Author: mun01podcast

Guest Article by Evan Willams

Bio: My name is Evan Williams and I’ve been competing in Model UN for four years. I’m currently a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA, and I serve as the Undersecretary General for TJMUN. Outside of MUN, I enjoy playing the saxophone and being on the lacrosse team at my school

Every year hundreds of High Schools and Universities host Model UN conferences for their local high schoolers to compete in. Some conferences, like UPenn’s Ivy League Model United Nations Conference (ILMUNC) are renowned for being the most competitive in America. With over four thousand delegates in attendance and thirty five years of experience under their belt, UPenn has conference planning down to a formula. Other conferences, like the local ones you may see being hosted by high schools, are much smaller and have much more relaxed attitudes, but still provide fierce competition and high quality committees for all of the delegates. Whether you’re running a conference with 5,000 delegates or 100 delegates, it’s important to know what you’re getting into. 

Over the past four years of my High School Model UN career I’ve had the opportunity to staff at a number of different conferences in the Northern Virginia area. The conference hosted by my school, TechMUN, hosted almost 1,000 delegates in 2019 along with a variety of middle school and high school committees. I was both the Director of Finances and a Crisis Director for a JCC-Specialized committee at TechMUN last year. Running conferences of this magnitude takes time, commitment, and most importantly organization. I also had the opportunity to serve on the secretariat for a conference in their first iteration: ACLMUN I hosted by the Academies of Loudoun. Only about 80 delegates attended this conference with a lot less staff than what was required from TechMUN. Unsurprisingly, running the two conferences are very different experiences.

In order to pull off a conference like TechMUN (or bigger) it’s crucial to have a secretariat and sponsor that is willing to work night and day for the success of the event. If you’re managing to get anywhere above 700 signups, your conference is probably well established in your local circuit. There’s a reputation that must be upheld with each passing year. The planning process for an event like this needs to start at least five months in advance, and every member of secretariat should have a clear picture of their tasks throughout the overall preparation period. 

When I was on TechMUN’s secretariat, I realized how important it was to be organized in the months leading up to the event. Your staff should have centralized ways of communicating with each other before and during the conference. My school uses Facebook groups and Facebook messenger in order to communicate with each other. We also use Google Drive to document all of our materials. The secretariat really needs to take the lead on the organization aspect. Weekly check-ins with staffers to make sure that background guides are written on time and materials are prepared for conference weekend are absolutely crucial. Furthermore, it’s important that all of your staffers are trained properly! Nothing ruins conference weekend more than incompetent staff running the committees. While not every page or crisis staffer needs to be a seasoned delegate, chairs and crisis directors should absolutely have substantial conference experience. 

On ACLMUN’s secretariat, the problems are a bit smaller in that there’s more leeway with how things are run when there aren’t as many delegates and staffers. That being said, if you want your conference to grow, you need to establish a precedent of professionalism and quality on the circuit. My advice would be to start small! If you think that the maximum number of delegates you could sustain with your club is 150, maybe limit your conference size to 100-120 delegates so that you can focus on making each committee as best as it can be. Outreach is going to be key for these types of conferences. Getting delegates to compete at a brand new conference may seem like a challenge, but trust me, high schoolers are always looking for chances to compete! If you put in the time to build the conference from the ground up correctly without taking any shortcuts, chances are it will grow to be very successful within a few years. 

The Northern Virginia circuit may be different than the rest of America, or the world for that matter, but the principles of running a good Model UN conference are universal. Regardless of what kind of conference you’re running, always make sure to have a dedicated secretariat, trained staffers, and a concrete line of communication between everyone participating at the event. Whether this is your school’s first conference or fiftieth conference, good luck to all!

Over the long weekend of November 7-10, 2019, Cornell International Affairs Society hosted the 10th iteration of the Cornell International Affairs Conference (CIAC). Hosted in snowy Ithaca, New York the weekend took place on campus at Cornell University. This year’s conference was led by Secretary-General Ria Singh as well as a sizable Secretariat. 256 delegates attended CIAC X from 20 different delegations, making this year’s conference the largest CIAC yet.

Attending Delegations

The following delegations were reported to MUN01 as attending CIAC X by the Secretariat:

• SUNY Oswego
• Colgate University
• Georgetown University
• Mount Holyoke College
• Middlebury College
• University of Ottawa 
• Gettysburg College
• Wheaton College
• Queen’s University
• Seton Hall University
• Columbia University
• St. Lawrence University
• SUNY Geneseo
• Tufts University
• Bowdoin College
• SUNY Stony Brook
• Ithaca College
• William Paterson University
• Bard College at Simon’s Rock
• Binghamton University

Committee Overview

CIAC X offered 12 committees, with ten Crisis rooms. This includes two JCCs, six single-committee Crisis rooms, and one Ad Hoc. Two specialized committees also were among the options. This year’s CIAC heavily featured fantasy and sci-fi committees with four of the committees (including one JCC) being that genre.  

