AIESEC Germany

Chairing the German National Leadership Seminar!

2011-06-29T10:00:00.004+02:00

Interview with Ümit (Chair of NaLDS 2011)

1. Question: How did you become chair of NaLDS 2011? Why did you decide to take over this position?

“Well, this is very easy. I was not considered to be chair of NaLDS 2011, because the people who are responsible, that is Peter as the responsible on the National Board and Moritz as the Agenda Manager, of course they were thinking about an international chair. Usually at NaLDS we have an international chair. Of course they were thinking about quality as well, but also about internationalism. And me as a German AIESECer I was not in the first list of people they should ask. Then they had some difficulties to find a chair. And then suddenly a friend of mine I think asked them: “Hey, why not Ümit?” And they were like: “Hey, yeah! Good idea. And why didn’t we ask him in the first place?” So then just around two and a half weeks before NaLDS they asked me. And although I’m already working full time I was able to shift some of my [professional job's] trainings aside. And I said: “Yes, I'm in!” And actually one day I had to leave for a training. I had to go to Leverkusen. And I left in the morning and I came back in the evening.
NaLDS is for me the best and most intense AIESEC conference in the world. I was there as a delegate in 2004, I was facilitator / trainer in 2008 and now being invited to chair this conference is one of the biggest honors that could have happened to me, really. I had to do this, really. I had to do this.
This was a perfect ending of my AIESEC carreer. I ended AIESEC activly two years ago already. That was a great ending.

2. Question: How can NaLDS contribute to the development of young students? How much impact does/can it really have?

Well, if you are young and your whole life is very dynamic, you’re running from one exam to another, from one AIESEC project to another, from one friend to another, from one activity to another, from one project to another, sometimes you don’t have the time to think about were you are right now and who you are and what you’re doing and why you are doing that. These are questions about the status quo. And at the same time thinking about “Who am I?” and “What is important to me?” and how I’m going to live this what I am in the future and what are my goals and what is my vision. So NaLDS for me is a break or a pause button, where you can say “Ok, now I’m really thinking about these things that matter to me, that are really me and myself.” Actually this is NaLDS. To know who you are and what you’re doing and why you’re doing it and for what you’re doing it. This is crucial to your development. I was at NaLDS at the age of 25 and I really felt, for the first time, closer to myself. That’s why I think it is a crucial part of your development. You can take a break and think about all those things. So NaLDS is a perfect place to do so, because there are experienced facilitators, there is a great Organizing Committee, who are taking care of that you can have this break for 7 days. Of course NaLDS can happen everywhere, if you take the time and if you have the right questions to thing about those things, but NaLDS as a conference as we had it is the perfect place to do so.
Well, actually it has a big impact, when you realise who you are and why you are and what you’re going to do next. If you’re already reflective and reflected a lot about yourself and if you took your time and if you had pause and break buttons, then the impact is a little less. Still very intense, but a little less. So I met some people who said “Yeah, I already thought about those things.” But then NaLDS is a great place to meet those people who are already thinking about those things and that you get connected to them and to share.

3. Question: How has NaLDS influenced your way of life?

My traineeship in India changed my life, for sure. And at NaLDS 2004 I realised that I want to take responsibility in this society and especially in AIESEC to send other people abroad, to enable them to go abroad. That’s why I became Vice President Outgoing Exchange [who is responsible for sending German trainees out into the world and support them throughout the entire process]. And in 2008 I just wanted to give this back what I got in 2004 as a delegate, then as a Facilitator. In 2008 I had one of the most intense training experiences with my co-faci. From zero in two days we had a trust towards each other, which was amazing. And the work with the homegroup was so intense as a faci couple. Still I’m talking about Melanie. She is one of my dearest, closest friends. I already trusted people a lot, but after that conference I really felt that I could share everything with her and that I’m able to trust and to give everything I have without expecting anything to get back at first hand. So I saw that with Melanie and this gave me the strength to do that with other people as well.

4. Question: In your opinion: What makes NaLDS so special? (in general & for you personally)

NaLDS is so special, because there are 150 people, who are willing to analyse themselves, to reflect on themselves and to share and to open themselves. 150 people opening themselves, meaningful conversations, asking good questions, questioning themselves, challenging each other. You could have that once in a while with people, but at NaLDS with a whole group of 150 people....that is special about NaLDS, definitely. And we had NaLDS before that in winter and we thought “Ok, NaLDS is special, because it’s winter time with snow and stuff.” But now we had it for the first time in spring and still it was special. So, to me it seems to be not a question of weather, it’s rather a question of 150 people open towards this question, analysing, sharing, trust, honesty, all the people. That makes NaLDS so special.

5. Question: Why does the world need such a conference? Why is it important for AIESEC in Germany?

First, you need to analyse yourself and then decide what you’re going to do and what your responsibility is in this society. That’s why it’s important. Without this people would less think about it. So this kind of conference gives you the chance to realise “Ok, this is what I want to do and this is what I’m taking responsibility for. You can take responsibility in all parts of the society. AIESEC is one option. And at this conference you can have a dicision. Ok, you want to take responsibility at any level of society or you want to take responsibility in AIESEC then. It is important for AIESEC in Germany, because at this conference we have the pipeline of people who are thinking about what kind of they want to take in AIESEC, which is then taking responsibility for the society in a second step.

6. Question: What is your vision for life?

My vision for my life was during a dream journey [where you mentally go through future events in your life theoretically]. Melanie did a dream journey and I took part. And I just closed my eyes and she just asked questions. And suddenly in those questions I saw myself when I was 50. I was in India. I had a big ashram. People from all over the world visited me. And they had yoga classes, meditation, personal development, business trainings and stuff like that. So all people from all over the world were coming, giving some trainings, getting some trainings. So a huge center of knowledge, sharing, philosophy, spiritual aspects. And people from this village were living and working there as well. So there was lots of room and lots of dynamic. I saw the smile of my wife. I haven’t seen how she looked like, but I saw her smile. I had two children, two girls. People who were passing by they called me Bhai, which in Hindi means big brother. With the money we were collecting from this ashram we were supporting projects for this area where we have this ashram. By the way, that was in Pushkar in India. And the projects were about women empowerment and education. That was it about my vision when I will be 50. The thing is, I had that vision in 2008 and a couple of month ago I realised this was just a vivid description of my vision. So, I don’t have to be in India when I’m 50 and have this things, but this idea behind it, that should be part of my vision. So I could be also in Africa, but I could also be in Cologne, or in Berlin, or in Shanghai. I don’t know. It’s just a vivid description.

7. Question: What of your life’s and AIESEC experience did you take to NaLDS to enlighten the delegates?

I shared, what I think about indirect leadership vs. direct leadership, because many things I did in AIESEC were indirect. Because when I do something in AIESEC, let’s say I’m having a leadership position, I have this leadership position to my team members, but what we do is an indirect leadership and we are taking responsibility for the society. So I was a trainee going to India, having an indirect impact and an indirect leadership position. I was a team member of the Outgoing exchange team and so I was sending people out. I was Vice President Outgoing Exchange, sending people abroad. I was in the National Support Team of Germany. I was coaching VPs in the exchange field. And I became a trainer. It’s all indirect, but it’s all leadership to me. I shared that. National Trainers Team, whatever. That was one thing. The other thing: I shared my idea about trust. That my concept of trust is that I immediately trust people and then, if people are not behaving according to trust, then I reduce the trust. Some other people, first they have no trust and then they build up trust. So I shared with the people my idea of immediate trust. I shared with people me and my question how much do I show myself when I’m together with others. I had this example of this ball. And if a ball meets another ball there is only one tiny point were they touch each other and by that they have less contact. So I was thinking about my profile. Why am I not showing my profile? A profile would mean that I would be a cube. And when a cube meets a cube the whole both sides of the cube meet and this is then the connection they have. And this connection is not always full of harmony, but that was my question. Do I really want harmony? Or do I want a connection to a person, an authentic one? So I shared that. I shared my idea of the book of life. That was important, as I told people, that whatever you do right now, it is written immediate in your book of life and that you can choose whatever you write in that book. That you are the author and that you should not give away the book to others, so that they will write your book. So the book of life was another concept of me. I shared the concept of challenging yourself. So I asked the delegates to challenge themselves. So that they go out of their comfort zone to the stretching zone to see and to face the fear they have and to realise how do I feel in those situations of stretching zone, because I really think that in the stretching zone you can develop yourself. And by being often in your stretching zone you can make it to be a comfort zone and in your comfort zone you’re able to perform the best. So you can perform with all your potential

8. Question: What was your NaLDS 2011 moment and why?

My NaLDS 2011 moment was on Wednesday when I came back from my training in Leverkusen. I haven’t seen the people for the whole day. On Sunday the conference started and Monday and Tuesday people were still a little bit shy. We had not that much sharing rounds in the plenary. When I came back we had the session of leadership where facis were painting in front of the plenary. People were talking about the external day and their idea about it. And there was a sharing. And people shared so intense ideas, so inspirational ideas. I just arrived. I came to the plenary and I saw those people sharing. I just saw the last 10 minutes, but that was a very magic moment to see those people have so inspirational thoughts. And now they show it finally. And I was very proud. That was a very magical moment to me.

