Liam O'Leary
When we think of head organising, we imagine countless sleepless nights, printing study guides in bulk and lots and lots of coffee, but a day in the life of a head organiser is actually much more meticulous. It consists of tons of logistics, venue hunting, enquiries and time management; and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
In order to find out all I possibly could about the experience of Head Organising I went straight to the men themselves Ross Gorey and Jack Counihan, the Head Organisers of this year’s C.U Regional Session and asked them some questions.
Here are the dodgy duo’s answers:
What skills are essential for Head Organising?
Ross: “I believe it’s key to have a knack for delegating people and showing developed social skills because most of the work is done with the organisers team and it’s essential to be able to communicate and interact with them.
Besides that I think being somewhat organised is quite important to head organising, clearly I’m not organised but I do think it’s a skill worth having. As well as that you can’t organise without a bit of craic in you.”
Jack: “Very little, basically none. I mean look at me as an example”
What is the your favourite part of Head Organising?
Ross: “Personally, I really enjoy the whole emailing and talking to people to organise things thing. Especially when you see everyone sitting down together at the opening ceremony and the session is really coming together as a real event and not just a concept in our heads.
Also getting to interact with officials is always great craic since many are already my friends.”
Jack: “The greatest honour is giving out to delegates and whipping out their parents contact details, schools’ name, pets name etc. I’m going to wreck you.”
What is your least favourite part of Head Organising?
Ross: “Honestly, calling up schools inviting them to the session and asking for delegates is a very nerve wracking experience since some will agree and others won’t and aren’t helpful at all. But luckily this session the organising team helped us greatly and helped loosen that burden. The complete lack of sleep is a downside as well.”
Jack: “Most of the pre-session work and worrying about the small details such as amount of sandwiches etc. Also calling schools.”
How did you find inspiration for this session?
Ross: “A major inspiration for us was Caoimhe O’Rourke she was Head Organiser for C.Us two years ago. She was my first ever chair when I started my EYP journey as a young delegate and taught Jack and I everything we know about organising (Which isn’t much being honest!).
We also wanted to tackle the completely untrue stigma around C.Us that it’s the regional session with the most craic but the least academic standards. We wanted to show that CUs can have the best craic whilst also maintaining a high level of academia. I believe we’ve achieved that with this years session!”
Jack: “God”
In a nutshell, A Head Organiser creates, organises and supervises every element of the session. Without Ross and Jack this session would not even be a possibility and we’re all very lucky and grateful to have them. Even if they are a bit bonkers!
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