Digitization

2018 does not only mark the digitization, but also the 25th anniversary of the Aenorm. This provides a nice opportunity to look back at a brief history of our magazine. The very first edition was issued in October 1993, which also marked the 30th anniversary of the VSAE. It started off rather informal, with a lot of comical elements.  For example, there would be an article about frustrations of econometric students and a horoscope. Many other included articles such as interviews, reports on various relevant events and puzzles still form a large part of current editions

In April 2000, the first edition of the new millennium was published. In this 27th edition, the number of people in the editorial office was doubled from 3 to 6, portraying the ambition of creating a better magazine. The advertisements would be of better quality, and the articles would be more formal, while still keeping a few comical parts. It contains a lot of reports relevant to the field of econometrics, such as a thesis about the quotation of different betting organizations. Lastly, this edition was much more elaborate than previous ones.

Over the next decade, the Aenorm continued to become more formal, with the frequency and regularity of publishes increasing. This created more structure and by June 2010, marking the 67th edition, the structure and content was very similar to the current one. This edition exists mostly out of bachelor and master theses, which are included in the newest Aenorm as well. Another development is the language switch from Dutch to English, making the Aenorm readable for international students as well. These trends have largely continued until the last paper version, the 94th edition.

Annelore Schilstra – Former Chairman Aenorm committee
For more than a year I have been part of the Aenorm committee. In the beginning as a committee member, at the end as the chairman. During my presence in the committee, the routine was as follows: meeting, brainstorming about content, approaching students, teachers and companies, and last but not least indesigning. The indesigning was actually the hardest, but also the most important part. We needed to make a good looking magazine for everyone. But, it is already 2018. Newspapers are not the oldfashioned newspapers anymore. Postcards are not the oldfashioned postcards anymore. And the Aenorm is not the oldfashioned magazine anymore: you can read the articles, reports and theses now online! The paper magazine is gone. Maybe it is sad that the Aenorm has not reached the 100 editions, but I think that this change could not have been avoided. The Aenorm needs to go with the flow, so it needs to go on the internet. I am sure the website will be full with nice reports, puzzles, articles and pictures and I am looking forward to it! I wish the committee all the luck and fun!

Morena Bastiaansen - Former Aenorm committee member
During the second year of my bachelor’s, I was one of the Aenorm editors. Throughout this time, I have worked on constructing the scientific magazine of the VSAE with great pleasure. The tasks included interviewing various people with a variety of views on relevant issues as well as looking for interesting master theses to publish, but also writing articles ourselves. It’s the latter that I, by far, enjoyed the most. I have been writing since an early age and it always has been a major hobby of mine. Since I started studying the exact science of econometrics, I have, however, been less stimulated to practise this hobby. Editing the Aenorm was the perfect way for me to combine my studies and my passion. We are studying in an era of increasing digitalisation. I believe it is time that the paper version of the Aenorm makes room for an online alternative. The Aenorm is a great, informative and unique magazine, that is interesting to not only students, but also academic staff as well as companies. I think we, as a study association, can be very proud of this.

Christiaan Cakici – Longest-serving Aenorm committee member
The Aenorm being available online is not only pleasant for students, but also for writers and the editorial staff. Since there are no strict publishing deadlines anymore, the quality and the amount of the articles are bound to increase. This means that the workload for committee members is now equally distributed over the year and students can enjoy weekly articles. With this new structure we hope to reach more students and offer relevant articles.

Sanne van Gellekom – Coordinator Aenorm committee
Two and a half years ago, I started studying econometrics and joined the VSAE. A few months later, I received my first Aenorm (Nr. 88, September 2015). Not knowing what it was, I browsed through it and for a second I did not understand why I had received such a sophisticated scientific magazine. I was astonished to find out the VSAE had something like this. Now that I am coordinator of a committee that is undergoing a severe change, I am determined to help them bring the Aenorm to a new level. I hope fresh content enlightens students, as well as others who are interested.

Amber van Essen – Chairman Aenorm committee
In my view, the Aenorm is one of the finer projects of the VSAE. Since I started receiving the magazine, it has never failed to pique my interest, because it contained coverage of events I was interested in and articles of committees I might would want to join. While studying econometrics, there are a lot of opportunities to broaden your horizon, but therefore you need to know what those opportunities are. The Aenorm offers insight as to what is going within the VSAE and the field. I’m excited to work on the transformation to an online platform. With the combination of scientific and relevant content, I hope the Aenorm can be a platform that excites and inspires.

Through the years, the Aenorm has become an extensive, refined magazine. The change implemented now only enforces this development by offering more content, giving more students, econometricians and actuaries a chance to share their research as well as experiences. This means we’re always interested in stories and new ideas! If you’ve got something to contribute, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can expect articles about companies, events, alumni, careers and scientific research and they will be published every other Monday. From now on, everything will be posted online, where it is easy for you to access and read. So hold on to your last paper edition of the Aenorm, add this page to your bookmarks and come back every other week to stay in the know!

For comments, questions or contributions, please send an email to redactie@vsae.nl.