Hey reader,
I heard you were curious, so here are some reflections.
Day of Event (DOE): Overall, I felt pretty good about my work on the day of the event. The week leading up to Visions was really difficult for me (and my whole department, for that matter.) I'd been working on locking people in for several weeks, but when I started fitting people into slots, sending schedules, and asking for confirmations, I ran into a couple of problems: people dropping out, changes in availability, not enough people agreeing to work in the morning, etc. Trying to combat all of this and cover my bases was a whirlwind, but I really feel like I got everything pretty settled by the day-of. I had to ask for a few volunteers from the class to help cover some morning A/V slots (and they were awesome to agree... though I found that all of the camera volunteers from last year were actually Visions staff members, so having to ask only a few to help this year wasn't so bad.) My volunteers did some awesome work on the day-of. I only had one no-show (his name is Andy Nielson for anybody who's counting!). I think every single one of my people showed up early, and some even started volunteering well before their shift was supposed to begin. They were all really eager, hardworking, and friendly, and I think they did a great job at representing the face of Visions. The registration hustle in the morning created kind of a whirlwind for me, because some of my facilities volunteers were being roped into pass/reg. table duty, so I had to get that covered with the people I had. After the event, I was informed of another gap in volunteers during breakdown in Fisher, while most of us (including me) were driving guests to the after party. I didn't have anyone scheduled to help with breakdown; I think there was a miscommunication that led me to think that nobody was needed during that time. I included info in my manual about combating issues like this in the future - the volunteer coordinator should work with the class directly to ensure that everybody has all of the people they need at the times they are needed. If the class and department heads are aware of all of their options, and everybody approves the schedule, then there should be no issues. I had people look at the final schedule and asked for approval, but I should have done that in person. It's tricky because I didn't have the final final FINAL schedule until Thursday. Hopefully this can be avoided in the future though.
Semester as a whole: I knew going into Visions that it would be a challenge, and maybe that's an understatement now that it's over. A lot of passionate arguments, late nights, early mornings, all-nighters, and stress implosions later, I've made some amazing friends in the class and at the festival, and have experience under my belt that'll be useful for my entire career. In summary: it was hard, but we did a thing, and people had fun, and it was pretty cool.
To infinity and beyond,
~~~Ashley!
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
A day shy of April (3/31 update)
Greetings reader,
It's almost April, and I think we're all getting excited and maybe a little overwhelmed but mostly excited.
Balancing everything is becoming increasingly difficult. This weekend was another one of those weekends where I'm on set all day every day, not really sleeping, realizing at the end of each day that I have plenty of homework that's waiting for me. It's just getting to the point where I love what I'm doing, but I also have to remind myself to do the things that I HAVE to do like sleep, homework, papers, projects, etc... and sometimes I forget that. So, tl;dr, I'm kind of sick again and a little overwhelmed. Yesterday is what I'm calling my second crash day of the semester. I'm sure I'll have at least one more before finals week is over. But guess what, it's ALL GOOD because somehow, as purely exhausted and stressed as I am, I'm still in a pretty great mood. It's the weirdest thing and I don't know how to handle this really bizarre combination of sentiments but I'm not complaining. Also, have I mentioned recently that I love spring? Because I love spring.
Visions! I sent out an email to all potentially interested parties (people who put their name on one of my interest sheets, etc.) I've also had a handful of people directly approach me about volunteering, which I think is really awesome. I gave everyone a final deadline to submit the application - next Monday, the 6th - but encouraged everyone to submit asap because we have so much interest this year. I'm really hoping that a lot of these people submit applications. Between ACE and everyone on the interest sheets, we have way more than enough if everybody were to submit. So, once I get all the applications, I'll sift through and choose the best applicants and send out another google form for availability. That'll be due probably next weekend, so by the beginning of the week of Visions, I'll have a semi-finalized schedule that I'll only make minor tweaks to during the week. These next couple weeks are where the majority of my work really kicks in. It's a kind of tight timeline, but I think if we had too much wiggle room, it wouldn't feel as imminent or immediately relevant for the applicants. I personally think I'm operating on a pretty reasonable schedule with this, and I'm going to do everything I can to compile some awesome volunteers to help us run this festival!
