The new “normal” – our first live event in 2021
Our recruiter, Viktoria Panicharova, was super excited to participate in the first live event for HE Space this year. She travelled from Noordwijk to Lille to participate in “SG [France] 2021 – When Space comes to you” on 3 July with about 100 participants at the Cité Scientifique. “SG[France] 2021” is part of a series of events organised by SGAC (Space Generation Advisory Council). The SG[…] events happen in different countries to target as many space enthusiasts worldwide as possible.
Of course she prepared well, researching the COVID-19 rules and regulations in France. Thankfully, our Business Developer in Toulouse, Ben Kawak could keep Viktoria updated. We all kept our fingers crossed that something wouldn’t come up to cancel the plan. It felt almost weird to dig out our banner and promotional goodies after such a long absence.
HE Space has been keeping in contact with students and young professionals online but getting in direct contact gave a real buzz. Meeting people and helping them in their space career is in our DNA.
Viktoria: “The event was a huge success. It felt like no time has passed and everyone was eager to discuss ideas and make meaningful connections. Only keeping a distance and wearing masks was reminding us that it was 2021.”
The program started with inspirational speeches among which were the ESA director of TIA, Elodie Viau and former ESA DG, Jean-Jacques Dordain. Attendees could choose then between 4 round tables varying from Satellites for Climate Change to Future of the International Space Station.
Viktoria attended the Round Table discussion about the “Non-space sector’s collaboration with lunar exploration”. Although she is not an expert on the topic the participants were interested to hear her views. She thought it a very collaborative and inclusive environment.
Tania Gres, one of the organisers, commented: “We've had some cool feedback concerning HE Space and Viktoria. Some people told me they've had very great conversations with her, it was super cool to have you! Look out for SGAC activities and events on https://spacegeneration.org/”