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Blog: A glimpse into behind-the-scenes work for Congress 2012
Communications, Public Affairs & Marketing
May 18/12
This is the first in a series of “Behind the Scenes at Congress” blogs By Eleanor Ty, Congress 2012 academic co-convenor and professor, English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University.
For the last eight months, scores of people at both Laurier and the University of Waterloo have been working behind the scenes getting ready for Congress 2012, taking place May 25 to June 2. Our energetic and dedicated project coordinator, Sheldon Pereira, has been working with key representatives from a number of departments and services to make the delegate experience go as smoothly as possible. These units include Laurier’s Registrar’s Office; Physical Resources; food and catering; housing; security; IT; communications, public affairs and marketing; program chairs and local arrangement coordinators; volunteer coordinators, and parking.
In addition, over 400 faculty, staff, and students from Laurier and the University of Waterloo have volunteered to work during the eight days of Congress. These volunteers will work in various positions, including residence support, as wayfinders on campus, in the city, and at airports, as audio-visual and IT help, and as building monitors.
The preparations for Congress 2012 involve many people at Laurier. Here are just some examples of Laurier staff working behind the scenes:
Carmen Carralero and Anne Snyder, working with Marlene Ibrahim’s team from the Registrar’s Office, have been working very hard with Laura Davey, the Congress project assistant, and their counterparts at the University of Waterloo to book rooms for close to 2,000 sessions and panels at Congress. This job involves a lot of patience, coordination, detailed work, and communication as each association needed different sizes and kinds of lecture rooms, classrooms, coffee break space, and spaces for meetings. All 70 associations have now been allocated appropriate meeting rooms on one of the two campuses.
Megan Malcolmson, along with the whole Food Services team, has been working on organizing, taking orders, and preparing food for all conference-goers, including special delicacies for the Presidents’ Reception. She is confident that everyone who attends will find things to enjoy.
Finally, our campus will look glorious in the spring. Meghann Wiles, Manager of Grounds and Custodial Services, says, “Congress has given us an opportunity to beautify our landscape. We’ve planted flowers and shrubs all over campus. We’ve been polishing and waxing our floors, and I’m happy to say that we are getting there.”
By Eleanor Ty, Congress 2012 Academic Co-Convenor
