Newsletter by and for Alumni of ELSA

International Board Who is the new IB?

National Celebrations Anniversary in Austria

STEP Campaign Let‘s support ELSA

Nr. 3/2011 Magazine of the ELSA Lawyers Society

Albert Schippers ● Aleksander Blahy ● Angel Rosse Tejano ● Anne-

marie Männikkö ● Antonio Luigi del Sole ● Artur Bunk ● Bago Si-

mona ● Boris Inderbitzin ● Branislav Brocko ● Christian Hagstrom

● Christian Stroemlund ● Claas-Eike Seestädt ● Clara Hrabovec ●

Dario Pantanella ● Delia Orabona ● Dominika Kupczyk ● Esra Er-

soy ● Florian Möslein ● Frederique van Oijen ● Frida Orring ●

Guillaume Tatoueix ● Hubert Gambs ● Ippolito Pucci ● Juridia Asia-

najotoimisto ● Kapp Margit ● Karolina Sicinska ● Katarzyna Maria

Bugaj ● Kirsti Pent ● Krisztina Vattay ● Luca Barbero ● Maartijn

Keijze ● Maitre Guill ● Malina Dolatowska ● Marcel Worm ● Mar-

cin "Boulie" Krzysko ● Maria-Christina Binau-Hansen ● Marianne

Pál Ortega ● Marie Tårup ● Michael Vetter ● Michael-Peter Ocon-

nor ● Mirko Djukovic ● Nadiia Gaidak ● Nina Klotz ● Nina Prantl

● Nina Stensbol ● Pal Jakob Aasen ● Patrycja Zalewska ● Peter

Mikletic ● Priskin Boglarka ● Roberta Rosignoli ● Roza Dembska ●

Salo Kimmo Claud Kenneth ● Sandra Budimir ● Sarah Brock ● Ser-

gii Portnoi ● Suvi Laes ● Tamara Kiss ● Teemu Puutio ● Timo Kor-

tesoja ● Tobias Rehme ● Valentina Ilic ● Vanja Vjelancevic ● Wil-

lem Hoefnagels ● Aga Stobiecka-Kuik ● Andreas Popow ● Antonini

Michelle ● Arnold Dikkers ● Blaz Golob ● Carmen Seiler ● Francia

Emanuele Clemente Carl ● Halvor Lekven ● James Newmark ● Je-

roen Koster ● Krzysztof Kuik ● Mette

Darmgaard ● Ri- chard Henderson ●

Romero Matute Maria Carmen

WWHYHY

TTHEYHEY

JOINEDJOINED

2

Focus on Europe

Viana do Castelo, Oct 06-09 Iberian Freshers Camp

Lviv, Nov 11-13 International Seminar on

Mediation

Helsinki,Nov 18-19 30th anniversary celebration

ELSA Finland in cooperation with

ELSA Alumni Finland

Tblisi Elected Host

ICM Autumn 2012

Szczecin, Nov 17-20 National Council Meeting

30th Anniversary ELSA Poland

Palermo, Oct 23-30 ICM of ELSA

Oct 28 and 29 Assembly Meeting of ELS

Algavre Elected Host

ICM Spring 2012

Sarajevo, Nov 24-27 ELSA Ex-Yu Conference

„Status and applicance of the

Conveniton on the Rights of

Children in BiH and the region“

Munich, Sep 30—Oct 02 ELS & EAD Oktoberfest

Triest, Apr 16-22 2012 IFP Mid-Evaluation Conference

Montepellier Final Round EMC² 2012

For Seminars see www.elsa.org

Zurich, Oct 08 30th anniversary celebration

Alumni Evening

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President’s Wor(l)d

The year 30 ab ELSA condita and the

year 20 ab ELS condita is coming to an

end. It is incredible how fast time is

fleeting.

Going to the Octoberfest, flying to Pal-

ermo and it is time already to apply for

the Christmas cocktail in the ELSA

House.

This year ELS, alumni and ELSA were

celebrating the anniversary. The ICM

in Palermo will again focus on ELSA’s

birthday.

ELS will elect the executive committee

for its 21st year. I want to invite you to

consider to fill a position in ELS. This

year quite some persons (re-)joined

ELS again.

My invitation is aiming especially at

the younger ELS members. To be able

to consider all needs and expectations

of our members, a board with alumni

from different generations and back-

grounds is needed.

But of course you can form the alumni

association by attending the assembly

meeting or give a proxy.

I am looking forward to meet many of

you in Palermo.

