A terrific success in all aspects the first ever AIESEC International Ball took place on November 6th, 2009 and included a look into the AIESEC experience shared by senior AIESEC Student, Firdaus Farid, a three course meal provided by Pacci Restaurant and much more. With silent auction items ranging from a Dale Carnegie Management course to a lunch with Georgia Tech Football Coach Paul Johnson this sold out evening was staged from the start to delight it's audience. Keynote speaker John Brock, President and CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, held the audience captive with his thoughts on the future and the International Business community. Finishing strong, the Moxie Band lead by Rich Tatgenhorst got everyone on the dance floor playing a variety of crowd pleasers. AIESEC Georgia Tech's Founder Richard Alarcon said "I never dreamed this big."
When I found out I had been selected by the national staff of AIESEC United States to be Organizing Committee President of Winter National Conference 2009, I could say, at the very least, that I was uncertain about many things. What will I bring to the conference planning process, as a member in only her second semester of AIESEC? How can I rightfully portray Atlanta, and its AIESEC history? How can we at AIESEC Georgia Tech prove ourselves as one of the best local committees in the nation? How can we "Live Up to the Promise?"
Fortunately, I had an incredible OC team that worked long and hard to support me throughout the process. That, coupled with our amazing MC and international facis, made for a powerhouse of a conference team, which was so very apparent in the success of the conference itself.
On opening day, "Eye of the Tiger" played as all 240 delegates ran into the plenary session room, while the conference team members were on their chairs, applauding for the event’s commencement. There were chants, cheers, and roll calls from around the country (and the world), facilitated by conference chair Brodie Boland (PAI '05-'06). The MCP candidates gave their opening speeches to a wildly enthusiastic, and extremely proud delegation of AIESECers.
On Alumni and External day, I couldn't have been more proud to be an AIESECer from Georgia Tech. Three of our prestigious Board of Advisor members came to the AIESEC Life sponsored event to show their support: Peter Stewart, Michael Flood, and Jerry Allison. Peter and Mike ran sessions about individual leadership and building a strong BOA, and Peter and Jerry stayed afterwards to give national updates to the conference delegation as members of the 2010 AIESEC United States National Board of Directors. The response we received from the delegates regarding Alumni Day was beyond enthusiastic. Our alumni did us proud!
Two of our conference sponsors gave presentations: Dale Carnegie training and Coca-Cola Enterprises. The representative from Dale Carnegie wowed the delegates with a presentation emphasizing the importance of planning and goal setting, and the announcement of our movement towards creating a national partnership with CCE instilled a tangible sense of confidence within us as an AIESEC nation.
Two legislative victories occurred at WNC 2009: the elections of our MCP and our Student Directors for the year 2010-2011. The videos are the best way to experience the moments, but I will say that a member of AIESEC United States, I could not have any more faith in our vision and mission, and the progress that we are going to make in the upcoming year, from national leadership, to local committee leadership.
On New Year's Eve, at our formal dinner and awards night, it was announced that AIESEC Georgia Tech won the regional award for the 650 Exchange Campaign, giving us one free EP (outgoing exchange) fee. But to say that this award was the only thing we won this year is more than just an understatement. The connections that were necessary to make this conference successful were due to the hard work and persistence of the AIESECers at Georgia Tech. The contracts we’ve signed this year, the progress we’ve made as an LC, are indicative of what is needed to sustain the vitality of AIESEC United States.
However, another grave understatement would be to say that we are content with our current successes. The celebrations that took place on December 31st, 2009, were fueled by the energy and passion that our current membership has for the vision of an even better 2010. And it was definitely the AIESECers of GT who danced that night away !
I can honestly say that OCP-ing this conference was one of the most challenging, and rewarding experiences that I've ever had. The stress and frustration I may have felt throughout the planning process can never measure up to the overwhelming pride I had for my OC team, as all 240 delegates stood one last time on their chairs at awards night, applauding for our success, and the hard work that was put into it. It’ll be an experience that I, and hopefully all of the delegates, will never forget.
The executive board and additional active members have just returned from a wonderfully successful Leadership Team Retreat (LTR) this weekend at Lake Burton in north Georgia.
We tracked where we are on each of the exec officers goals from the beginning of the year, and saw what we have left to do before the end of our term. We found ourselves doing what we had hoped to at this time!
Laying out the upcoming semester, some of the topics we went over included: the HR plan for recruitment this week, the types of people we will be looking for to replace key people lost in our LC from graduation last year; our relationship with the different international offices at Georgia Tech, and how we can improve our process of getting out students international experiences counted for GT credit, as well as communication between their offices and ours; more emphasis put on building the community part of our LC, and how to better encourage, take part, and plan social activities; the Outgoing Exchange process and new implementation of Review Boards for non-members going abroad with AIESEC; the role of VP Events and the solutions for overlap between the VP External Relations and VP Business Development and the new program they will be using to address this; the upcoming transition and LCP elections, as well as the creation by each VP of new transition booklets (to include both a hard and electronic copy); and how we hope to receive the incoming trainees we will have arriving in Atlanta shortly. There was much more discussed, and it will be on the wiki shortly!!! All in all, we are excited about our last semester as AIESEC GT's exec board, and hope we have helped to build on the foundation for the next incoming EB.
We also taught many people how to wake surf, and finally got Kate Wharton to jump off of the boathouse.
Next up on the agenda: RECRUITMENT!!! and LCP ELECTIONS!!! stay tuned!
Just a few weeks ago, AIESEC at Georgia Tech hosted a panel discussion on the "Contribution of the Young Entrepreneur in Rebuilding the Global Economy"drawing around 100 students and professionals to the World Trade Center Atlanta, who generously facilitated the event. Christopher Klaus, Dimitri Moore, and Vela McClam-Mitchell each shared the victories and travails of carving oneself into the world and solving business problems in novel ways. Each of them revolutionized the way their clients conduct business.One of the themes of the night was to "just go for it." McClam-Mitchell explained how she pursued a number of degrees and worked inside companies, believing that preparation was the key to success in business start-up. In the end, although preparation is crucial, she realized her father's advice to simply get started was the ticket. Take some time to assimilate the videos below, replete with the wisdom of inventors and innovators.