TTFN,
~~~~~Ashley!!!
It's almost April, and I think we're all getting excited and maybe a little overwhelmed but mostly excited.
Balancing everything is becoming increasingly difficult. This weekend was another one of those weekends where I'm on set all day every day, not really sleeping, realizing at the end of each day that I have plenty of homework that's waiting for me. It's just getting to the point where I love what I'm doing, but I also have to remind myself to do the things that I HAVE to do like sleep, homework, papers, projects, etc... and sometimes I forget that. So, tl;dr, I'm kind of sick again and a little overwhelmed. Yesterday is what I'm calling my second crash day of the semester. I'm sure I'll have at least one more before finals week is over. But guess what, it's ALL GOOD because somehow, as purely exhausted and stressed as I am, I'm still in a pretty great mood. It's the weirdest thing and I don't know how to handle this really bizarre combination of sentiments but I'm not complaining. Also, have I mentioned recently that I love spring? Because I love spring.
Visions! I sent out an email to all potentially interested parties (people who put their name on one of my interest sheets, etc.) I've also had a handful of people directly approach me about volunteering, which I think is really awesome. I gave everyone a final deadline to submit the application - next Monday, the 6th - but encouraged everyone to submit asap because we have so much interest this year. I'm really hoping that a lot of these people submit applications. Between ACE and everyone on the interest sheets, we have way more than enough if everybody were to submit. So, once I get all the applications, I'll sift through and choose the best applicants and send out another google form for availability. That'll be due probably next weekend, so by the beginning of the week of Visions, I'll have a semi-finalized schedule that I'll only make minor tweaks to during the week. These next couple weeks are where the majority of my work really kicks in. It's a kind of tight timeline, but I think if we had too much wiggle room, it wouldn't feel as imminent or immediately relevant for the applicants. I personally think I'm operating on a pretty reasonable schedule with this, and I'm going to do everything I can to compile some awesome volunteers to help us run this festival!
TTFN,
~~~~~Ashley!!!
Monday, March 23, 2015
3 weeks! (3/24 update)
Hey reader!
Personal update: Same, really. School continues to get harder, life continues to be excellent despite. I was on set all weekend last weekend! The best kind of sore is the kind on a Monday after you've been on set all weekend. I love learning from the best and contributing to awesome projects. I love things that remind me why I'm a film major, and there's a lot of that going on lately.
Visions update. Grasp this (she implored, mostly to herself:) One month from today, Visions will have been over for four days. Weird! So, as if it weren't already, it's safe to say that it's crunch time. So, exciting stuff. We officially made the volunteer application live this weekend. I also spoke to both 205 classes and went over the application/involvement options during an ACE Films meeting last week. Ready for some whopping numbers? I passed around some name/email sheets in the 205 classes JUST to gauge raw interest. I have a total of 47 names from those classes ALONE, not including the 30+ members at the ACE films meeting (several of which have already filled out the form.) If I'm not mistaken, that means that over half of the 201/205 students expressed interest. Now, I know that not everybody who put their name down will end up committing, but I feel great about that number right now because it puts me over the goal. I anticipate having more applications than slots. Mariana Johnson's class asked me several questions about volunteering and Visions in general. I felt pretty good about my pitches and, for right now, I'm calling it a success. Next on the docket (within the next few days!) is to send an email to interested parties with the link to the form. After speaking to my department, I think I've decided not to push as hard with the volunteer campaign on social media and elsewhere. I want to open the opportunity up to seniors or others who are interested/have not yet had the opportunity. While I want to get the best volunteers possible, I don't want to make it sound like I NEED more people, only to turn half of them away.
Salutations from a random cold and rainy night amid a host of beautiful March spring days,
Ashley!
Personal update: Same, really. School continues to get harder, life continues to be excellent despite. I was on set all weekend last weekend! The best kind of sore is the kind on a Monday after you've been on set all weekend. I love learning from the best and contributing to awesome projects. I love things that remind me why I'm a film major, and there's a lot of that going on lately.
