Meet USERN Alumni: Not Enough Seats

Sasan Paryad, Sara Hanaei, Mona Mirebeik, Mohammad Shokrollahi, Masoumeh Alipour, Sara Haesini, Saleheh Ebadi Rad, Mahsima Mahsima Shabani and Elham Rayzan, dazzled as what can be named ''the most coordinated match'' in the USERN Congress squad! 

‘’I was engaged with this congress since like 8 months ago, and I never planned on doing the job of arranging the things in the Qods hall, since I arrived!’’, Sasan Paryad, remembers of the first day he got involved with the USERN Congress as an organizing member!  He invited some colleagues including, Ehsan Keramati, to the team, who later became key members in the organization of the congress. He reminds of the day before the congress, November 7th, when he and his team had to wait 8 hours for the posters and all the equipment to get to the venue, and how they did not get any night sleep, inorder to get the congress center ready for the opening day! It was not just that all the posters and the banners to be held to the walls! The registration desk, the packages, the info desk, the stage and the equipment for Chair moderators, had to be fixed by the morning and only a few night hours left. Sasan was pushing for his team mates to get to the venue as fastest they could, by noon, Monday! and it was quite a wet blanket to see only the gift flowers from the TUMS Central Service Mangers to have reached there! ''We flourished the whole stage and the hall with white and green turnips, while waiting during the wrenching and stressful hours of the day just before the congress!’’ Paryad reminisces with a smile on his face.

-One big problem we were facing, every hour of each day, was the lack of space for the audience to seat, and I must accept with regret, that we got quite a few negative remarks from the delegates! Actually, it was not the disorganization of the venue team or lack of proper estimation of the audience, whether pre-registered or registering on-site, that caused the shortage of space in the venue. The USERN congress organizing committee was not able to afford to pay for other options for the congress hall -bigger halls-, neither they were able to close registration, despite lacking empty seats. There were frequently, times when there was no spot to seat, and Paryad, Rayzan and Shabani, had to explain to an angry student that this was only a ''one time mishap of the day!''. 

The last day of the congress and the day of the festival, something of a wonder happened to Sasan! He was informed and partly in charge of everything that happened in the Azadi Venue, were the festival was to be held. By the end of the congress on 2 p.m of Novmeber 10th, things got into a fast lane for the venue team to transfer the Medals, Certificates, and Statuettes, and pack everything to the tower. Sasan had not had the chance to make sure everything was right with Saboura, who was scheduling everything for the festival! Around two and half in the afternoon, someone calls Sasan, and ensures him that the stage, the seats and audio-visual system of the tower in running well and that they need to get everything there as quick as possible and that the dinner is well switched! Sasan did not ask for the girl’s name, and relived knowing that everything is running smoothly. He later asked Saboura, but looks like, no one knows the mysterious girl from the Azadi venue, who seemed to know of everything in-action! 

''A cute story I remember from the night of the congress is the night before the opening session when me and Arya [A. Aminoroaya], figured about the missing ID card hangers! We searched everywhere and even took to the CMC, 2 o’clock in the morning to see if anything is left there. We came to a compromise that we do not let any of the committee member know this and let decide in the morning. We couldn’t find the little box of a thousand hangers, hidden in one of the closet, next morning, if it was not for the fresh OC team who searched in the morning, just before everyone arrived! '' Sasan said when I asked him for a special moment during the congress. 

Good luck with you guys!

By Farzaneh Rahmani