Following up on prior Best Delegate posts regarding the training of university-level delegates, this weekend marked a perfect example of hands-on development. It all took place in Montreal.
McGill’s Head Delegate and Junior Head Delegate
On September 29th, the International Relations’ Student Association of McGill (IRSAM) held its first in-house conference of the school year. The International Relations Simulation (IRSim) is a one-day conference held on McGill campus solely for McGill students. Now in its third year, IRSim is catered primarily to incoming McGill freshmen who have not yet experienced MUN at the university level and want a taste of what McGill’s program has to offer.
Head Delegate Keagan Tafler, the head organizer behind the conference, describes the conference in the following:
“Committees at IRSim are designed to appeal to a wide range of delegates. This includes those who have never participated in Model UN, those who already have a great deal of MUN experience, and those who have worked at SSUNS and McMUN as staffers, wanting to explore different aspects of conferences.”
This conference is unique in that its primary focus is on discovering new MUN talent. It is advertised as mandatory for any student wishing to earn a spot on the McGill Delegation Travel Team. During IRSim’s Opening Ceremonies, Tafler urged delegates to “get [themselves] noticed, and to make sure that at the end of the day [they] would be remembered.” With members of the McGill Travel Team staffing committees and running crises, the day was prime ground for scouting out new delegates to represent McGill at conferences this fall.
IRSim however also benefits all members of IRSAM, as it allows Dais members of McGill’s two conferences – SSUNS and McMUN – to prepare for their upcoming endeavors; they use this primarily as a training ground to review special rules of procedure and sync crisis work between all engaged staffers.
Enjoy some pictures from the conference!
Staff working hard planning the crisis for the United Nations Security Council
Members of the McMUN Secretariat helping out around the conference
Delegates in the International Atomic Energy Agency drafting their resolution
The Delegate of Iran making a speech to the United Nations Security Council
This article was written by Sabrina Ostrowski and Loreena Percy, two Best Delegate Media Associates attending McGill University.
