Thanks to all of you that came to Helsinki and made this years General Assembly unforgettable! The organizers had a great time, hope you did too!

See you in Matera!

- The OC

- there are towels and linen at the hotel
- there will be 4 people in every room, and the rooms will be divided randomly as to assert maximum mixing, however female and male mixing will be averted as much as possibly
- bring swimming trunks or bikinis if you wish to use them in the sauna
- please bring the partcipation fee in cash in the exact amount (subtracted the amount you have deposited in advance) as we will not have a large amount of change
- try to contact the others coming from your country (the sec will provide a list for you) as to prepare a presentation of your delegation. This is not supposed to be something serious, but something fun, i.e. a song or so! :) the aim is to present your country and yourself to the others.
- remeber to bring something typical for your country or region for the auction! the auction will be held on Sunday night and the funds aquired from it are used for the Solidarity Fund that supports participants in need of financial assistance for travelling to FEJS events.
- there is no smoking in the hotel rooms, if you violate that you will get a not so nice suprise in the form of a hefty fee, plus the sprinklers might wet you
- there is no reception in the hotel, you get a code that will be you key to the hotel and your -- room so keep it safe!

Other info about Helsinki
- remember that in Finland there is an age limit of 18 for light alcohol, and 21 for strong alcohol. You must have an ID on you when we go out, since pubs and bars may choose the age of entrance and thus you might be asked to proove your age
- the weather in November can be pretty cold and snowy! bring warm shoes as you will be walking around, a warm coat, a hat and gloves if you feel you will be cold in temperatures that can be as cold as -10 degrees
- the FEJS Finland or FEJS International v.z.w. is not in any way responsible for your travel or stay, so if you have valuables with you, think about maybe taking on a travel insurance. In case of emergencies you will get medical treatment, however different countries have different agreements with Finland, for example residents from an EU country with a valid EU medical card will not have a problem."A foreigner who is not a permanent resident of Helsinki must pay the actual cost of non-urgent hospital treatment" (http://www.infopankki.fi/en-gb/health_helsinki/)
- There are cash maschines all over the city, you will find them by looking for a orange sign saying "Otto". They are all owned by the same co-op, thus the fees for taking out money will only wary depending on your own bank
- Credit cards and debit cards such as Visa Electron or Maestro work in most shops and stores, using cash is actually quite uncommon, however when in bars or pubs you usually have to pay a small fee in cash for "narikka", a secure cloak hanger where you will be obliged to leave your outerwear


About the uni
- There are plenty of computers at the Swedish school of social sciences that you will be able to use, so no need to bring your laptop for the meeting unless you wish to
- We will try to provide as many as possible with codes for the internet, however we cannot promise that everybody will get their own code
- Unfortunately you cannot print with the codes you will be given because of security reasons, so please have everything that you will need in print with you. If needed, the OC can help you print stuff
- In the classrooms where we are there are beamers, a computer and internet connection. If you want to show stuff, have it on a USB or somewhere online.
- Since we are at the uni during off hours, the doors will be locked. When we go out for a smoke or so, make sure to never leave the door open for more than 10 seconds! If you do, there will be an expensive bill from the security company. Take Stef with you, she has a key to the school :)

The seven members of the Finnish organising committee are excited to welcome you to the capital of Finland – Helsinki – also referred to as the daughter of the Baltic Sea and the white pearl of the North.  Helsinki is a city of changing seasons, sea, parks and beautiful architecture.

During the three day long GA you will experience Finnish sauna, lectures and workshops at the University of Helsinki, meet new and old friends, eat traditional Finnish food and much much more!  And you don’t only experience one country, but two during this GA!

This year the topics include the administration of the organisation and the Annual Congress of 2011 that will be held in Matera, Italy. There will also be elections for the organisation and the Annual Congress of 2012.

The GA will begin on Thursday night on the 4th of November and end on Monday morning on the 8th of November.   