Yours, Robert

Content

Focus on Europe … 2

President’s Wor(l)d … 3

Why did I join ELS … 4

20 years ELS … 6

STEP—A win-win … 8

ELSA International 2011 … 10

Academic Cooperation … 12

Train the Trainer Week … 13

Anniversary in Vienna … 14

ELS Gala Ball Vienna … 16

Weddings/Seniors News … 17

ELS—The ELSA Lawyers Society

President: Robert Tremel

Secretary

General: Arabela Trifoi

Exec Members: Claudius Krucker

Pierangelo Graziani

Directors: Johanna Kauppinen

Ania Ziemnicka

Info@ELSlawyer.org

www.ELSlawyer.org

Editor Newsletter: Robert Tremel

Content / President’s Wor(l)d

4

”Why did I join ELS?”

by Nina Stensbol, Norway

ELSA has been an important part of our lives. Important because it has given us so many things. Like life changing experiences in wonderful places around Europe. It has given us new personal and professional skills. It has broaden our horizon, by showing us that borders have little meaning, and that people from different coun-tries are not so different after all. One of the most remarkable parts is the people we meet, and the friendships that are made during our years in ELSA. Then one day it all ends, we graduate and start living the working life. When that happened to me, I questioned myself "why does it have to end here?, how could I still be supporting ELSA? and how could I continue meeting my friends to have fun but at the same time conserve all the networking?” Well visiting a few countries

each year is very possible, but visiting 42 countries is not possible even if I would love to see every one of them. The answer for me was to join ELS. When my ELSA career started in 2007 in Norway, the ELS was not well known and very few students knew about the possibility of becoming a member. But during the last year there has been a change. The generation of people that leave ELSA now are more informed about the ELS, and they are more posi-tive to join, or at least that is what the rumor says. I have interviewed a few of the newest members to see why they choose to join ELS, and also to see if it is true that more and more young people are join-ing now.

Barbara Sandfuchs, Germany

1. When did your ELSA career start and what was your previous position in ELSA? It started in 2006, my last position was President of ELSA Germany in 2009/2010. 2. Why did you join ELS? “Maybe it was ELSA that has brought us together, but now it is much more than ELSA that keeps us together.” With these words a Hungarian friend of mine described the fact that through the work in ELSA, we gained real friends. ELS offers the possibility to stay in touch with these friends and at the same time contribute to the work of the active ELSA generation. As I am convinced that I will continue to consider ELSA as an amazing network, I decided to join as a life-time member. 3. Is the rumors true that more young people are joining ELS now? Despite the fact that I do not know the statistics, many friends of “my ELSA generation” have recently joined. Therefore, at least I can confirm that there are many “young” ELS members. 4. Are you planning on participating in the ELS Assembly Meeting in the ICM Palermo in Oc-tober or any other ELS international meeting the next year? I am in charge of organizing this year’s edition of the annual ELS Oktoberfest event in Munich. We are happy to host 50 participants from eight countries.

Marcel Worm, Denmark 1. When did your ELSA career start and what was your previous position in ELSA? The good question, when did I start in this fantastic association. I started in 2006 at my second year, where my

5

class had merged with another class. And here I met a guy who was active in ELSA, and before I could think about it, was I sitting at the council meeting and got elected as VP Marketing for ELSA Copenhagen, half a year after I got elected as VP S & C for ELSA Denmark. And then I was President for ELSA Copenhagen. So I have been around in the board, and that’s one of the best things with ELSA, are the possibilities. 2. Why did you join ELS? I know a lot of the people in ELS, and I know a lot of the new members in ELS, that have been joining ELS in the last couple of years, and all of them are great people, and people I have had a lot fun with around Europe. So I have never seen it as a “Why” to join, but more

like a “When” to join. So I joined because, I still want the benefits from ELSA, as friendship, travel and a lot of fun around Europe. 3. Is the rumours true that more young people are joining ELS now? Hell yeah, I joined :) - yes the rumours are true, we are a lot of young lawyers who can’t leave the network, and can’t live without the network. So we want to be a part of the European network for lawyers, and we want to help ELSA through the further history. 4. Are you planning on participating in the ELS Assembly Meeting in the ICM Palermo in October or any other ELS international meeting the next year? Off course, I got my tickets for Palermo, so I just need to pack my stuff and find the airport. So see you all in Palermo!

Joëlle Joosten, The Netherlands 1. When did your ELSA career start and what was your previous posi-tion in ELSA? I started my ELSA career in 2007 in ELSA Nijmegen, a local group in The Netherlands. After being director AA and President of that group I went on to become VPAA of ELSA The Netherlands for the past 2 years. 2. Why did you join ELS? I've spend the last 4 years of my life being active in ELSA both on a local and national level as on the international level. I have met many interesting people and some of them have become close friends of mine. The main reason for becoming an ELS'er are the people I've met during the years and would like to stay in touch with. Of course the (in)famous ELSA-Spirit plays a role as well. After 4 years it would be difficult, if not impossible, to just go 'cold turkey'. 3. Is the rumors true that more young people are joining ELS now? I certainly believe so. When I started in ELSA it felt like there was a great gap between the active students and the EL-S'ers. Due to the changes within ELS and the big impulse the previous International Boards have given to ELS, it came back to life. In The Netherlands we have reconnected with our ELS-members over an informal barbeque at one of the ELS'ers homes and have stayed in touch with them ever since. Many of them came to the ICM in Poznan and we had blast with them. Ever since this change more and more of my friends and fellow board members are becoming a part of ELS because the gap has been closed 4. Are you planning on participating in the ELS Assembly Meeting in the ICM Palermo in October or any other ELS international meeting the next year? I am certainly planning on going to the ICM in Palermo and I will participate in the ELS program there. I can't say for sure whether I will attend the other meetings because the end of student life means the beginning of working life and unfortunately I can't predict the future.