9. Question: Please sum up NaLDS 2011 in one sentence!

Cause you are amazing, just the way you are!

10. Question: Is there anything left you’d like to tell all the people who haven’t been on a NaLDS, yet?

Yes! If you have the chance to come to NaLDS, apply for NaLDS and come! If you don’t have the chance anymore to go to NaLDS, ask people about the concept and maybe they can help you to create your own NaLDS. That you know: “Ok, what is NaLDS? Ok, they think about vision, purposes, missions, values, leadership.” So that you can have your own NaLDS, that you could ask yourself those questions. That would be also nice. Also encourage other people to go to NaLDS. I told you, NaLDS is the best conference, most intense conference in the world. It still is to me!

left to right: Peter (National Committee), Lukas (Organisation Committee President), Ümit (me), Moritz (Agenda Manager)

My best experience hosting a Company Contact Fair (Firmenkontaktgespräch)!

2011-03-26T13:32:00.004+01:00

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
John F. Kennedy

“What is an FKG-OCP? What am I supposed to do? How much time does it take? Who is going to help me? Am I the right person to take on such a big responsibility?”

So many questions, so much to learn, so little knowledge about anything.

(FKG stands for Firmenkontaktgespräch, which means "Company Contact Fair" and is a fair where students can meet companies one-on-one to check out their profile and recruitment possibilities)

Where did I stand?

Spending a year in Ghana, working with street children, I experienced that the world actually is not Alice’s wonderland. Then I started to study business management. How does the FKG fit in with my personality? Life is a rollercoaster. Why does everyone care about the curriculum vitae but no one about learning for life?!

Application for AIESEC. One of the best things I could have ever done. People ready to learn more than just the theory. People ready to be the change they see in the world. Ready for leadership?

Where do I stand?

Project approach:

In May, I fell in love with a project. From theory to practical work. In September, I got pregnant with the project. One child on the way – six people involved. The greatest FKG-baby of Cologne ever!

Hopes:

Fulfilling the LC’s expectations. Assisting my team developing itself. Learning.

Ask for strength and you will be given difficulties.

Ask for wisdom and you will be given problems.

Ask for courage and you will be given responsibility.

Ask for decisions and you will be given chances to decide.

Hitting the road:

Theodore Roosevelt said: “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” So I started delegating: Raising-officer, Finance-officer, Location & Catering-officer, Booklet-officer, Marketing-officer, Application-management-officer, Day-Organizing-Committee-officer. I tried to give them as much freedom as possible, but as little freedom as every single one needed. I wanted my team to feel responsible for their tasks but also accept possible mistakes and to learn from them. AND THEY DID IT GREAT!

Where do we stand?

Our equation:

FAIRNESS = companies + students + NGOs + workshops + face-to-face interviews + networking + dinner.

Our goals:

20 companies – we got 23!

One outstanding location – we got the LANXESS-Arena, professional catering included!

3 NGOs to broaden the target group – we got Ashoka from Munich, Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik and the United Nations RIC from Bonn!

A unique marketing-strategy – we came up with individual logo for coffee cups, a fantastic facebook site, a homepage with professional pictures and a great booklet.

Application of 200 students.

Not only to fulfill but to go beyond everybody’s expectations.

In short: to have a memorable FKG-Day: 24th May 2011!!!

And: of course we had problems. Of course I struggled. Exams, FKG, private life? Having the right amount of concentration in the right moment. How to motivate others? How to motivate myself? But there were so many people helping me. We used the whole LC for whatever we needed. You can call it “Schnittstellenarbeit” (well working team interfaces). We could not have done it without the many people willing to work together for a great project. To be creative. To spend their free time. To acknowledge others. To always lend an open ear.

My team! Awesome individuals!

And then you see the results. What a feeling…

Learning how to get people to work on a project.

Learning how to fan people’s fire for something.

Learning how to lead a team, experience happiness in seeing its development.

Learning how to laugh about your mistakes.

Where will we stand?

It will be the greatest FirmenKontaktGespräch ever! It is not over yet, but I am looking forward to all the tasks and experiences that are coming until one day I will find the time to reflect this 9 months-pregnancy, the giving birth to “the baby” and to harvest the fruits of our labour.

Where will you stand?

Finish the theory, start the practical work: Use the Maslow-Marketing-Pyramid to express your ideas. Use the SWOT-Analysis to identify the situation of your team. Use your creative skills to write articles. Use your strengths to convince companies and students. Stop thinking, start doing!

I can just recommend participating in the Organizing Committee of a FKG-project. Make the mistakes, you have to do! Now you have the chance. Nobody will blame you for it as long as you learn from them. Dare it and be ready for your leadership experience!

And remember John F. Kennedy’s words: “Leadership and Learning are indispensible to each other.”

Hannah Prasse

OCP FKG Cologne 2011

My Leadership Experience - organizing the National Leadership Seminar!

2011-02-08T14:38:00.003+01:00

When I first got asked about being the Organisation Committee President (OCP) for the National Leadership Seminar (NaLDS) 2010, I wasn´t sure whether I should do it or not. I wasn´t sure if I would be able to take over such a big responsibility like this. NaLDS is the biggest national conference in Germany with delegates from all over the world. This year they came from Estonia, Czech Republic, Serbia and even Canada and China. The main conference vision of NaLDS is to empower young people and awaken their leadership potential, so that they will have an active and positive impact on society. During the 7-day conference the participants explore their values, passion and talents as well as their personal understanding of leadership and the connection of these elements to their lives and their environment. During NaLDS every day stands for one part of the delegate´s „evolution“. It is divided into 5 parts: „Me and the Group“, „Leadership“, „Exploring Myself“, „My Vision“ and „Empowerment & Action“.

The entire Organising Committee

The Organisation Committee's (OC) main responsibilities were to keep the flow of the conference going as smoothly as possible. So among other things my team and I prepared the plenaries, tried to fulfill all of the delegate´s and facilitators´ / trainers' wishes ;) and arranged the evening activities (parties and chill-outs).
We started with the preparations 7 months in advance. I did not have any experience in leading a team but I was lucky enough to have been in an OC for a regional conference before and also had a great team with different people, some of them already had a lot of leadership- and team-experience others just a little. It was great to see especially the more inexperienced members of my team develop their time- and project-management. All of them also gained more self-confidence by seeing a great project coming to live. I was always able to see everybody´s hard work that they put into this conference and after already a short amount of time I could be sure that I can count on each single one of them to fulfill their given tasks 100%. That made working with them really easy and I´m really grateful for every single one of my team members.

My Core Team

What made me proud the most was that two members of my team decided to try out a leadership role themselves afterwards. It is a great feeling to see also their leadership potential grow.
Another great experience was to work in the core team of the conference. The core team consisted of the chair, the agenda-manager, the conference-manager and me. Even though I only knew Peter before (he was the conference-manager and my main contact person before the conference), it was really easy to connect with the other two fast. So I was actually part of two teams – the OC and the core team and I felt comfortable in both of them.

Conference Manager, Me, Agenda Manager & Chair

What was also a very great experience was the possibility to get to know so many different people in such a short time. Before NaLDS I could not imagine that I could make new friends in just 10 days. But I did. So at the end it was really hard to say good-bye. But who knows – maybe my next trip will be to Australia to visit our chair
Overall I would say that I never regret to choose to become OCP for NaLDS and I would do it again anytime! So never be afraid of the tasks that are in front of you – even if they seem too big.

“If your dreams aren´t scaring you, they aren´t big enough!”

