My team is almost complete...

This morning at 7am (after TEN HOURS of GLobal Legislation!!!!) we learnt who will fill of the 5 Vice-President positions on AIESEC International 07-08.
And the lucky individuals who will get to work with me for one whole year are:

• VP Communications: Michelle (AI 06-07, Canada)
• VP External Relations: Rishabh (MCP 06-07, India)
• VP Finance: Laura (MCP 06-07, UK)
• VP Information Systems: Abishek (AI 06-07, India)
• VP Talent Management: Betty (Africa GN Board 06-07, Kenya)

Unfortunately we are still looking for VP Exchange Management. Interested people please let me know... ;)

Will someone pinch me?

I know the news is out, and thanks to those of you who have already written with congratulations.

I have been selected as Director for AIESEC International 2007-08!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night when i was waiting for the result, the faces of all of the people who have supported me and who would be sitting at home crossing their fingers flashed through my head, and it was very comforting. It's wonderful to have such amazing friends, albeit ones who are scattered across the globe! Thank you all for the strength, ideas and energy that you have given to me the past few weeks.

People here keep asking me how i feel. Actually i can't really answer that because i am still trying to make sense of it. Another adventure is about to begin, i'm moving back to Europe, to another new country (this time the Netherlands). But somehow this still doesn't seem real. On hearing this people tell me to "enjoy the moment". Excellent advice, and i am following it :)

Big emotional hugs from Egypt
Rob

Waiting...

I first woke up this morning around 7. Once the sun came up it was pretty difficult to sleep, so many thoughts running around my head. Waiting.

I got up just before 10 and sneaked down to breakfast while everyone else was in Plenary :) Then started the last bit of preparation for my interview. Waiting.

Laura told me around 10:30 that my interview had been postponed till tomorrow (Thursday). Waiting.

So i decided to re-join the other delegates in sessions. It was nice to be in a more 'normal' environment, and for an hour or so i forgot about the waiting.

Aware of the lack of exercise i'd enjoyed in the conference so far i decided to go for a swim. The water in the pool was absolutely freezing! Then enjoyed soaking up some sun. Waiting.

I was definitely more relaxed now. But still my mind was troubled. It had only really hit me today that it was no longer about being 'the best'. Even if i am able to show my best self during the interview, it's about finding the best 'jigsaw'. Will i be a part of that jigsaw?

This afternoon we had some really cool sessions on 'Heading for the future' - a future after AIESEC. But i don't want that yet. I want the opposite! Still very useful to reflect on the experiences i have had and the things i have learnt. Great preparation for an interview. An interview for which i am still... waiting.

Day 2: Part 2

Ok so it's technically day 3, and i could have gone to sleep already, but there are some updates that just can't wait.

AIESEC International has a new President, only the 4th female PAI in our history. Congratulations Gabitza!

And 19 candidates were given confidence by the Plenary. Yes, that includes me :)

One more fence left to jump...

Day 2: Part 1

I've been up for 11hrs but it feels like a week!
My speech went really well, and 3 out of 4 q&a sessions were really good. I guess overall i feel i couldn't have performed much better today than i did, so i'm really happy with that.

We are about to elect the new President of AIESEC INternational, and then after that the countries will vote on whether each of the Director candidates (that includes me!) should go forward to the selection interview.

So more updates to come very soon...

Greetings from Cairo...

I'm here, i'm alive, i'm cold, i'm jet-lagged but getting over it.
I'm relaxed, i'm focused, i'm happy.

And at last i'm online :)

Tomorrow we have Opening Ceremony, Global Village, then move to the main conference site. So next time i blog i'll be by the Red Sea :) Tomorrow night is the candidates dinner, so looking forward to talking with this brave bunch of people.

Bye for now...
Rx

Before you ask...

I KNOW you want to see pictures. And I WANT to show them to you. I owe you pics of the conference and of the aforementioned tattoo.

The problem is i just spent 20 minutes trying to upload them, without success. And there's only so many times a guy can try these things...

Sorry folks - blame blogger!

SPARK 2007

Ok so i had better write about it, before the memories fade out. It was the conference that we had been waiting for since day 1, yet a conference that should not have been possible, that almost didn't happen.

60 Thai delegates, 10 internationals, 5 incredible facilitators, 1 tireless OCP, 1 irreplaceable Chair.

... and 1 littleblond Conference Manager. Riding the waves of chaos, sticking 2 fingers up to the doubters, unshakeable in a belief that this show WOULD go on - and that it would be a success.

It was almost so very different.
3rd January, Zurich Airport, the littleblond conference manager is returning from 4 weeks semi-holiday in Europe. He takes the impulse decision to check his email over wireless at Starbuck's (not cheap in Switzerland!!!) A mail from the OCP - there are only 20 delegates, 1 LC has no-one registered, she has no support, why are we going ahead with this conference anyway? A mail from the Chair - the delegate fee is too high, we have not promoted the conference enough, OCP is right, why are we going ahead with this conference?

Welcome back to work! As you can imagine, Littleblond conference manager is thrilled to be flying back to this! 10 minutes left until the wireless expires. 10 minutes to put into words the emotions racing through his mind, body & soul. The reply starts with anpre-emptive apology - there is a time constraint, this means the words that follow will be extremely blunt and may contain spelling mistakes :) The reply continues understanding but unwavering. The conference must go ahead. It is the reason we have been working for the past 5 months, and the foundation of our hopes for the future.

Back in Bangkok, the REAL adventure begins. Progress check:

• Sessions designed - nil
• External supporters secured - nil
• Delegate communication - nil
• Facilities booked - nil
• Days until conference begins - 15!
• Team members available to help - 1
• Stress rating - off the scale

So what happened in the next 15 days? Budget re-planned, LCPs ass-kicked, 24hrs of sessions created, speakers found for opening & closing, in-kind sponsors found for pens, paper, t-shirts & breakfast, Alumni Awards Ceremony created with 5 Awardees, faci roll-call perfected ;)

And the outcome of all of this? 60 excited & motivated Thai delegates. The 1st ever conference for members of AIESEC in Vietnam. 5 proud & inspired facilitators. 1 happy chair. 2 new corporate partnerships to build on. Energy, motivation, practical learning for everyone involved.

... and 1 satisfied littleblond Conference Manager :)

Change is in the air...

Not just because i'm blogging for the 1st time in almost 9 weeks (though i admit it does feel a bit strange...)
SO what else has changed:

• The weather - i never thought i would see the day when 25 degrees would make me shiver, but it's happening! I even got sick :(
• Bangkok - at least my feelings towards it are changing. I really start to fall in love with it, and i'm for sure gonna miss it when the time comes to move on. And i've discovered that there are incredibly beautiful beaches within half a day's travel (see pics below)
• My body - apart from being sick there are positive things too :) I'm goin to the gym and swimming again, and i got my 1st tattoo! (ok so it's only henna, but we all gotta start somewhere...)
• My mood - I'm generally much more chilled out and don't let things get to me as much as before. This could of course be entirely due to the colder weather - i'll let you know in March when it gets back in the 30's!
• My financial situation - an unusual but exciting investment should give me more cash to play with (details available on request, of course, but my Swiss-ness won't allow me to write about it in such a public place!)
• My feelings about the future - so i did what i have talked about for so long, i applied for 'that job in Rotterdam'. And i am very proud of my application. And i can't wait to go to Egypt for the next phase (i even have my visa!)
• AIESEC in Thailand - we have new members - over 40 of them! See my next post for more details on what we did with them so far...