Three Years After
Global Village 2003 / Reflections
Brussels. 30 August 2006. Three years after. It’s not raining. Not at all. Oh God, how much we were afraid of raining on that Saturday afternoon and the night before. Eighty something brand new stands were installed at Nikola Pasic Square. We got them for free, as a part of a donation, with an important remark that they are not waterproof and that we shall pay every single cent in case of rain damage them. It was late Friday night, about 2am, we were hanging around the sign directing to different regions of AIESEC network when we felt first rain showers on our faces. At least twenty people were immediately alarmed and in less then 5 minutes we were all there - rearranging all 80+ stands and covering them with plastic (nylon), blankets and sheets – everything that we had prepared as “just in case” equipment and everything we had had in our bedrooms at that time. What are we going to use as a cover that night was not a question… On that point of time the stands and their protection were the most important thing in the world. And guess what? There was no more rain that night – just a few rain drops and that was it :)
…and the next day – it started! The most diverse event in the history of Serbia and Montenegro and in the history of exYugoslavia for sure – Global Village! From the day I found out what International Congress is in AIESEC world, and afterwards when I joined the Congress Committee as VP Finance, to the very last day before it, I was dreaming about it, imagining 500 delegates from 85+ countries in the heart of Belgrade, and thousands of people enjoying the event. In the end, it was way better then the dream – estimates say that some 20.000 – 30.000 people visited and took part in Global Village. It was amazing seeing random people dancing AIESEC dances from Botswana or any other country of the world. City of Belgrade was centre of the world in that moment and in hours afterwards.
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After the Global Village, the delegates and some other people moved to Sava Center, where the Official Opening of the conference took place. The opening itself with music and presentations, and with the majority of Congress Committee standing on the stage in front of 1500+ people standing and applauding, was one of the most remarkable pictures in my life. Sometimes when I’m sad or nervous, I just close my eyes and in a moment I can recall the picture, the sound, the whole atmosphere, and even the feeling is there for a while. It gives me energy; it brings my smile back every time!
The picture of ten or eleven buses leaving the square in front of Sava Centre with a police escort in front and in the back of the line, heading for Kopaonik Mountain, marked the end of the first day of the biggest AIESEC conference during the year – the most international and diverse one, the most challenging, the most inspiring:
…at the 50th anniversary of the AIESEC in Yugoslavia! What could possibly be a better gift apart from this one? IC 2003 - The Experience of Ultimate Challenge! Why? Among others:
Assassination of Prime Minister, Mr. Zoran Djindjic, and To be or not to be decision: - The main question in the meeting organized right after the assassination and funeral was: “Are we still going to stay on the same course and move on with organizing the conference or not?” It was not clear at that point of time would it be possible at all? We decided to give our best, totally committing to the one single thing – making the IC 2003 happen in country of Serbia and Montenegro! And it happened! How? Vision followed by hard team work was the solution in place!
Fundraising Challenge - Weak and developing Serbian Economy represented quite challenging external environment, especially for selling non-profitable products like International Congress 2003 was. On one hand, as the conference of big and recognized importance for Serbia’s opening up to the world, it was easy to get support both from governmental and non-governmental organizations, but on the other hand, country was in huge deficit in terms of money not just for investments but also for surviving I would say, and it was almost impossible to raise some money whether as a donation or a sponsorship. After long negotiations we finally made it with quite nice list of partners.
For the end, something that Beli (Congress Committee President) wrote right after the conference:
Not all of the things that we had planned have been achieved and some were not planned very detailed which caused that in certain areas Congress Committee have failed to bring all of the activities to the excellent level. However, considering the facts and the objective reason I feel that this International Congress 2003 has brought significant impact to the three focus areas we were aiming to:
> Delegates from 83 countries who were able to come here, learn and develop themselves;
> Citizens of Serbia and Montenegro, especially Belgrade, who had a chance to interact with delegates during the Global Village. This even had the strongest impact on the youth since some of them have never had chance to travel abroad and meet foreign cultures;
> Members of AIESEC Serbia and Montenegro who have been actively participating in the organizing of the congress and had opportunity to gain knowledge about project management and practically test their learning.
Long live my brother!
