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National Conference Debrief
Well, I'm back in the office after my most unique National Conference ever.
We arrived on Kish Island, the Iranian Dubai, at around lunchtime on Monday. We started to case the joint, the delegates started to settle into rooms, and we were all enjoying warm tropical weather.
Saman (MCP) had been dropped off on the way to the hotel to check in with the venue. He came back with a face like thunder. The conference had been cancelled.
That's right. Some governmental people from the Office of God-Knows-What (something to do with the President and security etc) had decided that a. our assembly was illegal and we could not run the conference, and b. AIESEC Iran was basically fradulent, having no official links to AIESEC International. Saman had been investigated, and they questioned him for quite some time about his personal (!) activities as well as those of AIESEC.
Ok. So. Conference. All that hard work. All the preparation, the stress, the coordination. Swept out from under us like *that*. We told the delegates that conference was cancelled, and tried to work out what would come next. (Not to mention that we had a faci in Dubai, getting ready to board a flight, and the second half of the delegates boarding their own flight).
Finally everyone arrived to the news. We sat for some time, shell shocked. We were worried about what this could mean for us. We knew that if they started asking questions back in Tehran, the university would jettison us without a second thought. Tabiri and I wondered briefly if our terms would be cut short, given that AIESEC's legal status was now in question. Would there even be AIESEC in Iran when we got home??
The conference team sat down later that night to brainstorm. Eventually, we decided to run the conference anyway. Hence, the not-a-conference, underground resistance style. We ended up splitting our delegates into three groups, stashed them into the hotel rooms and gave the most important sessions of the conference over three days.
It was insane, that is for sure. One of the rooms became the faci room by default, and that is another story all by itself. Of course here, it's completely improper for men to be in women's rooms and vice versa. Nevertheless, I'd started to come and go from the guys room (I was the only lady-faci). We held our meetings there, general session prep and flipcharts galore.
On the morning of 'Day 2' of this not-a-conference, the facis gathered to have a confirmation meeting before the day's session begun. There was a knock on the door and I answered. Before me stood a pissed off looking guard, complete with beard and bad attitude. He proceeded to drag me over coals for being in the boys room, said he's seen me there more than once etc. I was furious and exhausted, so I just walked away.
I came back later of course, because I had work to do. I unceremoniously stood at the door, yelling into the room about what was coming next. My bearded friend appeared again, and although I clearly stated that I wasn't in the room, he threatened to have me arrested and taken to the police station.
Joy.
Anyway, we managed. We got it all to work, slowly but surely. Quietly, clandestinely, minus just about every hallmark of a conference. No dances, no shouts, no booze, no plenary, no nothing. Although, in keeping with tradition, the food was pretty bad. We held secret, single-sex sessions. On the last day, we threw caution to the wind and fixed flipcharts to the walls between rooms so we could hold an Opportunity Fair.
Finally, finally, the conference was over. Excellent. Time to head home to the relative normality of Tehran. As a final send off, Kish Island somehow managed to delay our flight by 5 hours, ensuring that we arrived back at 5am, instead of 11.30pm.
Well, I can say that the delegates had an awesome time. For them it was unprecedented freedom, conference sessions and crazy activities and tourism. They loved it all, and made the most of everything. I was so absolutley freaking exhausted by the end of it, and I'm sure Saman was too. I was lucky - I just had to manage the conference. Saman had to deal with governmental offices, risks, personal investigations and god-knows-what else.
So yes. Another perfect example of the challenges one faces when one comes to Iran. And as usual, I wouldn't have it any other way.
posted by Kylie | 3:09 AM
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