Crisis

• JCC Yakuza – Kobe Clan v. Yamaguchi Family
• JCC Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Alliance v. Fire Nation
• Boxer Rebellion
• Death of Stalin
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Matrix
• Fyre Fest
• Ad-Hoc

Specialized

• International Court of Justice
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Committee Comments

As it should always be said, the committee comments section should serve as a balanced critique of the conference. MUN01 recognizes the hardwork and dedication that all Secretariat members put into the weekend. However, MUN01 also believes that delegates should be able to receive honest opinions and conferences gain feedback to grow and improve every year!

Committee Praises

Overall, the front room did a good job. A delegate in the Mad Max committee said his “chair was really cool.” An ICJ delegate praised the committee type, saying even though it was hard work that it was a lot of fun. Overall, the room setups were good and conducive to debate. A non-committee praise was that the Secretariat was incredibly helpful and facilitated head delegate feedback very well. 

Committee Critiques

Specialized rules of procedure were unclear from the background guide. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was really just a General Assembly. However, across most committees, it seems that the backroom had the most issues. Delegates main critiques were slow crisis notes and few crisis updates. A suggestion made during head delegate feedback to either switch to a two-notepad system or electronic notes.

Socials 

CIAC X provided two socials this year, on Friday and Saturday night, that are staples of the CIAC experience. The first social, on Friday night, was at K-House, a karaoke house located a short walk from the main conference hotel. Delegates had the opportunity to sing their hearts out in many reserved rooms for the event. The second social, on Saturday night, occurred at the BoatYard Grill and provided an opportunity to catch up with committee friends and your own delegation as well as music and space to dance.

Awards

Delegation Awards were given out as follows:

Best Large Delegation: Seton Hall University

Outstanding Large Delegation: Columbia University

Best Small Delegation: Georgetown University

Outstanding Small Delegation: Colgate University

To learn more about CIAC X, click here to see their conference website. This conference was also recapped on Episode #32 of the podcast. Click here to listen or go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thank you to the teams and delegates who participated in building this article with their comments and critiques. A thank you as well to CIAC for providing conference information. Congrats to all who competed in or staffed the conference!

Article by João Cardoso

Bio: Hello readers! My name is João Cardoso and I am currently a senior at an international school in São Paulo, Brazil. I have participated in Model UN for the past 4 years, as a delegate and a chair. Aside from MUN, you can find me browsing reddit, cooking, and dying because of the IB diploma.

Rejection hurts, and that’s true no matter the situation, whether it be from college admissions or within Model UN. Rejection in MUN comes in many forms, from not being awarded at a conference to not being chosen to chair a committee. In these situations it’s important to ask yourself “what should I do now?”. If you did not get an award, maybe email your chair for feedback, and in the case of not having your committee accepted, you can always email the secretariat. However, there is a different option for those who did not have their committee accepted: Just make an entirely new conference! That is exactly what the secretariat behind the inaugural SOI² did. 

It all started in November of 2018: RioMUN, a rather prestigiose and large high school MUN conference in Rio De Janeiro, had just started accepting committee applications. You see, in the Brazilian circuit, conferences will typically open chair applications to anyone who wants to apply, and chairs have to assemble a team beforehand. This is exactly what Luca Cechinel and Luiz Busca, two of the founders of SOI² did. A team was assembled, with goals of running a committee based around the cabinet of former Brazilian “president” Getúlio Vargas. A full crisis committee (which isn’t as common on the Brazilian MUN circuit) about an important and tumultuous time in Brazil’s history. Unfortunately, sometimes plans change, and the committee idea was ultimately and unfortunately not accepted. While at first they might have been a little (or a lot) disappointed, this was the moment when an idea began to brew. Instead of just accepting defeat, they got together to organize an entirely new and independent conference, and thus, SOI² was born (with SOI² standing for the Simulação de Organismos Internacionais Independentes, or the independent simulation of international organisms). Of course, this wouldn’t be an easy project, far from it in fact.  At first the idea seemed a bit unachievable. “(…) me (Luca) and busca just talking and mentioning “what if we did our own thing” not really believing that it could be a thing”. Eventually though, a team began forming, and what was once just a far off idea began developing into something concrete. 