The Delegates

My experience as a chair of a German National AIESEC Conference

2010-11-16T11:05:00.001+01:00

In October, I was lucky enough to be the chair of National Kickoff Konferenz (NKK2) for AIESEC Germany. After a number of chairing experiences, I can honestly say that this was the best way to close my AIESEC experience.

Last year I was National Executive Board President (MCP) of AIESEC the Netherlands. I can say that this experience was without a doubt the most formative year of my life. In my term, you are rushed through an experience that you never could have imagined when you apply. In August this year, I finished my term. In the weeks after my term ended, I continued to think about AIESEC, about what I had done and the experience that I had gained. At the same time, I was getting used to the student life again.

Me with the National Board of AIESEC in Germany

Being chair of NKK allowed me to return to the atmosphere of AIESEC, after having done some reflection on my own term. I saw the level of preparation of the German Conference Organizing Committee, I saw the passion of all the people involved. I saw the enormous quality of the National Trainers Team and everybody involved. I felt honored to see what AIESEC is doing for so many wonderful people that I met at NKK.

I hope that you guys will continue as I have seen when I was there. And I hope I will have the chance to meet some of you again someday. In the meantime, good luck!

~ Arie Kuiper

(Note of the publisher: If you want to get some more impressions of the conference, also check out the photostream !)

Greetings from International Congress 2010

2010-08-27T10:41:00.003+02:00

Today is the 4^th day of International Congress (IC). This conference has been an incredible and intensive experience so far. Right now I am sitting in the IC plenary with almost 600 delegates from more than 100 countries. This is AIESEC at its best. I would like to share some highlights so far.

After we have collected all your AIESEC 2015 input from our National Kick-Off Conference (NKK) and regional conferences we finally started the AIESEC 2015 creation process. By sharing our most impactful AIESEC stories we identified what makes AIESEC unique and impactful. Today we will continue the AIESEC 2015 process by talking about AIESEC experiences in the future and how we can make them happen. So updates will follow J

Yesterday everybody here attended the Global Youth to Business Forum which took place in the ultra modern venue of the Indian School of Business. This event was about sharing ideas and knowledge between young people and institutions such as corporations and NGOs. The diversity of students from more than 100 nations leads to so much creativity and interesting ideas. I am really happy to be in the consolidation team which will convert these ideas into a book. And the best thing: It will be published in the Wall Street Journal. Very exciting!!!!

Between sessions we have meetings with AIESEC International or other country delegations to share knowledge and build exchange partnerships. Today we will meet China and Russia and many more will follow.

So, stay tuned for our next update and more pictures on facebook and on our Blog.

ICly Greetings from India,

Marvin for the German Delegation

Meet the world in only one day!!

2010-08-24T11:37:00.000+02:00

Hey AIESEC in Germany,

I still cannot believe it, but it is true – the German delegation finally arrived in Hyderabad, India to attend the biggest AIESEC conference ever, the International Congress 2010.

During the last week, some of us already had the opportunity to discover this diverse and breathtaking country –I already heard a lot about getting in touch with this amazing culture, but all my expectations were exceeded already at the first day. Spicy food, tons of impressions, the Taj Mahal, the first Riksha drive – these are just some of the most joyful experiences I made so far.
After one week in Delhi, we finally all met yesterday in the morning to attend the two days pre-meeting of the Western Europe and Northern America region. We already got to know the other delegations and had the fist inspiring talks.
Today, I really learned a lot from Canada about the promotion of our exchange program and got some new ideas for our work in Germany. Tomorrow, the International Congress is officially starting with a big global village. Every country brings typical food and drinks to taste the whole world in only one day. You cannot imagine how much I am looking forward to the upcoming ten days, they will be full of new impressions, learning, motivation, incredible moments, curious and open-minded people and for sure lots of fun.
I hope that I could give you a small insight of how it feels to see the most impactful AIESEC conference in the world just laying before you. We will keep you updated and are hoping that in this way you can also enjoy the International Congress 2010 in India together with us!

Warm regards from Hyderabad,
Britta

NSB Applications

2010-07-27T15:33:00.004+02:00

Hallo AIESEC in Germany!

In AIESEC we talk so much about the incredible opportunities that we are offered each and every minute at AIESEC that we often forget about telling the story of all those people who are actually taking these opportunities and the impact it made on them. And as we assume you read your E-Mails carefully and take a peek at the AIESEC Germany Facebook site you probably already now about the hot opportunity of becoming part of the National Support Body. But here we are not going to talk about all the Job Descriptions and about what you can get from taking up such a position. We are going to talk what it’s like to wake up being a part of TM National Support Team (TM NST), keeping it short and simple.

So let us start with the everyday life at the TM NST. Usually in your LC a normal working day at AIESEC will start by going to your office and turn on the PC to check your mails. Well, this won’t change much except for the fact that your E-mail account will be different. We also have our weekly meetings with the only difference that we enter our conference room through a telephone. Yep, it all goes virtually. And there you go: in a few seconds Berlin, Cologne or somewhere around Germany where Tanja is, Frankfurt, Halle, Karlsruhe and Mannheim are connected faster than any existing ICE. So for about an hour we all together, discussing about the advances we’ve made, the problems we’ve met and the next steps we want to take. And if you think a telephone connection makes it all way too impersonal you should check out our virtual socials ;).

Another thing that will become part of your work in AIESEC will be keeping in touch with the VP TMs around Germany. Be it through E-Mails, chats, virtual classes or life at a regional or a national conference. It is truly amazing seeing the realities of all the different LCs. It really makes you think out of the box because it does not come only to how to apply a strategy in an environment you are so familiar with, but it makes you think how can you adjust and it make it work. It also inspiring to see how creative can be the VPs, to see a promising idea and to help introduce it nationally.

But what makes most of your job at the TM NST is what you make of it. You do have your Job Descriptions, but you have the absolute freedom to implement it the way you find right. So your job is to bring your ideas, your goals to a result, to set your limits and cross them. The TM NST is ambitious. For this year we have set out to increase the Exchange + Leadership Numbers , the Member Ratio on Exchange and the applicants pro Leadership Positions by 100%. So are you ready for a 100% life-changing experience?

http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewfile.do?opern=next&contentid=1013600

For further information, please feel free to contact us!

Yours Sincerely,

Mira and the TM Support Team

300 in 30 Campaign

2010-07-14T20:25:00.006+02:00

Dear Beloved AIESEC in Germany,

Let me give you a short introduction of this SUPER Cool Campaign.
Firstly, it has a really interesting name "300 in 30 Campaign". It's actually means 300 EPs Matched in 30 Days.
Most probably you guessed by now that is a Matching Campaign for OGX. This campaign will give to our EPs the opportunity to find their exchanges in a short period of time and take advantage for the summer time with really cool promotions especially for Germany!

But how to match 300 people in 30 days??
Don't worrie, just watch the following video and you will see how easy it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx-DogqA-UA

hmmm.. still you need some additional info ?
here there are: http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10029981#MyAiesec.net
This are the LC Partnership material which could come in handy during Matching
http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewfile.do?opern=next&contentid=10135544

So guys on this is the Official Wiki of the Campaign which I recommend you to read it
http://www.myaiesec.net/content/viewwiki.do?contentid=10134977

Hugs and Happy Matching,
Gilli

Summer Summit of AIESEC in Germany 2010

2010-06-28T16:14:00.002+02:00

Hey AIESEC in Germany,

Have you maybe wondered why your LCPs have not been in your LC last week? Have you maybe wondered why the whole MC Team had an “Out of Office” E Mail reply? Well, here is the answer to your question: we were all in Berlin for this years’ LCP summer summit, our so called “Sommer Mitgliederversammlung” (SMV).
What is it that you actually do on an SMV? First of all, as our legal status is an “eingetragener Verein”, we have to have meetings for all “regular” members of AIESEC in Germany each year. These “regular” members, as stated in our compendium, are all your LCPs and the MC Team. On an SMV, we take official decisions for AIESEC in Germany together during legislation times. But actually, SMV was so much more than that, and a really special conference for us as your MC Team.

It all started on Thursday with the Opening Plenary, where the first new thing on an SMV became really obvious: SMV is now our Takeover MV. Unlike during the last years, all of a sudden we had two LCP generations on SMV with us, which was absolutely great!

