Alumni Meeting 2019 #1: Update on plannings

“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds."

Luke 2, 15-18

Dear reader,

We hope this finds you well.

You receive this e-mail because you expressed you interest in taking part in the EYCE Alumni Meeting 2019. As announced earlier, the Alumni Meeting will to take place on 19-20 October 2019 in Berlin, Germany, alongside the EYCE General Meeting and 50th anniversary celebration.

In the following, we want to introduce ourselves, give you an overview of the programme as it stands today and provide you with some information on logistics.

I. Preparation team

Last week a group of people met over skype to get the preparations for this event started. Currently involved are: Hannah Weber, current ExCo member; Lisa Schneider, ExCo 2013-2017; Sini Tyvi, ExCo 2011-2017; Catharina Covolo, ExCo 2009-2013; Felix Beck, office volunteer 2009/2010 and IT specialist since 2009; and Dirk Thesenvitz, ExCo 1997-2003 and National Correspondent since 2005. Also former General Secretary Giselher Hickel is supporting the preparations. This is rather random group of volunteers who found themselves.

Everyone else is kindly invited to get involved or contribute ideas etc. At the latest in summer 2019, there will be plenty of tasks to distribute and we hope for your support. In any event we ask you to support the preparations by inviting at least one friend from your time in EYCE. We have printed "save the date" postcards that you might have seen already. If you wish to receive more postcards for dissemination, please contact us.

Information about the Alumni Meeting can also be found on the EYCE Website and if you are on facebook, join the event here.

For any kind of matter, you can reach the preparation team via the following email address: alumni@eyce.org

But now let’s get to the information you are eagerly waiting for:

II. Preliminary programme

As of today, the draft preliminary programme is as follows:

Friday, 18 October 2019

• Those who arrive during the first half of the day are kindly invited to meet in downtown Berlin. We will arrange for a light lunch between 12 and 1pm. In the afternoon, we will organise some cultural activity (luggage storage will be arranged for). Afterwards, we will move to Schwanenwerder for dinner. Details will be announced later on.

• Those arriving in Berlin in the afternoon or evening are invited to travel directly to Schwanenwerder (transfer from the nearest train station will be arranged).

• In the evening, we will have dinner together (around 6.30pm). Later, there will be space at Schwanenwerder for informal meetings of alumnis but also the delegates and other participants of the General Meeting.

Saturday, 19 October 2019

• During the day, there will be sessions on the past, present and future of EYCE. The Alumnis will receive a report from the current EYCE Executive Committee. There will also be a joint session with the General Meeting, where we want to discuss challenges and opportuntiesfor EYCE's future.

• On Saturday evening, there will be a banquet for the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of EYCE.

Sunday, 20 October 2019

• The Alumni meeting will end with a ecumenical service on Sunday morning.

• Lunch will be provided for those who leave in the afternoon.

III. Logistics

The venue is called Evangelische Bildungsstätte auf Schwanenwerder, which is located on a small island in Berlin. We have booked the entire venue for EYCE. This comprises 120 beds in total. Some of them will be required for the Executive Committee, the delegates and guests of the General Meeting. You are also kindly invited to stay at Schwanenwerder overnight. Please be aware that most rooms are dorms and not all are en suite. If you wish for some more privacy, we understand that and will provide assistance in finding an accommodation for you nearby. If arranging your accommodation by yourself please be aware that the island can be reached over a bridge. However, the closest train stop is S-Bahnhof "Nikolassee" which is a 40 min walk from the venue. We will try to arrange shuttles but we can't promise a 24/7 availability.

We will need to require a registration fee for the alumni meeting, which will cover board and lodging as well as the programme activities. We will indicate a price range for the registration fee and ask you to decide on your own, what you can contribute. The final numbers will follow soon.
Please note that there is no funding available to reimburse travel expenses.

Registrations for the Alumni Meeting will open in spring 2019 - we will keep you posted. Please note that we might need to require a downpayment to ensure that registrations are binding. Please be aware that the expression of interest on the website or joining the Facebook event is no binding registration for the event.

We hope that the information above allow you to plan for your participation, especially if you have a long journey ahead. If you have specific questions, especially regarding logistics, feel free to reach out to alumni@eyce.org.

Once more we would like to ask you to spread the information. It would be a shame if people missed the event only because they didn't know about it.

Who is invited? We learned that there has been some confusion as to who is an "EYCE Alumni". We do not want to give a fixed definition, but we want to openly invite everybody who once participated in EYCE. This inludes, but is not limited to everyone who took part in a programme activity, was engaged as a volunteer, IPC, ExCo or campaign team member, in external representation, as an employee and so on.

We wish you a wonderful advent and a lovely Christmas with your loved ones.

In Christ,
Hannah, Lisa, Sini, Catharina, Felix and Dirk

PS. At any time you can support EYCE's work with a donation. This can be done easily here via PayPal. You will receive a receipt if that is relevant four you tax declaration.

Show that you're coming and support EYCE!

You can register already now on the website to receive further information and show that you're coming. Also check out the Facebook event and invite your friends.

At any time you can support EYCE's work here. Every small donation helps...

Thank you!