Please find below the minutes of the European president’s meeting, held on Zoom on the 19th of July, 2023.
Topics discussed:
- Online seminars of the Skal Europe Academy.
- Skal Gramisch-Partenkirchen Workshop to increase Skal attractivity
- New Skal category Art and Culture to be installed quickly.
- Preparation for the Skal Europe AGA Nov. 4th. Positions to be covered, candidature process, election system, …
- Skal Europe Sustainability Awards
- Sponsoring. Skal Europe is run on zero budget and sponsoring. How to contribute on a voluntary basis.
Ad 1.
President Franz Heffeter reported about the last Skal Europe seminars and the excellent attendance. There were also good discussions, which shows the participants’ great interest. He invited the presidents to use the outcomes and to encourage even more Young Skal and Young Skal Professionals to participate in the next workshops. The dates will be announced on the Skal Europe website. He also reported that the Communication Committee of the Skal International Executive Board is also planning to hold such seminars and to follow the good practice of Skal Europe. President Franz congratulates and thanks the new Italian Skal President Tito Livio Mongelli for all his effort in creating such an interesting seminar program. Tito Livio will be affiliated with the next board representing the Skal Europe Academy
Ad 2.
Skal Garmisch Partenkirchen conducted an international meeting analysing the strengths and weaknesses in the clubs’ daily life given the situation of a hectic industry and busy entrepreneurs. Thanks to Anette Reimers for the excellent preparation and President Dennis Wrba for all his effort! Amazing results to be discussed were especially the opportunity of cooperation with local service clubs to reach target groups also outside of the core group of touristic enterprises, send invitations via Outlook to have the meeting dates automatically noted, special programmes for young people, Golf tournaments (see recent invitations distributed by Skal Europe) and others. There will come a detailed report by the organizers.
President Franziska Duering (Skal Munich) mentioned that many members are only interested in local activities and do not show any curiosity to use international websites or databases. The generation problem is also evident. Older club members out of business do not have contact to younger if the age gap is too big. Therefore, special guidance for the next generation is necessary.
Ad 3.
The New Skal category Art and Culture must be installed quickly. President Franz again refers to the need of involving new groups in membership. Art and culture are important drivers of the modern tourism business. The new category is already well defined but still must be confirmed by the Executive Committee. Skal Europe is pushing our contact personnel in the EC.
Ad 4.
At the AGA a new board must be elected. There will be 9 positions to be covered:
President
2 Vice-presidents
Communication and Social Media
IT and Technology
Secretary-General
Treasurer
2 more positions for special projects and development
From a European perspective, it would be advantageous to have board members from a wide geographical range of Europe. Also, the European directors in the new Governance Structure will be invited to become affiliated and will have the full support of the European team too.
There have been already some great and innovative Skalleagues who showed interest to join the new board and candidate. President Franz invites members to apply for the positions and to support the work of Skal Europe with their knowledge and motivation. The process of application and the election model will be the same as two years ago. An experienced former EC member will overlook the procedures and the elections. Details are to be announced soon.
Ad 5.
Paolo Bartolozzi reports on the current status of applications. He mentions that many European projects are listed as candidates for the international award on the Skal International website. He invites the clubs to check and contact those who have not applied for the European Sustainability Award to use the chance for a double application.
Ad 6.
Skal Europe is run on zero budget now. The awards, website, and meeting facilities for the AGA need sponsoring. President Franz asks the clubs for financial support according to their availabilities. The treasurer of Skal Austria Karl Baier has offered to escrow the incoming donations on the Skal Austria account and the boards of Skal Austria and Skal Europe have agreed. President Franz invites clubs and National Committees to support Skal Europe. He mentions that until now website and gifts (Skal Europe scarfs distributed at the World Congress in Croatia) were sponsored by Skal Italy, Skal Suisse, and the Erasmus+ organisation ALE – Arbeiten und Lernen in Europa which offers European Union Funds for international internships of students and apprentices.
For the necessary activities described above sponsoring on a broader level is necessary. The bank account for the donations is
IBAN: AT08 1200 0520 7890 9701
BIC: BKAUATWW
Please insert a reference note “Sponsoring Skal Europe”.
Miscellaneous
Participants were wondering about the hotel prices on the official congress website as they seem to be higher than on international booking platforms for the same period. Skal Europe will contact the organizers to check opportunities for discounting.
In the spirit of Skal, in friendship!
Dr Franz Heffeter
President
(Minutes kept by Franz Heffeter and Paolo Bartolozzi)
