Network Commission | netcom@aegee.org
PREFACE Dear host local of a Network Meeting or Regional Training Course, In this document you find guidelines for the cooperation between the NetCom and the local organisers of a NWM or RTC. It is crucial from the very beginning to realize the main difference between the two events and incorporate the purpose of them in your organizationational strategy. Of course it is impossible to give the perfect recipe for a universally successful event, but hereby we just want to provide you with some guidelines which will make your life easier during the organisation of this important event. A good communication between the organizing team in this case, the Network Commission (and for RTC also Academy) and the local organisers is essential for the organisation of a successful event. The Network Commissioner and the hosting Antenna work as a team and assume complementary tasks. It is important to avoid that any party gets frustrated because it had wrong expectations of its role. Both parties are equally essential, and both parties should try their best to help the other one. Since mostly the Network Commissioner and the local organisers live far apart, it is vital to have a complete understanding about the tasks and stay in constant touch. In general, the local organisers are the ones taking care of the logistical and practical issues, whereas the Network Commissioner acts as the head of the event, bringing AEGEEEurope, the hosting local, the participants and in case of an RTC: the AEGEE-Academy together. The last mentioned party is responsible for drafting the respective trainings and delivering them. These are general guidelines on usual task divisions and aims. Any exceptions and more detailed specifications regarding your particular NWM or RTC should be arranged in advance and stated clear in the NWM/RTC Agreement before signing, so that everybody's tasks are completely clear. We wish you the best of luck in organizing the most perfect event! Yours Network Commission of AEGEE-Europe
OVERVIEW OT TASKS In the following you can see the task division and examples. We encourage that the local organisers read also the task description of the Network Commissioner, as this may help to get a better understanding on how to cooperate and why certain requests are being made.
LOCAL ORGANISERS 1. Financial management & Fundraising Of course you need a budget, including all expected expenses and incomes, such as for points 2), 3), 5), participation fees etc. Together with your Network Commissioner you decide on the amount of the participation fee. The Network Commissioner and CD representative (NWM) and AEGEE-Academy representative (RTC) shall have their fee covered by the event’s budget. Further financial support such as travel reimbursement depends on the capabilities of the hosting local and must be agreed upon.
2. Accommodation for participants and trainers The accommodation shall be arranged in a way to suit the amount of participants agreed on. There is no limit to the options you can use; however it is advisable to lodge all participants at one place for the sake of group spirit.
3. Food Food included in the fee for a network meeting shall include at least two meals per day, at least one of them being warm (according to local culture). Ideally it should be 3 meals per day, with coffee breaks during sessions also being provided.
4. Social/cultural programme It shall go without saying that a nice social programme is a must to have happy participants â˜ş Also a city tour or some other local programme is highly encouraged. Keep in mind that the content programme of the NWM/RTC is intense, so the participants will need ways to relax and in the same time be full of energy the morning after for another intense day. Calculate the possible maximum hours of sleep per night if participants take the first opportunity to return home from party. This should be at least 7 hours.
For a European night participants also bring their own food and alcohol. Make sure to find a location where this is allowed! It might also be advisable to have some space for presentations, and the ability to play songs participants bring.
5. Workshop facilities and material A suitable location for the workshops is essential. In accordance with the Network Commissioner, depending on the number of participants and the needs of the event, all requirements for the programme should be met. General needs are a large hall for all the group, ideally having non-fixed seating; one or more rooms for group work or parallel sessions; area for coffee breaks and sanitary facilities. Besides the workshop locations, also the materials available are important. General needs include flipchart, whiteboard, huge sheets of paper, plenty of marker pens, projector, loudspeakers, and WiFi. On request it would be good to provide computers as well. Furthermore a secure location (locked room) to store valuables of trainers should be provided.
6. Incoming management (logistics, incl. Visa support) Besides good communication to the participants – telling them what to bring, where and how to get to the place, whom to contact, this includes sending visa invitations to accepted participants. In order to make this as smooth as possible, make sure to find out how to do that well in advance and do not lose any time doing so – mail may take long! The Network Commissioner selects the participants and informs them about acceptance, then local organizers continue incoming processes, unless agreed otherwise! Please, keep in mind to create a disclaimer that participants have to sign before starting the event.
7. Public Relations / finding applicants Good PR includes proper promotion at AEGEE meetings, on the website of AEGEE (Calendar of Events), various AEGEE mailing lists (such as EVENT-L! and on the internet (Facebook etc). This is in no way conclusive. Remember that it is also in your best interest if you do not have empty places! PR will be the point where you share most work with the respective NetCom, so clarify at the very beginning on who does what, and that together you cover every detail. Create a PR Campaign based on the purpose of your event.
NWM • •
•
A Network Meeting is not a training course. A NWM is an event that gives you a unique opportunity to have it all: share best practices between locals, strengthen the bounds between individual members and together come up with great new project ideas. In a NWM you will have the possibility to develop new ideas or projects that you have in mind.
RTC • • •
Regional Training Course is aimed to develop the competences of the members and provide them with skills. This event, is the best chance for you to have a better knowledge of different fields in order to spread a new method inside your local and to grow as person. A RTC include different training options at the same time for newbies and oldies
8. Depending on the programme: Special Assigned workshop slots Sometimes a Network Commissioner agrees to give certain workshop slots to the local organizers for specific workshops – thematic, or with external trainers. This is upon your agreement with the Network Commissioner.
