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JCI EC 2010 - through the eyes of a first timer
by Christophe Lascor
I flew to Denmark on Monday 7th June for my first European Conference, eager to “explore, learn and share”.
It did not take me a lot of time to literally share something, as I quickly discovered my hostel roommates were JCI members from Sweden and Catalonia! We had dinner in one of the few restaurants serving food after 9pm
On the second day, instead of visiting the city, I decided to check whether JCI Trainer was fully booked. As some participants dropped out, I grabbed the opportunity and was allowed to attend the training.
I am now looking forward to delivering some training in Ireland and improve the skills gained in this “last minute” course attended by JCI members from all over Europe, but also the USA!
It was then time to drop my bag in the apartment JCI Ireland booked, and join the Irish delegation for the Opening ceremony.
The noise, mix of colours and energy in the audience looked closer from the Opening Ceremony of a sporting event than a typical conference, and set the tone for Danish party and the following 4 days.
Despite the nice music (and free beer!), I left the parties early enough in order to make the most of the high quality training available in the morning.
I attended JCI Networking, but also training around Sales, Project Management and Negociation.
I gathered as much information and knowledge as possible in Sales and Negociation as I had no experience in those topics.
Whenever I felt I knew the content of a course, I focused on its structure, the way it was delivered and related it to what we learnt during JCI Trainer.
Day after day, lunch after lunch, night after night, the amount of likeminded people I met grew very fast and I really felt comfortable in the middle of 1200 JCI members attending the conference.
When the training were full, or if I arrived late I would visit some business exhibitions, watch the Debating competition, listen to keynote speakers... no time to get bored
The last afternoon was an opportunity to celebrate outstanding members and organisations before the formal Gala dinner.
No trophy for JCI Ireland this year but 7 winners, as we all got something from the conference!
I flew back from Denmark very early on Sunday morning, willing to apply what I learnt in Aarhus as soon as possible, run JCI projects better and grow personally.
I strongly encourage every member to attend a European conference. Why not next year in Tarragona?
 JCI Ireland at the German Party
 JCI Ireland with UK, Scotland & Malta
 JCI Ireland delegation
 JCI Dublin
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