Visions update. Grasp this (she implored, mostly to herself:) One month from today, Visions will have been over for four days. Weird! So, as if it weren't already, it's safe to say that it's crunch time. So, exciting stuff. We officially made the volunteer application live this weekend. I also spoke to both 205 classes and went over the application/involvement options during an ACE Films meeting last week. Ready for some whopping numbers? I passed around some name/email sheets in the 205 classes JUST to gauge raw interest. I have a total of 47 names from those classes ALONE, not including the 30+ members at the ACE films meeting (several of which have already filled out the form.) If I'm not mistaken, that means that over half of the 201/205 students expressed interest. Now, I know that not everybody who put their name down will end up committing, but I feel great about that number right now because it puts me over the goal. I anticipate having more applications than slots. Mariana Johnson's class asked me several questions about volunteering and Visions in general. I felt pretty good about my pitches and, for right now, I'm calling it a success. Next on the docket (within the next few days!) is to send an email to interested parties with the link to the form. After speaking to my department, I think I've decided not to push as hard with the volunteer campaign on social media and elsewhere. I want to open the opportunity up to seniors or others who are interested/have not yet had the opportunity. While I want to get the best volunteers possible, I don't want to make it sound like I NEED more people, only to turn half of them away.
Salutations from a random cold and rainy night amid a host of beautiful March spring days,
Ashley!
Monday, March 16, 2015
ONE MONTH AWAY!!! (a St. Patrick's Day update: week of 3/17)
Hey reader!
Happy spring! It's not official, but it pretty much is. I've been wearing shorts for two weeks now, so hopefully I can retire PANTS until November now. Shorts >>>>>>>>>>> Pants.
Personal update: SCHOOL IS GETTING HARD!!! I mean, it's been hard ALL semester. But we're like a month and a half away from the end of the semester and there are so many impending papers and projects and tests and all I wanna do is make some films and go swimming. So it's getting increasingly stressful but love pretty weather so that's pretty much making everything okay.
Also, I'm so excited for Visions! Attending/projecting for Visions last year was such an adrenaline rush (as film festivals are), but being behind the scenes is going to be A FATAL BLAST OF ADRENALINE!!!
Volunteer update: We decided to launch the campaign this week instead of the week before spring break, to reduce the social media flux for different campaigns (like registration, video race, etc.) I think it's better anyway because, if we recruited TOO early, people are more likely to forget and make other commitments before the day gets here. Last week, I emailed Dr. Johnson and Dr. Bose, the two 205 teachers this year. I'm announcing the campaign in their classes tomorrow and next Monday. I hope to get a lot of volunteers from those classes! They're an important demographic for Visions. I also just sent an email to the ACE heads to establish needs with them, and hopefully to attend one of their meetings to go over some things in detail.
Campaign launches soon, and I can't wait!
Off to bask in the 70 degree weather (for 5 minutes, before I start studying for tomorrow's midterm),
~Ashley!
Happy spring! It's not official, but it pretty much is. I've been wearing shorts for two weeks now, so hopefully I can retire PANTS until November now. Shorts >>>>>>>>>>> Pants.
Personal update: SCHOOL IS GETTING HARD!!! I mean, it's been hard ALL semester. But we're like a month and a half away from the end of the semester and there are so many impending papers and projects and tests and all I wanna do is make some films and go swimming. So it's getting increasingly stressful but love pretty weather so that's pretty much making everything okay.
Also, I'm so excited for Visions! Attending/projecting for Visions last year was such an adrenaline rush (as film festivals are), but being behind the scenes is going to be A FATAL BLAST OF ADRENALINE!!!
Volunteer update: We decided to launch the campaign this week instead of the week before spring break, to reduce the social media flux for different campaigns (like registration, video race, etc.) I think it's better anyway because, if we recruited TOO early, people are more likely to forget and make other commitments before the day gets here. Last week, I emailed Dr. Johnson and Dr. Bose, the two 205 teachers this year. I'm announcing the campaign in their classes tomorrow and next Monday. I hope to get a lot of volunteers from those classes! They're an important demographic for Visions. I also just sent an email to the ACE heads to establish needs with them, and hopefully to attend one of their meetings to go over some things in detail.
Campaign launches soon, and I can't wait!
Off to bask in the 70 degree weather (for 5 minutes, before I start studying for tomorrow's midterm),
~Ashley!
Saturday, February 28, 2015
It's MARCH! (a 3/1 update)
Hey reader!