We went through all the different sessions together, like the Board Report during which the LCPs asked us a lot of cool questions about the current state of the association, discussions about the current state based on the data we receive from all the LCs from the quarterly check and further discussions about the future of AIESEC during our 2015 session. We so much enjoyed to take the time with all the LCPs and share thoughts about it, get some new insights about the direction we strive for and to define our ambition.

Based on that, we started with the strategy process on the next day. Setting up a strategy for an AIESEC country with more than 45 entities is not an easy thing to do. But during the discussions the LCPs were more and more into the topic and we really used the time on SMV to design our common direction as AIESEC in Germany together. Where else could have been a better place for it than on this conference with two LCP generations in the house? Questions about new markets we could tap into, our sales activity and efficiency, our inclusiveness in planning processes and many others came up and people found really different but interesting answers to them.

SMV gave us all the chance to work on the future of AIESEC in Germany, to connect, to share thoughts and ideas and to have a great time together in Berlin. So many different people helped us to make this conference so successful, and it is the best feeling to be part of such a great network like AIESEC in Germany. We truly want to thank those groups for it:

The OC from Berlin HUFU, our Chair Phil, our Conference Manager Gesa, our LAA Philipp, our NSB members which were there with us, the Consolidation Teams of AIESEC 2015 and our new Strategy, the Allround Ausschuss and the MC Selection Task Force.

We are proud of the LCP Generation 2010 for still rocking the house and having achieved so much already, and look forward to work with the LCP Generation 2010-11 because you guys showed a lot of ambition and were open-minded about all the new things.

Guys, if we continue the way we started on SMV, imagine where this could lead us during the next year?

From 2010 towards Infinity!

All the best from Bonn,
Tanja

Finally: LC Visits

2010-05-11T19:17:00.000+02:00

Dear AIESEC in Germany,

While writing this I am sitting at my desk and tomorrow is the day which I have been extremely looking forward to for the past weeks. Finally, I will be able to start my LC visits in the dear Fruits Region of AIESEC in Germany. Basically, this means to spend a lot of time in trains travelling through the South-West of Germany which I hardly know so far, sitting in different AIESEC offices, staying at different places. And it also means working together with the local Executive Boards and Team Members of 8 wonderful LCs. Checking their planning, talking about what is currently going on. Which topics are relevant for them? What do they want to reach in their term? Asking myself these questions makes me smile again, and wondering how the time will be like!

Tomorrow at 7am, I will get on the train to Kaiserslautern, directly afterwards I will head to Saarbrücken and from there to Karlsruhe both for the regional Talent Management day on Saturday and for the regional day of the Local Committee Presidents of these 8 LCs on Sunday.

Besides the first two LC visits, these two extra days in Karlsruhe are also special to me. On Saturday, we will be able to work on topics that belong to the functional area which I am responsible for in the MC team, together with Vice Presidents of the Talent Management area and Members of their teams. During my time as Local Committee President in Halle, I loved to ask Members about their opinions to certain topics and finally after being in Bonn and the MC office for the past 3,5 months I will be able to do that again more intensively this weekend. I am curious about different ideas that will come up, about discussion points about the topics. And also, I know that I will meet two members of my great Talent Management Support Team in Karlsruhe: Alex and Mira!

On Sunday, I will meet the group of people again which I was happy to get to know a bit more already throughout the past weeks, of course during our first national conference this year but also while talking to them on the phone or via Skype, or just chatting. Of course they are Cecilia, Chen-Xi, Jo, Johann, Kristin, Simon, Timm and Tom, the Local Committee Presidents of the Fruits Region. Guys, I am looking forward to share thoughts with you about the unique experience which we are all living currently and to spend some time with you.

Now it’s time for some last preparation points. And tomorrow will finally be the day which I am so happy about since weeks…

With many warm greetings from Bonn,

Tanja

The first two weeks

2010-04-29T17:06:00.000+02:00

It is almost two weeks now that my team and I are fully in charge and "alon" in the office - our predecessors have eventually left one week after our last national conference and we have officially taken over as the national executive board of AIESEC in Germany. How does it feel?

For me personally it is strange. Having been part of the old team, now leading the new one, of course the first days felt kind of strange. The last week with both teams here in Bonn had been marked by "Farewell-BBQs" and the "Farewell/Take-Over Party" and then, all of a sudden, you enter the office and the people you worked with for one year are not there anymore, and everything now somehow feels new and like "first time" (it actually is...). The first team meeting, the first round of functional updates, the first round of individual goal setting talks with my team members, ...

Yet I have to say, that sensation of "new" fades quite quickly. So many things are happening and push you into your new role that you do not actually have the time to realize at what moment you have actually started to feel to have arrived in the role (or if I even have yet). There had been the planning days of our National Support Teams, my selection for the Global Steering Team, the "Big Discussion Day" yesterday... All of a sudden you find yourself not thinking anymore about what your role requires you to do, you just do it.

And how is it for my team? I can only assume of course how everyone of the team is feeling, but this bunch of random individuals as which we arrived two months ago here in Bonn has found together by now to an autonomously running maschine that seems to require less and less adjustments every day. And it seems that the amount of insider-jokes we create is progressively increasing... We have our weekly team-dinners, meetings (with the entire team, with just a few of us) every day and chill frequently on our balconies at night (that means: after 22:00... still our working times are somehow not yet in a normal state). To sum it up: Somehow &step by step we have grown together more and more as a team, and I am every day more happy to work together with everyone on this team.

Summing it up - there is nothing explicit I wanted to tell with this blog entry, but just give a glipmse into our daily routine and how it feels for a new MC Team at the beginning of its term. Anyway, I hope you somehow enjoyed reading!

All the best,

Felix

How to fit the world into one room - EuroXpro 2010 Congress in Istanbul

2010-04-27T11:47:00.002+02:00

15th of March, in front of Sabançı University, Istanbul, Turkey: around 50 tables are built up there, each of them having a small piece of paper attached. These pieces say Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Estonia, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Romania, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and many many more country names; many European countries, but all the other continents are present with at least one country either. On the tables you can see flags, pictures, food or other specialties from 52 countries. Around the tables you can see 180 students representing their country, trying food from other booths, getting to know each other, asking questions about other countries, laughing and joking together.

Still 15th of March, now in an auditorium of Sabançı University: the president of this university is welcoming these students, telling them he had been badly informed. He thought he would be talking to young leaders wearing suits and looking very busy. He says he was relieved to see he was wrong.
The people he is talking to are actually members of different AIESEC entities. Most of them are working on a national level in their country, others on a local level, but all of them have one thing in common: yes, they are young leaders, but wearing students’ clothes and looking very happy. They meet in Istanbul in order to attend a one week conference there, where they will be given input for their daily and their long-term strategic work. They will learn about new international developments. About leadership, about how to be strong, fast, smart, savvy in their respective role. And besides all that, they will learn about international friendship.
19th of March, at the conference venue near Istanbul, Turkey: like every morning, our conference chair is calling every country present at the conference. There is only one delegate originally from Tunisia, Aziz, and he has lost his voice after some days of intense talks. The people next to him, coming from Canada, Australia and Morocco, step up on stage with Aziz, who had planned to do a little performance, perform with him and use their voice for “translating” what Aziz is whispering.
21st of March, still at the conference venue, some delegations have already gone due to early flights back home. Those delegates who are still there are sitting on their chairs, sharing addresses, having last talks to those delegates and conference team members who really had an impact on them.
People who had an impact on others… I start thinking about those who had an impact on me on this conference. What is it that made them so special to me? There are trainers who have delivered excellent sessions. Who have shown us topics from different perspective, and have given us input which is relevant to all the present entities, a very difficult task when you have delegates from the founding AIESEC countries, developing their processes since 60 years, and delegates from AIESEC countries that had their first exchanges last year. But also delegates had a huge impact on me. There are the LCPs from Poland, Czech Republic, Russia and Estonia, with whom I had long discussions on what Exchange means to them and how they deliver it which brought me lots of new ideas. Their willingness to help us, to provide us with support based on their experience was overwhelming for me. There is Hege, the only Norwegian delegate, giving me deep insights into what leadership means to her, and making me feel very well understood in every second we’ve been talking to each other, inviting me to Oslo for summer. There is also the German delegation, 10 people who managed to feel as one delegation without sticking together all the time. 10 people who learned a lot, shared a lot, laughed a lot, gathered input on different topics in order to put it all together back in Germany, 10 people who enjoyed a great time, making new friendships within and without the delegation, learning not only about AIESEC but also about other cultures.

