Pyjama-parties, toga-parties, fighter-parties, western-parties: These are all themes that have been used in previous AEGEE parties but how exactly does organisers manage to create an interesting social programme and what work goes into the process? The AEGEEan has interviewed the secretary Tom Roelen from AEGEE-Enschede’s Social Programme Committee to find out how far along in the process they are of organising the social programme for the upcoming Agora.
Tom, how far are you in the process of organising the social programme?
“It has been a bit challenging for us to find suitable locations for the parties because the Agora will be taking place during a very busy week with two national holidays (April 30th and May 5th 2012). In addition, the local football club will be playing an important match on May 2nd 2012. We have had to change the entire social programme two times now, but in the end I am very happy with the programme as it stands now. All the dates have been set and at this point we are about to finalize and sign contracts with several local venues.”
Can you already reveal some details about the social programme?
“Unfortunately, I can’t give you too much specifics about the social programme at this time. What I can tell you right now is that the European Night will take place at actual crawling distance from the gym and we’ll also visit Asterion, the pub which has been operated by AEGEE-Enschede for the past 16 years. We were trying very hard to organise an open-air concert in the city centre, but it was proven to be quite difficult, in part due to all the other events taking place in the city during the Agora. In the end the concert was unfortunately dropped, partly because we were only able to get a permit until midnight which meant that we were only able to be there for 1,5 hour. However, we had already arranged an after party right next to the planned location for the stage and will instead go there straight away.”
Have you already decided any themes for the parties?
“We have been working on several ideas for theme parties and recently we decided which ideas we are going to implement. There will be two theme parties. The first one will be “One-piece Outfit”. I am not really sure how we came up with that idea, actually someone just blurted it out during a meeting and we all liked it, so we decided to stick with it. The second theme party is called “AEGEE’s Anatomy: Bring your own Scrubs”. As one probably has guessed by the name, it will be a doctor/nurse/hospital themed party. It will take place in the building that houses AEGEE-Enschede as well as three other student associations. Since the number of participants is way too large for our own pub to handle by itself, we will also be making use of the other association’s pubs in the building. We are converting the entire building into a hospital (we are probably going to have to spend a few weeks to make all the decorations that we want for the bars and hallways), each pub will represent a different room from the hospital (ER, Doctor’s Lounge, and so on). We might also have a different music style in each room, but that is something that still needs to be decided. This will be (by far) the largest party in terms of effort and time we are putting into it and it would be really cool if everyone shows up in a doctor or nurse outfit.”
What has been your inspiration?
“I have visited quite a few statutory events and each time I was blown away by the social programme. Granted, some parties were better than others, but the people I’ve met and the atmosphere throughout the events have been amazing every single time. I consider this Agora an excellent opportunity for me to give something back for the great experiences that I have had at past events. As for the rest of the team – all members of the social programme team have served a 1-year term in the board of the AEGEE-Enschede pub at various points between 2008 and 2012. We have over four years worth of experience in organising parties between us and during these four years we have gathered a lot of contacts at the local brewery, local clubs and event organisers, which we can now put to good use. I suppose partying is almost a second nature to us,” he says with a smile.
When will the final program be revealed?
“To be honest I do not know when our programme will be made public. It’s done when it’s done, only thing I can say is that we are almost ready for it to be revealed.”
As it stands now the social programme will be as follows (this is not 100 percent certain yet!)
May 1st (arrival day)
Theme party: One-piece Outfit
(bring your bathrobe, jumpsuit, worker overall, and so forth)
(on university campus)
May 2nd
European Night
(on university campus)
May 3rd
Party at club ZOZO
(in city centre)
May 4th
Theme party: AEGEE’s Anatomy: Bring your own Scrubs!
(bring a doctor or nurse outfit)
(in city centre)
May 5th
– still work in progress –
Pre-Agora Party
Furthermore, Tom Roelen told The AEGEEan that the Agora Social Programme Commitee is organising a Pre-Agora party at Asterion on Thursday March 15th. It is something that they have been planning recently in order to get everyone in Enschede even more excited about the Agora. An event that has been aimed and promoted towards the members of AEGEE-Enschede (including a few from AEGEE-Leiden and AEGEE-Utrecht as well), but members from other antennae are of course also very welcome to join them and get a taste of what the parties at the Agora are going to be like.
So even though nothing is for certain, it seems that this committee is very far along in the process of setting up a fantastic social programme for Agora Enschede. Whether it is going to be a theme based on inspiration from hospitals or one-piece outfits (or both) then one thing is for sure AEGEE-Enschede is prepared, meaning the Agora participants should come prepared too (with creative outfits).
Stay tuned to The AEGEEan, we will keep you updated on what you need to bring!
Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København