How to prepare for Congress?!

EESTEC International

Power your future!Electrical Enineering STudents European assoCiation

Mekelweg 42628 CD Delft

The Netherlands

www.eestec.netboard@eestec.net

3Introduction ................................................................................................................4Participant Manual ......................................................................................................6Acronyms ...................................................................................................................7Motivation ...................................................................................................................8RoP and Statutes (with explanation) ............................................................................9Expectations and Obligations ....................................................................................10Structure and Regulations .........................................................................................11EESTEC Structure in general .....................................................................................14GA Signs ..................................................................................................................15FAQ ..........................................................................................................................16

Content

4IntroductionInternational BoardDear EESTEC-ers,

first of all, on behalf of the International Board and LC Munich, I would like to welcome you to the Congress 2013. Congress is the event where most active EESTEC-ers around Europe gather to dis-cuss about current situations within the organization, make decisions that concern the entire EESTEC family, participate in sessions, get new contacts and enjoy EESTEC spirit. It is also the biggest event in EESTEC.

During the year, the International Board has worked hard to make our EESTEC family bigger, better, more recognizable and a better home for all Electrical Engineering and Computer Science students. Of course not always do all activities go as we plan, but this is the big challenge that we are facing. Congress is the place where we present all of above mentioned: Board, Bodies, LCs and work within EESTEC in general. Most importantly, it is a place where we make decisions for future actions and development of EESTEC. You will have a vote to decide about future steps of EESTEC and its repre-sentatives, so use it wisely. Dont forget that beside you, there will be at least 100 more EESTEC-ers, making it a high possibility that you will have the most exciting week in April, the year or maybe even in your life, you never know.We prepared this guide, which will provide you with necessary information and an in-troduction to the Congress. You will be better prepared for all activities that will happen during the Congress. There are descriptions of General Meetings, voting rights, your obligations, elections, sessions and other Congress related things. This is why it is really important to read it carefully.

If you have any additional questions feel free to contact us.See you in Munich!

One behalf of EESTEC International Board 2012/2013Nedim HadzicChairman of EESTEC International 2012/2013chairman@eestec.net

5Dear EESTECers, We started our journey at the beginning of April 2012 in Riga, when we received the honour of being the next Congress Organ-izing Committee. With this step, we have initiated an unimagina-ble development of our LC. EESTEC is no longer an unknown group to our university or to the companies who gladly would like to meet you and the local students on the OpenDay 2013. Many new students are joining our association and with a completely new Board, we set the future basis for a strong, growing LC. The road to Congress is a bumpy road with many hills, curves and dead ends. But over-flowing with EESTEC spirit, nothing has managed to deject us and we appreciate all your support, advices and encouragements. It is the first Congress within eight years to take place in Western Europe and with the high standard set by Riga, Tallinn and all the previous COCs, the expectations of you, our fellows, are very high. With all our capabilities, we are working towards an efficient, fruitful and unforgettable Congress. As a reward from your side, we are expecting high attentiveness, punctuality and impeccable manners. Besides the Congress, we offer you a social program at full length, to show you our cul-ture and our beloved capital of Bavaria, Munich. We warmly welcome you to the EESTEC Congress 2013! Clemens OrendtOn behalf of LC Munich

IntroductionCongress Organizing Commettee

6In this part of the guide, well try to introduce you EESTEC Annual Congress with more details and try to answer the possible questions in your mind before and during your par-ticipations to the Congress. EESTEC Congress is where and why we meet all together for several days and dedicate so much effort, time, endeavour, work and devotion to see and analyze what we have done for EESTEC during last year and to plan and estimate the future of EESTEC.Therefore, highest possible attention, involvement, interest and energy are expected from the participants.

Participant Manual

7Acronyms

AOB - Any other businessBA - Board AssistantsBOM - Board MeetingCOC - Congress Organising CommitteeCP - Contact PersonECM - EESTEC Chairpersons MeetingECM-BOM - Board Meeting before ECMEESTEC - Electrical Engineering Students European AssociationEMT - EESTEC Magazine TeamEU-BOM - EU Grant Board MeetingFRAME - FR Annual MeetingGA - General AssemblyGM - General MeetingGT - Grant TeamGToc - Grant Team Operational ConferenceHoBOM - Hand-over Board MeetingIB - International BureauITT - EESTEC International IT TeamOC - Oversight CommitteeRoP - Rules of ProcedureSuBOM - Summer Board MeetingT4T - Training for TrainersTR - TrainingTrT - EESTEC Training TeamVC-EA - Vice Chairman for External AffairsVC-IA - Vice Chairman for Internal AffairsVC-PA - Vice Chairman for Publications and AdministrationWS - Working SessionYBT - EESTEC Yearbook Team

8Motivation

Almost in each EESTEC Congress, more than half of the participant of the Congress are so-called Congress virgins, and some of the participants are not experienced enough and/or have not been involved on the matters directly related with EESTEC International. There are many documents available on website to be accessed like EESTEC Statutes, RoP, Strategic Plan, EESTEC Guides and Advisory Papers, Monthly Reports. Neverthe-less, it is a rare occasion that congress participants are familiar to them before starting of the GMs (Read Acronyms), so we will try to give brief information about these docu-ments in this and later parts of the Congress Guide.Furthermore, in this Guide, you can find almost all the necessary information you will need during the GMs and WSs like information on activities and reports on the international level during the last one year of EESTEC, situation of our committees, development of EESTEC, plans and recommendations for the next year of EESTEC, special awards, etc.

