Debating Society: Convenor

I am standing for Debate Society Convenor because I have experience in organising speaking conferences and believe I have valuable ideas to contribute to the way the society’s competitions are currently being run. In order to do this, I would like to join the organisational team of the society at the ground level so I can fully understand the intricacies of how it works.

A couple of weeks ago, I got the opportunity to be a runner for the UCL Pro-Am competition. I enjoyed doing the work and getting to know the people on the current committee. It also reminded me of when I founded the first upper school MUN conference at my high school in 2024. Since it was the first conference hosted by my school, there was no previous framework for logistics for the two-day conference, with over 200 people involved.

During that time, I learned how to create room layouts, direct the logistics team, design and order customised merchandise, finance the conference, secure keynote speakers of interest, and train personnel. These are the skills that I can offer the UCL Debate Society. This is my first year doing debate, and I am committed to improving my speaking skills quickly through consistent attendance at the society. So far, this has allowed me to place 13th among novices at the QMUL Open 2026, my first competition. I think that my journey of learning debate for the first time might be valuable in the future to others who have never been involved in anything similar.

Hello my name is Louis Flawn-Thomas, I am a 1st year undergraduate student in History, Politics and Economics presenting myself to be your next convenor

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR ME?

I think two things are important in a convenor: their commitment and their experience. For the former, I have shown my commitment to this society, I have attended almost every Tuesday and Thursday session, more than anyone else in this society, even if I didn't have to. Even without having been elected yet, I've already signed up to be a runner in upcoming UCL competition to understand what this role entails, even if I didn't have to. I am dependable, I am committed  and I am enthusiastic; those are qualities that are essential to this role

In terms of experience, I was Secretary General of my Model UN club in high school and helped organise our school's annual conference. Although these conferences are very different to debating competition, the same problems arise: deadlines that need to met, people not showing up on the day, handling logistics, disagreements among organisers, etc. I have experience in these issues and I know how to react in the face of these problems.

As such, for all of those reasons and more, you SHOULD vote for me, Louis Flawn-Thomas, to be your next convenor!!

Hello debate baddies! I’m Nur and I’m excited to run for Convener. Such an administrative role requires strong organisation and communication; I’ve built these skills by handling multiple commitments (national athlete, charity worker) and eager networking (hosting crashes, organising charity dinners). I’m committed to pushing the society to a high but sustainable standard through 2 key deliverables:

Streamlined preparation: Behind-the-scenes work for training/competitions can be slow which causes delays. I would push for optimised communication so that allocations are timely and travel expenses are cheaper. When admin is predictable and transparent, debaters feel more confident in committing, broadening and diversifying our competitor base.

Confident execution: On the day, anything can happen - especially in the maze that is the IOE. I’d introduce visible points of contact and coordinated volunteers to ensure smooth rounds. My experience overseeing international-level taekwondo competitions and managing complex charity admin means I stay solution oriented during unpredictable scenarios.

My overarching goal is accessible leadership: breaking barriers while keeping debate organised. Efficient administration creates the stability necessary for innovative events and collaborations, making debate less intimidating and open to all. The society only deserves the best, that is all I aim to deliver as a convenor :)

also I love food, evidenced in photo. we need more food events #bigback

Hello Friends!

If I have to describe why I am running in one sentence, its this. The debate society has been a genuine haven for me, where I've learnt a lot and made really good friends and this is precisely why I want to give back.

I've been really involved in this community from the start of my time here at university and the society holds a special place for making my first year as memorable as it could have been. Going to Tuesdays/Thursdays sessions to learn and debate with you all and getting to know you at the socials afterwards have been some of my best memories here.

This post is an opportunity for me to work for the society, to give back in the best way I can. Being a convenor is not easy work, and I've seen how much the previous team had to dedicate to make the society as successful as it was. I want to play my part and help contribute to this vision, making the competitions that we all enjoy the best they can be. I want to help maintain our reputation in circuit as the hosts of good competitions and to improve this as much as I can.

I've worked on this before, convening debate schools competitions with over 300 people and as a result, I've worked with people and I know the effort that goes behind each and every competition and this is precisely why you can trust in me to ensure the job is done well, from getting good debaters and judges to making sure the competition runs smoothly.

Trust in me and I will do all I can to deliver for you.

VOTE SARVESH FOR CONVENOR

I am standing for Convenor because I believe one of the biggest challenges our society currently faces is running tournaments at the level we aspire to. In the past we have faced issues such as the lack of pocket rooms and other logistical difficulties, and I want to help ensure our events run smoothly and reach the standard of other major tournaments. I am deeply passionate about tournaments. I attend them almost every weekend and love the intensity, the competition, and the opportunity for growth they create. For me, tournaments are the heart of competitive debating and I want to help create spaces where people and the community can grow.

I also bring relevant experience and strong organizational skills. I previously organized the largest MUN conference at my school, the first and only one held entirely in English, running logistics, and I have CAPed around ten Brazilian tournaments. I am very organized and comfortable with Excel through my work as an assistant at iLAC. I have been active on the debate circuit since 2024. I am a breaking judge at Worlds in both university and schools categories, a finalist at Portuguese Worlds , and I currently coach Team Portugal. Through judging, coaching, and debating I have built strong connections across the community, including many people in London’s schools circuit, which would help me bring strong ACs, equity, tab teams, and other contributors to our tournaments.

I just wanna like, bring people together and stuff y'know ɷ◡ɷ 

Ok to make this a bit proper I have three proposals for things that, if elected, I'd like to implement for the next academic year.

When we host tournaments

1. Debate workshops/lectures.

As you've probably already come across online, its not uncommon for big tournaments to have their CAs do a workshop on specific debate skills such as weighing, judging or running principles. By incorporating such workshops into our own tournaments we'd allow for our participants to learn directly and interactively from some of the best debaters in the circuit, while also contributing back to the global debating community (if we upload them). This may come at some extra complexity and monetary costs, but since these workshops will be very accessible to members of the club I think it'd be a net win.

The tournaments we host

In addition to our ~5 existing 'flagship' tournaments, I want to host:

2. An online tournament.
3. A wacky tournament.

An online tournament can take alot more people, meaning lower single team reg fees while still maintaining a good profit margin for club activities. The wacky tournament will need some more thorough brainstorming from the future convening team, as well as some very accommodating CAs. However if there's sufficient interest I think it'd be very fun to host something like an alternative format or a specialty theme tournament.

Sorry about the odd formatting. Tbh idk if I'd be a good convenver, but issokay, trust ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