The Vice President (Internal) is the chief programming and communications officer of the Society. They are responsible for establishing a sense of rapport with the membership, in a way which complements the work of the other Executive Portfolios. The Vice President (Internal) is ultimately responsible for fostering a sense of McGill identity and community, through a portfolio of events and a communications strategy which engage the student body. The Vice President (Internal) is charged with discovering new ways of not only how the Membership can get involved with the Society, but also with how the Society can be more responsive to the Membership’s needs and desires. Their main duties include: event-planning which engages and promotes the well-being of the Membership, and overseeing all internal communications between the Society and its members.
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Name: J. Daniel Chaim
Year: U3
Campaign slogan: A Team Player
Candidate Biography:
I grew up in Toronto and began working at my father’s restaurants from the age of twelve. I developed a strong professional ethic building and maintaining longstanding relationships with customers and suppliers. I was also a multi-sport varsity athlete throughout my high school career, developing strong team skills and spirit. I learned to be organized and time sensitive by managing athletics, my professional and social life, and school – where I graduated on the honour role. When I came to McGill I was fortunate to have two brothers to show me the ropes and help me get involved. Sharing their knowledge and passion of McGill motivated me to want to welcome others and pass on their spirit. This inspired me to get involved in Orientation Week. I coordinated Arts Orientation Week as Sponsorship Coordinator (2012) and as Operations Coordinator (2013), which were some of the most amazing learning experiences and drove me to become more involved. Most recently, as part of the MUS Winter Carnival Committee, I played an integral role in the planning of large scale events with goal of inclusivity and safety. We achieved our goal by preparing our team of coordinators for the worst and always having a watchful eye on all participants. My experience goes beyond event planning, through my involvement in IRSAM. I was a very committed dais member at SSUNS and McMUN, as well as a representative of McGill at Yale, West Point, and the University of West Virginia. At West Point I was awarded the Outstanding Delegate distinction. All of these experiences helped me cultivate a love for McGill and a desire to share that passion with the McGill student body.
Describe your platform:
1. Maintain Commitment to Student Life
- Expand the visibility of upcoming events
- Create a customizable SSMU calendar of events for all undergraduate society’s, SSMU clubs and services, and other SSMU affiliated groups available to all students
- Work with VP Communications of different groups to receive regular updates on events
- Offer students more opportunities to be involved in the planning of SSMU events
- My personal goal is to create at least 5 new innovative events, solely student initiated
- An all-night gaming competition, fine-art student exhibits, cooking classes, and more…
- My personal goal is to create at least 5 new innovative events, solely student initiated
- Be more conscious of where SSMU funds are being allocated with the goal to increase the value of SSMU run events that are under the Internal portfolio
- Spend the SSMU funds on the things all students want
- Work closely with the VP Finance and Operations to maximize budgets effectiveness
2. SSMU Events and Services
- Orientation Week
- Continue to strive to sustain and develop greater inclusivity and safety at orientation week
- Work closely with Student Life and Engagement to prepare orientation facilitators
- Plan fun, well-rounded events that will respect the rights and views of individuals
- Greater support from SSMU for faculties by leading all undergraduate society’s to work cohesively to a common goal
- More transparency and communication with sponsorship, operations planning, venue bookings, etc.
- Foster enthusiasm for SSMU orientation week events that are more inclusive and more effective in bolstering friendships
- Creating more impactful day events for students to meet each other
- An unforgettable night event that will give students the experience of Montreal night life in a safe environment
- Proliferate the expectations and responsibilities of those involved with planning orientation and plan more significant ways to recognize their efforts
- Hire those who will perform admirably and professionally and those that will represent the SSMU and students best
- Recognize those involved in the planning process with a post orientation week banquet
- Continue to strive to sustain and develop greater inclusivity and safety at orientation week
- The Internal Portfolio
- Create large events that coincide with homecoming to increase the participation and foster stronger school spirit and sportsmanship
- Create engaging events for student’s interests that are not yet available (i.e. gaming, art, winter activities etc.)
