The AEGEEan Editor-In-Chief Patricia Anthony is already in Mannheim and took the opportunity to talk with the main organiser Alexander Sieber about the preparations for the Agora. We even managed to get some exclusive information about the social program.
The AEGEEan: How is it going with the preparations for the Agora?
Alexander Sieber: Fine! Most of the core team members arrived in Mannheim on Thursday and we have started equipping our backoffice, preparing the welcome packages and filling our inventory with all the stuff that we will need. Even the fair facilities have already been prepared.
How have the last months been working with a team of people from different German cities? Have there been any difficulties? What have the advantages been?
Of course at first sight things became more difficult: Some of our team members have been working together without knowing each other personally because they had missed some of our meetings. We’ve had one personal meeting per week during the last four months plus several social meetings, which is very little compared to how often other Agora teams met. Of course this was due to the fact that some of us are located more than 100 km away from each other. This mailing-list based communication made our work more time-consuming, so that some decisions took more time compared to personal communication.
On the other hand, the advantage of this team composition was, that, for the most part, the team was made up of very experienced members. We did not have to persuade anybody to join the team because we had enough volunteers from the seven locals. This led to a highly motivated team.
What are you mainly looking forward to?
I’m mostly looking forward to the Agora being successful: Firstly I hope that our work will provide a suitable environment for all the organisational and thematic aspects of the Agora. Secondly I hope that the participants’ stay in Mannheim will be enjoyable, so that everybody returns back home with a smile on their faces next Sunday.
Is there anything that you can announce to us exclusive that will happen at the Agora?
We are going to organise a tombola for which the first 80 participants will be able to fish their own lottery tickets from a small duck pond. The main prizes at the tombola will be two vouchers for German classes by the reputable Goethe Institut (transportation included) with a value of over 1000 euros each. Other small games will take place during the breaks in order to entertain the participants.
The concept of our Easter Party involves the widespread German Easter tradition of egg-hunting. We will hide Easter eggs with small surprises and the participants will have to look for them at the party location.
If you were to describe the process of organising an Agora in three words, what would they be?
Together for Europe!
Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København