At first, many challenges ensued, the first of which was attempting to form a balanced team, with secretariat members from both international schools in Brazil as well as Brazilian schools. While the secretariat was, in the end, predominantly made up of people from international schools, they still did a fantastic job organizing the conference. The team ultimately consisted of 2 academic secretariat members, Luca Cechinel from the British School of Rio De Janeiro and Luiz Busca from the Military high school of Brasilia, as well as 3 administrative secretariat members, those being Eduardo Koranyi from the British School of Rio, Lucas Justen from the American School of Brasilia, and the mildly famous Erik Novak, graduate from the American School of Rio De Janeiro. With the team assembled, now it was time to act. In the following months popularity for the conference grew. A host center was established at the Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Brasília, and registration began to grow and grow. While at times it seemed as if everything might come crashing down, July 17th, conference day 1, ultimately arrived. 

Committees at the conference were very diverse, and almost exclusively crisis, ranging from a World War 1 JCC, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR responding to Stalin’s death, the Rio De Janeiro Conference which was the South American response to Axis powers of World War 2, and the Stockholm climate change conference of 1972. You may have noticed that all of these committees are historical in nature, and that is because they all relate to the overall theme of the conference, which was “Returning to the Past in order to structure the future”. The reason why the committees managed to be so diverse was the result of a deliberate choice by the secretariat to utilize a very “laissez-faire” approach in terms of committee organization, and generally letting the chairs make the choices. This resulted in some of the most diverse and experimental committees ever seen on the Brazilian circuit, and I can personally attest that the delegates enjoyed themselves very much. That isn’t to say that there weren’t any hiccups. For example, the security council ceased its existence after the first day of the conference, and many committees ended up accepting “security council refugees”. Nevertheless, for every hiccup there were at least 3 triumphs and successes. One of the most memorable aspects of the conference were the press briefings. Unlike other conferences where the press has a tendency to take a backseat, the press were especially active at SOI², whether it be from making hilarious videos that were shown at the end of every day, to organizing the “press conferences”, where press delegates would interrogate delegates on the stage in front of everyone. After 4 grueling but incredibly rewarding and fun days of debate, in which everything, from a public coverup of Stalin’s death to the Japanese using “Kamikaze pigeons” to attack Germany in the Great War, happened. 

You, the reader, may be asking yourself what exactly made SOI² so special? While the story of its inception is certainly interesting as it “born out of that failure” as one secretariat member put it, and it shows a fascinating story of resilience. But what made the conference itself special? My answer would be that it was the overall spirit of the conference. One secretariat member put it best: Almost every other conference is beholden to a single institution and discriminates towards members of that institution in some way, while SOI² treated all as equals and gave everyone a fair opportunity to participate and to lead. (…) SOI² treated all participants with no distinction whatsoever. If we took that mindset to all our projects and initiatives, I believe the world would truly be a better place.” This spirit of democracy is even reflected in the name of the conference. “The name purposefully didn’t have “UN” in it to express how the scope of SOI² goes far beyond the United Nations and how all-encompassing it is.” Ultimately, SOI² was one of the most unique conferences I have ever had the pleasure of participating in, which is why I wanted to share this story. 

Special thank you to Luca Cechinel and Eduardo Koranyi for answering questions and providing quotes, and a special thank you to all of the secretariat members for hosting such an amazing conference, and lastly, thank you to the members of the MUN01 website for sharing this article.

MUN01 would like to thank João for his contribution! We will be opening a new application period for next spring’s guest articles soon, be on the look out!

The University of Pennsylvania Model United Nations Conference occurred over the long weekend of October 31 – November 3. Led by Secretary General Beau Staso in downtown Philadelphia at the Philadelphia 201 hotel. According to the UPMUNC website, the conference was staffed by over 300 UPenn students led by 16 secretariat members to ensure a successful weekend of MUN. This year’s opening speaker was the former United States Ambassador to Brunei, Craig Allen.

Committee Overview

This year’s UPMUNC was massive, boasting 20 committees. Broken down into four GAs, four Economic and Social Councils, and 12 crisis committees, including an Ad Hoc.

• GAs
  • Disarmament and International Security (DISEC)
  • Economic and Financial (EcoFin)
  • Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural
  • Special Political and Decolonization (SPECPOL)
• Economic and Social Councils
  • Arab League 2011
  • World Bank
  • The Great Sejm
  • CELAC
• Crisis
  • Wilson’s Second Administration
  • Ad Hoc
  • Art of the Deal
  • Sundiata and the Twelve Doors of Mali
  • Apollo Board of Directors
  • JCC: Taiping Rebellion – the Qing Dynasty (1855)
  • JCC: Taiping Rebellion – The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1855)
  • Series of Unfortunate Events
  • Marvel Board of Directors
  • Colonizing Mars 2041
  • Forty Elephants
  • UN Security Council (Present Day)

In our opinion, this is a great spread of committee offerings with options for every type of delegate and their committee type preferences–from future to historical options as well as GA to crisis. 

Committee Comments

As it should always be said, the committee comments section should serve as a balanced critique of the conference. MUN01 recognizes the hardwork and dedication that all Secretariat members put into the weekend. However, MUN01 also believes that delegates should be able to receive honest opinions and conferences gain feedback to grow and improve every year!