Personal update: Semester is still hard; upcoming midterms are stressful. But the peak of my stressfulness right now is registration. Trying to tetris all the classes that I NEED plus the extra classes that I just really really WANT into perfect little non-overlapping blocks for the next two semesters is starting to feel extremely overwhelming and almost impossible. I have a couple of drafts that I'm hoping will work... but wow: registration has never punched me this hard before. Also, spring break is almost here, which is terrific! I think we all need a break.
Volunteer update: I'm about to launch the campaign! I had some fun this weekend drafting a little google form for the volunteer application. It was an interesting process, because it started as a very basic and simple thing that evolved into what I think is a more complete glimpse into their personalities! See, my job is not only to wrangle some volunteers, but to cast them appropriately. I feel like what I ended up with is a reasonably brief form that can give me a nice sample of what my applicants' interests, skills, and personalities are like. In our departmental meeting this week, we also talked numbers on the volunteers the Operations department will need, which was a very helpful process to be a part of. On the docket: I definitely have some emails to send to the ACE leaders and the 201 teachers. Might also consider putting together some social media things over spring break to attract interest.
I guess I can't really do programming updates anymore, but as a general Visions commentary, it's starting to feel kind of more imminent than it used to. I think that we'll all really start to feel it after spring break.
That's all for now. Happy March!
Ashley
Personal update: Semester is still hard; upcoming midterms are stressful. But the peak of my stressfulness right now is registration. Trying to tetris all the classes that I NEED plus the extra classes that I just really really WANT into perfect little non-overlapping blocks for the next two semesters is starting to feel extremely overwhelming and almost impossible. I have a couple of drafts that I'm hoping will work... but wow: registration has never punched me this hard before. Also, spring break is almost here, which is terrific! I think we all need a break.
Volunteer update: I'm about to launch the campaign! I had some fun this weekend drafting a little google form for the volunteer application. It was an interesting process, because it started as a very basic and simple thing that evolved into what I think is a more complete glimpse into their personalities! See, my job is not only to wrangle some volunteers, but to cast them appropriately. I feel like what I ended up with is a reasonably brief form that can give me a nice sample of what my applicants' interests, skills, and personalities are like. In our departmental meeting this week, we also talked numbers on the volunteers the Operations department will need, which was a very helpful process to be a part of. On the docket: I definitely have some emails to send to the ACE leaders and the 201 teachers. Might also consider putting together some social media things over spring break to attract interest.
I guess I can't really do programming updates anymore, but as a general Visions commentary, it's starting to feel kind of more imminent than it used to. I think that we'll all really start to feel it after spring break.
That's all for now. Happy March!
Ashley
Sunday, February 22, 2015
A Triple Twosday Update (2/22)
Greetings reader!
Personal update. So many things happen every single week. Like, a month's worth of things happen in the span of 7 days this semester. It feels very surreal to think that it's only been a single week since my last blog post. I took on a third job, just for this weekend really, doing a literary review for a Geography professor. I don't know, it just really flatters me and I'm just so bad at saying no to people who ask me to work on their projects. I also had my second official sleepless all-nighter of the semester a few days ago. I feel miraculously fine for how bad I am to my body on a pretty regular basis. Also, the Oscars are tonight! I'll try to call it: while I'd personally probably vote for Birdman, I think Boyhood will take home best picture. Now that this blog is published though, I probably jinxed it.
Volunteer update. Not a lot has changed since last week. I'm excited for the week when I can stop saying that (spoiler alert, it's really soon!). Google form is in the works. Hoping to attract more volunteers at upcoming events. I plan to arrange to talk to the 201 and 205 classes about Visions and volunteer opportunities because I personally think that they are one of our most important demographics. I don't know, I have a kind of special place for giving advice to young film majors and I would be really thrilled to think that I present them with an opportunity to get involved in this festival and it does something for them in the long run. On a similar note, I'll also be helping present during our Moviemakers and Scholars thing, so I'll give the same blurb there!
Programming update. It is finished. It was extremely difficult battle and I really can't deny how invested I was in the entire process. Final programming day was such a rollercoaster: ecstatic to devastated, full of energy to purely exhausted in a matter of minutes. It was sometimes confusing and sometimes frustrating, but we have a final list and I'm pretty proud of us. And now, I can't WAIT to meet these people.
