<p>(sorry if this is in the wrong forum)
Hey guys, this is my second year in model UN and I love it so far. In Nov, I will be going to my first big conference at brown university. Just wondering how hard it is to win an award (don't worry, I'm doing this for fun, but I wouldn't say no to an award)</p>
<p>If it’s a college level conference, it should be fairly difficult to win an award. Pretty much everyone will be very experienced. It’s much more important to have fun, though. This is my third year in Model UN, and it’s beginning to lose its charm for me. </p>
<p>Depends on which committee.</p>
<p>If you are in a General Assembly filled with newcomers, then your chances as an experienced delegate to win an award would be much higher.</p>
<p>If you are in a medium/advanced committee like NATO, JCC, or UNSC, then it’s going to be a lot harder. </p>
<p>Also depends on the size/level of conferences. Small, one-day conferences for newbies is obviously going to be easy. HarvardMUN and the like is obviously going to be harder.</p>
<p>I don’t know how experienced/skilled you are, but BrownMUN is going to be a harder conference. Which committee are you in? </p>
<p>To all MUNners: Please don’t do MUN just for the sake of winning awards. It personally makes me mad to see experienced delegates delegating in beginner level committees just to snag awards. Delegate in a committee you like and do the best that you can. </p>
<p>@HvePassion actually, this is technically my first conference. I prepared for the Georgetown one last year, but our school was unable to go due to a blizzard. I haven’t chosen my committee yet…Could you tell me which are the beginner level committees, because I’ve never had any experience and would like not to be overwhelmed this time</p>
<p>@brickthelegend </p>
<p>DISEC, ECOFIN, SOCHUM, and SPECPOL are all considered beginner committees. I do have to warn you though, that there are going to be a lot of delegates in these larger committees (expect at least 60-70). It might be harder for you to shine and get time to speak. </p>
<p>If you go to a smaller, intermediate-level committee like the African Union, you’ll probably get more chances to speak. But you can also be easily overwhelmed and intimidated by some of the more competitive/experienced delegates. </p>
<p>If you have zero experience, as in you haven’t even been prepared for the Rules of Procedures (ie don’t know what to do in unmods, write resolution paper, propose motions), I would strongly suggest you go to a local conference first. Or perhaps ask your MUN execs to stimulate mock sessions after school to prepare delegates for BUSUN. </p>
<p>With no experience delegating in an actual committee, I would have to say you may have a slightly lower chance of winning an award. </p>
<p>Oh well, thats too bad. And our MUN only attends college level conferences; we do not even participate in any smaller conferences at all. What should be my plan of attack? @HvePassion</p>
<p>@brickthelegend That’s interesting. Why can’t you participate as an independent delegate? What do execs of your MUN club do to prepare you guys? If they don’t do anything you might as well take over the club lol. </p>
<p>My plan for you would be:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Organize mock sessions either during lunch or afterschool. Delegate with your club members and get used to procedures and speaking.</p></li>
<li><p>There are plenty of MUN procedures and rules online – study them! Get the basics down to pat so you know what will be happening during committee.</p></li>
<li><p>Research research research! Pick your committee asap, and determine what your strategies will be. What new ideas/solutions can you propose to the rest of the committee? What is your stance? Who are your allies/enemies? You have to be a confident, firm, and decisive delegate for other delegates to want to work with you.</p></li>
<li><p>Make sure you know how to write working papers. A lot of people don’t, so if you do, that’s a huge plus. Delegates will flock around you and you’ll get to be one of the main sponsors. As a director, I always observe to see who spearheads the resolution papers. </p></li>
<li><p>Become confident with public speaking. NO ONE cares about someone who sounds shy and stutters. It doesn’t matter if you’re research is the best or if you have the best ideas. </p></li>
<li><p>Do not f up your foreign policy lol. This happens way too much.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’ve been to two BUSUN conferences and won awards at both of them - one best del (DISEC), one honorable (SPECPOL) - and had two very different experiences. The competition and the chairing varied a lot. DISEC was great in all respects. Chairs were really fair and helpful, the competition was tough, but not overboard, and the committee dynamic worked really well. I really fell in love with model UN at my first BUSUN (yes, the gavel helped a little with that). The second time, on the other hand, was awful and epitomized everything wrong with MUN in general. The chairs were lazy, the topics stalled, and the other delegates were gavel-hunting ■■■■■■■■. We literally saw the chair scrolling through facebook the whole time and best del went to the loudest, most obnoxious, undeserving delegate (a common result of lazy chairing).</p>
<p>Brown (and MUN in general) is an absolute crapshoot when it comes to committees. The best thing to do if you want to win is to be prepared for any possible outcome - yes, this takes WORK. You never know who is going to show up until that first committee session so prepare yourself like you’re going to be up against a room full of Dalton and UChicago Lab delegates. If you to slack off because you think it’ll be an easy conference, you’ve already lost. Just know your policy and your topic. I recommend a research binder. And come with a list of SOLUTIONS (not clauses, that’s for cheating ■■■■■■■■) for every topic. Don’t make them up when you’re there.</p>
<p>The biggest downside to Brown is that they don’t allow computers in or outside of committee. You give them a handwritten rez (which is never as good) and they type it up and print it, which can take hours. Normally you get to type outside of committee and hand in a USB.</p>
<p>The biggest upside to Brown is the committee sizes. Unlike most other conferences, the largest committees are 40 people max, so you do get a lot of chances to participate.</p>
<p>My school won’t be at BUSUN this year, but good luck! Let us know how it goes.</p>
<p>I did UNDP for my first conference because I forgot to state committee preference, and most of the people in the committee were beginners. However, it became difficult to write a position paper about a topic for which every country had a consensus.</p>
<p>I’d pick a committee that you like, though. It’s not about winning awards. Nobody expects you to win anything your first conference.</p>