Committee Praises

One delegate stated that the Great Sejm committee was “probably the most creative GA” that they had been to this fall. Overall, delegates thought the chairs were great, but maybe “a little too loose on parli pro.”

Committee Critiques

Some delegates complained that committees did not receive enough crisis updates. For example, the Wilson committee received “only 1 crisis update on Friday, only 2 on Saturday.” A non-committee complaint was made about the hotel and the water not working, loud construction occurring, and slow wifi.

Awards

On Sunday, as it always does, the conference came to a close with the announcement of awards!

Best Large Delegation – University of Chicago 

Outstanding Large Delegation – American University

Best Small Delegation – Claremont McKenna College

Outstanding Small – Yale University

To learn more about UPMUNC 53 click here to see their conference website. Thank you to the teams and delegates who participated in building this article with their comments and critiques. UPMUNC was extended an opportunity to contribute, but as of publishing has not responded. If information is provided, this article will be updated. Congrats to all who competed in or staffed the conference!

Guest Article by Emerah Adell

Bio: Hello! I’m Emerah, I’ve been doing MUN for 2 years now and have become completely and irrevocably obsessed with it! I have represented Croatia, South Korea and Italy for Rocky River High School’s MUN team and adore debate, dance and learning new languages!

It seems like my first Model UN conference was so long ago, even though it was less than a year.  To be honest, that first conference was the beginning of a somewhat all consuming addiction to the world of resolutions, diplomacy and parliamentary procedure.  My partner and I joined our school’s MUN team our freshman year of high school. We had absolutely no idea what we had gotten ourselves into.

During my first conference, My partner and I didn’t know anything.  Like, at all. Although our team counselor did his best, there’s only so much you can learn without actually being there.  MUN is a learn-as-you-go type of sport. That first conference was rough from beginning to end. Starting all the way at roll call.  Being Croatia, we were one of the first delegations to be called. It was completely disastrous and we broke one of the first unspoken rules of model UN.  When our name was called? We said, “Here.” (Like I said, we had no clue what we were doing!)

After a few opening speeches we decided to try to distinguish ourselves and wing an opening speech.  That went about as well as you can imagine, but after stutter stepping our way through the first 20 minutes of the day, things got much smoother.  We made it through the first day of debate without making complete fools of ourselves. There was a lot of vocabulary that we didn’t understand, and one super controlling delegation who almost took over the chair, but overall, it went well.

The biggest thing that I remember from that conference though? The delegation representing Russia.  Now, I personally have nothing… much against Russia, but these delegates? Man did they rub me the wrong way.  My partner and I were fairly serious about everything that was going on, because our goal was to win awards. These delegates were the exact opposite, they made jokes, screwed around and even brought out a deck of cards!  I realize in hindsight that we were fairly uptight, but it was still annoying!

The second day rolled around and our resolution was drafted, voted and accepted.  Sadly, we weren’t able to get our names on as sponsors, but we were close. After we finished the first topic, the committee began debate on the second one in a very joking manner, with Russia in the lead.  We drafted a serious, well thought out working paper. While they proposed that we launch all the nuclear waste, into space.

 My partner and i didn’t really understand that it was a joke and it was embarrassing to say the least.  We took everything way too seriously and got some weird looks because of it. The committee passed the joke resolution, but the good news was, we got some really helpful practice in on resolution writing.  I still stand firm that joke resolutions aren’t that funny. I love FunMUN as much as the next person, but joke resolutions are making fun of serious topics.

FunMUN was a completely unexpected part of the day.  We didn’t really even know it existed! Superlatives were great, and playing “BS” with the aforementioned deck of cards was even more fun.  We got to know the delegates we had just spent two days working with but also fighting against.

But it all wrapped up with the awards ceremony.  My partner and I weren’t expecting anything. We didn’t get sponsorship on the passed resolution, we didn’t do amazing on most of our speeches and we certainly weren’t knowledgeable on parliamentary procedure.  You can imagine our surprise when we were called up for Honorable Mention! It was pretty exciting for our first conference! All in all, it was an amazing experience and one that I’m excited to repeat for the rest of high school and college! And it’s definitely NOT an addiction that I should probably get help for!

MUN01 would like to thank Emerah for her contribution. If you would like to be featured as a guest writer, we will be re-opening applications soon. Keep an eye on our website and socials for updates!

On the weekend of October 24-27, the University of Southern California hosted their annual TrojanMUN conference. Their largest yet, the conference boasted 351 delegates from 25 delegations in attendance. Led by Secretary General Rahul Francis, staff achieved an exciting weekend of MUN at the DoubleTree Hilton in Downtown Los Angeles.