Now, off to do more research and watch the Oscars! Signing off for now--
~~~~~~~~Ashley
Personal update. So many things happen every single week. Like, a month's worth of things happen in the span of 7 days this semester. It feels very surreal to think that it's only been a single week since my last blog post. I took on a third job, just for this weekend really, doing a literary review for a Geography professor. I don't know, it just really flatters me and I'm just so bad at saying no to people who ask me to work on their projects. I also had my second official sleepless all-nighter of the semester a few days ago. I feel miraculously fine for how bad I am to my body on a pretty regular basis. Also, the Oscars are tonight! I'll try to call it: while I'd personally probably vote for Birdman, I think Boyhood will take home best picture. Now that this blog is published though, I probably jinxed it.
Volunteer update. Not a lot has changed since last week. I'm excited for the week when I can stop saying that (spoiler alert, it's really soon!). Google form is in the works. Hoping to attract more volunteers at upcoming events. I plan to arrange to talk to the 201 and 205 classes about Visions and volunteer opportunities because I personally think that they are one of our most important demographics. I don't know, I have a kind of special place for giving advice to young film majors and I would be really thrilled to think that I present them with an opportunity to get involved in this festival and it does something for them in the long run. On a similar note, I'll also be helping present during our Moviemakers and Scholars thing, so I'll give the same blurb there!
Programming update. It is finished. It was extremely difficult battle and I really can't deny how invested I was in the entire process. Final programming day was such a rollercoaster: ecstatic to devastated, full of energy to purely exhausted in a matter of minutes. It was sometimes confusing and sometimes frustrating, but we have a final list and I'm pretty proud of us. And now, I can't WAIT to meet these people.
Now, off to do more research and watch the Oscars! Signing off for now--
~~~~~~~~Ashley
Sunday, February 15, 2015
A mid-February update (2/16)
Greetings reader,
Personal update: school and homework-wise, this is the least busy weekend I've had since the semester started! I started this week extremely sick and extremely stressed, recovering from a late Sunday crash. I powered through my 3 heavy class days, slept for 12 whole hours on Wednesday night, and woke up on Thursday still a little sniffly, but feeling overall amazing. I had a wonderful little weekend. As of right now, as I type this blog update at 2AM on 25 degree Sunday night, I feel spectacular about classes and life in general. If you're reading this, I hope that you do, too.
Volunteer update: The Valentines Bake Sale, which was last Wednesday, was a success! We made almost $400. In other, potentially objectifying words, we made a whole person. I worked for a couple of hours in between classes at the Cameron tent, and we got some pretty good business. I put out a volunteer interest sheet at each table and got one signup per table, plus a third signup from Emma's friend. I'm glad I have a few names already, because I wasn't expecting too much at the bake sale. The film kid mixer is really where I hope to hook some interested volunteers.
At our departmental meeting, Adam also suggested that I consider creating a facebook volunteer page that I could invite interested parties to, and post updates on when I'm sending important emails, opening the google form, etc. I think it sounds like a good idea, and I don't think it can hurt anything even if it doesn't attract much interest, so I'm going to put it on my agenda for next week. Also on the agenda for next week: prep a google form for volunteer interest. I'll have at least my department, if not the whole class, approve it before launching it in early March.
Programming update: this week is final decisions, and it's gonna be an absolute doozy. And I'll leave it at that for right now.
Signing off for now,
Ashley
Personal update: school and homework-wise, this is the least busy weekend I've had since the semester started! I started this week extremely sick and extremely stressed, recovering from a late Sunday crash. I powered through my 3 heavy class days, slept for 12 whole hours on Wednesday night, and woke up on Thursday still a little sniffly, but feeling overall amazing. I had a wonderful little weekend. As of right now, as I type this blog update at 2AM on 25 degree Sunday night, I feel spectacular about classes and life in general. If you're reading this, I hope that you do, too.