Today I had a look at the pictures I took in Istanbul. We are back in Germany for two weeks already, but looking at the pictures I still feel as if it were only two days. I’m still carrying this atmosphere of 52 countries in one room, sharing, learning, discussing, supporting each other inside my head. This conference was my first international one, and I feel very privileged having lived this experience. The functional input was extraordinary, the network we established will help us a lot throughout our work in the next months, the people we met will stay our friends, the fun we had will still make us smile when we’ll think back from time to time.
Especially the moments when we had small group discussions and when the smaller delegations were supported by delegates from other countries in their shouts or dances, have shown me how gifted we all are to be part of an organisation which has the power to bring so many nationalities together in such an exceptional atmosphere of true international friendship.
Irina

LC Coaching Kick-Off

2010-04-20T11:16:00.001+02:00

Dear AIESEC in Germany,

This past weekend I had the great chance to invite our three LC Coaches for a Coaching Kick-Off to Bonn. Our three coaches, who are they? And who do they coach?

Lets start with question number one. Selected as LC Coach for the upcoming term are Jens from Karlsruhe who was LCP there last year, Amor from Koblenz who was part of the TM Support Team last year and Theo from Aachen who was VP TM there last year. Jens is responsible for coaching Frankfurt, Amor is in charge of Giessen and Theo will be the Coach for Saarbrücken.

Together we went through different Agenda points, for example looking at what performance actually means for us, looking on different steps of the coaching year, looking at the special situation of this year with 6 months EB terms and checking how virtual teamwork can be successful. And of course, looking at what the coaches can do to support their LCs in reaching a sustainable performance.

Also, we divided different responsibilities besides coaching amongst Jens, Amor and Theo, for example the selection and education of our planning day chairs.

I was happy to see how many ideas came up about coaching, and I truly hope that we will be able to coach even more LCs the next time. For me, the weekend was another great experience of my MC term so far and a really important one, as I am responsible for LC Development for AIESEC in Germany and coaching plays such a big role in that field.

I wish the coaches and the LCs all the best for their term – guys, you can reach so much if you want to!

Thank you to Amor, Jens and Theo for the cool weekend!

Hugs, Tanja

Meeting of our National Sponsors Group in Frankfurt

2010-03-26T11:46:00.000+01:00

Dear AIESEC in Germany,

During the past two days, I experienced one of the best events of my experience in the National Board so far: We are currently having our annual meeting with the National Sponsors group of AIESEC in Germany, hosted by Ernst&Young in Frankfurt.

Especially since during my every day work, my focus as Vice President Talent Management and Local Committee Development is rather AIESEC internally, this meeting has given me the unique chance to interact more with our external partners and to get a better insight about their cooperation with AIESEC as well as current topics which move them in their companies and in their work. For example, I talked to Mrs. Groemminger from BASF about the consequences of the change in the study system to Bachelor and Master programs.

Our meeting started yesterday with a warm welcome and the presentation of the current state of AIESEC in Germany. It made me happy to see how interested our partners were in the things we daily deal with, as many questions were asked and suggestions were brought up.

After having lunch with many conversations about various topics, Mrs. Palm from Deutsche Bahn and Mr. Breiding from MLP presented their companies to be part of our National Sponsors Group. After already knowing both companies for some time now, we are happy to officially have them as National Partners from now on.

During the afternoon, we went on with talking about “AIESEC behind the curtains” - what makes AIESEC special from our point of view? Who are the people which shape our organization? What does the AIESEC Way mean for us? What kind of goals do we set? Are they ambitious? Have we reached our mid-term vision, which of course is AIESEC 2010? What is next? AIESEC 2015? By the way – what do you guys think about these questions? I am more than curious to hear further opinions about it!

Afterwards, one of our hosting partners, Mr. Laick from Ernst&Young, continued with a great presentation about Web 2.0 and the usage of Social Media. He showed us the importance of it and how it more and more shapes the world we live in. It gave us further insights to the topic and food for thought for future usage of Social Media.

In the evening, everyone was invited to a night tour through the Opel Zoo and a big dinner there. This gave us even more opportunities to share thoughts with our partners. I had a long conversation with Mr. Ortseifen from MLP about our conferences, especially the ones which he already attended. Besides SAM 2009, we talked a lot about NaLDS 2009 and the unique atmosphere which Mr. Ortseifen was able to experience there.

Right now, everyone is busy in workshop groups which are organized by the current and elect Team of the National Board of AIESEC.

I am already looking forward to our National Kick-Off Conference in April, because I know that we will see some of our partners again there as they will host workshops during our partners day. Also, this will give you the chance to talk more to them and ask them your questions. Until then, feel free to ask us more about the meeting in Frankfurt :-) maybe you will find some ideas on how to involve your local partners in a different way as well – who knows?

All the best from sunny Frankfurt,

Tanja

Being a chair

2010-03-23T12:58:00.007+01:00

After two years in AIESEC, after having almost finished two leadership positions as Local Committee President and as Vice President Communications in the national board of AIESEC Germany there was especially one opportunity that I still wanted to grap as active AIESECer: being a chair!

Thanks to Ruslan - my dear counterpart in AIESEC Russia’s national board – who I met during the International Congress in Malaysia, I got the offer to become chair of AIESEC Russia’s regional exchange conference (REC) 2010. All in all, 120 members of Russia’s best performing Local Committees from Moscow and St. Petersburg, 2 days of premeeting with 10 facilitators and 4 days of conference near St. Petersburg were waiting for me.

And as it is so often in AIESEC, you do most of the things the very first time. And so I started gathering input from people who worked with a chair or who have been chair before and I remembered the chairs that I had the pleasure to experience or to work with: there was first of all Mushin who inspired me with his performance and closing speech at the Strategic Autumn Meeting 2008 to apply for AIESEC Germany’s national board. There was then Antonio, the Portuguese guy, being President of AIESEC in Kazakhstan who transformed the National Kick-off Konferenz into a National Kick-Ass Konferenz. There was Lucas, the Columbian guy from AIESEC International who helped me and my team to challenge AIESEC Germany’s mindset and to ask ourselves: why not!?

And there were also the talks with Hana and Eva that have been the chairs of the outstanding regional conferences in the eastern part of Germany – talks that reminded me of what AIESEC is all about and that helped me to get back into my role and to myself.

All these people are change makers. All these chairs are people that inspired hundreds of people to challenge themselves to go further. All these chairs have been role models for hundreds of people. And I got the chance to become such a chair as well…

I am sitting in the train now back to Bonn and one of the best experiences of my life is over. I feel exhausted and satisfied. And even a little more wise and grown up. The last 6 nights I didn’t sleep more than 15 hours and I got a cold as my immune-system is totally down. But the warm feeling of satisfaction calms me down while the sun shines through my closed eyes.

Everything I learned in the last 2 years in AIESEC I wanted to give for this past conference. Somehow as a proof to myself. Remembering me now, sitting on the stage in this venue anywhere near St. Petersburg in the snowy forest, talking about myself, my MC-Team, about the people I met and of whom I learned, looking into the wet eyes of the wonderful people of this conference sitting close around me in the dark plenary, I finally know and deeply believe that we can become the change that we wanna see in the world – despite of all cynism we so often face.

I remember Tariel, who came 3 hours too late to pick me up from the air port because he overslept. But who guided me through whole St. Petersburg in busses, subways and streets. Who cared for my migration card, payed everything as long as I didn’t have Rubels. Who hosted me then at his place and welcomed me together with his 5 international flatmates from Mexiko, Brasil, Finnland, Ukraine and Turkey at home with a Brasilien meal and his last Russian champaign. Thanks Tariel I had one of the most international evenings in my AIESEC time anywhere in the peripherie of St. Pete.

I remember then Nikita who will be the future VP Communications in Moskau. A very smart guy, attentive, ambitious and so reflected and critical with whom I drank a good shot of Vodka and learned that only tourists say: 'Na zdorovye'! When I offered him in the end to become his mentor he had tears in his eyes.

There was Mohamed. We only had some small talks during the conference. He was close to get selected the best delegate. He wanted to see me again so much that he offered me to get my luggage from my hostel and brought it to the airport. He also had tears in his eyes when we said dosvidanje.

