Big news (which you probably have heard already):
JCI European Conference 2024 will happen in Oulu, Finland!
JCI EC 2024 will be the northernmost European Conference ever. Think of pure nature and white summer nights combined with cuttingedge technology, exciting culture and relaxed city vibes. How did we end up with this awesome situation? With the help of few precious Jaycees (<3) Oulu’s two chambers, JCI Oulu and JCI Oulun Tervaporvarien (or Tar Valley Jaycee), were provided a chance to bid for the right to host European Conference. And we decided to make the most of this exciting opportunity to bring, for the first time ever, this huge JCI event to Northern Finland.
Within the next few months our team prepared preliminary plans, budget and a solid bid book and our bid to host EC 2024 was delivered on 1st of December 2021. We had a pleasure to welcome Secretary General Kevin Hinn & Senior Event Manager Mariana Arce in Oulu in March 2022. Site inspection went extremely well and both our visitors were impressed by the hospitality and warm welcome by JCI Finland, Region D and JCI Oulu & JCI Oulun Tervaporvarien. Last June was the last step in our bidding process in JCI EC 2022 Bruges, Belgium: Hosting a cocktail event for Europe’s National Presidents and bid presentation in conference assembly. What a thrilling moment it was to receive standing ovations when Europe’s National Presidents voted in our favour.
So now it is official – We will organise European Conference in Oulu 12th-15th of June 2024. Mark your calendars because you do not want to miss this! Our aim is to organise a first-class event with 1500+ jaycees from a broad range of countries in Europe and globally. City of Oulu’s slogan is ”A higher grade of living”. We want to explore how we can enable leaders to achieve sustainable, higher grade of living combining themes such as nature, well-being, culture and technology.
With this conference we aim to bring up the competence and excellence in Finland, Oulu, JCI Finland and Oulu’s two chambers. This project will give a unique opportunity to build networks across Europe and the whole world. Organising an event of this scale will also be a perfect learning platform for anyone interested in event production, marketing, partnerships, sales, logistics etc. What’s next for EC-team? Something big! We are looking forward to host a national night in JCI EC 2023 Bucharest, Romania. Are you planning to join the conference? Would you like to participate in Finland night? Join our team and let’s create an unforgettable evening for European Jaycees!
MEET THE CONFERENCE ORGANISING COMMITTEE (COC)
Partnerships team
Our goal is to involve local companies from Oulu and Finland to introduce and highlight Finnish innovations and business life to the large international JayCee audience. Many great innovations making our everyday lives better originate from Finland. Now it’s our opportunity to make them known across whole Europe. Partnerships team is utilising CRM tool for lead management to follow-up the sales progress. We already made our first large-scale partnership deal during the bidding process and since we have secured the right to organise the conference it is time to make more deals! Our team has created compelling partner packages which are currently being discussed with selected potential partner companies.
Finance team
Most important achievement for finance team at this point is the budget. Next very important matter is planning the registration process and especially the currency of the registration fee. JCI Head Quarter ofcourse would like us to use USD whereas our priority is to use EUR in registration fees. This is one example where we can negotiate and create a solution for minimizing our financial risks. EC 2024 will be the biggest JCI event in Finland for many years! This will be a good change for the finance oriented persons to be important members of this amazing team. We use online accounting and financial management software for this project so this is an opportunity to increase your financial management skills and be familiar with an (another) accounting platform
Venues and logistics
The Venues and Logistics team did a lot of preparation work last spring, and the work continues now! We are currently negotiating with the HQ hotel about the details of our contract, and are aiming to finalize it as soon as possible. The venue for Gala and the Opening Ceremony has been booked already during spring, and now we are planning venues for other events such as trainings, keynotes and the trade show. Logistics work will start soon and we already have some great ideas!
Marketing
Marketing team is ready to fully jump into EC-adventure this autumn. Hot topics are creating engaging visual concept of the conference and logo, updates on the appearance of partnership packages as well as adding details to marketing strategy. On top of that we are planning internal marketing for recruiting team members! Are you interested or experienced in social media, marketing, graphic design? Or maybe you know some other language than Finnish or English and want to practice it, this is the opportunity you don’t want to miss, because we are establishing the team of country managers!
Keynotes and trainings team
The team’s area of responsibility is the organization of EC keynote speeches and trainings, including official JCI trainings. Trade shows, public speaking competition and debate competitions are also part of the team’s responsibilities. The team will be supplemented with manager positions. In addition, we are looking for partners, especially related to the tradeshow, keynotes and trainings. We are more than willing to hear about your ideas and tips concerning trainings, keynote topics and speakers! Themain themes are well-being, nature, culture and technology. If you or someone you know would have competence and desire to train on topics related to the themes (either in English or French) please contact Anna or Kirsi!
Events and side program
We are the team whose accomplishments leave no one cold! Our team is responsible for the Gala, opening ceremony, national nights, pre and after tours, company visits and other side events. In other words, we make sure that everyone has fun during this wild experience in the EC Oulu. Our task is to leave a long-lasting imprint of Finland and Oulu on people’s hearts. If you have an idea for a cool event, don’t hesitate to let us know! We are currently looking for a company visit manager and we accept open applications too. Recruit yourself to our team and you can make the Finnish JCI dream come true.
Text: Satu Kontio
