IECOB

I have been working at the institute for 6 years and I can still perfectly recall my first working day here: it was July 12, 2023 and I was going to start a 3-month internship collaborating to the organization of the XII International Summer School of Cervia. What affected me the most was that I was never treated like a simple intern, as since that very first day I was involved in all activities as a full staff member instead. Also according to other interns that in the past 6 years joined us at IECOB that’s what distinguishes an internship experience at the institute from similar experiences somewhere else.

Like many others before and after me, after a successful internship I had the opportunity to be fully employed at the institute and I took on different duties and responsibilities over time. Among these, becoming coordinator of the Portal PECOB after being an editor for some time was the most challenging task I had to tackle: supporting the Scientific Committee and coordinating the editorial staff, setting rules for external contributors as well as dealing with dozens of different contributions every day was demanding. It had been sometimes difficult to meet all commitments and promises, mostly with regard to PECOB publications, but I think as a team we all did a very great job.

Getting the position of Book Review Assistant at Southeastern Europe had been exciting and stimulating at the same time: developing the journal together with a new publisher, structuring the section and managing the publication process while getting acquainted with new international standards and publishing systems was indeed a great opportunity for professional growth. And I feel very lucky I could grow up in a young but well-experienced international group.

Keeping responsibility for the institute’s external relations has never represented a hard work to me: being strongly interested in communication, I considered it vital to keep everyone interested in our institute regularly updated with regard to our activities. And I did my best efforts to always give prompt replies to any kind of question, even when the answer was unknown to me because I firmly believe the essence of a good communication process lays in making people feel you are there and will do your best to get to a definite reply or a proper solution to their request, no matter what it is about. This does not mean becoming complacent, but rather building trustful relations that can continue over time.

Now that I am resigning from my job at the institute to take on new responsibilities at the University of Bologna – Rimini Campus I fully realize that I built a lot in terms of both professional and human capital in the past years. That was possible thanks to all the people I have worked with, collaborated with and met (also virtually, through email exchanges or e-meetings) while being employed at IECOB, my colleagues in the first row. These words are meant to be my special thanks and a personal goodbye to you all, a way to briefly resume what working at the institute meant to me while looking forward to new challenges and opportunities for personal growth.

Good bye everyone, colleagues and friends, professors and students, collaborators and contributors.

Aurora Domeniconi

University of Bologna