Open House 2012

I know I promised a review of Tembusu Open House the last time I posted, but these two weeks since have been a mad rush against deadline after deadline! I think everyone has been feeling it, really, this restless, breathlessness from chasing (or should I say being chased by) assignments and projects. In a way, I am quite grateful for the outdoor concert last night. It was a good distraction from the ever piling workload.



So, about the Open House. As I had mentioned in the previous post, I really enjoyed the energy that filled the college on the night before the Open House. It is really quite amazing to see so many hands works towards a common cause –  the combined ambition of many people is a powerful thing. But, taking things a few steps back, I think that the planning committee for the event was over-ambitious. When the coordination for Open House began to materialize (which on its own is a completely different issue) there were way too many ideas floating around. I remember there was a lot of talk of a flash mob that eventually never came to pass. The problem is not having too many ideas, as it is trying to do more than what we could cope with.

Capacity is a tricky problem in Tembusu because despite our potential, in terms of administrative capability, talent and ideas, it is always difficult to get the commitment of helpers. The first problem I noticed was how shabbily the helpers were coordinated for the event. There were two rounds recruitment, the first an application opening and the second a cry for help. Obviously the committee (i.e. the CSC) had underestimated the initial willingness of their peer's support and/ or they had been too generous in their own ideals and expectations. Regardless, they did not seem to be able to meet their plan's demands for manpower. I can't say that this poor response can be considered a problem in itself, but if stands for anything, it was the first sign that things had not been so thoroughly thought through.

The second problem to reveal itself was a communication issue. This was probably at the heart of all the disorganisation. As a helper at the event, I found I did not actually know what was expected of me until about a week prior to Open House. Although this seems like a minor issue, it is also one that would have tremendously improved the efficiency of the running of the event had it been earlier resolved. The key concept I am really pushing for here is expectation management. By that, I do not mean that the entire college has to be briefed on every detail of the event; Simple notes on when to expect a response or a briefing after one has offered to help would have been useful. Basically, just tell us (helpers) what our next step is, and when to expect it.

Unsurprisingly, I soon found out that this communication problem might have already been running deeper than it seemed. Key personnel like interest group heads (and I generalise here), who were responsible for organising their own sections of the Open House, seemed out of the loop as well. Information that should have been disseminated to them, such as the basic outline of the event and floor plans, were a complete mystery. This again, is due to poor expectation management, where leaders of the sub-divisions were not adequately informed of essential (basic) event details that would have clarified and eased planning on their level.

Also – and I say this based on my personal suspicions –  I think there was a communication lapse within the organising body itself. From my own observation, the CSC seemed very dysfunctional, in that each member worked quite independently of the group. This was evident from how the planning of any given aspect of the Open House appeared disjointed from the other aspects. To me, it looked like the committee had divided the different responsibilities among themselves then set off to fulfill them without collating and updating each other on the overall progress of the event planning. Not to mention also that the CSC does not seem very bonded... I know that friendships are not in any way necessary for effective cooperation, but they are very typical of student-bodied leadership, if not a very common byproduct from people having worked (hard) together. Okay, I'm not implying they don't work hard or are not friends, just that I find it strange that they seem (note, keyword is seem) very fragmented and internally disconnected as an organising committee.

All in all though, I think that the Open House was largely successful, and I enjoyed myself throughout the two days. It wasn't a flop, but it definitely has many points on which it can be improved, especially in the planning process. I also realise I didn't say more about CSC's over-ambitiousness as I had originally intended, but I guess I can keep that for another post in future. Good night.