9RoP and Statutes (with explanation)

Statutes are the highest regulatory act of our association. It is concisely written in order not to be too specific. Statutes are not so strict, because they are hard to change and therefore inflexible.Statute defines the following:

NameandSeat, aim, associationandfinancialyearmembershipanditstermination, Boardanditstasks, CongressandGeneralAssembly, bodiesoftheassociation, howtochangethestatutes, dissolutionoftheassociation, RulesofProcedureexistenceandchange, thefinalclause(thatstateswhattodoifsomethingisnotdefined).Rules of Procedure is the document of the lower priority regulations of EESTEC; they are changed in an easier way and have to be in accordance with the Statute. Rules ofProcedure define the following:Membership:HowtobecomeamemberofEESTECasacommittee.Thispart defines all the provisions that one group has to achieve in order to become a member, and stages in the process.StructureofanLC:EveryLChastohavemembersthatfulfilcertainduties.Here,we have some minimum that EESTEC International is concerned with.TheBoard:ThispartdefinestheelectionandBoardwork.Itisveryimportantsinceit gives provisions for task divisions and many other important things that make Boards job easier in the beginning.MoneyHandling:Descriptionsoftheseaccountsandtherulesmustberespected when governing EESTEC finances.BodiesoftheAssociation:ApartfromtheBoard,wehaveanumberofother institutions that helps the Board by taking care of certain issues.You can find Statues and RoP on official website eestec.net.

10

The Congress participants consist of: GA delegates, Observer delegates, Board Interna-tional, Representatives from international bodies of EESTEC, guests from other organi-sations and partners, session facilitators and trainers and members from COC.The duties of all participants are as the following:ToreadtheCongressGuidebeforeCongressstartsandfamiliarisethemselveswiththe Congress manualToattendeveryeventthatCOCplanned,especiallyworkingpartoftheCongressToshowmaximumcareaboutandrespecttothescheduleandtimemanagementof the Congress, as each irresponsible delay will affect all participants of the CongressToreaddescriptionsaboutworkingandtrainingsessionsToreadtheexpectationsforOpenDayandfulfilthemNottomissanyofthesessionswithoutastrongreasonandyouneedtoinformInter national Board for thisAslongasyourespecttoothers,itisexpectedandencouragedtoparticipateinthe discussions as much as possibleTobefullofEESTECSpiritallthetime!

Expectations and Obligations

11

Structure and Regulations

In general, Congress will consist of 3 kinds of sessions: Training sessions, Working Ses-sions and General Meetings.

Training Sessions are designed to contribute to the soft skills of the Congress partici-pants. Especially for new members, it is advised more to attend the training sessions than working sessions. The topics selected are in accord with the needs of LCs and individual EESTEC members, however, you are advised to pick the one that suits your personal and LC needs most. The trainers are the members of EESTEC Training Team; the official EESTEC trainers, with the background and experiences in the related topics. The outputs of the training session are planned to be used for the further activities of EESTEC in the future.

Working Sessions discuss certain international activities to have feedback from the LCs and to plan future development of these activities. Experienced Congress partici-pants are advised to take part in these sessions in order to have suitable inputs from the participants. The facilitators of the sessions are EESTEC international Board, body members and Board assistants that have been involved in the related EESTEC fields in a very high level. The results of the sessions will be used for the further development of EESTEC for the upcoming year. At the end of each working session, concrete results are expected to be reached. In case of any need for GA vote, GA proposal forms will be filled and presented to the GA Chairman to be discussed during the GM4.

General Meetings are the most important part of the Congress and the most formal ones. Big part of these is governed by the strict rules written in Statutes and RoP. During the general meetings, well have the reports of international Board and bodies, exclusion and promotion of the committees, candidatures and elections of the applicants for the international Board and bodies of EESTEC, and the proposals for the RoP changes as well as other issues to be voted by the GA. Meanwhile, well have many important dis-cussions and work related to these topics during GM to analyse the development and past of and plan the future of EESTEC better.

12

GMs have regulations of:Order: At the beginning of the first GM, it is ob-ligatory to choose a GA Chairman, GA Secretary and two scrutinizers. The bodies can be changed any time so if somebody has an objection, s/he can suggest the election of an-other person, but it is a rare occasion.

GA Chairman: Suggested by COC and then elected by the GA. S/he should be a per-son of high integrity, experience and familiar with the Statutes and RoP. His task is to give rights to speak to other participants and to maintain order on the sessions, as well as any other technical issues.

Secretary is responsible for taking minutes of every GM. The minutes are a record of everything said during GMs. Minutes are public and official document used later for many purposes. The secretary is elected the same way as GA Chairman.