NETWORK COMMISSION 1. Needs assessment The Network Commission, consults locals, CD and other European bodies about the needs of the whole Network, and addresses in particular the needs of the participating locals, defining also a main target group.
2. Selection of Host Local The Network Commission selects amongst the interested locals the best option for hosting his/her event, taking into consideration the quality of the application, motivation, services offered and available, as well as recent history of past NWMs/RTCs in that part of the Network, geographical distribution of current session NWMs/RTCs, accessibility of the city, etc.
3. Concept From the needs and target, the Network Commissioner will develop a concept for the content of the event, with the aim of gathering and connecting locals, find solutions to most common problems and develop collaboration strategies.
4. European Event Application The Network Commissioner is responsible of having the event assessed for quality by the responsible AEGEE bodies. This should be done in collaboration with the local organisers as quality depends on both content and logistics.
5. Arranging speakers & trainers It is the Network Commissioner's task to find trainers and workshop leaders for the event. These speakers should ideally be also participants of the event for the rest of the sessions.
6. Programme The Network Commissioner should decide how much content time is needed and inform the local organisers about this. That includes allocating time to trainers & sessions, and setting the exact time and date for each session in cooperation with the local organizers. While the local organisers are rather free in putting the social programme in the remainder, the Network Commissioner should also approve this, since for instance the placement of the European night the evening before the most important workshops is not advisable. Also it is advisable to have two programmes: One which is known to the participants, and an internal one with the real expected times, which is to be kept between local organisers and the Network Commissioner.
7. Selection of participants The number of participants is decided by the Network Commissioner in case of the NWMs and by the Network Commissioner and AEGEE-Academy in case of the RTCs depending on the needs, consulting also with local organisers about logistic availability. As the event is an event of the Network Commission, the Network Commissioner is responsible for the selection of all participants, keeping into consideration amongst others, Antenna Criterion fulfilment, contribution to content, needs of participating locals. Transportation and visa procedures should be taken into consideration when deciding the deadline dates for open call, selection and confirmations. The list of participants should be announced at least one month before the event is taking place.
8. Public Relations / finding applicants PR is a combined task that both parts should work on, so agree from beforehand on all the tasks each party has to do. The Network Commissioner will help in that creating the official events on social media, using her/his personal network, formally contacting the desired locals, and helping the local organisers in shaping the PR strategy and coordinating the different tasks.
COMMUNICATION BEFORE THE NWM / RTC Organising an event where one organiser – the Network Commissioner – is far away is always hard. Good communication is essential to minimize conflicts. Agree on how you will communicate: a mailing list, Podio, a Facebook group or chat, Skype, Googledocs... There are many possibilities. Both Network Commissioner and local organisers should always send any progress or problems in their tasks to the other one. As a rule of thumb, one status update per week until one month before the meeting, then almost daily. The other party will not understand why you run late on things unless you explain them, so don’t hide any problems. Maybe they even have a solution – perhaps a Network Commissioner can actually bring that stuff which you cannot find, or has an idea if the gym has been cancelled. Whenever possible, call each other for an hour or so. This is far better in settling bigger things, and also faster. Be sure to send a protocol of the call to make sure everything has been understood and remembered.
DURING THE NWM / RTC We've all been there. Everything has been planned perfectly, but in the end things go late, logistical problems arise, workshops don’t finish on time. If any problems arise, it is of utmost importance that Network Commissioner and local organisers are informed immediately to alter plans accordingly. It helps to have brief coordination meetings whenever possible, for example during lunch and dinner. At all times, both Network Commissioner and local organisers should remain as flexible as possible to adapt to problems and also to wishes of participants to a certain extent. Communication is really essential: It does not help you at all if you don't let the Network Commissioner know that food will be early or late! If (s)he knows, it is way better possible to replan accordingly, and probably the participants won't even notice there was a problem, but just think it's been because their workshop was too long/short. On the other hand, if a workshop will run late/early or other unexpected things in the programme happen, the local organisers should be informed immediately as well by the Network Commissioner! It is no use if the coffee is ready, but the coffee break needs to be rescheduled. It also is good to have the Network Commissioner included in organisers meetings during the event, at least briefly. It is probably not the first event (s)he organises and maybe has seen the problem you have before – and knows a solution. Also this makes cooperation a lot easier. If the Network Commissioner seems to not have time, make her/him to have time!
AFTER THE NWM / RTC Once the NWM/RTC is finished there are two important things to keep in mind. First, you should ask your participants about the event in relation to the content and logistics. This feedback will help you to organize better events in the future and to know the strengths and weaknesses you have had during the organisation. The evaluation should include Network Commission and local organizers in case of a NWM and Network Commission, locals organizers and AEGEE-Academy in case of a RTC. In addition, it is important to make a booklet results of the event (number of participants, content, feedback, etc) for future reference of the event.
CONCLUSION That said, there will be some conflicts in organising an event. Communication over e-mail is never perfect, perhaps a cultural difference between the local organisers and the Network Commissioner exists, and so forth. Do not take any such conflicts personally! Probably it will just end up as having been some minor misunderstanding. Please always keep in mind that both parties have the same goal: A perfect event which participants will long remember, and draw good motivation from. And at the end of the day we are sure everybody will have fulfilled that goal.
Network Commission | netcom@aegee.org