By Jaimie Maxwell, Kentucky Indiana Ohio Region

Hi.  My name is Jaimie Maxwell and I am from KIO. This was my first time at execs. I got here last night and we were all really tired from traveling but we had this amazing program about Stand-Up! for each other. We talked about the purpose of Stand-Up! for each other and realized that many people don’t feel comfortable saying that they don’t like that people say things like “that’s so gay” or “that’s retarded”. As some of the top leaders of BBYO, we decided we needed to start telling people that it isn’t okay to say things like that and stand up for the people who don’t feel comfortable standing up for themselves. We all pledged to stop people from saying phrases and words that will make other people feel bad about themselves. I learned a lot more about Stand-Up! for each other and how to deal with people who do say things like that.

By Brittany Ritell, Connecticut Valley Region

IC Execs has been one of the most valuable BBYO experiences I have ever had. For the last 24 hours, the top leaders of the international order have been working to push BBYO forward. We passed motions to continue dedication to Speak Up! but as  a year long initiative rather than just a week long push. Regions worked together with their hubs to evaluate where we are now and where we’d like to go before the year is through. We also got together with regions that have similar strengths and weaknesses to work together to solve some problems and move forward. One of the most productive parts of execs was the “power hour” where all regions delegates went to different break out sessions to work on what was needed most for their region. For example, CVR went to one session to work on summer programs promotions and compiled a list of over 20 up and coming regional leaders that we would love to send to CLTC. Then we went to a session on I$F to learn more about how the money we donate is used and how we can make globalization more important to our region.  Overall, execs was a very successful event and we’re all very excited to see what the rest of IC holds.