On Thursday we will have dinner and the delegations from the different countries present themselves. It is always fun if you plan something a bit special for the presentation of your country.

On Friday the real work begins. We start discussing the topics of the GA in the morning and continue in the afternoon. Helsingin Sanomat, which is the biggest newspaper in the North, will give us a tour in their facilities in the center at noon, and offer us lunch. In the evening there will be a dinner with traditional Finnish food, and we might be joined by some other students (still working on this).  Finland is usually referred to as a country of a thousand lakes, but could also be called a country of a thousand choirs. At the GA we get a little taste of this with a quartet-performance during dinner. After dinner the party goes on!

On Saturday work continues. In the evening you will experience traditional Finnish sauna, and have a pizza meal in the same facilities. And no worries, men and women go separately and you don’t have to be naked – you can wear a towel in the sauna.

Sunday, the last day of the GA, is when it gets really interesting, since we cross the Gulf of Finland and go to Finland’s south neighbor Estonia. We take a fast ferry to the Estonian capital of Tallinn – a beautiful medieval little town. We will give you a quick tour there, you can shop some souvenirs, and then we return to Helsinki. On the way to Tallinn we have a conference room where we can do the final voting on for example AC 2012 and other topics that have been discussed. In the evening, we have dinner and after that – party for the last time.

There will be breakfast on Monday, and there might be additional program during the day depending on how many that will stay in Helsinki for a bit longer. Please contact the OC if you’re interested in some touristic program on Monday!

IMPORTANT!: if you need a visa to come to Finland, please check if it’s valid also to go to another Schengen country, aka Estonia. If there are any problems regarding going to Estonia, please contact the OC asap!

To avoid having to miss the trip to Tallinn, the auction and the final party on Sunday night, please make sure to book a flight home on Monday!

How to get here

Cheap flights to Helsinki can be found among others from Air Baltic, ebookers.fi, Ryanair, Blue 1 and Wizz Air.  

Flying to Helsinki

When you get to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport the cheapest way to get to the centre is bus 615 to the Central Railway station. The journey takes about 35 minutes and normally leaves every 15 minutes with stops outside the terminals. (timetable: http://aikataulut.ytv.fi/linjat/en/s615.html) The tickets cost 4 euros and can be bought from the driver.

Another option is the slightly more expensive Finnair City bus, which operates every 20 minutes and costs 5,90 euros.  It also takes you to the Central Railway station. (timetable: http://www.finnair.com/)

Flying to Tampere

Note that Ryanair doesn’t fly to Helsinki, but to Tampere, which is about three hours away from the capital.  The easiest way to get to Helsinki is by train. From Tampere-Pirkkala airport, you have to take a bus to the center of Tampere and then continue from there by train.

Ryanair operates a bus by Tokeen Liikenne that transports Ryanair passengers from terminal 2 directly to the train station. It costs 6 euros and takes 35 minutes. (timetable: http://www.ryanair.com/fi)

Tampere Public Transport Bus number 61 operates between the airport and central Tampere. The journey takes about 40 minutes and costs 3,40 euros (timetable: http://joukkoliikenne.tampere.fi/en/home.html).  You should get off at the central square station – Keskustori – and walk to the train station from there (about 10 mins).

There is also an Airpro-bus which costs a bit more than the public ones – 6 euros – and takes half an hour (timetable:  http://www.airpro.fi/bus_schedules).

From the train station you can take the train to Helsinki. It costs about 30 euros and takes almost three hours. (timetables etc:  http://www.vr.fi/eng/)

Registration

Since there is no reception in the hotel, the registration, payment and check-in procedures for the hotel will be done in a bar in the Central Railway station. We will be welcoming you there between 3pm and 6pm – if you arrive later, email the OC on beforehand and we’ll figure it out. The bar – Pullman bar – is on the second floor of the station, in the East part of the building which is close to 615’s bus stop and the National Theatre. We will try to have someone from the OC on the bus stop guiding you to the right place.

