So, what was the inspiration behind MUNOM?

           Sofia: We had always attended conferences abroad, and since our school does so much MUN- we have it as part of our curriculum, and the club every Wednesday- it just felt really weird that we didn't have our own conference. So then I started talking to the people that had been in the year above us and they said that they had been trying for so long and then I was like ‘okay well, we’ll try as well,' and then we were just lucky enough to actually succeed.

 

 

When did you start the planning?

             Sofia: We started at the very beginning of IB one. As soon as we got back after the summer, the second day, I was in Martin’s office pitching my ideas.

             Lisa: When we made the website it said, '467 days left'.

 

 

You’ve mentioned how you two are a really good team, but have you ever at one point wanted to kill each other?

           Both: YES!

           Sofia: I think Lisa and I have a good balance because we’re able to keep friendship and work separate. We’d argue over something about MUNOM but then hang out at the other’s house and be fine, we wouldn’t actually hold a grudge or anything.

           Lisa: Generally, we've been a really good team. I’ve said this so many times but it’s cause  I’m very patient and I love details so I just sit there editing every dot and every little mistake but I’m not very fast at coming up with ideas, so Sofia, would write something really fast and I’d just go through it and she’d do all the communication, which I hate.

           Sofia: Yeah, Lisa is terrible at answering, and we got so many emails a day that needed to be answered quickly. That was my favourite thing to do. Coming home from school and being like ‘yeah!’ to all those email.

           Lisa: She loves it.

           Sofia: I actually love answering emails. I always answer. It stresses me out having  a notification or leaving someone on read so I try to answer as soon as possible and get it over with.

What I hate, Lisa loves, and what Lisa hates, I love. That's why we work together so well.

         

 

 

As stressful as it was, did you have fun planning MUNOM?

           Sofia: Fun is a bit of an overstatement. We’ve had our ups and downs.

           Lisa: We even thought of cancelling several times.

           Sofia: Yeah, at one point it was so stressful, we seriously thought of actually cancelling.

           Lisa: It was everyone against me. Everyone else wanted to cancel except for me, so I was very happy when we kept going. It was probably bad for my school work though since it was like a productive form of procrastination.

           Sofia: Yeah. It was our main source of procrastination. Jokes aside, it was really fun, but I think it's more rewarding than fun because actually seeing people come here for something you’ve been planning for so long is just amazing.

           Lisa: Definitely. 

 

 

You mentioned that Lisa was the only person who was completely against cancelling MUNOM. In this case would you say that Lisa was the 'backbone' when it comes to not cancelling the conference?

           Sofia: For sure. Lisa was the only one that didn’t give up.

           Lisa: Well, I wouldn't say I was the backbone. I mean I was the only one that was like ‘No! We should keep going!’ but I didn’t actually do anything about it, I was just saying no. Then Sofia talked to Martin and Magnus, and they didn’t want us to cancel.

           Sofia: Yes, but I also think that if it hadn’t been for Lisa being 100% against cancelling MUNOM, we probably would’ve cancelled it. So, because there was one person on the Executive Team that refused to give up, we were like, ‘okay, fine. We try this last thing’, and that was Martin and Magnus. They motivated us and helped us with a few things, and then it worked.

           Lisa: Yeah, so definitely Magnus and Martin too.

#ShoutoutToMagnusandMartin

 

 

Any advice or personal anecdotes for your predecessors?

           Sofia: Not really. I mean, we're the first MUNOM ever, but earlier years did try to host a conference as well. I think the thing that we managed to do differently than they did, was starting early and having more concrete ideas than they did. So yeah, when we presented our ideas to Martin and Magnus they thought it seemed more feasible. And this is not criticism towards them in any way because we would definitely not be here without Jonas and Dora.

           Lisa: They helped us so much, especially Jonas.

           Sofia: Yeah, MUNOM would not be MUNOM without Jonas.

#MuchLoveJonas

 

 

Are there any other people that have really been there for you during this process?

           Sofia: Hilde. Hilde, is the person who calms you down when you’re freaking out. I would be sitting down on a chair crying and freaking out over MUNOM and then Hilde would come and she’d say, ‘it’s okay,’ and suddenly she says that and it’s okay. 

But also our entire team because without them, MUNOM would have never happened. Honestly, just everybody that helped out. 

#GoHildeAndTeams!

 

Lisa, overall how has this experience been for you?

           Lisa: Hell. I’m joking. Well, opening was really great but so far each day has been so stressful and we’ve had a lot of things to do.

That aside, it’s still been really fun and rewarding to see, and I'm sure when the conference is over I'll be so sad it's done. Also, I love the MUNOM Participant's story and seeing people adding to it; I'm just like, ‘yayyy,’ because if they add to it, that means they’re having fun. Hopefully at least.

 

 

Sofia, how has this experience been for you, overall?

           Sofia: It’s been so much more than I expected. I knew it was going to be a great experience but when you actually see the people sitting in the room because you arranged for them to be there, it's just so rewarding, like, I’ve never done anything that felt this rewarding in my life.

 

 

Would you recommend planning MUNOM or conferences in general to anyone else?

           Lisa: Yes.

           Sofia: It's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun and you gain so much experience as well. So, yes. For sure.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Leona Marinelli