AEGEE career. I sincerely hope thatthe Project School will be a constant element of the annualcalendar of training events.he Fund Raising European School (FRES) is designed to train new fundraisers to work at the European level, especially inTfundraising for projects on a European scale. For this reason, previous experience in fundraising is one of the requirementsfor FRES applicants. Topics covered by the FRES include networking, lobbying, SWOT analysis and interview techniques.Kim Zwitserloot (AEGEE-Maastricht), Case managerThe FRES took place for only the second time in Utrecht.What was the biggest challenge for themanager?The Fund Raising European Schoolthat took place in Utrecht was a completelynew concept. Developing it wasa time-consuming process thatinvolved a number of people. After theevent, the new concept turned out tobe quite successful, although we ofcourse also found some things thatcan be improved. These were incorporatedin the new programme, so that the next time theevent takes place, its results will be even more impressive.Being a case manager and preparing the new case took alot of your time. Now the event is over, what was the bestpart of the experience for you?During the week we saw people improving tremendously.The most rewarding moment is when you see this certain"click" in people's heads, when they start to come up withideas for what they could do, and more importantly, theystart to believe that they can realise them. During thepanel discussion with sponsors and fundraisers and also atthe meeting we had with a professional lobbyist, the participantssoaked up the experts' advice like sponges.Hearing people talk during the lunch breaks about settingup FR teams in their locals and seeing their enthusiasmgrow each day was invaluable.Diego Fernandez Parra (AEGEE-Madrid), participantWhat did you find most challengingduring the FRES?It was the cocktail party on the fourthday of the FRES, at the Tower Dome,in a great medieval environment. Allthe participants had to approach several"important people" such as membersof the European Parliament, senior representativesfrom banks, institutions, foundations, mayors of the citieswe represented ('Naelville,' 'Pintilion,' 'Filipolis,''Kaiserstadt') and even a European Commissioner. All ofthese were portrayed outstandingly well by members ofthe Academy and local organizers.Everything was set up for the participants to implement allthe knowledge of networking and lobbying they had gainedin the preceding days.What would you say to the people that are interested inFR, but do not know much about the FRES concept?If you want to learn more about FR in the short or longterm, lobbying, SWOT analysis, find out how to build awide network and develop a strategy, or improve yournegotiation skills, then this event is for you. If you want tomeet friends to keep in touch for the rest of your life - brilliantpeople, from whom you can learn lots of things andsee the European Parliament office, do not hesitate toapply for the next FRES.What AEGEE means to me Focus on training Fields of action What is AEGEE? Introduction48 Key to Europe 2003/2004Key to Europe 2003/200449