Leading HKSA

Leah C.

January 30, 2010 - 10:00 PM

I ranted a bit in my blog for this week about running HKSA. In no way am I directing, or hinting anything negative towards anyone specifically. Just some bumps and realizations along the way. I love HKSA and the committee and I hope that this year's "Night" will be the best!

The leader does not reflect the success of the entire club, it takes the entire team to run it. As the CO-President of the Hong Kong Student Association, I work with some brilliant people who bring a lot of diverse backgrounds and ideas to the team. Without the committee, and especially without our members, HKSA would be nothing. I lead because I have a passion to bring people together, to create a place to socialize for fellow students, and to share and increase the awareness of the Hong Kong culture at the university. Being the president is difficult. Sometimes it's frustrating, especially working with such a large committee this year, but I know in the end everything will work out.

It's kind of like a puzzle. In the beginning everything is scrambled and chaotic. Some pieces seem to match, but don't. Others fit quite perfectly. I feel like I'm solving a puzzle sometimes... trying to pull everything and everyone together. Our committee this year consists of 16 students, ranging from freshmen to seniors. Some are from Hong Kong, others are not. Many of them are involved in other student groups, and others have part time jobs. Three of the girls, are active members of their sorority house, including Karen, the CO-President. Another three are in the Wushu Club, and two are in the Chinese Flagship program. Everyone is studying something different, from digital arts, business, to bio-chemistry. As you can see, many of our members are very involved with campus and have busy schedules. It's hard to accommodate everyone's schedules, especially with 16 committee members. Studies and classes are by far the top priority, so I understand when someone needs to study and is unable to attend our weekly meetings....

There were some obstacles in the beginning that needed to be fixed as a committee. Karen, and I had talked about these issues and I am glad that we usually are on the same page. Side conversations during meetings are the number one issue we agreed on. When one person is addressing something, there tends to be another conversation going on. Most of the time they relate towards to the topic, others times not so much. It's annoying when you're trying to address things and a few people keep chatting. The meetings are one hour long and I rarely go over this time. If I do, I excuse those who have to leave.

Tardiness was also another issue in the committee meetings. Waiting for people in order to start is unfair to those who arrive on time. Again, this also cuts into our 1 hour meeting so I feel terrible when people complain, "Can we start yet? Or, I need to leave by 7pm... etc." I shouldn't constantly remind everyone, two hours before the meeting, where and at what time the next meeting is. It's their responsibility to check their message or to let us know if they are unable to make it. I usually send a reminder about when our next meeting is, several days before. The committee meetings are always every other week, (except during finals or breaks) so forgetting is not an excuse!

Right now, I feel like the issues have been resolved. Near the end of fall term, the 2 Presidents and 2 vice presidents sat down to address the issues concerning how the group ran. We then met with the rest of the committee to reform the group. We came up with a list of solutions and policies to combat the problems. For example, we decided that meetings will start on time and those who are late can catch up by reviewing the secretary's notes, (sent the day after). We also reminded each of the members what their duties are and clarified who is responsible for which task.

Currently the group is running much smoother and the last meeting was by far the best one far. I held the discussion in the meeting room at our office. Everyone was required to sit around the long table facing the whiteboard, while I scribbled down key points and ideas. Before, we had the meetings outside in the office. Everyone was more spread out and it just didn't feel like we were in a group. There were side conversations here and there and people were doing their own little thing. I don't want to be a strict or anything, but I can tell when people are focused or not and it is apparent in how the club performs. I want the meetings to be professional and laid-back at the same time. I was really glad last week when someone reminded a few people to quiet down during the meeting. I usually try to wait until the conversation is over to continue, so I was really glad when the group started to become more focused.

This is especially important since Hong Kong Night is only 2 months away. There is so much to do and plan. There are decorations, props, skit, food, performers, fundraisers, volunteer shirts, promotional posters and much more to plan. I need all the members to be on top of things, and so far I think we're on the right track. The committee is under control, and I feel like we are more focused than ever. Our ideas and plans are solid. We just need to initiate them, and hope that we have enough funding and time.

My goal is to make this year better than all the rest. *Fingers crossed*

HKSA Committee 2009-2010

1. CO-President - Leah Chan
2. CO-President - Karen Fan
3. Vice President - Ashley Chan
4. Vice President Cindy Huang
5. Treasurer - Andy Zhu
6. Multimedia Coordinator - David Mellor
7. Advertising Director - Sarah Chan
8. Greek/Public Relations - Holly Marie
9. Outreach Chairman-Michelle Lei
10. Activities Coordinator-Tiffani Liang/Candace Chin
11. Fund raising Director Melissa Cohen/Kimberly Young
12. Secretary-William Yee
13. Chinese Flagship outreach-Alex Chu
14. Human Relations-Lifeng Li