Mr Tauber, how many teachers and students directly contributed to organising Christmas in Europe?
Six people were directly involved in the event – they directed all the activities relating to the organisation. But as you can imagine, a lot of students and teachers were also involved.
What difficulties did you encounter?
To start with, several delegations failed to confirm their participation, and an Italian delegation cancelled two days before the event. In addition, several delegations have not yet paid their registration fee, and others have not paid the board and lodging cost of their extra participant. I should add that for the inaugural parade, the city authorities had given their authorisation for two different events at the same times, which had obliged us to change the route of the parade. And a final problem involved the demands of certain delegations about the allocation of individual bedrooms.
What was the final budget for Christmas in Europe?
It was around €18,000, but our sponsors provided the meat and dairy products.
What did you expect from Christmas in Europe when you organised it a second time, after the first time in 2001?
We were all very honoured when our school was chosen to organise Christmas in Europe this year. My intention was to promote not only the School, but also our region and Poland as a whole.
You are also lined up to organise the AEHT Annual Conference in 2011. Organising this conference is even more onerous than organising Christmas in Europe. How do you plan to go about this?
I think that I will be able to do it through my contacts with the Poznan International Fair, using their grounds and their halls to organise the event.
One last question: now that Christmas in Europe 2009 is over, are you happy with the way it went? Has there been any coverage in the media which is useful for your school?
Yes, I’m very happy with the way Christmas in Europe went in Poznan. Everything went well. I hope that the participants went away happy, with lots of good memories, and that they’ll be glad to come back to our city in 2011 for the Annual Conference. And then yes, of course, there have been articles in various newspapers, as well as a television report.