Volunteer update: The Valentines Bake Sale, which was last Wednesday, was a success! We made almost $400. In other, potentially objectifying words, we made a whole person. I worked for a couple of hours in between classes at the Cameron tent, and we got some pretty good business. I put out a volunteer interest sheet at each table and got one signup per table, plus a third signup from Emma's friend. I'm glad I have a few names already, because I wasn't expecting too much at the bake sale. The film kid mixer is really where I hope to hook some interested volunteers.
At our departmental meeting, Adam also suggested that I consider creating a facebook volunteer page that I could invite interested parties to, and post updates on when I'm sending important emails, opening the google form, etc. I think it sounds like a good idea, and I don't think it can hurt anything even if it doesn't attract much interest, so I'm going to put it on my agenda for next week. Also on the agenda for next week: prep a google form for volunteer interest. I'll have at least my department, if not the whole class, approve it before launching it in early March.
Programming update: this week is final decisions, and it's gonna be an absolute doozy. And I'll leave it at that for right now.
Signing off for now,
Ashley
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
2/10 Update
Hey reader. Here's a short update.
First, on a personal note, it's starting to hit me. "It" being this semester. I'm honestly in a great mood: overall, I'm having a great time in my classes and and even better time outside of classes, but sometimes I give myself a little too much credit in terms of what I can handle commitment-wise. Usually I can power through everything, and usually it hits me somewhere around the 3-week-before finals mark. It punched me in the face very late this Sunday night, after a full weekend on set and a lot of homework yet to do. I passed out for 3 hours and woke up with a stuffy nose, no voice, and jello muscles. So I need a couple of days to get it together, but that's where I'm at right now. It'll be fine though. It always is.
Volunteer updates. I emailed Luqi a revised version of the website blurb I let the class edit last week, and she got it up within a few hours of when I sent it to her! The volunteer page looks great and I can't wait until I can put a form on there.
The bake sale is this Wednesday. I'm gonna bake some flavorful cookie pies and hopefully attract some interested volunteers!
Programming updates. This is the 3rd week of programming films. As always, I have some really strong opinions on this bunch of films. More than anything though, I am very anxiously awaiting the class where we discuss the UNCW films. That is going to be an extremely contentious debate, and I think it will be a good challenge for all of us to try to stay neutral, since we have personal connections with so many of them.
That's all for now. Until next week,
Ashley
First, on a personal note, it's starting to hit me. "It" being this semester. I'm honestly in a great mood: overall, I'm having a great time in my classes and and even better time outside of classes, but sometimes I give myself a little too much credit in terms of what I can handle commitment-wise. Usually I can power through everything, and usually it hits me somewhere around the 3-week-before finals mark. It punched me in the face very late this Sunday night, after a full weekend on set and a lot of homework yet to do. I passed out for 3 hours and woke up with a stuffy nose, no voice, and jello muscles. So I need a couple of days to get it together, but that's where I'm at right now. It'll be fine though. It always is.
Volunteer updates. I emailed Luqi a revised version of the website blurb I let the class edit last week, and she got it up within a few hours of when I sent it to her! The volunteer page looks great and I can't wait until I can put a form on there.
The bake sale is this Wednesday. I'm gonna bake some flavorful cookie pies and hopefully attract some interested volunteers!
Programming updates. This is the 3rd week of programming films. As always, I have some really strong opinions on this bunch of films. More than anything though, I am very anxiously awaiting the class where we discuss the UNCW films. That is going to be an extremely contentious debate, and I think it will be a good challenge for all of us to try to stay neutral, since we have personal connections with so many of them.
That's all for now. Until next week,
Ashley
Monday, February 2, 2015
Groundhog Day Update: 2/2/15
Hey reader,
A brief update on the Visions life in Ashleyville. (For the necessity of contextually irrelevant time-capsule information, the Patriots just won Superbowl XLIX. As I unapolagetically write at 4AM this fine morning, it's cold, rainy, and all around yuck outside. I know it's an unreasonable hour to feel good, but I feel pretty good. Hope that you all do too.)
Still hanging in there and patiently waiting on the upcoming social events so I can interact with potential volunteers. Right now, I'm especially looking forward to the Valentines bake sale! The Film Kid Mixer will also be a wonderful opportunity.
