International Presidents Meeting 2008

To say that IPM 08 was the best conference I have ever attended won’t be enough to transmit you how the conference was to me, but is the first thing that crosses my mind.

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First this is a unique conference where the current presidents (MCPc) and the elect presidents (MCPe) from all AIESEC entities gather for two weeks to discuss about the organization, where the current team of AIESEC International (AI) is present but also where partially the next AI team is selected and it’s the most diverse conference in AIESEC having in consideration that the number of delegates is around 200 with around 100 countries and territories represented! How crazy is that?

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So, basically I was very excited to attend this conference as you can imagine. So in the middle of February me and Alchy (the MCPc) went by train until Belgrade and then we went by bus until Macedonia more concretely Skopje. In both these countries they write in Cyrillic which is always interesting to see :)

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As soon as we got there we went to a Kavana, a typical bar in Balkans with traditional music and a lot of drinks. There I could immediately find great friends and get into the mood of the conference.

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The next two days we had Pre-meeting with the Central and East Europe (CEE) Growth Network (GN). We focused a lot on external analysis and my focus was to get to know as many as MCPe as possible and start to bond. These two days were soft and calm but the excitement of the conference was noticeable.

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Then, the big day came and started with the Global Village in the city center. Everything was organized and prepared, but the temperature didn’t helped (0ºC) so at some point people just went somewhere to have coffee because it wasn’t possible to be outside for so many hours like that.

But it was incredible the number of Macedonians that showed up to see and participate in the GV… So many people that didn’t seem to mind with the cold!

Then we had the official opening with traditional dances and songs but everyone was too tired to enjoy it properly, so most of people appreciated the 3 hours bus ride until the venue of the conference, Ohrid.

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Then the real conference started with the usual Roll Calls, the speeches for President of AIESEC International (PAI) and for Director of the GNs, as well as, the Q&A.

The Q&A in the GNs can be very different, especially between West Europe and North America (WENA) and CEE. So, as I am originally from WENA for me it was quite interesting because in CEE first people share the questions they have, then they point out what are the most relevant for the GN, then a order is made and if after those questions there is still additional time anyone can make questions. And all of this happens in a matter of minutes. Then, all questions start by “Give 3 concrete…”, “State 3 specific…” or “Tell us 3 tangible goals…” and of course, in the end there is the sarcastic sense of Humor of CEE with some crazy and weird question which I cannot mention because I guess it will be used next year again :)

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Besides that we had the Global Planning, the Global Focus Areas selection, sessions about specific topics, we had a whole day deliver by David J. Pollay with strengths assessment, then skills blocks, Macedonian night with traditional dances, the SG Dialogue, GN time, Official Dinner, the UBS Awards and of course the Legislation (You can see photos from all of this in the slideshow).

I also spend those 10 days talking with people, asking them advices, opinions, catching up with friends and making new ones, and in the end I ask myself how come there are so many amazing people out there?

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Some flashpoints:

- AI organized an amazing game which was just pure fun, no debriefing, no sharing, just fun. They were actors that would perform some sketches from which we had to find out who was the murderer. It was perfect;

- Portuguese speaking people are taking over the AIESEC network, I say this because besides the obvious Portugal, Brasil and me in Croatia, the MCPe from France and from Germany are Portuguese, and now Angola joined the Network. PSGN, GN, GN, Eu Gosto, Ahh ahh.

- The parties were amazing. Can you imagine we had party in the Global Legislation day? Boat Race!

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So, just to finish, the organization was amazing, the sessions were useful, there were real parties and the people were just perfect.

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Thank you all for making IPM such an amazing and unforgettable conference for me :)