Committee Overview

TrojanMUN covered a wide array of topics within their 12 committees. Of those twelve , two were General Assembly, three were Specialized Bodies, and seven Crisis, including one Ad-Hoc.The topics were as follows:

• GAs
  • African Union
  • DISEC
• Specialized
  • UN Security Council, 1993
  • Puerto Rican Government, 2017
  • Democratic National Committee, 2020
• Crisis
  • Beneath The Mean Streets: Prohibition, 1923
  • Don’t Burst My Bubble: Dot-Com Crash, 1997
  • Vive La Republique: French Cabinet, 2019
  • M.I.C.R.O., 2056
  • JCC: French and Indian War, 1754
• Ad-Hoc
  • Lost Underworld of Shanghai, 1931

We appreciate the diversity of committee type and committee topic available at TrojanMUN. This sort of structure allows for any delegate to be able to find a committee that suits them. Position assignments were sent out 3 months in advance and background guides were made available 7 weeks before the conference, giving delegates and teams ample time to prepare for a competitive weekend. The conference placed significance on delegate experience and efficiency, boasting a 3:1 delegate to staff ratio and receiving nearly zero complaints from delegates about note turnaround in feedback, according to the Secretary General Rahul. 

Committee Comments

Unfortunately, MUN01 did not receive any delegate feedback from attendees of TrojanMUN. We have the most experience and connections with the east coast circuit, but want to become involved in the west coast as well. If you are a west coast delegate or team, please reach out! We would love to hear your thoughts on TrojanMUN and beyond and will happily edit this article to reflect any new information you give.

Socials 

TrojanMUN hosted three socials over the span of the weekend, each looking more fun than the last. Thursday night there was a head delegate wine and charcuterie social at the Secretariat Suite at the conference hotel. Friday was a cocktail night at the hotel restaurant and bar with happy hour pricing on drinks and food. Saturday was the Halloween Soiree, with costumes recommended. The soiree was at a private venue in downtown LA with an open bar for 21+ delegates with a wristband.

Awards

And on Sunday starting at 10:30am, awards were announced!

• Delegation awards
  • Best Large Delegation: Claremont McKenna College
  • Outstanding Large Delegation: University of California, Berkeley
  • Best Small Delegation: University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Outstanding Small Delegation: Columbia University

Secretariat Comments

Secretary General Rahul Francis provided the following quote:

“This was the largest TrojanMUN in four years, allowing us to not only bring back our staple West Coast attendees, but also see newcomers from the Midwest and East Coast. TrojanMUN’s innovative crisis committees spanned from the JCC: French & Indian War committee set in 1776 to our M.I.C.R.O. committee on cybernetics and augmented reality. We also expanded our GA and Specialized committees to cater to  a wider demographic, ranging from traditional committees such as DISEC to a simulation of the Democratic National Committee looking forward to 2020. Last but certainly not least, we raised nearly $1,500 for our conference cause, Children of Vietnam, through candygram sales as well as in-committee fundraising by our staff who created exciting incentives. A special shout-out to our capable and caring Secretariat, as well as my fellow conference executives, Nayanika and Ruby. I look forward to continuing to see delegates from TrojanMUN around the circuit this upcoming year, and wish the best of luck to our future Secretariat in planning TrojanMUN 2020!”

Check out this recap video created by the secretariat for an even better look at TrojanMUN2019!

To read more about TrojanMUN 2019 click here. Thank you to the secretariat for all of the information that they provided. Congrats to all who competed in or staffed the conference!

Article written by Andy

Andy is an Indonesian with a weirdly American accent.  As her final year of university draws near, now she mostly joins MUN conferences to meet her friends and reminisce the good old (chaotic) days. It helps that she loves dark jokes, music, poetry, and writing – things that many MUNers also share the love for.

If you ask me how the hell I managed to survive my first Model UN conference, you better ask my first chair, because she’s the one who knows. Or rather, she’s the reason I survived – and fell into the rabbit hole of Model UN.

My first committee was the UN Human Rights Council. I chose it thinking that it would be slow-paced and filled with fellow beginners instead of heated debates and pro delegates spitting fire. I have no idea what my chair saw in me back then – being the shy delegate that can’t speak up in unmods and whose voice quivered when speaking on the podium – but in a committee whose top 3 awardees are all seasoned veterans, the Verbal Commendation she gave me ended up becoming my motivation to continue Model UN until this far; in a way, it’s a sign that Model UN welcomes me.

Last month, my first chair recently graduated from university. I sent her a message on Instagram, thanking her for the Verbal Commendation she gave me back then. She needs to know how her small gesture ended up having so much impact on how I’ve grown in Model UN and as a person.

Because if my chair hadn’t made my first committee so enjoyable, I wouldn’t have fallen in love with it, and I certainly wouldn’t have made it my mission to become a chair that could do the same.