The only other new thing I have, that I haven't discussed preemptively in a past update, is the idea of heading up a short promo video to attract volunteers. Inspired by the work of our animators and artists, I think it would be a fun idea to produce a quick, casual video that we can post on the Visions facebook page, generating hype for the festival and simultaneously aiming to attract some potential volunteers. I think there are a lot of fun opportunities with the superhero theme! I'll talk a bit about it in class during my presentation.
Programming stuff. We just watched round 2 of films. This week of programming is gonna be FUN (and if you think I'm being sarcastic, you're wrong! 8 hour classes are tough, but I'm not at all kidding when I say I love this stuff.) Not only do we have 20 BRAND NEW films to talk about, but we tabled all the reeeeaaaaal contentious ones from last week. I'm becoming increasingly surprised by how much I like arguing about these films and papers, or how attached or defensive I get about some of them. It's... kind of an adrenaline rush, though. I think this week has some obvious no's (more so than last week!) and a couple of obvious yes's. There's some middle ground that I anticipate will spike some really conflicted and weird arguments, though. We'll have to see.
Happy February, reader! Until next time,
Ashley
A brief update on the Visions life in Ashleyville. (For the necessity of contextually irrelevant time-capsule information, the Patriots just won Superbowl XLIX. As I unapolagetically write at 4AM this fine morning, it's cold, rainy, and all around yuck outside. I know it's an unreasonable hour to feel good, but I feel pretty good. Hope that you all do too.)
Still hanging in there and patiently waiting on the upcoming social events so I can interact with potential volunteers. Right now, I'm especially looking forward to the Valentines bake sale! The Film Kid Mixer will also be a wonderful opportunity.
The only other new thing I have, that I haven't discussed preemptively in a past update, is the idea of heading up a short promo video to attract volunteers. Inspired by the work of our animators and artists, I think it would be a fun idea to produce a quick, casual video that we can post on the Visions facebook page, generating hype for the festival and simultaneously aiming to attract some potential volunteers. I think there are a lot of fun opportunities with the superhero theme! I'll talk a bit about it in class during my presentation.
Programming stuff. We just watched round 2 of films. This week of programming is gonna be FUN (and if you think I'm being sarcastic, you're wrong! 8 hour classes are tough, but I'm not at all kidding when I say I love this stuff.) Not only do we have 20 BRAND NEW films to talk about, but we tabled all the reeeeaaaaal contentious ones from last week. I'm becoming increasingly surprised by how much I like arguing about these films and papers, or how attached or defensive I get about some of them. It's... kind of an adrenaline rush, though. I think this week has some obvious no's (more so than last week!) and a couple of obvious yes's. There's some middle ground that I anticipate will spike some really conflicted and weird arguments, though. We'll have to see.
Happy February, reader! Until next time,
Ashley
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Early stages and programming fun: a 1/27 update
Hello reader,
Here's a quick update on what's going on in Ashelylandia.
Volunteer stuff
After talking with my department(s) about it during our most recent departmental meeting, I fixed and uploaded a spreadsheet titled "volunteer needs by department." I filled in each director/department name, shared it with the class on FB, and asked them all to take a look and fill it out at their next dept. meetings. They'll have a chance to alter it later, but I need an early idea of what kind of manpower I'm looking for (how many people do I need, which specific skills am I looking for?)
Jonathan also shared some volunteer documents from last year with me. I've been researching those things and solidifying my understanding of the process. The most useful document so far has been last year's volunteer schedule. I don't have to follow it exactly, but it helps to have a protocol from the past.
Next step is to contact Luqi about getting a volunteer page up on the website and a blurb that basically says to stay tuned if you're interested in volunteering. The campaign will launch in the first week of March (March 2nd is the recommended date from the manual.) Otherwise, I will continue to collect responses from the class on my spreadsheet, and await the upcoming events so I can rope some real people in!
Programming stuff
This weekend, we all watched 15 films and graded 15 abstracts. It was a lot, but surprisingly I was okay with it. I guess watching films just doesn't feel like homework. It's really inspiring to see the level of work that people MY AGE are doing in other parts of the country. I caught myself getting really, really excited to meet some of the filmmakers behind my favorite projects. I excitedly await the class discussion on these films. I had fun with the abstracts last week, but films are so subjective. It'll be rough but, genuinely, I'm predicting FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Until next week, friends and strangers,
Ashley
Here's a quick update on what's going on in Ashelylandia.
