LC Gathering

LC Gathering with the new SNs
By Nabeel Khalid - http://nabeel.myaiesec.net

Past Monday, the 12th of March, LC NUS [LC = Local Committee] had our monthly LC gathering, the most special occurrent being the announcement of the EBs [EB = Executive Board] and the recently initiated LC Support Team. Another special happening, considering the time of the year in AIESEC Singapore, was the presence of our newest members, the recently inducted SNs [Student Nominees]. They seem like a lively bunch and I welcome them to this fascinating organisation on behalf of AIESEC in Singapore and NUS. The fact that they made it through the rigorous application process is proof enough that they will prove to be worthy AIESECers [or @ers] in the future.

Once again, our LCP elect [LCP = Local Committee President] - dear Shubhangi - conducted the LC gathering. We started off with a Thai @ dance [@ = AIESEC], and it was recorded, so you can see the video posted here. I just love the choreography - especially the steps in the intro part.






In the following R&R [Rewards and Recognition] session, OGX [Outgoing Exchange] figures were acclaimed once again, adding on to the the previous ones. To sum them up, the SNRD [Student Nominee Recruitment Drive] InfoTalk was attended by 255 people, out of which 81 applied. 44 of these passed through the initial selections and went for SRB [Student Review Board] and 20 of them passed the SRB interview. Who ever thought @ takes everybody? Only 4 of them dropped out, so LC NUS now has 16 mainstream SNs. As for SNRD MAD [MAD = Make A Difference], which includes DT [Development Traineeship], 55 attended the InfoTalk, out of which 14 applied, ALL FOURTEEN passed initial selections and went on for SRB. 3 people withdrew, and now we have 11 MAD/DT SNs. That brings our grand total to TWENTY-SEVEN SNs for this year. Would the rivers start running backwards and the sky turn pink if all of them are matched? We'll find out soon.

The national event for induction of SNs, but also open to public and attended by many @ers, called Preparation Seminar or PrepSem for short, was held on the third of March, 2007 at Singapore Compact, NTUC Centre, from 8:30 am - 4:45 pm. The speakers for Day 1 were widely reputed, highly esteemed and not to mention - well-spoken and inspiring! Day 2 was held at SMU, School of Business, and composed of some very engaging sessions. Justina, her team and everyone else who contributed were applauded here for conducting the PrepSem so well. Two words can describe the event best: "truly professional".

As for ICX [Incoming Exchange], there have been numerous cold-calling sessions resulting in various company meetings that have brought forth 5 TNs [Traineeship Nominees] beings raised, namely: Integrated Decision System & Engineering [2 TNs], The Japanese Secondary School [2 TNs] and The Japanese Primary School [1 TN]. What this means for LC NUS is that we are performing really well in the "Killer Cup", a competition between the three LCs in Singapore [NUS, NTU and SMU] over the number of company meetings and TNs raised. Again, we celebrated the success of Visayon and Ashwin's team. Does the success of LC NUS indicate which LC is going to win the "Best LC award"? Yes, we'll find out soon.

The EB/ST [Support Team] candidates were called on "stage", to perhaps just take a picture. Well, at least all of them smiled [although Ashwin's eyes were closed].


Shubhangi gave us some updates from the MC meetings. So far @ Singapore's structure had always been so that there was the MCP [Member Committee President] at the top, followed by the MC team, consisting of MCVPs [Member Committee Vice-Presidents] and LCPs [Local Committee Presidents]. Each LCP had an EB team consisting of various LCVPs [Local Committee Vice-Presidents] and Executives. Well that's all past now, once this academic year is through.

From now on, the MCP will have two teams, namely the MC team as before, and the "National Support Team" or NST. The MC team consists of two "Directors" - DOPO [Director of Programs Outgoing] and DOPI [Director of Programs Incoming], who deal with exchange on the national level. The other portfolios in the MC team are the same as before though, with the introduction of a new MCVP position for "Projects". NST consists of three brand-new posts for which applications are open currently, which are B&C Coordinator, GEP Coordinator and IS Coordinator. For @ers interested to find out more and/or apply for these posts, they can obviously log-in to aiesec.net and download the application forms from there.

Why it is imperative to mention this is because this change on the MC level results in a change in the LC Structure as well. For example, the LC Media Coordinator portfolio has been renamed the "Branding and Communications" Coordinator, with a few additions to the job scope - related to branding.

The Annual General Meeting or AGM is to be held soon, and Yen Yoong made some announcements about the event and the kind of volunteers they need for it.

Siew Yik came into the spotlight in his capacity as the OCP [Organising Committee President] of Jump Start, the @ induction conference that is held primarily for new @ers, and also for new @ers to participate and learn something. It is scheduled to be held some time in September 2007. [It was held on the 9th of September last year.]


Next up, the SNs were invited on "stage" and each one was eyed as a mere object by the @ers in the seminar room who were to be appointed as their SN managers. SN managers are responsible for ensuring that these SNs get matched with the kind of internship/traineeship that suits them, starting from uploading their SN forms in the @ database - Insight XP. Each SN was successfully allocated an SN manager [or is it the other way around?]. Justina will be holding the SN manager training this Saturday, March 17, 10 am to 11:30 am, and another session on Monday, March 19, 6 pm to 8 pm, both at NUS Business School, Seminar Room 24.

Some random things: Réne had some things to share, and it was great to hear him speak; Imran, our favourite LCP this year, celebrated his birthday the previous week, so people who hadn't wished him threw some belated wishes in his direction; the @ NUS T-Shirt Design Competition Winner was also announced - some guy named Nabeel - who copied Imran's pet line, "Single but unavailable".


The shirt still needs some more creative input to make it better, and a few changes need to be made to comply with branding standards.

Shubhangi then invited all the EB applicants to do an "engaging" activity, and we responded by sharing one good and one bad thing/experience/event with regards to @. Engaging indeed!

That's when the EB Support Team results were announced... The people who made it are: Ashwin Subramaniam, Henri Saputra, Jason Mak Kit, Liana Tirta The, Nabeel Khalid, Paulpone Petdara, Chang Siew Yik, and Song Jie. Following the announcement, a short to-be-EB/ST meeting was held to discuss some important issues, details of which can not be discussed, since it is a matter of breaching privacy agreements.


Bottomline: @ gatherings in NUS are loads of fun, and there is only one every month so no one should miss out on an opportunity such as this just to do some lousy homework! Just kidding. Find out for yourself!

Author's note: I've tried to explain each @ term in the square brackets for the benefit of our newest members. I remember trying to understand @ers speak, which was an arduous task in the beginning of my @ journey and now I take it as my job to help them understand and immerse themselves in the world of @ and it's terminologies.