Saturday 20th of October, Zaventem. Waiting for our flight to Reggio Di Calabria, Katrien (VP Marketing ELSA Belgium) and I, Jean-Marc (President ELSA Belgium) are reading true our 150 pages long working materials for the next week. We, together with 7 other Belgian delegates, and 250 other students from all over Europe are going to the best students event ever created: the ELSA international Council meeting. Every motivated student within ELSA can apply to join a delegation to an ICM.
After an nice flight, and thank god our luggage arrived, we are picked up by the OC to go to our hotel. A nice pizza, a first short night, and a roommate who arrived at two o’clock later, we are Sunday morning. We travel by bus to the spa hotel where we will stay the whole week. All accommodations you can dream off are available. Big duplex rooms, swimming pool, bath, only two persons a room, much space for room parties and a lot of friends, shortly a dream resort for a dream ICM.
The opening plenary is our first challenge of this week and during this session the Belgian delegation is that active that we get a delegation member in the Nominations Committee. We approve the agenda, listen to speakers and after this opening we go to our first workshops and in the Marketing workshop ELSA Belgium had their only workshop officer at this ICM, as vice-chair Katrien Willems.
After this workshop we finally get our first openings dinner and some old friends arrive, and the first national drinks are served at secret rooms parties. About Italian food during the week we can be shortly: it was delicious.
Monday, only the second day and already some people are missing, too tired to leaf their beds?, but we start discussing things would could change the ELSA world and as real diplomats sometimes we go to smaller working groups to find solutions to problems who are as old as students associations are.
ELSA Belgium stayed active and in the afternoon the President replaced the International Board during the presentations of the market research to the treasurers. The evening came even faster than you can say “In Reggio di Calabria it only rains during ELSA Events” but unfortunately the busses where stuck in a traffic jam due to really bad weather during the week of the ICM. So we waited a very long time to go to the Pizeria but thank god they were really good. Every eaten pizza with Belgian frites? Well it taste delicious.
Tuesday and also this afternoon we will have a heavy plenary. But first we discus budgets, expelling countries, and other financial stuff. After the plenary, with election of the new Vice President Academic Activities Astrid Sollie Skårdalsmo, we go to the sponsors fair with the presentations of the sponsors and presentation of some ELSA gadgets like ELSA Swiss knifes, magical ELSA cups and ELSA bags. After a spectacular meal we have a fantastic red passion party with too much dancing and too much alcohol. Important! Watch out for Maltese people at ICM’s!
On Wednesday not only working is scheduled but also some academic lectures about the WIPO and intellectual Property. Because after all, we are students and we have to learn, don’t we?
On Thursday we had in the afternoon the always present sightseeing during an ICM. A visit to the museum, some shopping in the rain where the only possibilities, with a weather worse than the Belgian Drash National. Due to extreme rain we lost two members of the Belgian Delegation who were found after two hours in the wrong hotel, totally soaked.
Also inevitable is the famous gala ball, fancy dresses for the girls, smart costumes for the guys, lots of food and a wonderful cake to end is the best combination for a fantastic gala ball.
On Friday we had some academic lectures about the law of the sea, isn’t Italy almost an island? A heavy last party with the ELSAVisionContest, the only real song contest with wonderful Lederhosen dancing, sexy Maltese singers, and the reunification of ELSA Tsjech and ELSA Slovakia.
Saturday we ended our week with the final plenary. ELSA Belgium was one more time active and made his statements to the plenary, all workshop officers got some Belgian chocolats, isn’t the ELSA House in Belgium? After a 5 hours long session, the appointment of some new hosts for IPM’s and ICM’s we went back to the hotel for a last not scheduled pool party.
About Sunday we can be shortly, ALITALIA is the worse airline in the world!

Jean-Marc Lauwers, President ELSA Belgium