There is no fixed rule on when a delegate should begin transitioning into being a chair – we just know. For me, the moment came when I won my first, last, and only ‘double shotgun’: Best Position Paper and Best Delegate. On one hand, there are sentimental reasons behind putting my delegate career on hiatus: I knew I wouldn’t be able to repeat the performance I gave, at least not with another co-delegate (which might require a whole new article). On the other hand, the moment I got that award, I felt a sense of relief – as if there’s a burning fire inside me that got put out, and in its place was peace. I knew I have already gained enough lessons from Model UN. The desire to share my experiences through chairing and coaching gradually phased out the remaining shreds of competitive hunger I have as a delegate.

Chairpersons are the face of their committees. They’re the first persons a delegate faces in an MUN conference. For delegates, their chairperson’s conduct will influence how they view the entire conference. Was the chair friendly or strict? Were they professional? Were his or her decisions clear and justifiable, or were they biased? For newbies in particular, how a chairperson conducts their first conference will shape their first impression on what MUN is like. As explained above, my first chair made me see that MUN is enjoyable. Unfortunately, a lot of my friends didn’t have the same experience in their first committees. I’ve had talented delegates decide to not continue MUN because they didn’t find their committees enjoyable. Good chairpersons make MUN something to look forward to for their delegates. Bad or mediocre chairpersons make MUN a chore, or worse, a traumatic experience.

A chairperson should use their influence to become the heart of their committees or conferences they staff at. This is where having a clear chairing vision is important. Excellent chairpersons have a clear vision on why they chair, which guides them in conducting the debate and gives them a distinctive style. Some chairpersons are there to create substantive and high-quality debates. Some may focus on chairing issues they are passionate on, be it hard politics or softer social issues. Other chairs may focus on delegate development and in sharing their experiences. Personally, my chairing vision is a specific part of the third example: I want to create committees that could welcome all its participants in the world of Model UN. I always strive to make my study guide clear and understandable, so that delegates can have a good understanding of the topic. During the committee session, I made sure to be firm with the Rules of Procedure and keep a professional distance, but outside the debate I open myself to know them both as a person and as a delegate. I want my delegates to get the most out of their conferences: good debates, connections, self-development, and all that MUN could give.

The chairing vision I have now became solidified when I became the Head Chair of UNESCO Singapore MUN 2019. Since almost all of UNESCO was beginners to MUN, the debate got stuck at several points. I started talking to them in between committee sessions to know what their difficulties are and what they need from us chairs. To my surprise, the delegates actually respected us more once we showed that we’re open to them. Gradually, we got closer, and many of them started telling me more about their personal lives. Even long after SMUN 2019 ended, my UNESCO delegates and I still kept in touch. We hung out when I came to Singapore last July. One of them even became a MUN mentee of mine! She routinely came to me for MUN advice even after SMUN, and once invited me to help coach her school’s delegation. The biggest surprise was when she told me that her mother – who was in the UNESCO committee room – gave positive reviews for me as a chair! She said ‘my mom said you’re the best chair she’s ever seen, she likes how you brought yourself up there and how you talk’. I am touched to know that my delegates (and their parents, wow) saw a positive influence in me. That experience showed me how influential chairs are to a delegate’s MUN career – both in starting out and in moving forward.

All in all, everyone chairs for different reasons. Some for prestige, other for connections, and I know most of us want to enjoy the MUN atmosphere without having to suffer in the debate. For me, my MUN journey made me realize that chairing is also a community service for the next generation. All of us veterans who have become chairs have to give the best of our expertise and instill the love of MUN to our successors. The more we realize our influence on the MUN community, the more we will work to create the best MUN experience for our delegates. Even after university, the MUN world goes on – but we can, and should leave our legacies while the time is here.

MUN01 would like to thank Andy for her thoughtful contribution. We will be accepting new guest writers soon, so keep a look out for opportunities to be featured on MUN01.com!

Article by Stephen Hoffman

My name is Stephen Hoffman, and I am a junior at Seton Hall University from just outside Philadelphia, PA. I am the current President of Seton Hall’s Competitive Team, and have done MUN since my freshman year of college. When my life is not consumed by Model UN (very rarely), I am likely playing golf with friends and family, feverishly rooting on Seton Hall Basketball or Philadelphia Sports, or spending time with dogs.

We have all been at a conference with that one delegate who is constantly a thorn in the side of the committee. They’re unfriendly, uninterested in working with other people, and just ultimately slowing down the flow of the committee as a whole. I used to be that delegate. I was the guy that was taking things (and myself) a little too seriously and making the committee a little harder for everyone else. However, I can guarantee that this does not describe me now. According to teammates, I underwent “the most radical transformation a Model UN delegate could make”, as I shifted my entire mentality towards MUN, changing it from something strictly competitive to something fun. This process wasn’t easy, as it took a long series of mistakes to show that something needed to change.

What sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of awards and rankings is that Model UN is supposed to be enjoyable. We are supposed to get excited about traveling to conferences and competing in exciting committees, regardless of the outcome at closing ceremonies. Disappointments are natural and bound to happen in one’s MUN career, but ultimately, we should feel better about our experience at the end of the conference. I learned this lesson the hard way, as multiple failures made me re-evaluate my stance on Model UN as a whole.

My freshman year was average at best, as after attending two conferences I left with one honorable mention. This was typical for a freshman on our team, and after my second conference I told myself that I would continue to improve and exceed expectations. My role within the club increased as I became our treasurer, and things were looking to be consistently improving. This optimism was quickly knocked down, as things remained bleak the following semester.

I attended two conferences in the fall semester of my sophomore year. The first was the most difficult conference I had ever attended, and I quickly realized this when my elementary crisis notes weren’t working anymore. While expectations were at their highest in my first conference as a head delegate, I failed to award and subsequently felt like I had let my team down. The second conference of the semester was a staple for our team, as we attend every year in hopes of winning a delegation award. I was in my dream position, as an OPEC committee was something I always searched for on the circuit. I had a strong position and spent hours on research in preparation for this conference. After leaving the committee, thinking my debate was strong and my crisis impressive, I sat throughout closing without hearing my name called. In the midst of this, my team won the award for Outstanding Large Delegation, and if I did what I was supposed to, I would have pushed us to Best.

This felt like most immense failure of my life. A Middle Eastern Studies minor coming up short in an OPEC committee seemed virtually unforgivable, and I was left feeling like I didn’t have a place in the club anymore. I internalized this loss for a long time, forever convinced that I deserved a high award in that committee. It wasn’t until just before our next conference months later that I truly contemplated my performance at the previous conference. I asked myself hard questions. Did I work with the other people in the room? Did I write a directive or resolve an issue with any other delegates? The answer to these questions made clear why I left empty handed.

 I was attending conferences for one reason and one reason alone: to win. I did not care if I made a single friend; if I walked away with a gavel, nothing else mattered. Instead of helping to find solutions for the problems, I would simply point out problems with a solution. It was then when I realized that all this strategy accomplished was taking the fun out of Model UN, something I enjoy doing with friends to have fun with one another and compete in a positive manner. If I could translate this environment to a conference, I realized that even if I don’t walk away with an award, I will at least have a good time.

 And thus, the transformation was born. At the next conference, I tried my absolute hardest to be as friendly as possible, instead of attempting to instill intimidation in other delegates when I entered the room. I relaxed, I exhaled, I balanced listening to others instead of dominating the room, and I worked with almost everybody in the room on a directive that weekend. At the previous conference, I rarely even wrote directives, placing my ideas above those of others. I loosened up and I let Model UN be fun again, laughing at things that happened in committee and making genuine friendships with the other delegates and chairs. I remember one occasion when a freshman delegate and I clashed in debate, with the two of us having consecutive speeches and going back and forth in a contentious fashion. Typically, I would have held that grudge against the delegate for the rest of the conference. We swiftly went into an unmoderated caucus after this debate, and I went up to her and told her that it was fun, and that she was doing a great job. She laughed and said that I was too, later leading to us co-writing a directive that passed unanimously. Experiences like that make this conference a turning point in my Model UN career, as I eventually walked away with my first gavel and two additional awards that semester.        

Nobody likes walking into committee and seeing that one delegate that truly ruined their weekend a few months ago at a conference. We sometimes forget that the circuit is not entirely about winning the most awards and achieving the highest ranking, but rather about making real connections with other passionate students who share in our interests and ambition to make the world a better place. Model UN is always competitive, and there will always be letdowns, but sometimes these disappointments will lead to personal growth and the improvement of skills. Failure taught me these vital lessons, and I left the committee changed as a delegate and a leader.

MUN01 would like to thank Stephen for his contribution. If you would like to guest write for us, please visit our Guest Writing tab on our site.

So you want to host a conference? We love to see it. Before you do anything, you have to find 4-7+ other people who also want to host a conference. This will be your Senior Secretariat, and all of you will be responsible for nearly every aspect of the conference. No pressure. So without any frills, here’s how to pick a good secretariat.

