Blog by 2015 IPP Ben Hawley 

JCI UK Delegation

Istanbul was my third JCI European Conference. It's a magnificent city, spanning both Europe and Asia and for a few days at the start of June, it hosted over 1,000 members of JCI from more than 30 countries from across Europe.

A JCI International Conference is completely different from any other event JCI runs. They offer a great way to meet members from all over the organisation and share ideas, best practices, and a drink or two.

The training offered in Istanbul was great, with sessions running from Japan for Beginners to The Power of Positive Coaching. There was the opportunity to catch up with all the official JCI courses such as Admin and Impact as well.

There were some great key note speeches during the conference as well, with a fantastic one on Women Empowerment and the conference also held the first JCI Regional Partnership Summit on Youth Unemployment which came up with some great ideas that will hopefully be put into practice.

Of course, there was time to relax as well. Along with the opening ceremony, there was also a James Bond themed night hosted by JCI Finland. On the Thursday evening, the UK delegation joined with Scotland, Malta and Ireland for a private party in a fantastic rooftop bar with views over the city.

The final night was the closing ceremony and awards, and it really was JCI UK's night. Overall, the UK took 6 of the 14 main awards, plus a Gold award from Nothing but Nets for raising over $10,000.

It was a great week in a wonderful city.

If you've never been to a European Conference before, I would strongly recommend you go. Next years will be hosted by JCI Finland and registration is already open.