Important:  you have to register with us before you go to the hotel, because you won’t get in there without the number codes that you get when you register.

 

Important locations

All of the locations of this GA are centrally located.

The hotel Omenahotelli is at Lönnrotinkatu 13 and you will sleep in rooms of four.

All the lectures will be held at the Swedish School of Social Science (Sockom)which is a part of the University of Helsinki.  Sockom is located at Snellmaninkatu 12(entrance from Yrjö-Koskisen katu). It will be a refreshing 20 minute walk from the hotel.

 

Swedish School of Social Sciences

Lastly, please do not hesitate to contact the Organisation Committee at gahelsinki(at)gmail.com or the Secretariat at secretariat(at)fejs.org if you have any questions regarding the event! 

See you soon folks!

- the OC

The deadline for applications to the General Assembly of FEJS has passed, so soon 40 lucky participants will get their participation confirmed via email. Unfortunately we could not accept everyone - many more applied than we have room for. If you aren't among the lucky ones - don't hesitate to apply for the Annual Congress in the spring anyway!

The Finnish Organising Comittée is working super hard on the preparations in order to give you the best GA-experience ever. We're five active organisers and everything is going smoothly and proceeding at a good pace. Just some details left to work out!

More detailed information on the GA, how to get to Helsinki, where we're staying and what we're doing will be posted here soon.

And we repeat this:

To avoid having to miss the trip to Tallin, the auction and the final party on Sunday night, please make sure to book a flight home on Monday!

There will be breakfast on Monday, and there might be additional program during the day depending on how many that will stay in Helsinki for a bit longer.

Don't hesitate to contact us if there's anything you need!

See you soon!!

//the OC

If you participate in this years GA, you will not only see one new country –
but two!

On Sunday we will take a ferry to visit the beautiful old medieval city of Tallin, the capital of Estonia. The two cities lie opposite each other on both sides of the Gulf of Finland and during the journey across, that takes approximately two hours, we will discuss the future of the FEJS. Will it be Austria that will hold the Annual Congress in 2012, or will it be Romania? What will happen at the Annual Congress in Matera, Italy, next spring? All of the above will be discussed during the GA!

To avoid having to miss the trip to Tallin, the auction and the final party on Sunday night, please make sure to book a flight home on Monday!

There will be breakfast on Monday, and there might be additional program during the day depending on how many that will stay in Helsinki for a bit longer.

Please email us if you have any questions regarding the arrangements!

See you soon!

- The OC

The FEJS International v.z.w. is proud to invite you to the General Assembly of 2010 that will be held in Helsinki, Finland. During the event young journalists from all over Europe will convene to discuss the future of European journalism and of the organisation.

The event is aimed at European students of journalism, media and communication, and especially people that have attended at least one of the annually arranged FEJS congresses. The purpose of the FEJS is to create a network for young journalists, educate journalists, spread knowledge of the different european cultures and give the participants both personal experience and professional experience. This year the organisation celebrates its 25th anniversary.

During the 3-day event you will experience finnish sauna, lectures and workshops at the University of Helsinki, meet new and old friends, eat traditional finnish food and much much more! This year the topics include the administration of the organisation and the Annual Congress of 2011 that will be held in Matera, Italy. There will also be elections for the organisation and the Annual Congress of 2012.

The GA will begin on Thursday night on the 4th of November and end on Monday morning on the 8th of November. The participation fee of 135€ covers food and lodging. There will be an advance payment of 35€ that must be paid on time in order to secure your place, this does not affect students that have to apply for Visa.

Cheap flights to Helsinki can be found among others from Air Baltic, ebookers.fi, Ryanair and Wizz Air. Please do not hesitate to contact the Organisation Committee at gahelsinki(at)gmail.com or the Secretariat at secretariat(at)fejs.org if you have any questions regarding the event!

The application form will be up soon on fejs.org!

We are eager to see you in November!

FEJS International v.z.w. in cooperation with FEJS Finland