6

Twenty Years ELS

by Robert Tremel, President, ELS

20 years ago, the ELSA Lawyers Society was founded. For 20 years now, a legal entity, an associa-

tion, for alumni of ELSA exists. The teenage years of the association are over now and it is time to

check if the association is really a “grown-up” now.

Andy Unger, the first president of the ELS, described the reason why ELS was founded in the an-

niversary publication “Building a just world”: “… we decided to form ELS – so that we could carry

on seeing each other and help ELSA too.” We are talking about a time when the internet only made

its first timid steps. Contacts were really kept in books, printed directories and business cards col-

lection were a treasure. The ELS directory exists since the very beginning of ELS.

Are you on facebook? Quite a lot of my facebook friends are former (and current) ELSA members.

When was it the last time you read an email on the ELS mailing list like “Who has contact to John

Doe from Hobbitville?” Emails like this were quite common at the time before the area of “social

networks”. Today we find contacts by typing the name in facebook, linkedin or google.

Is ELS outdated? Is there still a need for ELS? Nowadays ELSA members form their personal

alumni networks by adding friends in Web 2.0. Isn’t it enough to be “fan” of ELSA on facebook or

joining a group on linkedin?

Drawing a comparison to ELSA, I would say that ELS has three “key areas”: Personal relations/

social network, Professional relations/network and supporting ELSA.

Let me start with the area “Supporting ELSA”: In fact many alumni support ELSA on all three lev-

els. Alumni provide support as lecturers and teachers at seminars and law schools, as judges and

advisors for the EMC², as trainers in and outside the ELSA International Trainers Pool, as auditors

and advisory board members, as STEP employers and sponsors. Furthermore ELS itself supports

ELSA financially – in this special year with about 15.000 EURO in total. Unfortunately the re-

quests for help coming from ELSA at least via the ELS are pretty low. Nonetheless the relation be-

tween ELSA and ELS became closer with the anniversary.

I think this also the “area” ELS has spent most of its resources for. This goes for the financial re-

sources as it does for human resources and contacts. We want to strengthen the cooperation with

ELSA and moreover provide not only financial resources, but also other support. The STEP cam-

paign is a common project to raise STEP jobs for ELSA.

We founded ELSA that we could

carry on seeing each other, I quoted

Andy Unger previously and the

quote describes the area “personal

contacts” pretty well. The anniver-

sary celebration in Poznan was – like

previous anniversaries – a good ex-

ample for the social network. Our

members did not go there for profes-

sional benefits, but to meet old

friends, to remember the past and to Friendship

7

behave like in the past. To stay in touch with

friends the directory is not that important any

more as it was in the past, as Web 2.0 provides

other possibilities to keep in touch.

But actually Web 2.0 had taught me that I made

more contacts than only these few precious

friends in stayed in contact with. Haven’t you

also sat in front of a picture a facebook friend

posted and tried to identify the person? At sev-

eral ELS events I met people “I always wanted

to get in touch with” again, but never did.

Being a professional network has been the vision of some ELS members. The reality is, that only

lawyers exchange mandates with ELS colleagues and ask for legal advice and help. Seminars,

publications or other academic projects are rather a vision than an action. The touching points

between the different legal professions and between the common legal rules are too narrow to

find an interesting topic. Besides that they are several professional providers on the market who

offer these legal services.

I think that alumni of ELSA still are interested in all of the three aspects of being an alumni. I

truly believe that there is demand for all three of them. Especially younger alumni often ask,

what the benefit of ELS is for them and especially seek support in their career start.

Back to the previous question if ELS is grown up: When you grow up, the tasks grow with you

and they did with ELS. When ELS was founded, on the international level maybe a few hundred

alumni existed. An ICM in 1984 had around 10 participants and around 1990 still not many

more than 100. When ELS was founded the student days of the few alumni were only very few

years ago. Keeping in mind that today ELSA already had about 170 IB members and many more

national officers the group of alumni became much bigger.

ELS always depended on the motivation and availability of individuals. Many of our members

are willing to help, but many of them have limited time resources. A concept how to bundle

these resources has not been found yet and I am not really sure if it can be found. But without

resources ELS will never develop as much activity as some of our members want.

If I look back now and have a look at ELS in 2001 it seems that there has not been any develop-

ment. The number of members was pretty much the same and the level of activity was not really

different. One could have the feeling, that ELS spent its teenage years with partying at ICM loca-

tions, the Oktoberfest and at the Gala Ball in Vienna. But in fact projects were tried like profes-

sional mailing lists. A contract with ELSA

was made and this agreement is a stable basis

for the cooperation. The ELS Grant was set

up. ELS has passed its high school in its teen-

age years.