Scrutinizers: Two people elected by the GA to take care that Statutes and RoP are respected and object if somebody is violating it. Particularly, their task is to manage the voting procedure.

AOB is a part of GM where all the matter that were not planned but came up during the GM will be discussed. This can be some procedural stuff or it can be the time planned for all important questions and suggestions that could not be planned in advance.

Voting procedures should be carefully read. Important principles for voting are:

One LC one vote The members of EESTEC are not individual people, but LCs. There-fore, every LC is counted as an entity that has a right to give one vote, regardless of whether it has 3 or 300 members. It is advised that all the Congress participants from an LC will be included in the decision making process when reaching the outcome.

Simple majority is that which receives the most votes.

Absolute majority is obtained when the favourable votes exceed the half of the votes minus empty and invalid votes but the blank votes are not more than a half of the total votes. In the latter case, an absolute majority is not obtained.

Two-thirds majority is obtained when the favourable votes are two-thirds or more of the number of all votes minus empty and invalid votes, but the blank votes are not more

13

than a one third of the total votes. In the latter case, a 2/3 majority is not obtained.

The procedure goes like this:The Chairman of the GM announces the proposal in a clear

wayThe GM-C says : Who is FOR the proposal? and then delegates voting for

put up their voting cards. The scrutinizers count the votes.The GM-C says : Who is AGAINST the proposal? and then delegates voting for put up their voting cards. The scrutinizers count the votes.The GM-C says : Who is ABSTAINED the proposal? and then delegates voting AB-STAINED put up their voting cards. The scrutinizers count the votes.

The scrutinizers then count the votes and give the GM Coordinator the result in the writ-ten form he reads out loud the numbers. The GM-C than concludes that needed type of majority is obtained or not obtained.

GMs have a structure as the following:In the beginning, GM Chair opens the GM and then he determines the attendance on a meeting. This is done by reading the LCs names while the delegates declare that they are present.

In order for GA to make decisions, at least 50% of the LCs have to have representa-tives on the GM. If this is not reached, the GM is postponed. It is very important that LC delegates do not leave the room during the session leaving no representatives of an LC inside. In that case, the attendance check has to be done again!

GM Chair reads the proposed agenda. The delegates can after discuss if the agenda is right and can propose the change if they feel it is needed. The agenda is then accepted by vote. Here we use simple majority to accept the agenda.After the initial part of every GM, the agenda is discussed. In the end, the GA Chairman closes the GM and announces the next one. Later, we will indicate which type of voting will be used in which case.On the Congress, the General Assembly will have 4 General Meetings.Pay attention that GA is a body of EESTEC, while GM is a session of that particular body.

14

EESTEC Structure in general

15

GA Signs

16

FAQ

-Who is obliged to attend GA/GM?Representatives of Local Committees. - Who can vote?Only Local Committee (LC) representatives. Every LC has only one vote.

- What is required from Observers and JLCs?Same as every other Congress participant. Besides that every JLC and Observer needs to prepare a presentation where their progress and activities will be presented. Only dif-ference is that Observers and JLs have no right for voting.

- Can anyone apply for the International Board and Bodies?All members of LCs have right to apply for International Board and Bodies.

- How to apply?The procedure is sent to all LCs as well as Congress participant list. In case for additional questions you can send mail to board[at]eestec[dot]net.

- What do I have to bring with me to the Congress?Lot of EESTEC Spirit! :) Besides that, as written in a call you need to bring the following:

InformationalmaterialsofyourUniversity-Faculty(thisismostimportant) InformationalmaterialsofyourLC(alsoveryimportant) PromomaterialsofyourLCactivities(posters,flyers,bookmarks...) LCflag(onlyifyouhaveone,dontneedtomakeifyoudonthave) Preparenformational(atleast1page)documentsorpresentation/slideswhich includes: YourrecruitmentStrategy(howyougetnewmemberseveryyear) WhatmakesyourLCsuccessful?(yoursuccessfulprojects,activities...) Howyoukeepmotivationsofyourmembers?(motivationstrategies,tipsand tricks)

17

FAQ

-Why do I need all things mentioned above?You will need your promotional materials for OpenDay. OpenDay is a one day fair during the Congress for connecting students, companies and universities. More information about OpenDay and companies that will be there you can find on openday.eestec.net

- Do I need to bring my computer along?No, it is not required. Of course if you want you can bring with you.

- Do I need to bring anything to the GA/GM?You need to bring this guide if you are not sure how are some procedures going. Besides that you should bring Congress Guide. Before all that it is important to read this guide and also get familiar with the RoP and Statutes of EESTEC.

- Is there a special dress code for GA/GM and other formal events during the Congress?Official code for GMs is smart clothes. For the OpenDay and Opening ceremony, you should wear formal, business smart clothes.

- Can other participants, apart from LC representatives, attend GA/GM?Yes they can as long as they are EESTEC members.

- Whats the difference between GA and GM?LC representatives form/make GA and GM is meeting that has GA.

18

Notes

EESTEC International

Power your future!Electrical Enineering STudents European assoCiation

Mekelweg 42628 CD DelftThe Netherlands

www.eestec.netboard@eestec.net