The real goal of Model UN is actually to come away with a
gavel. These are awarded to delegates (or delegations) that perform well during the conference, i.e. staying true to their country's ideology and acting like a UN representative should.
One thing that hasn't been touched here is the concept of a crisis committee, every MUN veteran's favorite kind. The idea behind crisis committees is that instead of passing resolutions regarding equal rights or helping African countries get cheaper AIDS drugs, you're doing something invaluable, namely resolving crises.
Well, not exactly.
In a crisis committee, you will have an agenda like normal committees. However, while discussing the topics in question, a "crisis" will pop up. The delegates then have to manage the crisis successfully, and are judged on their ability to think creatively and under pressure.
Example: In my freshman year of high school, I was a young and optimistic delegate in my school's MUN club. Nearly everyone else (mostly a few other freshmen and lots of sophmores) seemed to only care about getting their activity credit. Because this was such a popular club, our school was awarded three countries: Germany, Costa Rica*, and Iraq. I chose to join a senior (who is now curing cancer at Harvard) in representing Germany in NATO. By the way, the conference in question was ILMUNC, the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.
Our original topics were NATO's relationship with the European Union, NATO's relationship with Austria, and a third topic that escapes me. The first meeting was setting the agenda and discussing whether or not we wanted to contribute to a possible EU peacekeeper army. Soon, however, we were halted by the chair to recieve news: There had been a disasterous earthquake in Turkey, and many were killed. The Turkish delegate, milking it for all it's worth, called for a moment of silence. We then spent five minutes debating how long the moment of silence should be. I wish I were kidding. Though we tried to get back on track, we were plagued with other problems. First, the NATO website was "hacked" (they passed around a laptop with a simulated display). Then, word came that Kurds living in Turkey weren't getting the help they needed. Soon, an exodus began as thousands of Kurds swam across the Mediteranean in search of help. We were shown a live reenactment of refugees being shot by Italian border guards. Despite this, the refugees invaded the European coastline, and we were kept informed through "newspapers" and fake wire reports. Casualties included the German Olympic Women's Vollyball squad, and the Parthenon. Yes, some refugees wanted shelter from a storm. They piled rocks, which happened to put a lot of weight onto a column. You are reading this correctly, they destroyed the Parthenon.
One thing I forgot to mention was the concept of the midnight crisis. In conferences that have this, you will most likely know ahead of time. In one of the initial sessions, they will ask for your name and hotel room, under the guise of security. At ILMUNC, they even claimed that they couldn't do midnight crises anymore due to noise concerns. Midnight crises are like normal ones, except that they do not happen during regularly scheduled sessions. No, you will recieve a phone call sometime around 12 to 2AM, and you will be expected to get your ass down to the conference room.
Unfortunately, ILMUNC rules dictated that each country only sent one representative to NATO. I was transferred to Germany's WHO delegation, which meant that I missed my midnight crisis. Though I was dissapointed, I also managed to get our group in gear, and though the German delegation had apparently slacked for two days, we ended up co-sponsoring a resolution that got passed by ECOSOC in the pleniary session. As a result of internal politics, I left the MUN club after that year.
Now, however, I am in college, and The Rock is fielding an MUN team. I am representing Niger in the WHO as we head to bitter cold Montreal to partake in Mcgill University's MUN conference. I somehow suspect that my experience in dealing with MUN on a college level will make it to E2, so stay tuned.