3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

I started my MUN career in G8 in WISMUN V. Since then, I have contributed to the planning of WISMUN VI online during Covid-19 pandemic. Now that lockdowns have gotten rid of, and we were allowed to have interschool events on site, I and other MUN club members wanted to host an MUN conference on site in our school to engage in the MUN community in Thailand. I was one of the club leaders, so I got the position of the Parlimentarian to make use of all my experiences, knowledge, and skills in MUN I have cultivated over the years and lead the planning of WISMUN VII to give back to the community. 

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

1. Setting the date: Making decision on the date to host a conference was quite difficult, because there are multiple of other conferences happening outside throughout, and we also wanted to avoid having one in the exam season. We needed to change the date several times before settling on a solid decision, but we could finally decide on November 5, as it does not overlap with other conferences nor exam season.

2. Deciding roles: We assigned different members in the planning team with different tasks. I was in charge of making Google Forms for chair application, as well as  registration for advisors and delegates, and fill in allocations once received, as well as emailing delegates with any issues with their allocations. For others, we had several artistic members, so we assigned them to make promotional poster designs and sticker designs to give participants. We also asked help from the IT Club in our school to make IDs and Certificates of participants, as well as to help set up techincal equipment on the day of the conference. In addition, I also asked the Photography Club to get some volunteers for photo taking on the day of conference. I recognized the importance of delegation to make the planning process more efficient. However, diffficulties in clear communicationregarding delegation sometimes arises, and I believe that this would be my area for improvement in the future. 

3. As indicated, my main role was to manage the allocations. I needed to keep an eye on the Google Form responses for registration once in a while to keep the allocation sheet updated. Moreover, I needed to email quite a lot of people to clarify their allocations or tell them to edit their responses due to issues with their responses. Then, I needed to keep an eye on different emails and follow up to make sure that all the issues with allocations are solved. I learned that I am good at this type of manual tasks, and with this opportunity, I improved my email writing skills as well as email management skills. 

4. I wrote out instructions for photographers of where and when they should take photos of who, so that participants will receive pictures that they expect. 

5. I also prepared slides presentation for opening and closing ceremonies. I also wrote a script for my speaking parts in ceremonies in order to run the ceremonies efficiently.

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

On the day of the conference, we first began with registration of incoming advisors and delegates. This was a bit of difficulty, because we didn't secure enough people to stand by at the lobby, but we were lucky to have photographers for help. There were also other issues popping up, such as the need to delay the opening ceremony, due to lack of preparation, but thanks to problem solving with various members, we were able to make it happen without major accidents.

During the conference, I was free, so I helped the WISMUN Bootcamp committee, a committee where first timer delegates can learn about MUN in a friendly environment without feeling pressured to be the delegate in normal committees. I explained about resolution papers and how to write them, in a way that would be easy to understand for first timers, by recalling about my first time experience. 

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

I realized that participating in a conference and planning a conference are two completely different things. I was always discoruaged by myself not being able to perform well in MUN conferences due to lack of understanding of historical and current events as well as debating skills necessary to engage in meaningful discussion. However, planning a conference required completely different skills, such as technical skills to manage logistics to host a physical event. My strength is that I can be resposnsible for tasks that I have been assigned to and get them done properly, so I could make use of my skill at full potential. However, my area of improvement is to work on clear communication skill when I delegate tasks to other people. I tend to be bad at delegation and be overwhelmed alone by all the tasks, while also not knowing what to do, because I wouldn't know who can be responsible for what. Delegation of work can help the operation run efficiently, but the process of delegation itself is a difficult task. WISMUN VII was an opportunity for me to improve on my delegation skills and team work. 

Moreover, I learned a lot about event planning. There were many factors to consider from food to ID cards, and to Wifi. Although only participating in conferences doesn't make me realize all the detailed factors that make an event possible, being on the planning side made me more sensitive and notice small details. I recalled deeply about previous conferences and what have offered to me, in order to meet the expectation of the standard of conferences. 

I was surprised at myself that I didn't feel nervous at all when I spoke in the ceremonies in front of all the participants, as well as when I led the WISMUN Bootcamp. This may be because I was with other people to speak, but also possibly because of my improvement in public speaking skills over the years of my MUN career.