“I spend a very healthy (read: borderline concerning) amount of time on mymun.”

I thought I was pretty on top of the MUN scene. Checked mymun regularly, knew who was chairing where, what conferences were happening. Then I talked to Marc,  and I felt like a casual user. He really knows what’s going on.

His name is Marc Zabel, he is 23 years old, in his words: “which in MUN years makes me practically a dinosaur”. He is currently doing a Master's in Public Administration in Konstanz, and he will spend his second year in Prague. As he said, “Is the furthest I’ve ever lived from home. Until MUN took me way further.”

His MUN journey began in 2021, his first year of university (when we all still half-lived in COVID times). Marc´s MUN story didn´t start with a flashy society fair, just with a website and a blurry intro video. Still, something about MUN stuck in his head. He remembered his years participating in the European Youth Parliament in high school, and he figured out why not give this a shot, too. So he signed up for KaMUN 2021, his first conference. “I was nervous. Like really nervous,” he says. “Now, as a delegate, I don’t prepare that much (sorry chairs), but back then? I was counting my speeches. I gave five. That was enough.” 

Marc talks about unmods with the kind of clarity only experience gives: Unmods don’t just start. You build them. You make your stance clear, for, against, maybe, then figure out who’s with you. Once that’s done, that’s when the real work begins. 

For him, chairing for the first time wasn´t smooth, especially with beginner committees. “You go in with ideas and then you realize no one knows what´s going on. They´re terrified, you are terrified but you figure it out because you stay calm”. The study guide must be your ally: “Explain everything. Motions. Processes. The flow of debate. Don’t assume people know. That’s what makes or breaks a good committee.” 

But if there's one place Marc thinks deserves more attention in the MUN world, it’s International Press Corp. “IPC is a strange animal,” he explains. “As a delegate, it feels like you’re floating somewhere between observer and participant. You’re not debating, not drafting. But you’re still in it, writing in real time, reacting, figuring out: Whose interests am I representing? How do I shape this narrative?” For him, IPC isn´t optional; it is essential.  As a chair in IPC, Marc made it his mission to bridge the gap. “Too often, delegates ignore IPC. But when those articles reflect what’s actually happening in the room, when they get cited in speeches? The debate shifts. It adds a whole new layer. It’s underrated — and fascinating.”     

Despite his passion, Marc admits there was a time when he wanted to step away. “After my previous organizing experiences, I was done. I didn’t want to take on more. I thought,  let someone else do it.” But then came Nele and Nazan, who convinced him to return, and he's glad they did.

“Organizing isn’t glamorous,” he laughs, and believes me when I tell you that he has been in the secretariat more times than you think. “It’s chairs forgetting they have deadlines for the study guide because of exams. It’s quiet coordination crisis management and answering emails at midnight. But I have to shout out Sophia and Janika, they carried this whole thing with me. Being deputy isn’t about visibility. It’s about making sure everything runs, even if no one notices.” 

Marc Zabel’s most iconic MUN story? At his first conference, someone passed a note to Myanmar, who opened it, read it, and then ate it. A year later, Marc received a note that simply read: “Eat it.” Everyone stared, so he did. That spontaneous moment became his legacy and a running joke, and on my side, “Bon appétit!”

Beyond funny stories, Marc has an objective in real diplomacy; he wants to do the training process to become a diplomat. “MUN gave me the foundation,” he says. “Representing views that aren’t your own, but doing it justice anyway. Understanding how to use language, how to negotiate, how to represent.”

Talking to Marc reminded me that there's always another level to this whole bubble, and people like him are the living proof of it. Whether it’s diplomacy, IPC reform, or crisis control at 2 a.m., Marc brings a depth to MUN that’s rare and contagious. So, even after all my time in this space, I left our conversation inspired, and with a fresh reminder: there's always more to learn, and even more to build.