The weekend of September 16-18, 2011, executives Alessia Danelon, Owen Coutts, Yasser Al-Khder, Alexandra Collins and Communications Commissioner Lisa Truchon attended the Engineering Student Societies’ Council of Ontario’s Presidents’ Meeting, commonly referred to as ESSCO PM. The meeting was expanded this year to have five delegates from each school’s Engineering Society attend. This meant that every engineering undergraduate program in Ontario sent their respective executive representative within the portfolios of communications, academics, president, external relations and events. These representatives gathered at the University of Windsor to meet and share ideas and best practices for the betterment of each school’s Engineering Society.
There were many sessions offered at the conference. At-large members often wonder what benefit conferences offer. The general answer is networking capabilities and the sharing of best practices. ESSCO PM definitely offered these benefits, however the executives learned a lot of new things from the other schools in attendance, and gained a lot from brainstorming sessions within the Waterloo EngSoc debriefings. Among the interesting lessons learned were:
– Waterloo’s EngSoc has a lot to offer and many schools were impressed by the way UW’s EngSoc currently operates and manages affairs
– Many schools seem to have trouble preserving traditions, but the consensus seems to be that if the spirit of the tradition is preserved, the tradition itself is easily preserved
–Waterloo itself has a lot of good traditions, and we have done a good job of preserving them. However, even schools like Queen’s, with a strong legacy of traditions, have had to update some of their traditions, though have been happy with such updates
– Many of the large schools are in the process of updating their EngSoc structure to cater to more students. This means branching out in the ways of advertising, increasing exposure, providing more services
–Watch out for snap bracelets
–Exec got a lot of ideas for more effective advertising, as well as promoting initiatives and services which are often underused
-A lot of good individual contacts were made, which our Waterloo EngSoc execs can now go to for advice, brainstorming and ideas throughout the next 12 months
Overall, the conference was a success. Contacts were made, practices were learned and other executives and delegates got the opportunity to analyse under the microscope the way UW’s EngSoc runs and administers itself. We’re doing well, but we can improve for the benefit of the students and we have every intention of doing so throughout the coming year.
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