There was this moment when I saw my former Vice President Philipp in one of the videos of a Russian local committee, happily greeting all the other LCs in Russia. He always wanted to go to Russia! From one of the facis I heared that he is so motivated and active that he inspired one of the members to come to Germany to help to organize now one of the biggest conferences we have in Karlsruhe called TWIN.

And for sure there was this meeting with all facilitators in the night on Saturday when I was totally exhausted, angry until we all climbed together out of the window on the roof top to enlight candles, holding them in our hands in the night and having a wonderful round of appreciation.

And there is Tanya, the conference manager, resource of energy for the chair, time keeper, bad cop, supporting warm and understanding eyes in the plenary, guide through St. Petersburg, mother of the conference and teammate! Without her I could have never done my job!

For me - AIESEC is nothing then the people! People I learned from, people I will remember, people that became role models for me and that let me grow.

Regarding all the intercultural challenges I faced throughout this conference and regarding the smiling faces, wet eyes, warm words, deep talks and good-byes I got, I can say that I truly believe that we can make a difference. As long as we challenge ourselves and care for the people around us – it’s all that we have!

I thank all the people in AIESEC who prepared me for the role as a chair – especially my MC-Team and all chairs I had the pleasure to work with. I thank all the people who challenged and supported me during the conference, the delegates, the organizational committee and for sure the facilitators and especially Tanya!

I deeply hope to see you again.

Spasibo!

Richard

Evolution 2010 – How it feels to be part of a global planning process with over 100 countries!

2010-02-18T16:17:00.000+01:00

My dearest AIESEC Germany,

Today is day 1 of International Presidents Meeting of Tunisia.

Behind us are already couple of exciting days (premeeting, official opening and a lot of interesting people).

I want you to be part of what is happening here since I consider it as most exciting and important for us as a global organization:

The evolution of 2010.

The answer of “What comes after 2010”? The global planning process has just begun.

The first step is a huge session which is called “Our compass”. We were looking back on the history of AIESEC and what werde the focuses of every decade. Right now we are setting the basis for a future direction. We are now trying to find a common understanding of how we see AIESEC (as you know every country interpretes it quite different, as you might have noticed we have some slight differences in for example doing exchange :)). Therefor we are talking about four pillars that make the organization healthy and sustainable (Finance, Customers, Planning & Governance and our Membership).

AIESEC International has put certain questions to every of these pillars and all 100 people were moving around and answer those with yes or no (and why, of course). To give you an example: Do you think Exchange should be the main source of revenue for AIESEC?

You know guys how impressive it feels like to be part of it and to represent our beautiful AISEC country in here?

After we finished that part, we saw it for the first time…the 2015 logo which created heartbeats and nervousness within me (and inside me this process started, remebering when I entered AIESEC in 2004, how 2010 was introduced and so on…).

Guys, I will keep you updated. For now I leave you with my very first impressions on global planning.

Hugz from Tunisia

Gesa

2010-02-17T11:55:00.004+01:00

February 17, 2010
Alumni Meeting of AIESEC Germany’s National Board Members at McKinsey Frankfurt

On the 6th of March, the annual alumni meeting of AIESEC Germany’s National Board Members will take place at McKinsey in Frankfurt.
Almost 60 years AIESEC in Germany exists. 59 years - thousands of leadership experiences, thousands of Alumni and thousands of intercultural experiences. AIESEC, somehow the diva amongst student-organizations, has always been a miracle to Managers and CEOs of its partners. Thus how can an organization be lead when students only work here voluntary? How can this organization grow? How can it provide continuity while its leadership body changes every year? And how can professional work without elementary governance structures be delivered?
Well, after almost 6 decades quite a few of our former leaders became CEOs and Top-Managers out of AIESEC as well. They lead NGOs or built up their own businesses and they can answer these questions. This year the former national board members meet at McKinsey in Frankfurt the current team 2009/10 and the elect team 2010/11 of this 2500 members’ organization.
One of the highlights will be the annual takeover party (Frankfurt, Jazil, 20h30) with further Alumni and current AIESEC members.

Cheers,

Richard

Feeling AIESEC Germany again

2010-01-04T14:07:00.001+01:00

After a long time in AIESEC I had the feeling to know the organization deeply and through different points of view. It was natural to leave the organization and it is natural to support it after my active time, whenever I can. This year I was chairing the presidents meeting (Winter Mitglieder Versammlung) of AIESEC in Germany together with Philipp Laub and it was a big honor, pleasure and inspiration.

It was an honor, because during my active time I always thought, that the chair is somebody special. I always thought, that it is somebody with the skills to manage such a difficult conference. I considered the chair with well developed and deep thoughts upon the world and AIESEC and I never considered myself a probable chair of this big conference. When Gesa asked me to chair this conference, I could not answer directly and was speechles for a few moments. Luckily nobody could see me in this moment, because I was somehow shocked. I really needed to sleep one night over this decission and to picture myself in this role. Honestly, even when I arrived I was not feeling 100% sure to be ready for chairing this important conference and high epxectations. Luckily my co-chair gave me a lot of security just being there and after a short time the feeling started to change. I got rid of my stereotypes and being myself I was able to cover the role matching my personality.

After more than one year with hardly any contact to AIESEC Germany, it was a pleasure to be back in the organization. It was a pleasure to see that AIESEC in Germany is developing. Due to the entrepreneurial approach of changing the whole leadership body every year, some issues are repeating every year within AIESEC. The same things are repeating within AIESEC and the moment of realizing this, is the time to change. Having this in mind and the thought "again" AIESEC, it was a pleasure to see the organization as a whole developing and moving forward. It was a pleasure to see all candidates holding their speeches in English. Something unbelievable a few years ago. AIESEC Germany was acting quite German and isolated within the network and I see a long term development which is still slow but deep, which makes me very happy. It was a pleasure to see the delegates working concentrated the whole day and even into the late nights, giving their best to take concoius decissions within their leadership role and it was a pleasure to see and feel this passion for giving the best and for changing things to the best possible solution.

It was an inspiration, because I could see the difference in AIESEC and a lot of other organizations / companies. It was an inspiration to see that professionalism is not linked with age and to see members of AIESEC in Germany acting professional. Although people were running for the same position, it was an inspiration to see them not competing and to see support even for people not elected. I was thinking, if German politics would work in the culture AIESEC Germany is holding elections, we would have different leaders in our country facing current issues and not thinking about votes. And last but not least it was an inspiration to see myself in the role of chair, thinking back that a few years ago I was sitting at the other side of the plenary as local committee president. It was an inspiration to see my own development refelcted in this conference and to see the contribution AIESEC gave to this development. I saw myself working with the team processes of the Member Committee, I saw myself handeling logistical details with the Organizing Committee, taking decissions about the conference and I saw the my own change in approaching things. It was an amazing inspiration for myself and it gives me a smile that everybody can such a development within AIESEC.

I wish all members and partners of AIESEC in Germany and worldwide a merry christmas and that each one of you can get similar effects working with AIESEC.

Samir Keck

Shaping the future of AIESEC globally...(how it is to be a part of a global team within AIESEC)

2009-12-02T13:57:00.001+01:00

AIESEC Germany,

right at the moment I am living most of the most fascinating moments in my whole AIESEC time:

I am sitting in the board room of the AIESEC International (AI) Office in Rotterdam.

With me there are 12 people from 11 countries. It is the meeting of the Global Steering Team 09/010.

I arrived to Rotterdam on Sunday and we started working on Monday. The first 1,5 days were basically gaining inputs from the AI team on what is the current state, external trends, fundamental discussions...
Yesterday in the afternoon we started working on Case Studies on a possible future product for AIESEC. This was meant to be the introduction for defining our after 2010 process.
Because that is what we mainly work on.

Next year we are going to reach the year 2010, which means that our midterm vision ends. It also means that we need a new midterm vision as well as goals.
That is what we actually work on and it feels extremely good to be involved in such a huge and enormous important step for our global organization.

Today is scenario pleanning day.
We are divided into three groups and have the entire day to come up with a process on how the definition of our next vision could look like. These proposals will be shown to the presidents of the national committees in February (presidents meeting).

At 2pm we have a meeting with the AI team and the president of Elsa (student organization for law students).

I am so much looking forward to tell you guys more about this incredible time I am having right now here in Rotterdam.

All the best and see you guys soon
Gesa

What bachelor students are able to do besides their studies!

