EuroCo 2015 international conference powered by AIESEC kicked of on Thursday, October 15 in Bucharest, rejoining 250 young persons coming from four continents: Europe, North America, Asia and Africa, presidents and vice-presidents of AIESEC bodies all over the world. The major event will last until October 20, tabling far-reaching events.
We asked Stephan Luecke, Global Vice President, Partnership Development , AIESEC International what are the conference’s main goals and what are the expectations of the youth (AIESEC members) in their attempt to build a professional career.
“AIESEC strives to provide over 60.000 youth leadership opportunities globally until the end of June 2016. EuroCo brings together around 50 countries and territories where AIESEC operates. Therefore, the conference aims to create strategies and initiatives in order to bring positive impact to each of the societies through our leadership development programs,” Stephan Luecke, Global Vice President, Partnership Development , AIESEC International, told Romania Journal.
We also wanted to know how does AIESEC meet these young leaders’ demands, only by providing them advice within this kind of conferences or it also provides them with a sort of long term concrete assistance.
“Most educational curricula do not support crucial developments for young people such as being self-aware, constantly challenge themselves to be more solution oriented, being open minded and tolerant through a global mindset or being able to work in teams by empowering others. At AIESEC, we focus on developing all these four leadership qualities“, Stephan Luecke pointed out.
The first event was Youth Speak Forum on October 15 where young leaders worldwide attended workshops and debates with partners of AIESEC Romania and International on topics of entrepreneurship, education, sustainability and diversity.
The workshops are designed following the patterns used at AIESEC International Congress, attended by 800 young volunteers from over 120 countries.
The young leaders embarked on debating these topics with some AIESEC partner companies such as Pegas Bike, Impact Hub Bucharest, PwC Romania. AIESEC Romania’s alumnus Stefan Palarie, founding member of the Values School, BitDefender founder Florin Talpes and the special guest Raed Arafat, founder of Romanian SMURD emergency rescue service, acting secretary of State within the Interior Ministry, Daniel Matei, marketing manager of Impact Hub or Andrei Botescu and Alexandru Manda, the founders of Pegas Bike, delivered energizing speeches in the conference’s opening.
Impact Hub’s Daniel Matei advised the young leaders to use personal connections and to make the most of them when targeting a new initiative, but not only by taking advantages of these connections, but mostly by bringing value to them. You have to ask youself not what you can take from these people, but what you give them, Daniel Matei said.
Pegas Ateliere founders Andrei Botescu and Alexandru Manda revealed a success business story based on reviving an old Romanian brand with less money (at least for the beginning) but mostly with a high dose of creativity and….lunacy. They sold bikes on Facebook in the first place, expanded on You Tube, made phone apps and now their Pegas promotion is awarded for the best online campaigns. The founders also confessed that no high budgets are needed to build or rebuild a strong brand, but it’s your passion, guts and personal relations network that could make the difference.
Another speaker, Francesca Apostolache, PwC partner presented a survey on business family impact in Romania resulting that 93 percent of Romanians consider that decision making in a family business is more streamlined and faster than in a corporation.
Inspired by these debates and advice, the AIESEC young leaders got in touch with the representatives of major companies such as EY, Vodafone, ING, PwC Romania and P&G. Following these workshops, the attendees will create projects based on the debated topics and present them to the companies.
Also on October 15, the public was invited to attend another important event at Promenada Mall, starting 8 p.m. The Multicultural Fair is an ideal takeoff for the young participants to present traditional moments from their countries of origin.
The guests are offered a Romanian-style evening, unveiling them the Romanian traditions, with a folk dance ensemble performing.
AIESEC is a global platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential. We are a non-political, independent, not-for-profit organisation run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. Its members are interested in world issues, leadership and management.