21st Assembly of Delegates in Venice

Opening & Welcome
The 21st tekom Europe assembly of delegates took place as a hybrid event on June 14 in Venice. The 18 participants who attended on site met on the premises of the University of Venice; seven delegates participated online via zoom. Among the on-site participants were delegates and board members from Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, Israel, Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium, and Italy.
Tiziana Sicilia, the president of tekom Europe, opened the assembly and welcomed the guests, who were admitted by the delegates and the executive board. After the opening and the welcome, Magali Baumgartner, the deputy chairperson, gave a short activity report from the executive board. The main topics of her presentation were the goals of tekom Europe, finances, incentives for members, support for the country organizations, and the different advisory boards. 

Financial Updates
The next topic on the agenda was the financial updates: the presentation of the cash audit and the approval of the budget for 2022. Gary Manders, the treasurer of tekom Europe, presented the results of 2021 and proposed a budget for the year 2022. The cash audit was presented by Ezriel Yellin, the cash auditor; all documents were complete and no faults were detected during the cash audit. 

Advisory Boards 
Another important item on the agenda was the proposal to move the standard committee to the European level. A cooperation between tekom Deutschland and tekom Europe on this topic would bring several advantages: for example, to facilitate and bundle the capacities and competences of tekom's experts, to advance networking at the expert level, and to improve lobbying in Brussels, to name just a few. In order to move this proposal forward more quickly, a new body was formed, which the delegates decided on by a vote. The (Standardization) Coordinating Committee ((S)CC), consisting of four members, one from tekom Deutschland, one from tekom Europe, and two tekom staff members, will coordinate the cooperation involving the standard committee. 
Reports on the different advisory boards were also given during the assembly. The standard committee reported on several topics concerning lobbying and standardization and also called for new experts, especially in the field of medical devices and terminology and language. Daniela Straub, who is responsible for training and certification at tekom, presented for the education and training committee. She reported on several IUNTC (International University Network in Technical Writing) meetings and presentations in 2021 and 2022 and presented the upcoming meetings and topics. Further topics involved the working groups Young Professionals & Students, and the competence framework for technical communication.  
Some delegates reported on their country organization events. Most of these were held virtually; however, in most of the countries, audience commitment to join the online events is strong. The country organizations are slowly coming back to organize on-site events again and are looking forward to meeting up in person after this long Covid break. 

Afternoon Workshop: We are tekom
After lunch with a beautiful view, located at the waterfront, the afternoon workshop on Mission and Vision started, led by Isabelle Fleury. After a short introduction, the group was split into smaller groups to discuss several topics: a platform for global conversations, tekom Europe becoming the number 1 information source for knowledge on info management, and educational resources for career development. The objective of the workshop was to help the country organizations to translate tekom’s mission and vision into local goals and to discuss what the COs need to support their local community. 
After the workshop, the official part of the assembly was finished, and the attendees had some time for sightseeing or relaxing before closing the day at a joint dinner. All in all, it was a successful day, with lively conversations, exchanges, new ideas and the pleasure of participating in an on-site event again.

A heartfelt “thank you” to all delegates and members of the initiative committees for their dedication to technical communication and their volunteer work within tekom Europe. The next assembly of delegates will take place in November 2022.