- Bring fascinating speakers monthly
- Create methods of sustainability and promote their use around McGill
- Increase recycling efforts for the beverage tent at orientation week
- Support sustainability groups by planning fund raising events
- Emphasize the necessity of safety in events
- Give all students under the umbrella of the SMMU the piece of mind that they are in a safe environment at all events
- Communication
- Open lines with McGill Campus media outlets
- Being personally more available to McGill media representatives
- Support the efforts made by the previous VP Internals of making mass emails more effective, relevant and useful
- Remodel the email system to be more focused to individuals by having them choose the outlets they want to hear from regularly
- Always have the most recent and complete listerv available online on the SSMU’s website and Facebook page
- Use Social Media as the primary source of communication between SSMU and students
- Strengthen the relationships between incoming and outgoing committees to gain more from the experiences of their predecessors
- Event planning at McGill requires in depth knowledge of what is available around the city of Montreal
- Emphasizing the available support of those with experience and keeping strong communications with those who are new to positions will create stronger, more successful events all around McGill
- Open lines with McGill Campus media outlets
3. Listen and learn from the McGill Community
- Students
- Learn about what students want more/less of on campus
- Feedback from surveys and open invitations to a once a month open forum discussion about items under my personal portfolio
- Give students more opportunity to be part of improving events
- Learn about what students want more/less of on campus
- Associations
- Allow for more opportunities for student associations to receive assistance from the SSMU representatives
- Support and encourage existing and start-up associations
- Administration
- More collaboration with McGill admin for events run on campus
- Offer admin the chance to participate in events they may find interesting
Describe your qualifications:
Professional Experience at McGill University
- Arts Orientation Week – Sponsorship Coordinator (2012)
- Raised a total sponsorship value of over $30,000
- Constructed contracts, created sponsorship package and negotiated sponsorship agreements with local and national sponsors
- Arts Orientation Week – Operations Coordinator (2014)
- Largest attended orientation week in past 4 years
- Strategized operations between venues and participants
- Lead team of 100+ student staff vounteers
- MUS Carnival Committee (2014)
- Raised over $30,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society
- Large scale event planning and execution
- Assisted in leading team of student volunteers
Professional Experience Outside McGill University
- EDO Restaurants, Toronto, ON (2006-2012)
- Worked as a Manager, Server, Host, Bartender, and Event Organizer
- Va’ad Tikun Olam: Dancing on Horizons (2009)
- Raised over $17,000 for Horizons orphanage in Ghana
McGill and Community Involvement
- Member of IRSAM (2010-Present)
- McGill University Delegate at
- West Point Military Academy (2012)
- Received Outstanding Delegate Award
- Yale University (2012)
- University of Virginia (2013)
- West Point Military Academy (2012)
- SSUNS 2011 – Crisis Staffer
- McMUN 2012 – Crisis Staffer
- SSUNS 2012 – Vice-Chair of Crisis Committee
- McMUN 2013 – Chair of Triple-Joint Crisis Committee
- McGill University Delegate at
- Gert’s Bar (2012-Present)
- Bartender since September 2012
- Open Air Pub Volunteer (OAP) (2012-Present)
- Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity (2013-Present)
- One of ten founding fathers of the McGill chapter of the international fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon
- Former rush chair
What are the successes and failures of this year’s SSMU and what would you have done differently?
During orientation week I perceive the final day as a failure. I don’t agree with the decision to have the final night be a DJ concert and the day of was ill planned. I would have decided to do something similar to the decision of orientation week 2012 to bring all students to Piknik Electronic, which offers students a glimpse of Montreal they may miss if they don’t have the chance to stay the summer. Piknik is very relaxed atmosphere which fosters a much more friendly environment which is appropriate for making friends. The final night should not be a DJ because, in my experience, there were too many people taking illicit drugs at last years concert. While it may happen whatever the venue or show may be, I think it would be more inclusive to have a band perform to take away from the idea of the rave atmosphere.
Although there has been major progress over the past few years, the listserv is still in need of major improvements. I want the listserv to be customizable and more effective. I plan on having students co-create the content as well as having options for all students to opt-out from information that they don’t want cluttering their inbox, with a link connecting to them to the full version. I want to give students the options to choose which groups, clubs and societies they want to hear from so that they know the content in the listserv will be important to them. Too often does the listserv end up in the trash or spam folders, this disrespects the efforts of all collaborators that work hard to create it weekly.
What are some key issues you foresee SSMU having to address next year?
The SSMU will need to improve on its relationship with the Montreal community. McGill events often take place around Montreal and, more specifically, in the Milton-Parc community. Events here often escalate to the point where they endanger the safety and security of students and residents. These issues do get out of hand, but it’s in everyone’s interest to strive to create a safe environment for all. To continue to run events we, as the student body of McGill, need to empathize with these residents and treat their property with the same respect we would give our parents homes. All execs need to do there part to help achieve this goal, but under the position of VP Internal I plan to create more effective systems of street team roamers and work with the other executives to find more ways to improve on security for all.
A key issue that the SSMU faces every year is creating engaging activities that are inclusive, safe and fun. There are many events such as faculty Olympics, four floors and week 101 that appeal to a majority of students, but many students are not interested. I plan to find out what other events can be run at McGill to appeal to the minorities as well as the majority. For example, I want to create a gaming tournament where students can come compete for prizes by playing video games. Creating an engaging community at McGill should always be a main focus for all SSMU representatives.
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