2009-12-01T13:25:00.002+01:00

The regional conference of Berlin, Halle, Jena, Leipzig und Magdeburg gathered 200 delegates from 6 Local committees in Naumburg from 27^th-29^th of November. Current and elected Presidents and Vice-Presidents came together to start their transition. Their members got trained in project- and team management. Intercultural Learning Seminars prepared students to go abroad with AIESEC’s trainee program.

For over 60 years now, AIESEC follows the vision of ‘peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential'. We believe in contributing to this abstract idea through providing students with the rare opportunity of international traineeships and leadership experience. What leadership means in AIESEC was shown during the biggest regional conference in AIESEC Germany.

In the past 6 months I had the pleasure to work with six young students that were elected Presidents of the Local Committees in Berlin (Humbold-University and TU), Halle, Jena, Leipzig and Magdeburg. In their position as President they are responsible for up to 70 members. They have to manage their executive board (up to 7 Vice Presidents) coordinate several projects and interact with external stakeholders as companies, board of advisors, board of sponsors. Moreover they are the interface between the local and national level.

On this conference they brought their elected successors to the takeover workshop. Goal of this kind of workshops is to connect the successors and to provide them with all relevant knowledge about the region they are working in as well as to share relevant knowledge and experience about the position they are elected for.

The last months the current presidents worked for AIESEC in average up to 30 hours besides their studies and their jobs. The workshop, as well as the whole conference was a testimonial of what leadership-experience in AIESEC provides students with. Personally, I realized to which outstanding level the current presidents developed their personalities. By being Local Committee President they became more self reflected, got inner strengths as well as stakeholder focus, got accountable, goal oriented, inclusive and learned to think as an entrepreneur.

The way in which they lead their local committee inspired their successors to apply for this position although they belong to the well discussed bachelor students of these days.

For your engagement and your commitment in AIESEC I would like to say thank you. For the last months of your term I wish you Anna, Johannes, Sven, Ariane, Anja and Christoph as well as for the rest of your executive board the very best.

For your successors Sabine, Jiayi, Thilo, Kevin, Josie and Sarah I wish that they get inspired from your work, and that they learn from your faults as you did yourself and as we do it in AIESEC for over 60 years now!

A special huge ‘Thank you’ goes out to Christin Heuer, who was responsible for the whole conference and who supported this region in an outstanding way in the last months but that’s another story… ;-)

Thanks as well to the great organizational committee of the conference and their president Kristin.

And a very personal ‘Thank you’ to Eva from Slovakia, the chair of this conference and former President of AIESEC in the Czech-Republic for your self-reflected and modest way of teaching.

My best wishes to that Region!!!

Richard

"Do something BIG" and change the world

2009-12-01T11:35:00.000+01:00

Ever since its foundation AIESEC has been a platform to empower young people to strive for its vision of peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential. Some argue it is a far, far away vision and it would be better to wait for changed conditions before striving for it, we are committed to make a difference already today and all around the globe. We strongly believe every little step into the direction of our vision is a step into the right direction and that is why we support the initiative "Do something BIG" by Reckitt Benckiser Germany and Save the Children, because it is something you can do right here and right now!

Reckitt Benckiser is a truly global consumer goods company operating in over 180 countries and therefore pretty aware of world issues. That is why they support Save the Children - the leading independent charity committed to create lasting change for children in need. The "Do something BIG" initiative now calls for students to develop innovative approaches for the charity's work in Angola. Angola is a south-central African country in which many children are still suffering terrible from the aftershocks of an yearlong civil war.

How this initiative works
It's organized as a competition of ideas. These ideas can be turned in by single students as well as student teams. First a two-page concept paper will be reviewed before in a second round the more detailed business plans will be rated. The best teams/students will then be invited to the final round in Berlin. The employees of Reckitt Benckiser have collected an amount of nearly 50.000€ to fund the winning idea, and the winning team will be invited on a unique field-trip to Angola to experience the work of Save the Children.

We are sure that this trip can be a life-changing experience. We are also certain about the impact for all participating students: They can work entrepreneurial and creative on their ideas to make the life of those children in Angola better. Thereby worldviews might get challenged as well as leadership potential get unleashed - both two core principles of the AIESEC way. Therefore we support Reckit Benckiser's initiative and kindly invite our all students to make their contribution.

Our EPs were heading to 60 countries in 2009

2009-11-13T13:32:00.002+01:00

Heyyyy my beloved AIESEC Country!

I just figured out that we matched an EP to the 60^th country this year and wanted to share that with you. What does that mean to me? Well to have trainees in 60 countries in 2009 means to me that we are very diverse and an international organization in the way we tell everybody. So this makes me very very happy. :) Our EPs went to 60 countries out of 110. This is more of the half of countries we can actually offer within our network. And this is amazing! We always talk about cultural diversity. In this numer we can actually see it. Even though a lot of people enter AIESEC and want to go to more typical countries like US, UK or Australia this number shows that most of them are flexible and interested in trying out something new. And this is the best way to go abroad: openminded and curious about something new. :)

And by the way, those are the countries our EPs went to in 2009:

Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botzwana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, CAS, China, Colombia, Cote D’Ivoir, Ecuador, Egypt, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Peru, Phillipines, Poland, Portugal, Ruerto Rico, Quatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Tunesia, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam

Sooo, if you are curious as well go to your Local Committee and apply for going on Xchange! I would love to see 70 countries there! :)

Yours Mareen

What is communications all about?

2009-11-05T22:19:00.005+01:00

Hey guys,

As I have noticed quite a lot of confusion concerning my area in our organization I would “love to give you some light” as snoop dog would say J

So what is communication all about in AIESEC and what's the matter with it in Germany right now? Let me start a little earlier.

You all know the vision of AIESEC: Peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential. It’s really abstract sometimes but it becomes more concrete if we relate our day to day actions to it. We as an organization believe for more than 60 years now that by providing our members with the rare opportunity to combine the experience of leadership and exchange we contribute to peace and fulfillment of humankinds potential. Why? Well ask yourself. Each of you who got to the Leadership- or Exchange-stage in his AIESEC cycle left his comfort-zone and made a life changing experience. An experience that made him grow - personally and professionally. That’s the reason why every student that joines AIESEC has to strive for X (eXchange) or L (Leadership). No one is meant to stay on the Taking Responsibility stage forever. The more eXchange and leadership-experiences we generate as an organization the more impact on society we have. This is why the goal of every AIESEC entity is to grow in X and L.

If this is our goal – what are then our resources we have to manage? Well, there are only two: member and finances. We have to take care that no entity is making a loss in the end of the year. Every investment needs a return on investment. And so we have to balance costs and income.

Towards our members we have to take care that they know their role, their leadership and exchange opportunities, that they get the relevant knowledge to perform, that they know why they do what they do and that they finally develop all the competencies they can gain within AIESEC.

And what is now the role of the communication area in all that?

On a more generic level we can agree on the fact that we only have two main external stakeholders; students and companies. We want students to become members that are striving for exchange and leadership. And we want companies that become partners that are supporting us as TN-taker or sponsor.

The duty of communications is to present AIESEC as clear as possible to it’s stakeholders. The better we do it the more students become member and the more companies become partners.

How are we doing that towards students? By our posters and flyers, by our homepage and our online campaigns, by our classroom presentations and our personal contact we try to convince students everyday from our idea of a combined experience of exchange and leadership. In every recruiting we finally see during our information events how many students not only received this message but also believed in this message. This is why one of the key performance indicators of the communications area is the number of students on the information event.

How are we doing that towards companies? By our homepage, company-brochures, company meetings, projects, networking dinners and annual reports communications supports the resort of External Relations in convincing companies that our members living a combined experience of exchange and leadership gained crucial competencies that most of the students can’t compete with.

What are the challenges we are facing right now? In contrary to a lot of countries in AIESEC, Germany has almost no VP Communications on local level. The consequences of this fact are quite diverse:

1. 1. The duties of the VP Communications are distributed on many areas in the local Executive Board. But mainly and mostly the VP External Relations is not only responsible for sales (of TNs and further products) as he should be but he is also responsible for recruiting, branding, PR and marketing. That mostly leads to confusion and consequently to the fact that he is neither focusing on selling nor on recruiting and marketing. Therefore not only our selling but also our recruiting lacks focus.

22. By having no VP Communications on local level many EBs work on the recruiting themselves. That leads very often to exhausted EBs until the first information evening is over. The VP ER, VP TM (Talent Management) and sometimes even the VP OGX (OutGoing eXchange) is overcharged in this time.

