By Charles Veekmans, Head of Events
It all starts during the group meeting with the committee. With a group of motivated and enthusiastic students, in a relaxed and positive environment, nothing is impossible. The main goal is laid down; the event to be organized, be it academic or social, and then the brainstorm session can commence. The events that we organize range between academic and social events. The academic events, such as panel debates, lectures and information sessions are organized to give students an insight in a new and interesting topic. Even if students already know about the topic and have an opinion about it, it is still a nice way to hear the information from a different channel and you might just realize that there are more facets to the topic than you originally envisaged.
One of our most, if not the most, important academic event, is the Careers Beyond Boarders, or CBB. This event, organized in March, will be all about career perspectives, there will be numerous guest lectures and workshops from professionals working for many renounced international organizations, such as the European Parliament, NATO and Green Peace. This will give you an excellent opportunity to think about what you want to do after you finish your studies and who knows, you might just find the career path that suits you!
Whilst the academic events focus on giving student food for thought, the social events are all about getting together and having a nice time. Amongst the social events are: parties, pub quizzes, excursions etc. These events are not only organized to strengthen the coherence within the association, but also provide an excellent way for the members to get to know each other and have a great time this year. The organization of all the different events, be it academic or social, has one thing in common: it all starts with the basic organization of the event in form of a brainstorm session, in which everyone can present his or her opinion and thoughts.
The fascinating thing about working in a group with different personalities is that the ideas always go in different directions. You get the opportunity to adjust and change your opinion in accordance with different possibilities that arise, others can convince you of their idea and so can you persuade them of your plan. During the brainstorm session, in which the ideas flow freely, consensus on the theme and the way in which the events will be organized is being found. Quickly, the tasks are divided and everyone is off again with the tasks they need to do in the back of their mind. A deadline has been agreed upon and everyone knows what to do; contact speakers, arrange a venue, think of an original way to present our ideas etc. The different members of the committee go home and work on the tasks they took upon them. During the individual work there is a lot of contact between the members ensuring that everything goes according to plan.
It is very important to work well on the task assigned to you, and to stick to the deadline, your teammates count on you! A good event is only possible if everyone cooperates and does his duty. On the deadline, there is another meeting with the entire committee to make a whole of the different pieces that are gathered by the different committee members and doing so, the event takes form. If everything goes well, the event is finalized at this point and its promotion can start in cooperation with the marketing team, led by Simeon. We are right on schedule and everything goes according to plan, the event is well promoted with the students and then the big day arrives. A full lecture hall or a full party venue have one big thing in common: enthusiastic students that are happy to be there and willing to have a good or interesting time. The festivities commence or the lecture hall is filling with the noises of students that arrive. There is a short word of introduction and then our guest speaker takes the microphone. The lecture hall is silent and every word that is said is listened to very carefully. The speaker ends his last sentence, there is a big round of applause and the event that took place can only be called a success. The members of the committee can go home with a feeling of genuine satisfaction, their group work has made this event a success. Up to the next one!
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