Secretary General

The big position. For this role, you want someone who’s good at delegating but also can pick up slack in any areas they may need to. Essentially it’s someone who can do all the jobs on Senior Sec, but doesn’t unless it’s necessary. Part of the job involves making decisions that some people won’t appreciate (e.g. staff selection, committee topic finalization, any dais issues that may come up), so you’ll need someone who can be both assertive and understanding. It’s a fine line to tread and no one will be perfect at the job, but try to get as close as you can. Lastly, you’ll need someone who can think on their feet, since when the actual conference rolls around there are always last-minute things to tend to that someone forgot about. Our team selects the Secretary General through elections at the same time we elect our new Executive Board for the upcoming school year. The Sec Gen then selects her Senior Secretariat through a process that can change depending on who the Sec Gen is, but we usually do an application/interview process.

Director General

So you have your Sec Gen, amazing. Or you are the Sec Gen, even better. The DG should be the right-hand woman to the Sec Gen. Depending on the number of positions on Senior Sec, they’ll need to help the Sec Gen follow up with everyone and also sometimes jump into the Sec Gen role if needed. They, like the Sec Gen, need to have an assertive side. An effective line of communication with the Sec Gen is necessary, so someone who works well with the Sec Gen is important. Think of it as a Vice President role. We also have our DG work on the conference website and formatting of background guides. 

Under-Secretary General of External Relations

This is where the titles of Senior Sec members start becoming different depending on the conference you go to. Charge d’Affaires is another name for this position that we’ve seen at many conferences. This position will handle all of the invoicing, emailing, and communicating with advisors and administration about finances and the like. They should be borderline obsessive about checking email, and able to do basic math (with the aid of spreadsheets, of course). You’ll also want someone who can be professional yet firm in an email since there will inevitably be things that happen where you need to mediate an issue involving delegation sizes, payment, etc. The USG of External Relations should also work closely with the Sec Gen to make sure that payment policies and invoices are kept up to date and that accurate records are kept since even when the conference is over, there will still be outstanding payments to track down. 

Under-Secretary General of Crisis Committees

Since our school’s conference has both GA and Crisis committees, we have different USGs for both. The USG of Crisis doesn’t necessarily have to be someone who’s good at crisis committees. They should be someone who can juggle multiple things at once and also help train daises to run the room and train staff to respond to notes. While creativity is important, promptness is more important. Since they’ll be working directly with the committees, this will be the person responsible for tracking down the background guides and any other materials necessary for the committee. Handling issues with daises is inevitable so someone with good interpersonal skills is necessary. It’s not required to have someone who wants to reinvent the wheel where crisis is concerned, but a little creativity regarding the make-up of the committees can’t hurt. 

Under-Secretary General of GA Committees

This position has many of the same qualifications as the USG of Crisis. They should be able to train daises and also help with any questions the daises and delegates may have. Depending on the type of conference you’re running, the USG of GA may need to help daises develop interesting ideas for committees. GA topics can often be very dry depending on the type of delegates you’re trying to appeal to, so someone with new, fresh ideas for topics is helpful. 

Other Positions

• Director of Merchandise – creativity in this role is key. Good merch is something we really enjoy in a conference, and being able to slap a sticker on your laptop that shows you do MUN is quirky and relatable (depending on who you ask). You want someone in this role who can be on top of ordering merch and who also has a Venmo, CashApp, PayPal, or whatever you’re planning on using to keep track of merch purchases. 
• Director of Logistics – you’re going to need to book a lot of rooms for your conference. Staff rooms, committee rooms, a Senior Sec room, etc. Sometimes this becomes a huge hassle, which is where this position comes in. Someone who is really on top of logistics and who has impeccable time management is ideal for this. They’ll also likely be the person organizing the schedule with the Sec Gen and making sure people know where to be and when. 
• Director of Technology – for our conference’s purposes, the DG handles all the website stuff, but some conferences function differently (and that’s okay). Whoever’s in this position should really like building websites (via WordPress, html, Wix, or whatever you’re using to host your website). They should have a good eye for aesthetics since no one likes a garbage-looking website. Hopefully they’re also good at editing things, since they might have to look through background guides as a third pair of eyes to make sure they’re good before they go on the website. 

A Few Words of Wisdom

• Don’t feel like you need a huge secretariat. Our conference functions perfectly fine with 5 Senior Sec members, and we’ve been able to consolidate positions a lot in the last few years so there’s less dead weight. A big secretariat can also lead to problems, so only keep the positions you really need. 
• Just because someone is your friend doesn’t mean they’ll be good for a position. Yeah, it sucks having to deny your friends but at the end of the day you want someone in a position who’s going to do the job right, not just be your friend. 
• You will have to deal with issues with daises not getting along. It happens. People who do MUN have strong personalities that often clash. If it gets really bad, you might have to fire someone. It happens. Don’t sweat it. You’re there to run a conference, not be someone’s mom or best friend. 
• Have fun! Planning a conference is stressful (trust me, we know) so take some time after the conference is over to thank your Senior Sec, staff, and everyone who helped you along the way. Enjoy the little victories along the way.