Thousands of pictures keep coming to my mind in every single second. I feel like I could write a book if I capture and describe all of them. Maybe some day… At this moment I will stop writing and enjoy my reflections of IC2003…
Happy Anniversary!
http://www.ic2003.org/ - more info
Brussels. 30 August 2006. Three years after. It’s not raining. Not at all. Oh God, how much we were afraid of raining on that Saturday afternoon and the night before. Eighty something brand new stands were installed at Nikola Pasic Square. We got them for free, as a part of a donation, with an important remark that they are not waterproof and that we shall pay every single cent in case of rain damage them. It was late Friday night, about 2am, we were hanging around the sign directing to different regions of AIESEC network when we felt first rain showers on our faces. At least twenty people were immediately alarmed and in less then 5 minutes we were all there - rearranging all 80+ stands and covering them with plastic (nylon), blankets and sheets – everything that we had prepared as “just in case” equipment and everything we had had in our bedrooms at that time. What are we going to use as a cover that night was not a question… On that point of time the stands and their protection were the most important thing in the world. And guess what? There was no more rain that night – just a few rain drops and that was it :)
…and the next day – it started! The most diverse event in the history of Serbia and Montenegro and in the history of exYugoslavia for sure – Global Village! From the day I found out what International Congress is in AIESEC world, and afterwards when I joined the Congress Committee as VP Finance, to the very last day before it, I was dreaming about it, imagining 500 delegates from 85+ countries in the heart of Belgrade, and thousands of people enjoying the event. In the end, it was way better then the dream – estimates say that some 20.000 – 30.000 people visited and took part in Global Village. It was amazing seeing random people dancing AIESEC dances from Botswana or any other country of the world. City of Belgrade was centre of the world in that moment and in hours afterwards.
After the Global Village, the delegates and some other people moved to Sava Center, where the Official Opening of the conference took place. The opening itself with music and presentations, and with the majority of Congress Committee standing on the stage in front of 1500+ people standing and applauding, was one of the most remarkable pictures in my life. Sometimes when I’m sad or nervous, I just close my eyes and in a moment I can recall the picture, the sound, the whole atmosphere, and even the feeling is there for a while. It gives me energy; it brings my smile back every time!
The picture of ten or eleven buses leaving the square in front of Sava Centre with a police escort in front and in the back of the line, heading for Kopaonik Mountain, marked the end of the first day of the biggest AIESEC conference during the year – the most international and diverse one, the most challenging, the most inspiring:
…at the 50th anniversary of the AIESEC in Yugoslavia! What could possibly be a better gift apart from this one? IC 2003 - The Experience of Ultimate Challenge! Why? Among others:
Assassination of Prime Minister, Mr. Zoran Djindjic, and To be or not to be decision: - The main question in the meeting organized right after the assassination and funeral was: “Are we still going to stay on the same course and move on with organizing the conference or not?” It was not clear at that point of time would it be possible at all? We decided to give our best, totally committing to the one single thing – making the IC 2003 happen in country of Serbia and Montenegro! And it happened! How? Vision followed by hard team work was the solution in place!
Fundraising Challenge - Weak and developing Serbian Economy represented quite challenging external environment, especially for selling non-profitable products like International Congress 2003 was. On one hand, as the conference of big and recognized importance for Serbia’s opening up to the world, it was easy to get support both from governmental and non-governmental organizations, but on the other hand, country was in huge deficit in terms of money not just for investments but also for surviving I would say, and it was almost impossible to raise some money whether as a donation or a sponsorship. After long negotiations we finally made it with quite nice list of partners.
For the end, something that Beli (Congress Committee President) wrote right after the conference:
Not all of the things that we had planned have been achieved and some were not planned very detailed which caused that in certain areas Congress Committee have failed to bring all of the activities to the excellent level. However, considering the facts and the objective reason I feel that this International Congress 2003 has brought significant impact to the three focus areas we were aiming to:
> Delegates from 83 countries who were able to come here, learn and develop themselves;
> Citizens of Serbia and Montenegro, especially Belgrade, who had a chance to interact with delegates during the Global Village. This even had the strongest impact on the youth since some of them have never had chance to travel abroad and meet foreign cultures;
> Members of AIESEC Serbia and Montenegro who have been actively participating in the organizing of the congress and had opportunity to gain knowledge about project management and practically test their learning.
Long live my brother!
Thousands of pictures keep coming to my mind in every single second. I feel like I could write a book if I capture and describe all of them. Maybe some day… At this moment I will stop writing and enjoy my reflections of IC2003…
Happy Anniversary!
http://www.ic2003.org/ - more info
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