I think a stable and solid basis for the 3rd

decade of ELS was set. It is up to us to fill

this decade with action, activity and life. ELS

is entering its student years ...

Supporting ELSA

Anniversary Logo

8

STEP can be a win-win for you and ELSA!

by Johanna Kauppinen, Director Anniversary, Finland

“My heart is beating with ELSA and STEP is the blood that feeds that heart” says Umut Kur-

man, 33 years, partner at a law firm in Ankara, Turkey. Founded in 2004, Aydaş Liman Kurman

Attorneys at Law has three partners and is active in commercial transactions and litigation. About

half of their clients are international companies and the other half are Turkish companies and pri-

vate persons. Aydaş Liman Kurman have hosted four STEP trainees in the past, the latest one in

August, 2011. “Everyone of us seniors should support STEP”, Umut encourages.

47 % of students join ELSA because it gives them the opportunity to apply for STEP jobs.

Through STEP students have a real opportunity to become “internationally minded and profes-

sionally skilled”. There is “hidden work” – tasks that the in-house counsel is too busy to do him-

self, but that would be too expensive to give to a law firm.

For you as the employer, STEP can provide the following benefits:

• Motivated student with your chosen profile

• There are multiple tasks for a trainee, such as

• Legal research, comparative or otherwise

• Due diligence of past contracts

• Translations

• Archiving of legal documents (but not as an only task!)

• Contract drafting

• Assisting in negotiations and cases in general

• Having an international student at your office can be both fun and

motivating for your other employees or colleagues

For Umut, the length of a typical train-

eeship has been four weeks and STEP

trainees have come from the Check Re-

public, Germany, Montenegro and Rus-

sia. Each STEP trainee is asked to write

an article of a comparative legal nature

and the best of those may be published

in the Ankara Bar Review.

Trainees have also worked on client

cases making comparative studies of

specific fields of law in Turkey and in

their home jurisdiction. “It’s all about

similarities and differences”, Umut ex-

plains. “The client feels more secure if

we can compare the Turkish legal sys-

tem to how the same matter is regulated

in his home jurisdiction”, he continues.

Key Area Meeting in September 2011. Some of the STEP officers

enjoying as gala cruise in the archipelago of Turku: (from left)

Lucia Palusova (ITP/Slovakia), Irakli Samkharadze (ELSA Inter-

national/Georgia), Grzegorz Gajda (Poland), Dena Dervanovic

(Montenegro), Jan Piza (Czech Republic), Theresa Gutsche

(Germany), Madeleine Thörn (Sweden).

9

STEP – the Anniversary Campaign During this year and next, ELS is working with Irakli Samkharadze Vice-President STEP

of ELSA International and the whole “STEP family” in order to bridge the gap between

alumni and ELSA in the field of STEP. You can be involved in three different ways:

• We are looking for volunteers for the ELS STEP Support Team. If you are inter-

ested and have time to make some phone calls, please contact the undersigned.

• The ELS STEP Support Team shall contact selected individual alumni in order to

find out their possible interest for STEP. After the initial contact, responsibility is

transferred to the respective local and/or national STEP officer.

• If you are interested in having a STEP trainee during the next year, please con-

tact either Johanna or Pierangelo and we shall guide you further.

Can we do STEP on behalf of ELSA? Definitely not. But we can open our minds and ears

for the next phone call coming from the local STEP officer.

Source: www.elsa.org

Johanna Kauppinen

ELS Director for Anniversary

johanna_kauppinen@hotmail.com

mobile: +358 40 551 7788

Pierangelo Graziani

Executive Officer ELS Trust

trust@elslawyer.org

10

It is time to introduce the International Board of ELSA - the people working full time for the Asso-

ciation. We are proud to continue the work of generations and generations of ELSA enthusiasts

who have built up and supported our Network for 30 years. During these first months in office, it

is time to look at the past year as well as to plan the upcoming year. Communicating and brain-

storming with our alumni is part of this – benefitting from the experience and knowledge gathered

during years of activity in ELSA and of working life. The connections and advice which ELS and

its members can offer ELSA International and the ELSA Network are invaluable.

After one exhausting month of transition we, as the new International Board of ELSA, are aware

of the responsibility that the Network has put in our hands, of the responsibility to continue the

great work of our predecessors and we could not be more confident: Thanks to a well-structured,

patient and knowledgeable transition which they provided for us, we are now ready for one of the

best years of our lives working for a Network with 42 countries.

Our journey started after the election at the International Council Meeting in Poznan, Poland. We

had the privilege of having an exceptional number of our alumni present celebrating with us. After

the elections the International Board received two additions, resulting to eight people living to-

gether in the same house as numerous previous boards, working together for ELSA.

Here are the people: Our President, Niousha Nademi, is a 25 year old law student from Stock-

holm, Sweden. He will focus on the External Relations of ELSA International, not only communi-

cating with our partners but also accessing possible partnerships, not to forget cooperation with

ELS. Furthermore, he will also try to expand our vision to the other European countries and uni-

versities where students are waiting to share the ELSA Spirit with other countries. During the year

he will also be the responsible for board management.

