1. Supporting the Programme

2. Role of the Support Office
Coordinate marketing and promotion
Provide guidance and support to EPs/IOs
Coordination and animation/networking among IOs
Operation of the central website
Organisation of Network Meetings in Brussels
Development of online training material
Reporting and monitoring progress

3. Marketing and promotion
The SO provides you with:
Promotional & communication material – leaflets, posters, letter/fax/PPT templates, etc…
Media kits – press release template, fact sheet, press dossier, tips & tricks for dealing with press, etc…
List of the promotional material and advice on how to use it will be provided during the session focusing on promotion this afternoon..

4. Guidance and assistance
Helpdesk:
You can contact us by phone or by if:
you cannot find the necessary information in the Quality Manual or in the FAQ in the intranet;
your EP coordinator cannot help/advise you;
you have a problem with the IT management tool;
you have a problem with the intranet;
you are not sure about the eligibility of an NE or HE; ….
Phone: +32 (0) ) /
If the query concerns technical issues linked to the IT tool, rules of the programme or contractual aspects, it is forwarded to the EC.
The same question asked at least 5 times is included in the section “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) on the intranet if it concerns the IOs and in the FAQ on the public website if it concerns entrepreneurs.
The most important questions are also mentioned in the monthly e-newsletter launched in May 2010.

5. Guidance and assistance
Guidance material
Key documents:
Quality manual;
IT user manual;
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Commitment;
Agreement for financial assistance;
Feedback questionnaires.
All useful documents for the implementation of the programme are available on the intranet, section “Document library”.
ECH has developed a wide range of guidance material to support your activities and ensure coherence and consistency
The following 5 documents are available on the intranet and should be thoroughly and carefully read :
Quality manual: the most important document that you need to refer to. It is a central source of information for IOs on policies and procedures which support the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme.
IT user manual: it guides you through the various functionalities of the IT Management Tool. You can find in the section “Help” of the IT Management Tool;
Commitment: The commitment is an online document, available in the IT Management Tool, which is binding for the four parties involved in an exchange (NE/HE/HIO/NIO). It sets out the objectives of the exchange, the planning of activities, the expected outcome(s), and the planned financial assistance for the NE. The drafting of the commitment starts at the “Draft” status of any relationship in the IT Management Tool and is done by the NIO. The commitment is progressively updated each time a step is successful reached by the requested actor. The commitment is available when opening a relationship in the section “Print commitment”.
Agreement for financial assistance: It is an agreement between the NIO and the NE, which sets the modalities of the financial assistance. This written document can be adapted to each exchange and has to be presented, explained and signed by the NEs before his/her stay abroad, ideally during the preparation of the relationship and at the latest during the induction course.
Feedback questionnaires: The NEs and HEs, who have accomplished an exchange, are requested to provide some feedback about the activities carried out, the skills and knowledge acquired and what both have learned for the development of their respective business. The final activity report is an online questionnaire automatically sent out to both NEs and HEs after completion of their exchange. Based on this document, the NIO and the HIO can evaluate if the relationship was successful or not.

6. Guidance and assistance
Communication channels used: s;
Intranet;
E-newsletter;
Network meetings.
With such a large network, the SO relies heavily on a written communication. The main channels between the SO and the IOs are:
s are used to inform all IOs about a specific activity such as the promotional campaigns;
Intranet: news, FAQs and documents are regularly published on the intranet. Questions and information are posted in the forum. IOs received this “weekly digest” every Thursday morning summarizing the latest information uploaded on the intranet.
E-newsletter: The newsletter is monthly and in English. It informs the IOs about the latest developments regarding the programme, presents good practices and the success story of the month and refreshes the memories about some key aspects of the programme. All e-newsletters can be found in the intranet under the section “Press and Communications”.
Network meetings: important platforms for networking, training and be informed about the latest developments regarding the programme.

7. Operation of the central website
Public website
Your local contact point – all contacts
The support office operates the public website and is responsible for its content. The SO ensures that the contact information in the section “Your local point” are up-to-date. Please do inform us in case of any change of the contact information.

8. Operation of the central website
Members only section = intranet
You can access the intranet from the public website. You can recover your password from this site. The password might be the same as for the IT management tool but it is not the rule. The NEs/HEs can access the IT management tool from this page as well – by clicking on the link “online catalogue” at the bottom of the page.

9. The intranet will be presented on Friday at 9h15 during the IT management tool training.

10. Monitoring Qualitative monitoring: EP quarterly activity reports
The support office provided you with the template for the quarterly activity report, the guidelines on how to write the report and reminds you via the intranet to send it in time to the SO.
The SO writes a summary report and submits it together with all the EP reports to the European Commission.
Quantitative monitoring: IT Management Tool
Monitoring of applications once a month
EP quarterly activity reports
The deadlines for submission are available in the quality manual. The template and the guidelines are available via intranet.
These reports are used to monitor every three months the state of play in each consortium as regards the implementation of their activities, the difficulties encountered and the measures that had been taken to overcome them.
These reports are submitted by to ECH and then forwarded to the EC accompanied by a summary report drafted by ECH.
Quantitative monitoring
The monitoring of applications is performed in general once a month. It consists of checking that the IOs respect the processing times set up in the Quality Manual for the “Applied” and “On hold” status . An is then sent to the lead IOs having project partners who do not comply with the processing rules, and explanations and corrective actions were requested.
A more in depth monitoring procedure is being developed and will be active this year.

11. Transfer of the SO activities
In March/April, EUROCHAMBRES will hand-over the SO activities to First Elements Euroconsultants.
The new contact number for the SO will be (exact transfer date to new number will be announced)

12. Additional – New SO Activities
After transfer of SO, First Elements Euroconsultants Ltd will also take over moderation of the EYE social networks (facebook, linkedin, twitter)

13. Presentation of New SO Team
Project Director: Pantelis Dimitriou
Project Manager: Marilena Ioannidou
Project Officer (responsible for day to day project administration): Vassiliki Savvopoulou

14. Thank you for your attention!
Feel free to contact us at:
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Support Office
Tel: (until March)
New tel: