This is the kickoff article to a five-part featured series about the forty-ninth session of the North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN XLIX).
We are kicking off a five-part featured series on the North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN) conference in the next several weeks leading up to the actual conference on February 16-19, 2012 in Washington DC.
NAIMUN Secretary-General Taylor Wettach and I spoke with each other last year about how Best Delegate can do more than just liveblog a conference. We wanted to share what it’s like to be one of the leading Model UN conference organizers. What does it take behind-the-scenes to run a large conference with comprehensive offerings beyond just the typical committee experience? What takeaways can we learn from an established, prestigious conference so that readers can expand and improve their own conferences? We decided that NAIMUN, the largest high school Model UN conference on the Western Hemisphere, would be an excellent conference to feature.
We’ll be working with Secretary-General Taylor Wettach, Executive Director Caitlin Pharo, and Director of Marketing Cody Cowan to bring to you this featured series. We’ll also be working closely with Director-General William Handel, Press Corps Editor-in-Chief Erin Kay Cawley and the Press Corps team, and numerous Georgetown staffers to bring to you in-depth liveblog coverage of the conference. Whether you’re attending NAIMUN or not, we hope that you will be able to learn something from this series. If you’re curious already, read on to get a preview about the five features!
Five Features
Each of the five parts of the featured series will cover five different components of NAIMUN XLIX:
1. The first article will detail the development of the conference from the selection of its leadership to the final month leading up to the conference. This will give readers a better understanding of all the planning that goes on behind the scenes before a conference takes place.
2. The second article will focus on the programming of the conference. A complete Model UN experience goes beyond just the committee room. NAIMUN has set up a variety of educational and social activities for its delegates, and those will be described in this article.
3. The third article will feature NAIMUN’s newest substantive innovation and organ, the U.S. National Security Apparatus, 2002. Resolving international conflict nowadays is conducted by interconnected organizations, and this organ simulates that realistic experience in the post 9/11 world.
4. The fourth article will highlight the philanthropy of NAIMUN XLIV. Model UN conference organizers know their delegates can make a difference in the world now, and philanthropy is one way to do it. Philanthropy has always played a big role at NAIMUN; this article will showcase its previous successes and which causes delegates will be fundraising for this year.
5. Finally, the fifth article will examine the greater substantive innovations of NAIMUN XLIX including a broader analysis of the developments within committees and within staffing. Conference attendees should be excited to get a preview of what they’ll be discussing soon.
In-Depth Liveblogging
Best Delegate will also be covering the actual conference in-depth. We’ll start our liveblogging of the conference a few days before the conference starts to see how everything comes together immediately prior to when delegates arrive. We’ll then be out in full force — both Ryan and I will be on site plus we’ll have a special guest blogger on the weekend dates — to bring extensive coverage of the conference. We’ll also be working closely with the Press Corps so we can capture as many story-lines and moments as possible.
We hope you enjoy this featured series and we look forward to seeing all of you there!
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