Jaana Saarijärvi from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is the Secretary General. She is the overall

responsible for the Internal Management of our beloved Association. The Network will be her fo-

cus, with specific points such as Human Resources, the International Trainers’ Pool, the Network

Support System and ELSA Online.

Also from Finland, comes the Vice President Marketing, Kaisa-Maria Kimmel. She is a law stu-

dent at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi. She is the main responsible for Synergy and for

website maintenance but also the person in charge of having new ideas for ELSA’s promotion.

The top priorities in the Marketing area will be the Market Research and raising awareness of

ELSA within the Network and in the outside world.

The Treasurer, Ricardo Gomes, is a fourth year student at Faculdade de Direito de Lisboa, Portu-

ELSA International 2011/12

11

gal. However, he was born in a small town called Guarda.

His main responsibilities are the Financial Management

of ELSA and the assets of ELSA International. His main

focuses during this year are the financial stability of our

Association as well as taxation. He is also the Chairman

of the ELSA Development Foundation.

Irakli Samkharadze from Tbilisi, Georgia is the Vice

President for Student Trainee Exchange Programme

(STEP). His main goal is to provide law students with the

unique opportunity of working abroad while improving soft skills and contributing to the interna-

tionality of law students in Europe.

Zosya Stankovskaya, originally from Chernivtsi, Ukraine is the Vice President for Seminars and

Conferences, and thus one of the people responsible for the Legal Education challenges in ELSA.

She will focus on promoting the International Focus Programme (IFP) within the Network. She

will also focus on the quality of the S&C events and on continuing the cooperation on the field of

Delegations.

With one position vacant after the elections, we appointed Khrystyna Brodych, also from

Ukraine, as the Director for Academic Activities. She will coordinate the Academic Activities of

ELSA focusing on Legal Education, promoting legal writing and legal research, mainly innovating

and improving the area.

Last but not least, the International Board 2011/2012 will have the great help of an eight person

living in the House. That person is the Director for Moot Court Competitions and her name is

Liisa Oravisto, from Helsinki. She will be the person in charge of the Moot Courts of ELSA, the

successful ELSA Moot Court Competition on World Trade Organisation Law (EMC2) and the

challenging project of the Human Rights Moot Court organised in cooperation with the Council of

Europe.

These eight people will contribute to the fulfilment of ELSA´s Vision: “a just world in which

there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity”. We set our main goals and focus in our

One Year Operational Plan (OYOP) and we are fully motivated in the achievement of these de-

fined objectives. We will have one year to develop, to consolidate and to live ELSA and we want

to include our alumni in achieving these goals.

The years 2011 and 2012 are crucial years in ELSA’s history. We are celebrating the 30th anniver-

sary of our Association and this moment is important for gathering the past generations and for

thinking about the future. We started this process during the anniversary debate in ICM Poznan,

receiving inputs from alumni on how ELSA worked during their time in the Association as well as

their point of view on how we can be proactive in including alumni in our projects. As a conse-

quence, ELSA will work closely with ELS in transfer-

ring contacts for providing STEP traineeships in coop-

eration with alumni. Furthermore, ELSA officers are

more aware of their possibilities for finding speakers

and academic support from alumni through ELS.

The new International Board of ELSA is looking

forward to this year and to working together with

our alumni. The basis for more effective communi-

cation and cooperation has been set –

now let us build on it!

12

ELS and ELSA working together on – and at – academic events

by Sofia Kallio, VP S&C, EI 2009/2010, Director for IFP, EI 2010/2011

Member of ELS and ELSA Alumni Finland

The International Focus Programme (IFP) collects and guides the efforts of the whole ELSA Network in order for the members to reach common goals and academic results within one hot legal topic. The programme has been run-ning since 1994 with various topics that have been current during their time. There are many exam-ples of ELSA members who have actually found their field of law for their legal careers through organizing and attending IFP events and projects. Health Law was elected as the topic for the IFP for the period 2010–2013 at the International Council Meeting (ICM) in Malta, spring 2010. The Opening Conference of the current topic took place in Prague, Czech Republic, on the 22nd – 27th February 2011 with the tremendous effort of

Martina Kalapáčová as the Head of Organizing

Committee and Jiří Mačát as the Responsible for the Academic Programme. The programme con-sisted of lectures from international and Czech experts on health law, such as Egle Granziera from the World Health Organization (WHO), André den Exter from the Erasmus Observatory on Health Law of the University of Rotterdam and Iain Byrne from Interights. The lectures and interactive workshops covered various issues related to Health Law, since the aim was to introduce the topic broadly as an opening event. The themes included, inter alia, malpractice liability, informed consent, pharmaceutical law, euthanasia, health insurance companies, comple-mentary medicine and patient mobility. The Opening Conference was not only a grand opening for the three years of focus on Health Law, but also served to show the pos-

sibilities for cooperation between ELSA and ELS. The academic pro-gramme of the Conference was compiled with the help of

