Some post-exam updates

Hi ghouls of the dharmarountable! 法圆桌的恶鬼果然阴魂不散！

I'd be meeting up with some of the key personnel of the 29th MC and some past seniors for a chat. For starters last week I met up with Kenny and today I met up with Angita.

Summary of meeting with Angita (of course certain information will not be broadcasted here):

My purpose was to find out on an informal basis her reflections （感想） comparing her pre-MC and post-MC mentalities and her suggestions for the near future. Her insights actually hit the nail quite on the head, at least in my opinion.

1. While as a participant in year 1, she and yuven very much look forward to weekly Dharma Circles as a form of gathering/meaningful 'entertainment'. They would always set aside Fridays for DC and would even ask each other what are the topics this week, etc. Not only was it a time to relieve stress, there was also something to be learnt, to be gained.

However, upon becoming MC, DCs and all BS activities suddenly become viewed as work. Because now the paradigm is from that of an organiser, (a) there are no surprises - she knows what's going to happen next, in contrast to eager anticipation as a participant; (b) she sees all the imperfections, screw-ups, mismanagement of time, etc, which she finds spoils her whole experience as compared to as a participant, where everything seemed 'perfect'.

2. Before being in the MC, she was not quite aware of the actual workload that was behind the running of those activities that she had been having fun in. The very first day of taking over already overwhelmed her. From then on burnt out followed pretty quickly.

The above 2 are the main points. Succession, committee dynamics and her own working relationship with the DD will not be discussed here.

Some comments that she mentioned for future DCs.

- we agreed that the frequency of talks versus discussion group style has become overly frequent. We agreed that the quantity of 4 DCs before term break and 4 DCs after term break for a total of 8 per semester, 16 per academic year is ideal. We agreed on a ratio of 3 Discussions to 1 Talk for each set of 4 DCs. Discussion can involve participants and is less heavy.

- 'movie'-screening should become a permanent feature of DCs. Frequency suggested is once per semester. 'Movies' need not be actually movies - documentaries or even short Dharma Talks can be used, as long as they are followed with discussion. The purpose is to add some audio-visual variety to the presentation method of DCs: not always a real speaker in front.

- the latest 'mind series' of DCs may have seen heavy topics, but my response was that it may have been the choice of speakers and method of presentation that made it seem heavy (i.e. it would have been less heavy if it were discussion style). However, it is agreed that a series of 4 related DCs such as the latest 'mind series' is a good package, in terms of marketing and content. There would be continuity that regulars can look forward to.

- old ghost that resurfaced: the need for any 'syllabus' in the topics of Dharma Circles versus the repetition of topics. I described to her the original plan formulated at the end of the 27th, executed in the 28th (to a limited extent), and not passed down to the 29th: 16-20 'technical' topics to be cycled through 2 years.

- non-'technical' topics may seem quite broad, but hence is their viability to be repeated each year. Suggestion is to highlight one aspect of the broad topic this year, and highlight another part the next year.

Her suggested next 4 DCs:
- Transforming into an Undergrad student
- Buddhadharma for University LIfe
- What is Buddhism? (Broad topic, this time introducing Buddhism in a nutshell as modern living)
- Present moment (Buddhism's best selling product in the urbanised, globalised, modernised world: mindfulness)

Prior to my meeting with her, a short discussion with Puay Kim was to design a whole year's worth of DC topics and speakers to hand over on a platter to the DD, who will make changes as they deem fit. The purpose was to release the DD and DDD to concentrate on developing the DFs and the Dharma subcomm. But upon discussion with Angita apparently it may even be advantageous to design 2 year's worth of DC topics (as per suggested at the end of the 27th).

I would update on Kenny another time. Kenny happens to be in the 24th MC, same as Gordon. I would make arrangements to meet up with Siling for a chat too.