Discovery Days - AIESEC Porto Alegre - 2008/01

Discovery Days, the name of the (usually) 2 days long local induction seminar in AIESEC in Brazil, is not new to me, since I have been in 6 of them. But this one was especial, mainly because I was - for the first time - the chair! It was a totally 5 stars (and unexpectedly new) experience to me.

All those new faces, full of curiosity, the old members striving for their best, some being challenge by their first experience as a facilitator in a conference, the energy, the OC running around, the fun and all that being connected somehow by the chair. I loved it! It was so good that I managed to have external energy to give until the end.

New members

I think they were between 30 and 40 and they were so cool. I am always surprised how fast new members get into the mood, “joining” the AIESEC culture and all those dances, shouts, games, acronyms, roll calls and all, but these guys really impressed me - they were dancing since the very first music (obviously Tunak Tunak, the most effective “new member roll call activator” ever created). There was a new girl even teaching Cotton-Eyed John and that “manual matching hand on the table music” (yeah, I don’t have a better name to call it).

Impressive. Most impressive.

Facilitators

The most punctual facis I ever met. I didn’t even felt we were in Brazil (and in a Discovery Days). Definitely these guys were really well instructed on the importance to be on time, because most sessions had 5 minutes less than allocated. Result: no delays in agenda (and it was really really really packed agenda, with some 20, 30 and 45 minutes sessions that I was sure it would be delayed). Because the bus was delayed, we even managed to catch up a 1h delay, putting the agenda on track after lunch.

Again: impressive. Most impressive.

Organization Committee

I got impressive by some individual talents on the team (and how cool people they were, I got some really cool new friends, such as Lu and Sté), but I guess they were not fully a team. I am sure this was more a management problem, than anything else. Maybe the OCP needed more coaching on management than on event management. There were some clear delegation and tracking problems, but by far the OC was very successful. I just don’t want NEVER AGAIN to make paper stars and to stay in a bar without a beer opener and change. ;)

The girls did their job, that was important. And with all ups and downs, we had everything we needed, from laptops and beamers to flipcharts and pens - at the right time. So, great!

Executive Board

The first conference as EB is very exciting. Too bad I could not talk so much with the guys, but they looked very good. In fact, the LC is so big now that the EB did not need to appear so much. I guess this is a smart thing to activate leadership. I just had one concern: some unacceptable behaviors, such as waking up late. Leadership is sacrifice, I don’t mind if you didn’t sleep, you go and be a role model, no matter what.

This behaviour is easy to understand, we did that too in our first DD (Chico arrived so late that it was after lunch), but we did addressed that situation afterwards.

Fun

It’s hard to beat the south of Brazil in terms of fun. I really enjoyed being again with my former LC, those crazy parties and the very high level of energy. Even gossip box worked out with great gossips (thanks to my fun team, Felipe and Xande, and Jalusa for all the fun at the party).

Me as a chair

Lots of people told me they liked a lot and I also liked a lot to be the chair. It was really amazing. I didn’t know I could be fun and all, since I am much more a low profile person. But I guess it’s all about the roles I play, I just do what I need to, in the case of being a chair, I needed to be energetic and crazy, so I was. In the end I even managed to be a little inspiring - using Anna’s video (by the way, I didn’t post it yet because Anna asked me to hold on, because she need to ask for permission from the people on the movie. So wait a little more)

Final evaluation

Great experience, I definitely want to be chair more times. I hope someone invite me. By the way, thanks a lot a lot a lot to the OC, especially Sté, who asked me to be the chair and also the EB that agreed on that - UPDATE: Anna Laura told me that the EB and the OC had the same choice, just that the OC was the guys who invited me, but EB were already planning on that - I feel flatered once again. You guys gave me this amazing opportunity and I will be forever grateful to that.

Check some @PA Discovery Days 2008/01 photos here.