YEPers meet in Zurich

09.10.2010 – YE's recruit like-minded youths

The first YEP meeting was awesome!!!! People started arriving at the meeting point in Zürich train station, track 12 at 10am. As time passed more and more people arrived until there was a total of 15 in all. All of them very excited about what the day had in store for them.

Simon Straetker, Michelle Nay, Tim Rohner and Florence Beffa were finally able to put a face to their friends on the YEP  internet community and were excited to get to work. They began with presentations about their experiences during the Pangaea YEP expeditions, the YEP selection camps and introduced Mike Horn, the Pangaea crew and the Pangaea boat to a group of interested and enthusiastic young adults.

After watching plenty of movies and some amazing conversations they had a break for lunch. Next they watched a spectacular movie showing the world's beauty and then began the Pangaea promotion.

Inspired by Lisa Mayer's idea to do a 'flash mob' (to assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse) the youths took the initiative to do exactly this in various places around Zurich train station. The public stood by, were a little confused, watched and took photos. The YE's action was succesful and the spectators got on their trains, or returned home or to the office, each with a Pangea flyer in their possession.

The Young Explorer's warmed up again with a coffee in a local cafe and finshed their day discussing ideas for an upcoming satellite project in South Africa. Unfortunately the day had to come to an end and the Young Explorers had to disperse and catch their trains back home so they bid each other farwell.

"This first YEP meeting was a great success. Zürich was just the beginning. Soon we will have more of these meetings all around Europe, or maybe even the world." says YEPer Simon Straetker.

* More pics and a film to be online soon.