33. 2. One out of our two main markets, the campus, is not tackled as a focus area of our organization. Even if in times of Bologna it is elementary to care for this market to convince even bachelor students that it is worth living the AIESEC Experience of leadership and exchange.

4.4. As long as there is no responsible person on local level, messages from the national VP Communications won’t be heard and conducted in an acceptable way.

3. A Vice President Communications on local level could be a huge discharge for the EB, especially ER, TM and OGX. On synergies between member recruitment, pocket recruitment and out of cycle recruitment we could capitalize on. The student market would be tackled and the brand of AIESEC could be spread amongst students at the campus by a communications team that covers the whole approach to this market. Recruitment would become an ongoing professionalized process that is not preventing an EB and a whole Local Committee from performing for many weeks.

And further, both stakeholders, students and companies, could be provided with relevant information concerning AIESEC on the channels they use; newspapers, magazines and social media. The communication team could care for that as well.

We are just in the beginning of discovering a whole new area in AIESEC in Germany: the communications area. And it’s much more than a few posters and social media. It is about conquering a new market. Our home market: the campus!

The more students we get the more we can select. The more students we select the higher is the chance to get members striving for X and L and the more we will contribute to our vision of peace and fulfillment of humankind’s potential.

Happy Recruiting

;-)

Richard

For further information please feel free to call me in the office or to write me under Richard.lucht@aiesec.de.

How AIESEC in Germany is seen inside the global network

2009-10-08T13:38:00.000+02:00

A Germany team should not be afraid going into a tournament. History shows that we can raise the level of our game when it matters.
Oliver Kahn

To me this quote signifies exactly what AIESEC Germany represents in the global network today. AIESEC Germany is going to raise the level of the game in AIESEC.

First allow me to introduce myself – my name is Aditi Bhat and I am currently Vice President Exchange on AIESEC International (AI for short). I am also familiar with AIESEC Germany because I am the country coach from AI for the country.
I was in the peaceful city of Bonn for a country visit from the 16th – 18th of September and spent these 3 days going over the past, present and mostly future of AIESEC Germany in great detail.

What I would like to dwell on in this post is mostly about structures & efficiency in Germany. Some facts about AIESEC Germany are

There are 49 Local Committees (LCs for short)
There are more than 2400 members (making them the largest member base of all entities in AIESEC)
There is a 7 person Member Committee (MC - "the head of AIESEC in Germany") and a 22 member National Support Team (NST) and various other support bodies.

One of my first impressions was that the reason there are so many LCs because mostly these expansions happened at the time of setting up AIESEC and it came with the understanding that AIESEC needs to be in as many diverse environments as possible to have a greater impact. This is also the reason there is such a large NST which is based regionally – so that they can physically reach out to as many LCs as possible.

But a two glaring questions come to mind immediately:

1. While it was relevant in the past to have so many Local Committees are they still running as efficiently today?

I think that the objective and what AIESEC wants to provide its members was different at the time of setting up those LCs. Hence today our primary goal is to provide as many impactful AIESEC Experiences as possible and also to provide them to as many if not all young people in our market. This is not happening the way it should be as of now. Although there is great potential the efficiency of each LC and hence the impact of each LC is less.
The solution perhaps lies in combining some LCs together to reach out to a bigger market which will bring in more ICX potential as well as more capacity & resources to execute AIESEC. This will also reduce the combined financial losses as the principle of economies of scale will step in. Moreover LCs need to be empowered to look at their own entities as an organization which needs to grow and flourish – so every LC's local executive board needs to be acutely aware that it is their role and responsibility to grow in the number of AIESEC XP’s provided to young German students and maintain a financially sustainable & healthy LC.

2. How can efficiency be improved overall?

One thing that stands out in Germany is the number of national/regional and local conferences & meetings that take place through the year. While this serves the purpose of training & development of members the opportunity cost is significant. A large amount of financial investment is required not to mention time and people.
The other aspect is that AIESEC Germany has a number of complex structures & levels of administrative functioning. From the MC to NST to Internal auditors to LC EB’s etc the country is run by too many structures.
Possible solutions to both conferences & structures could be that both of these facets need to respond only to the need of the country at that time. We addressed this in detail during a discussion on changes in the operational cycle of Germany according to changes in universities with the implementation of the Bologna process. What is important to remember is that some things don’t need to carry on in a country just because they have been happening that way for some time now.

Over the years AIESEC Germany has been a vital player in the global network due to its size and contribution in exchange, finances & entities. But over the last few years this has declined slightly and this year is a great opportunity to bring back the vitality of AIESEC Germany. The country will drive change in the organization instead of just following trends. They were the first ones to hold “Growth Days” in conferences to foster international cooperation. They are essential part of the exchange program because of their market and potential for incoming exchange (ICX), particularly Management Traineeships & Technical Traineeships. They have some excellent strategies in training, large accounts management & using LC input to drive national focuses.

AIESEC Germany impressed me with their dedication, enthusiasm and intelligence. The global network is going to see great things from this country and they are going to be driving change in the association. They are also major contributors to many other countries and will continue to be a force to reckon with. In the year 2009/10 – I hope they will indeed raise the level of the game for AIESEC.

A very proud & privileged country coach
Aditi Bhat

Being delegate at EuroCo 2009!

2009-10-07T22:46:00.000+02:00

As I am writing these sentences I am sitting on a huge cliff with a beautiful small beach below right next to a hotel near Lisbon and I am really enjoying a few minute of silence. My Name is Jens, I am the current Local Committee President of Karlsruhe and right now attending the international conference EuroCo in Portugal. The last days have been incredibly amazing, I have had nice chats with young leaders from all over the world, got tons of input for my AIESEC work and enjoyed some really cool session and of course partys in the evening.

EuroCo is an international conference where all LCPs from Europe gather to discuss, share and evolve their knowledge and understanding of AIESEC. For me, there are two things which really, really impressed and moved me the most on this international conference so far.

I simply love, love to discover and have contact with people from all over the world. For example, when arriving at the airport in Lisbon (still tired from our national conference SAM) we got a warm welcome from four nice Portuguese girls. They took us by car to conference site, which is about one hour away from Lisbon. No problem I thought we go by car and relax a little bit while we are driving. So I went with Darko and Mo from Germany and two of the Portuguese girls to enter the car. When we arrived at the parking lot, we saw a tiny, old little car. And we were five people, with three of us having huge bags. Yehaaa! I think in Germany everyone would have started to complain and some guys would maybe even have taken a cab instead. But we were in Portugal, so what happened next is that we somehow managed to get everyone into the car with Darko, Mo and me on the back, a huge bag on our legs and a bag on the girl sitting in front. One side mirror was broke so we Katha was our “replacement mirror” and leaned outside the window every time we were making a left turn to see if we can go. Sounds like a pretty crazy ride, for me it was the start of Euroco and guess what? We had a really great time in this car and where laughing all the way to the hotel. When we arrived the global village was just starting! I love to see and really experience different cultures and on EuroCo this happens every day to me. It’s such a great feeling to talk, discuss and of course have fun with people from more than 35 different nations and it really extends my horizon.

Another thing that is really cool about EuroCo is the sharing of knowledge with all the other LCPs and to see how AIESEC structures are sometimes totally different in other countries. We have lots of sessions every day for example about how to market AIESEC, LC structures (did you know for example that every LC in the Netherlands has exactly the same number of members and exactly the same structures?) and . A session I personally really enjoyed was about cooperation’s between Local Committees from different countries. We all could make a whole lot of connections. I can now clearly see that there is a huge potential in LC cooperation’s and I think I can help AIESEC Germany grow a lot, especially on the ICX side. For example in Karlsruhe we had big problems finding german speaking trainees to work in our companies here – but on EuroCo I met LCPs from more than 6 Local Committees offering me lots of german speaking trainees who would love to come to Karlruhe. After some days im already filled with thousands of new ideas for my Local Committee at home which is totally cool and makes me really happy.

I will now go back to the hotel, the break is ending and I am really excited about the next session. Aman the president of AIESEC international is here and will deliver a speech, afterwards I hope to talk to him personally and find out more about his perspective on AIESEC Germany!
Best wishes to Germany from me and the rest of the german delegation who is really kickin ass on this great conference!

Jens, Local Committee President AIESEC in Karlsruhe 2009