Page 19 - ERASMUS

CASE STUDIES
19
31ST EGOS 2015
Event ID: A 6-day forum for the members of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) Title: “Organizations and the Examined Life: Reason, Reflexivity and Responsibility”
Dates: 29 June-5 July 2015
Location: Athens (The American College of Greece Campus)
Number of participants: 2.300
02.
The challenge!! To seamlessly carry out a gala dinner for 2.000 people in a city-centre venue on the eve of the Greek 2015 referendum.
The solution!! Careful execution of the plan, excellent on-site coordination, diligent attendance to last-minute traffic re-arrangements and a confident and smiling attitude which reassured guests that they would enjoy the evening as originally anticipated! The gala dinner had been scheduled to take place in the National Stadium.
On the same evening, a public demonstration was organized in the Panathenaic Stadium (just across the street) with thousands of participants demonstrating in favour of voting YES to the referendum. Less than 1km away, in Syntagma Square, there was a counterdemonstration of those in favour of a NO vote. In the middle of the two demonstrations, the experienced team of Erasmus ensured that the event was organized seamlessly and according to plan. Apart from the dinner challenge, Erasmus also had to handle a situation of uncertainty among foreign participants, when a few days before the opening of the event the capital controls were announced in Greece. Thanks to proactive and open communication with the delegates, everything ran in order. At the end of the Meeting we were proud to receive the following words from the Executive Secretariat of EGOS:
Their [Erasmus’] solution-oriented approach and their immediate grasp of the specific needs for large academic meetings can be attested to the fact that any arising challenges were overcome quickly and to our complete satisfaction. [...]. I have no hesitation in recommending ERASMUS wholeheartedly and unreservedly to any institution searching for a professional, goal-oriented and efficient PCO.