JUDr. Ondřej Dostál, Ph.D., LL.M., himself a former ELSA member, who also gave inspiring lectures during the event. Moreover, some other speakers of the event, including Egle Graziera and Natalia Lojko, have been ELSA members during their student years. In addition, the ELS Exec held their meeting at the time of the Confer-ence and was able to attend the academic and so-cial programme. I can say without a doubt that it makes a differ-ence for a young ELSA member to meet the pro-fessionals that once started their careers with a similar path. It motivates, gives the student a feel-ing of having a mentor, and builds a bridge be-tween the ELSA generations. I encourage the ELS members and other alumni to take an active role in supporting the ELSA Groups and creating such ways to cooperate on the local, national or even international level. One of the highlights of the IFP during the following year is the IFP Mid-Evaluation Conference with the focus on Mental Health Law which will be held in Trieste, Italy (16th – 22nd April 2012).

How many ELS members will we see there?

13

Train the Trainers Week by Arabela Trifoi, Romania and Katrien Willems, Belgium

Just as a reminder, the International Trainers Pool

(ITP) has been established in 2000 being the main

training body in ELSA. The aim of the ITP is to

improve the quality of the human resources

amongst the ELSA members through the aid of

former ELSA members who voluntarily deliver

trainings in the whole ELSA Network with the

offered facility that the travel and accom-

modation expenses are covered by ELSA. What’s

specific about ITP trainers is that they benefit

from annual sessions organized by ELSA Interna-

tional which ensure a proper formation and infor-

mation of the trainers. Basically there are two cen-

ters of interest in which ELSA International in-

vests: forming the trainer’s training skills and

keeping his ELSA knowledge up to date.

Every two years ELSA International organizes

one Train the Trainers Week(-end) and before

every autumn ICM, a Refreshment Week-end, the

first is meant to give a serious trainer ed-ucation

to future trainers facilitated by experienced

trainers, the second to refresh the skills of the ITP

members.

So far we have experienced the Train the Trainers

Week. This year, the

event took place in

Germany, in a small

city near Frankfurt,

and it consisted in a

week-long process

which resulted in the

formation of 9 new

trainers for the Inter-

national Trainers Pool

(ITP).

We had 12 hours per

day of intensive working and learning under the

guidance of Jochen Hoerlin, Nina Klotz and

Koen Klootwijk, all three ITP trainers and ELS

members as well. Content-wise we were led

through themes such as learning typologies and

the 4-MAT teaching technique, team phases and

training design, how to structure and deliver train-

ings, behaviors in communication, sides of a mes-

sage, body language, moderation and conflict

management. We also experienced this trainings

week very intensely. Not only had we learned

about training skills, but we also learned about

ourselves as being a trainer. To guide us through

the week, we also were appointed a “buddy”, to

whom we could tell everything during this week.

Such method of experiencing this training week

was definitely a plus.

The end of the week was the beginning of a new

step in our ELSA carreers as it left us with the

motivation to start giving trainings to the network.

The Train the Trainers Week was a very

succesfull event, professionally organized but still

full of ELSA Spirit, difficult but still leaving us

with the feeling that we’ve learned a lot. We

therefore would like to thank the trainers and

participants for their trumendous effort and

guidance throughout the week.

The next Train the Trainers Week is scheduled in

the summer of 2013. If you have any questions

about training or the ITP, do not hesitate to

contact ELSA International: training@elsa.org.

Event: Train the Trainers Week (TTTW) Date: 02 - 09 July 2011 Location: Büdingen, Germany Participants: 12 former/current ELSA members from all over Europe Trainers: Jochen Hoerlin, Nina Klotz, Koen Klootwijk and Rudolf Reiet

14

It all began in January of 2011. Tobias Birsak, then Presi-

dent of ELSA Vienna, got in touch with me and some other

Austria alumni in quest of material for the new ELSA ar-

chives. In his email he described how many items had disap-

peared after ELSA Vienna’s move and how he was looking

to collect stuff from previous decades. I decided to meet with

him and his colleague Milorad Erdelean to discuss further

details but it took another month until we finally came to-

gether in “Café Maximilian” near Downtown Vienna on 22

February. Said café was ELSA Vienna’s favourite gathering

point in the mid-nineties so some sentimental feelings inevitably touched me. I had brought a cou-

ple of thick binders with old ELSA documents along and while we leafed through lost treasurers,

Tobias mentioned some initial plans for an Austrian ELSA anniversary later in the spring, proba-

bly around 6 May. The party was supposed to be organized by ELSA Vienna in co-operation with

ELSA Austria. When Tobias asked me whether I could help him contact some of the alumni of

“my time”, I immediately caught fire. My active ELSA time had ended 10 years ago, after chairing

the “Anniversary ICM” of ELSA in March 2001 in Vienna. Since then, I had lost track of many

former ELSA-friends and -colleagues and it seemed to be just the right time to get back in touch

and invite them for an anniversary party, which should bring together ALL the ELSA generations

in Austria.

