A letter from the Secretary General:

This year VYMUN is going on the road! The conference is moving to the Delta Whistler Village Suites in beautiful Whistler, BC. We are very excited by the prospect of hosting VYMUN in a new location, and even more elated that it is one of the most stunning places around. In addition to traveling, VYMUN is also opening registration to schools from outside of BC. We hope this will help diversify our conference and make it that much more fun for everyone involved. Also, VYMUN will be spread out over 3 days, allowing for more in-depth discussion and a more wholesome Model UN experience.

VYMUN has always been an introduction for students to Model United Nations, looking to kindle the flame inside for fast-paced crises, intelligent debate, and solving world issues. We aim to provide a comfortable, pressure-free environment in which delegates can feel that the competitive edge of Model UN conferences is less keen, and they can relax and hone their skills while having fun and hopefully learning something new about this fascinating world we live in. We look to have approachable and knowledgeable staff who are willing to teach delegates how Model UN works.

The dates for VYMUN 2012 are Friday, October 19th – Sunday, October 21st, 2012. As always, we will be accepting students from grades seven to ten, as long as they are novices in Model United Nations. Because of the increased length of the conference and the cost of transportation to and from Whistler, early registration fees this year will be $150. Early registration ends on June 1st, 2012, and following that, regular registration commence, closing at midnight on Sunday, September 18th.

This year we will be offering 5 committees: The Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Affairs Committee; United Nations Human Rights Council; United Nations Commission on Drugs and Crime; United Nations Security Council; and the Council of the European Union. We are looking to build on the interactivity of all of our committees again this year — something we can do with such a small conference — by informing other committees, through the use of different modes of communication, such as social media and press releases through our blog, of what is going on in different rooms, and how decisions made by different UN organs can impact how other committees make their choices. We encourage delegates and chaperones to follow us on twitter or our rss feed as well as our live blog so they can keep tabs on what is going on during the conference.

My name is Ethan Kellough, and I will be the Secretary General for VYMUN 2012. If any questions or concerns arise, I am available at secgen@vymun.com for your convenience. I am eagerly anticipating VYMUN this year, and can’t wait for our first ever conference in Whistler!

Sincerely,

Ethan Kellough

Secretary General