Why a JCI Conference should be high on your list of “Things to do”

The JCI European Conference is an annual event which sees Jaycees from all over Europe (and the rest of the world) converge on an European destination for several days. 2012 was no different with the Conference being held in Braunschweig, Germany in June. Although I had heard of the legacy of JCI European Conferences from other Jaycees, my experience as a delegate surpassed all expectations. I was fond of JCI before, but after European Conference: I love JCI !

European Conference officially ran from 13th - 17th June 2012. However, it began two days earlier for me as I was a participant in the Official JCI Trainer course. Taking the course with international Jaycees and being trained by two of the best international JCI Trainers you are likely to come by (Marcel and Marju) was a phenomenal experience.

Although the international element did make the two day course that much more intense, it also made it that much more valuable as I got so much more learning out of it.

For the remainder of the Conference I had registered myself to tour a Jägermeister factory, attend a keynote speech by the CEO of Volkswagen Financial Services, attend separate workshops and seminars on personal branding, groupthink and business success factors, as well as squeeze in some time for sightseeing of Braunschweig via an Old-timer bus.
Quite a schedule but the Conference was not all work as play was definitely present with a phenomenal party each night. Whether it was the party following the Conference opening ceremony, the Alps Night, or the Nothing but Nets Charity Night, Jaycees let loose from the day's activities, mingled and partied up a storm, and then some!

In particular, the opening ceremony held on the evening of the 13th June stands out for me. Held in Volkswagen Halle - an indoor sporting arena whose arena has a capacity of 7,000 people and which is home to the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig basketball team - the opening ceremony can only be described as an extravaganza. For anyone looking to find the UK delegates, they were the lively group decked from head to toe in Union Jacks and animatedly waving a Union Jack!

In closing this blog post, I must agree with the guarantee stated on the JCI UK website about JCI Conferences: "once you've been to one, you'll want to go again." The 2012 JCI European Conference was fantastically organised, well-executed, packed with brilliant keynote speakers, workshops, seminars and training sessions, and professionally unparalleled to any other networking event I have previously attended. To add to this, I met some truly amazing Jaycees from all over the UK and Europe.

See you in Monte Carlo for the 2013 JCI European Conference!

Vassili