My first and perhaps biggest challenge was to reconnect with the two Austrian ELSA founders,

Ernst Wurz and Michael Goldinger. I had met both of them during the 2001 anniversary celebra-

tions and, several years later, also bumped into Michael Goldinger again at an evening reception.

Nevertheless I knew that both “founding fathers” were busy men and hard to grab. Luck was on

my side and I finally reached both of them. They immediately agreed to do anything they could to

join ELSA’s birthday party in May. What followed was week after week of more or less intensive

“detective work”. Some of those people I had worked with in ELSA became and stayed close

friends so it was no problem to drop them a line or a call. However, some other former board and

team members had basically disappeared off the face of earth. You think the internet has made it

easy to rediscover them? Not really! In some cases, Google didn’t reveal any suitable hits and

even Facebook was only partly helpful as not everybody was listed there. What finally helped the

most was working contacts who asked somebody

that asked somebody. As it seems, spreading the

personal word is still a useful investigative tool

in the 21st century. Without really planning it, I

became some kind of adjunct member of the

“OC” getting involved in more and more ques-

tions surrounding the party – and I must admit

that I enjoyed it! Working together with Tobias

Birsak and with Nina Wanke, then President of

ELSA Austria, was a pleasure.

The old ELSA senses came back to life and it

Bridging all generations: ELSA’s Anniversary Celebrations in Vienna

by Gregor Wenda, Austria

15

was a lot of fun to receive news from people you hadn’t talked to in a decade. Other ELS

folks like President Robert Tremel and Austrian Representative Franz-Martin Orou also

shared their knowledge and contributed precious contacts. The list of participants gradually

grew and when the evening of 6 May 2011 was finally here, around 70 former and present

ELSAnians gathered in the traditional wine pub “Wolff” in Vienna to raise their glasses. In

addition to active members from most local groups, ELS President Robert Tremel, then IB

member Laurits Ketscher, and numerous alumni from the past thirty years had followed the

“party call”. ELSA founder Ernst Wurz gave the key note address. Paul Hochbaum, former

President of ELSA International, me, and Martina Berger, ELSA Austria President some

two years ago, shared their personal recollections with the audience. I had prepared a set of

power point slides with photos and stories from 1995 to 2001. How time flies! It was an eve-

ning full of memories, old and new friendships, laughter and tears, thanks and wishes. Never

before did one see so many different Austrian ELSA generations in one place. ELSA Vienna

and ELSA Austria, together with the assistance of ELS, organized an unforgettable event –

and I was proud and grateful to contribute to it.

Ad multos annos!

Alumni at the National Council Meeting

by Gregor Wenda, Austria

The spring National Council Meeting (NCM) of

ELSA Austria in Fürstenfeld was special in

many ways. Not only did it mark the election of

a new National Board, it was also dedicated to

ELSA’s 30th anniversary and an intensified co-

operation with Austrian ELSA alumni. The most

prominent guest on 4 July 2011 was ELSA

founder Michael Goldinger. He had established

ELSA together with Austrian Ernst Wurz and

colleagues from Hungary and Poland in 1981.

Michael could not attend the anniversary party

in Vienna on 6 May but

promised to come to Für-

stenfeld for a podium dis-

cussion on the past and

future of ELSA insteas.

He was the farthest trav-

elled person on that eve-

ning as he had come all

the way back from a busi-

ness trip to Russia. Other

ELSA alumni on the po-

dium included Gregor

Wenda, former President

of ELSA Austria 1998/99,

Ines Wolfbauer, former

Treasurer of ELSA Austria 1998/99, and Jür-

gen Schenk, former Vice-President Marketing

of ELSA Austria around the millennium. The

questions from NCM participants revealed that

ELSA challenges haven’t changed too much

over the decades and that it can sometimes be

tough not to “reinvent the wheel”. The dialogue

between active ELSAnians and alumni contin-

ued long after the formal part was over – and led

to plans for further co-operation in the next year.

16

Where fairytales come true ELS Gala Ball in Vienna

by Guido Costantini,Italy and Simona Adamcova, Czech Republic

In the long gone March of 2001, I par-

ticipated for the first time in a gala ball

in Vienna, celebrating the 20th anni-

versary of our gloriole association.

That event, glamorous and unforgetta-

ble as it was between the typical ICM

atmosphere and the Wiener waltz,

would have remained an isolated

event in my life, had I not decided, al-

most exactly a decade later, to partici-

pate in what remains, inexplicably, a

niche event of our association: the ELS

gala ball in Vienna.

Taking place right inside the imperial

palace, that evening saw a dozen of

ELSA seniors and one ELSA member

first having a classy “aperitivo”, based

on champagne and delicious tarts, in

an exclusive venue of the „Alt-Kalksburger“ Club

(alumni association of prestigious Catholic private

school which dates back to 1856) and then losing

themselves among hundreds of attendees of one of

the several university gala balls that annually take

place in the Hofburg.

Whoever had expected tuxedoes and gorgeous

night dresses would not have been disappointed.

More than that, one could had seen many people

dressed in the typical Austrian costumes and in cos-

tumes from all around the world as foreign students

paraded in Scottish tartans, Indian and Chinese

silks, South American velvets and even in what

looked like authentic zebra skin.

