What is This Trip?

In just a few weeks, Cary, Kelly, Dez, and I (Hannah) will be heading off to Singapore for the annual APEC conference. Although we're not quite sure what we're getting ourselves into, we will do our best to represent Furman University and the United States at this conference. For the benefit of those who know even less than we do about this trip, I will provide some details.


APEC stands for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and is a multilateral organization that wants to increase the flow of trade between the 21 nations that are members of this body. We get to attend many of the sessions of this conference. We will also have the opportunity to meet business professionals, government officials, and other students from other APEC nations. We're hoping to get to meet a lot of people, ask a lot of questions, and come back a little smarter than we came in.

A Special Thank You:
Even though none of us are trade specialists, we all get to go thanks to two organizations. The first is the Voices of The Future organization which sends several student delegates from each of the participating nations to this conference every year. The second is The Riley Institute at Furman University. The four of us would like to extend a special thanks to the Riley Institute, and expecially Carol for all her hard work that will allow us to go to Singapore in just a few weeks. We will also be going with Dr. Gordon, a professor in the Political Science Department. A special thanks from our parents who are much more comfortable with us going, since they know that a real adult wll be there.

The Flight:
Thanks to Kelly who spent the time to figure out that our Flight (including layovers) is something like 30 Hours each way. So, we ought to have plenty of time to do all that homework that we're missing. Of course, 30 hours is plenty of time to develop a lifelong friendship with someone, so I might spend the whole time talking with my unlucky neighbor.

What we're expecting:
The Unexpected.
We're expecting to learn a lot, and to become very exhausted in the process, but we don't really know the schedule, what we will do, or who we will meet. Luckily you get to learn what we're going to do right along with us, so keep reading our blog.