What does your year look like?
A board year at the Batavierenrace is a year in which you and a team of students work towards one big goal: putting on your own edition of the Bata. You do this full-time or part-time, from Nijmegen and Enschede.
1. Getting started together
You start the year with a kick-off, the handover from the previous OC and lots of getting to know people. You get to know your board, talk to former OC members and the standing committees, and discover how big the Bata really is behind the scenes.
In this phase you make your first plans. What do you want to keep? What could be better? And where do you as an OC want to leave your own mark?
2. Taking on your own position
After the start-up, everyone increasingly gets to work on their own set of tasks. One person deals with route and safety, another with facilities, finances, sponsors, media, participants or the overall coordination.
So you have your own responsibility, but you organise the whole Batavierenrace together with the rest of the OC.
3. Lots of special contacts
During the year you are in contact with all kinds of parties that are needed to make the race possible. Think of municipalities, universities, sponsors, suppliers, police, fire brigade, first aid, volunteers and participants.
You regularly sit down with professionals, administrators and organisations you would not normally get in touch with that easily. This way you quickly learn what it is like to make agreements on behalf of a large organisation.
4. Not starting from scratch
Fortunately, you don't have to figure it all out yourself. The Batavierenrace has been around for years, so there are scripts, evaluations and schedules ready for you.
On top of that, you get support from former OC members, standing committees, the Foundation Board and experienced volunteers. So there is a lot of knowledge available, but you decide for yourselves what your edition will look like.
5. Nijmegen and Enschede
The Batavierenrace connects Nijmegen and Enschede, and as an OC member you notice that all year round. You hold meetings in both locations, work together with OC members from both cities and effectively get to know a second student city.
New places, new people, new associations and a network in two cities: that is what makes a Bata year extra special.
6. The race weekend
During the race weekend everything comes together: the start in Nijmegen, the route through the night, the restarts, the finish in Enschede and the Batavierenfeest.
It is busy, intense and sometimes chaotic, but above all incredibly cool. You see thousands of students take part in an event that you put on together with your board.
7. More than just organising
Besides the hard work, there is plenty of time for fun things too. Think of drinks, CoBos, galas, dinners, weekends away, activities with former OC members and volunteering at other events.
So a board year at the Bata is not only a year in which you learn a lot, but also a year full of new people, great stories and moments you won't soon forget.
