Networking as the Key to a Successful Start
Singapore's Experience
We have met with Jason Hausenloy, our youngest national organizer who launched the national selection in Singapore, to learn about his tips on fast and easy start.
Back in 2022, Jason, a high-school student, contacted the IEO to see if he could participate in the national selection and was very disappointed to learn that Singapore was not on the list of the participating countries. However, Jason decided that he would not wait till the selection appeared and would simply take on the task of organizing one. In quite a short time, Jason managed to successfully apply for a grant and get a partnership agreement with a university and an economics center. Now, thanks to Jason, Singapore has a 3-year agreement with the IEO and this year will be the second time Team Singapore participates in the competition.
Watch the full interview or read the summary below to learn the tips from one of the most successful teams of the IEO.
Back in 2022, Jason, a high-school student, contacted the IEO to see if he could participate in the national selection and was very disappointed to learn that Singapore was not on the list of the participating countries. However, Jason decided that he would not wait till the selection appeared and would simply take on the task of organizing one. In quite a short time, Jason managed to successfully apply for a grant and get a partnership agreement with a university and an economics center. Now, thanks to Jason, Singapore has a 3-year agreement with the IEO and this year will be the second time Team Singapore participates in the competition.
Watch the full interview or read the summary below to learn the tips from one of the most successful teams of the IEO.
Jason Hausenloy
IEO Team Leader, Singapore
How the whole IEO idea appeared
Singapore is one of those countries where a lot of students are focused on excelling academically, and the economics education is incredibly strong. At the local school level, there are H3 classes where you can study university level subjects (e.g. game theory) while you are still in high school so economics excellence is somehow built into the curriculum. Thanks to the interest in intellectual growth, Singapore actively participates in many international school olympiads such as IMO, ILO, IChO etc.
However, for Jason, the most crucial thing about the Olympiad was not competing and showing his best in terms of the results but finding the community.
However, for Jason, the most crucial thing about the Olympiad was not competing and showing his best in terms of the results but finding the community.
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When I was young, I used to write economics essay competitions and I always thought that it would be nice to find a community of people who were interested in the quantitative side as well. I found the International Economics Olympiad on the internet and liked its syllabus which seemed really rigorous and focused on the quantitative aspect as well as the qualitative aspect. I wanted to find a community of people whom I could share my love for both these sides of economics with. I'd read on the internet that someone from another school in Singapore had organized a Singaporean team for the International Philosophy Olympiad, and they'd actually won the Olympiad that year. That inspired me a lot, too.
Building up the organizing team
To apply for the IEO, the potential national organizer needs to represent some legal entity which has proven expertise and experience in the field of economics. To do so, Jason needed a partnership — and he concluded several agreements to make the application solid and secure: first with the Adam Smith Center that became the applying organization, then with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and its student society which helped to design and run the quiz.
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knew people who were in the economic scene in Singapore and was lucky to already have met Bryan Cheang, the CEO of the Adam Smith Center. We'd crossed paths in a number of different places and there were some economics conferences where I'd met some of his colleagues. Brian was the first person I really reached out to and talked about the selection in detail. Once we had his endorsement and put in a proper application for the International Economics Olympiad with the support of the Adam Smith Center, we then partnered with the NUS: their student society really helped us with the logistics for the first round a lot. We also used the infrastructure of the National Economics and Financial Management Challenge, the Singaporean contest.
Funding the selection
Holding the selection requires resources, especially if the on-site format is chosen. To ensure the financial stability of the contest, Jason applied for a grant. He spent ~$3000 provided by Atlas Fellowship on the organization of the event. He also managed to get a free venue at the NUS for the weekend bootcamp.
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Back in 2022, I participated in a program called the Atlas Fellowship. This program encouraged long-term economics, mathematical and philosophical thinking on a wide variety of issues, from the risks from artificial intelligence to looking at biosecurity. They were a talent search program type program and had a fund where their fellows could apply for funding to run their own projects. So I wrote an application to this fund. We made an agreement where they would help sponsor our Olympiad and the associated costs. In return, we would encourage the applicants to apply to the Atlas Fellowship Program. I think it's worked out pretty well.
Tip 1: Do not only focus on local social initiative but also search for international support programs that might be interested in supporting your project.
Tip 2: To cut down the costs, try contacting local universities or schools for venue: educational organizations are often interested in supporting intellectual contests and are ready to provide examination spaces for free.
Promoting the competition
Being a high-school student himself and an active participant of all kinds of economics events, Jason knew many students interested in economics whom he successfully invited to join the competition. In the case of Singapore, word of mouth was the most effective means of attracting participants: Jason and his friends visited student spaces and asked their acquaintances to share information about the competition. They also asked SGExams, Singapore’s largest student community, for informational support. Besides that, the organizational team sent hundreds of emails to local high-school teachers and principals to engage them in the promotion of the contest. As the result, more than 250 students took part in the selection.
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We did not use much social media for promotion because it is more difficult to target the specific Singaporean audience (bright economics students) this way. We had limited time and limited resources and wanted to spend that focused on the high value communities first and then go for the broader based appeal afterwards. We were making sure that we did not miss out on the best students rather than trying to hit as wide a range as possible.
Creating the tasks
To select the best-performing students, Jason has followed the strategy suggested by the IEO and organized 3 rounds of contest which would serve as a filter gradually reducing the number of contestants. He reached out to the IEO community for advice, and Joseph Tsai, Team Taiwan Coordinator and IEO EB Member helped Jason with preparatory materials. Together with his team and economists from NUS, Jason has created all the tasks which were aimed at testing students’ knowledge, capability of team work and even creativity. The tests went well: the selected team won 1 gold and 4 silver medals at the IEO 2023.
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We picked some things that were slightly unusual, but ended up being quite helpful with the International Economics Olympiad and our performance there. For example, we asked about how much Mars would sell for if it was auctioned off for a visa or to propose a Singapore policy that would be implemented in the finance sector. I think a lot of it was pretty similar to the style of questions that were asked in the IEO, but also were a little bit more absurd and a little bit more difficult to think of and to imagine. I think that meant that we could truly see the limits of economic thinking of our participants in this creative way.
Fostering networking
As a very social person himself, Jason viewed creating networking opportunities as one of his tasks during the selection. He talked a lot to the contestants and motivated them to communicate as well which is why the final stage was held on site and took two days.
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We ran across different selection tests and we also gave people opportunities to bond. Besides, we invited everyone to participate in the future editions of the competition — as contestants or organizers. I think the first thing in any project is to find people that you really enjoy spending time with: in this case, it won’t be too hard to start anything new.
Extra tip: hold practice tests
According to Jason, everything went smoother than it could because he and his team had an opportunity to learn from their mistakes at an earlier event they organized — Estimathon. Estimathon is a team-based contest that combines trivia, game theory and mathematical thinking with a very strict time limit. The experience of holding it helped to both prepare for a larger contest and widen the network of potential participants of the SEO.
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From Estimathon, we had confidence and a lot of the experience of having run a large in-person event. So now I’d recommend running an event that is similar in nature, but not as high stakes, because then people won't get mad at you if everything doesn't go to plan. People also have fun at such events — and this also has the twin advantage of allowing you to build a network of interested people in your events.
Contact Jason for details
Jason will be glad to share more tips on national selection creation — please contact him at jasonhausenloy@gmail.com
Read more
See our Experience Exchange materials to learn about other countries' tips on organizing the National Selection
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