For the waltz-impaired, different halls offered vari-

ous kind of music, rating from the polka to the la-

tino rhythms, but not - traditions be praised - disco

music of any kind.

Having set an hourly meeting point, the ELS(A) peo-

ple lost themselves in the revelry and, truth to be

told, after the first couple of successful rallies, it

was not until the day after when the most of us met

again for a late lunch in a pretty special location,

half restaurant - half greenhouse garden called Pal-

menhaus. That was also a calm place to talk and

better know each other. (Guido)

And yet the weekend wasn’t fin-

ished and we still had a lot to ex-

perience. The two of us (always

striving for culture) went to see

Carmen on one of many stages that

Vienna offers. Afterwards, despite

being tired from the gala ball we

could not miss the occasion to visit

of the typical après-ski-designed

restaurant/disco where, besides

the great beer, you can enjoy deli-

cious Austrian specialties like

“Kaiserschmarrn”.

The brunch on Sunday showed the

typical ELSA workshops atmos-

phere when we ended up discuss-

ing the new ELS logo. As usual, our

association brings work and fun

together and after all, this event wasn’t so differ-

ent. Although I admit that “fruitful discussions”

were not as emotive as on ICMs it was definitely

nice to see our alumni being interested in future

progress of their association and in making it more

attractive for the new members.

In the end, it was an unforgettable experience that

saw, to borrow a line, "the best dressed ELS mem-

bers I’ve ever seen in my life" and one that we fully

plan to repeat, hopefully with more of the ELS

members now realizing how such an event cannot

be missed. And finally, an immense thank you to

Franz-Martin Orou for the organization, great job

well done and hopefully see you and many others

participating on the Vienna fairytale event in 2012!

(Simona)

For many years two events became a tradition in

ELS. At the beginning of the year, Franz-Martin

Orou on behalf of the Austrian alumni invites to

an Austrian Gala Ball. Thank you very much.

The second event is the Octoberfest. Jochen Hör-

lin, Meinhard Schröder, Nina Klotz and Stephan

Dobrowolski were the main responsibles. Since

this year younger alumni took over and Barbara

Sandfuchs took the responsibility. Thanks for

many Oktoberfeste and thanks for many more to

come.

17

Cristian Elull married Karolina, who is origi-

nally from Bratislava, on Aug 13th in Malta.

Chris was on the National Board of ELSA

Malta—well—a few years ago.

WEDDINGS

Karina Sultanova was president of EL-

SA Kazakhstan, Sec-

Gen of ELS and is

trainer of ELSA.

On July 23rd she

married Joss Bolton

in England. They are

both working for

Shell and are mo-

ving to Paris.

The ELSA International Team 2008 met on May

21st to celebrate a high level ELSA and ELS wed-

ding:

Jean-Marc Lauwers, Treasurer IB 2008/09 and

current auditor of ELS married Katrien Willems,

Dir EI 2008/09 and ELS represenative for Belgium.

Ruta Zarnauskaite was president of EI in

2001/02 and is one of the judges at the

EMC², Gijs van Iersel was SecGen of ELSA

Maastricht in 2001/02. On June 10th they

got married in Ruta‘s home town Vilnus.

18

Leonid Cherniavskyi, last years president

of ELSA International married Masha

Drozdova on 10.09.2011.

Obviously presidents know what they do ...

Maria Cruz Ferrera Costa was VP Marketing in the IB 2003/04. She got married on

14.08.2011 and invited some of her ELSA friends to La Corunna.

Silvia Grabovac VP S&C ELSA Croatia 1997/98

Fabrizio Cancedda VP AA ELSA Italy 1996

Zagreb 03.09.2011

MORE WEDDINGS

19

Seniors‘ News

Anyone missing?

Please help us collect information about our mem-bers and friends. If you hear about a marriage, eg. about two former IB members who might get married this autumn (the third IB-IB marriage and no—it is not the couple we are waiting for 10 years now). If somebody posts an ultra sound image on face-book, let us know. You will read who the lucky partents are in the next issue of our newsletter.

On 20th May Ludmilka was born.

Her father Jan Slanina and her

mother Lucie Wachtlova were both

in the NB of ELSA Czech Republic.

Hennica was born on the 17th April this year: First

she will become director of ELSA, like her mum

Kristina Juth was in 2001/02 and 2002/03. Then

she will become a successfull Finish tax lawyer

like her mum and her dad Raimo.

Rebekha is the daughter of Nikki (nee

Camilleri; VP S&C of ELSA Int. 2000)

and Adrian Mallia and since June among

the youngest inhabitants of the ELSA-

famous island of Malta.

20

Palermo/Italy

October 28th and 29th

Assembly Meeting ELS Participate in the future of ELS and in the election of the future Executive Anniversary Day (28.10.) Gala Ball (27.10) Sightseeing

APPLY UNTIL 25.09. AT

www.elsapalermo.org

Assembly Meeting of ELS Anniversary Celebration