I love techno: fête d'une foule folle de la musique électronique

la foule dansante:
 I Love Techno a attiré 35.000 spectateurs

Samedi passé, des trains quelques peu particuliers sont arrivés à la jolie petite gare de Gand en Flandre: ils étaient chargés d’une foule de party people assis partout dans les couloirs, couverts de couleurs fluos, des gobelets de vodka dans les mains. Le genre de gens que les vieilles dames appellent « ces jeunes d'aujourd'hui » en secouant leur tête avec dénigrement et les sourcils froncés. D'autant plus surprenant que cette foule festive n'était pas composée principalement de jeunes rebels, mais d'étudiants sages, de jeunes salariés, de stagiaires européens…et tous n'avaient qu'une passion en tête: la passion de la techno.

Pour son seizième anniversaire, le festival I Love Techno a attiré 35.000 spectateurs à la Flanders Expo de Gand. Plus de 20 DJs connus sur la scène électronique internationale ont fait trépider les cinq énormes salles pendant une nuit entière, de neuf heures du soir jusqu'à six heures du matin.

A la gare de Gand, la foule folle était 'squeezée' dans les "Pendeltrams" qui l'ont amenée au festival. Cela n'aurait pas été tout à fait la Belgique si un tram n'était pas tombé en panne au milieu de la route entraînant un énorme embouteillage de Pendeltrams. Cela n'a pas dérangé la foule qui ne s'est pas arrêtée là et a continué le voyage à pied comme déjà entraînée par les rythmes électroniques.

“My guys are great - all four of them!” says Deborah Walker, the General Coordinator of the new Stage Committee, about her team

What does Deborah (26) - Scottish graduate of Edinburgh Napier University in Business Entrepreneurship, decent kick boxer and lover of dancing, motorbikes and scooters - think about her new fellows and why does she refuse to label trainees of this term stage miserable? She talked about the new Stage Committee and her plans for it.


The Stage Committee seems to be a nice place to meet many trainees and all of them will get to know you very soon. But why did you decide to run for a position there, did you have any specific intentions?
I love challenges, and I knew this would be one. I also like meeting a lot of different people, and this position definitely allows you to do that. I’m usually ridiculously organized and I knew this would be a skill I could use as general coordinator. More than any other stage position, the general coordinator requires efficient, timely and accurate problem solving skills and using these skills both excites me and allows me to do something I’m good at. Plus, who wouldn't want to be on call 20 hours a day, 7 days a week for 650 trainees!?!

Annemarie Bruggink: “Go for work, go for contacts. And if it does not work, come and see us!”

Annemarie Bruggink has been the head of the Traineeship Office for six years. Even if she loves the program - unfortunately, she has never had an opportunity to become a trainee herself. However, she has been working for the Commission already during her last year of university. She started in the Commission in 1977, first in Translation, later in Operational Services where she managed the Citizenship Program. She greeted you all on your first day at the Commission and now she will tell us also some snippets of what she sees from her office at 24th floor at MADO.

Photo by Greg Smith

Stage Echoes: The European Commission Traineeship program is generally perceived as a prestigious type of internship. Thousands of young people apply every year to get this opportunity. But what are the main objectives from the side of the Commission?

Bruggink: I believe it is always useful to give a real historical overview. The aim of the Traineeship Program is to give an opportunity to young university graduates to learn about how Europe works. Either they decide to stay or not, all of them have a very concrete experience. This very idea already started in 1960, so right after institutions have been created. The first scheme started with three trainees, which, compared to the total number of staff, was already quite important. This basic idea of introducing people to things that we are doing and why we are doing them is still there. The program has expanded over years and since the mid-90s we have had about 600 trainees twice a year. Also, the number of applicants has increased, since in the mid-90s there was increase from four to six thousand applications per period. Now, due to the crisis, there are about ten thousands of them for each period.