Volunteer stuff
After talking with my department(s) about it during our most recent departmental meeting, I fixed and uploaded a spreadsheet titled "volunteer needs by department." I filled in each director/department name, shared it with the class on FB, and asked them all to take a look and fill it out at their next dept. meetings. They'll have a chance to alter it later, but I need an early idea of what kind of manpower I'm looking for (how many people do I need, which specific skills am I looking for?)
Jonathan also shared some volunteer documents from last year with me. I've been researching those things and solidifying my understanding of the process. The most useful document so far has been last year's volunteer schedule. I don't have to follow it exactly, but it helps to have a protocol from the past.
Next step is to contact Luqi about getting a volunteer page up on the website and a blurb that basically says to stay tuned if you're interested in volunteering. The campaign will launch in the first week of March (March 2nd is the recommended date from the manual.) Otherwise, I will continue to collect responses from the class on my spreadsheet, and await the upcoming events so I can rope some real people in!
Programming stuff
This weekend, we all watched 15 films and graded 15 abstracts. It was a lot, but surprisingly I was okay with it. I guess watching films just doesn't feel like homework. It's really inspiring to see the level of work that people MY AGE are doing in other parts of the country. I caught myself getting really, really excited to meet some of the filmmakers behind my favorite projects. I excitedly await the class discussion on these films. I had fun with the abstracts last week, but films are so subjective. It'll be rough but, genuinely, I'm predicting FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Until next week, friends and strangers,
Ashley
Dirty Dozen: Volunteers
1. WHAT?
Get some interested, enthusiastic people to volunteer for the V5 Film Festival.
2. WHO? (who's the customer?)
FST students, film lovers... people who are interested in building their resume, gaining fest experience, and seeing a cool festival for free!
3. DELIVERABLES? (tangible and intangible)
Tangible: a festival pass, t-shirt, free food, access to the after party (that's tangible-ish, right?)
Intangible: Resume material, a day filled with FUN, and the iNvAlUaBlE~~~~ experience of meeting fellow film students from across the country (maybe globe?!?).
4. BUDGET?
Maybe this is a crazy idea, but............. essentially free, right?
Jkjkjk nothing is free. We're not paying them in money, but we're paying them in passes, t-shirts, and food. So the cost will be the number of volunteers x the cost to swag and feed them all.
5. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
The process has essentially already started. I'll start recruiting actual volunteers once we start having promo events (like the bake sale, film kid mixer, etc.), and will shift an actual campaign into gear about a month and a half before the day of the event.
6. WHAT SPECIFIC SKILLS ARE NEEDED?
We'll need people in a variety of departments. Registration booth, ushers, people to guard the door, people to record the whole thing. General skills will likely include outgoing-ness (or at least the ability to fake it when dealing with the public), efficiency, and a level of professionalism.
7. WHAT SPECIAL RESOURCES ARE NEEDED?
Mostly people. We'll also need the film equipment, tables for registration, maybe a rubber door stop...
8. WHO IS WORKING THE PROJECT?
More details to come in the following months. A lot of ACE people, some FST students, people from the film community. Projectionists might be on the cusp since they get paid, but they're there too.
9. WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE?
Send out initial interest email to anyone who signs up at the bake sale around mid. February. Send another round in late Feb. Begin to create volunteer database in the first week of March. Launch official campaign within a day or two radius of March 2nd (upload volunteer signup sheet, start giving out slots, etc.) Keep searching for people and tweaking the schedule up until the day of the event.
10. WHAT ARE THE RISKS? (small vs. large impact, likely vs. unlikely)
-Not enough people sign up (large, but hopefully unlikely, if the outreach campaign is successful)
-People sign up, but some drop at the last minute (small; almost guaranteed to happen, which is why we should secure a handful more than we anticipate needing)
-ACE members don't want to help (large, since we rely on ACE like 50% for the volunteer manpower, but unlikely since they have been loyal in the past.)
-Volunteers get sick, leave early, or cause mischief during their shifts (small and hopefully unlikely, as we should ideally get people who want to be there.)
11. HOW WILL YOU COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR TEAM?
With my department: Facebook messenger, Google calendar updates, occasional text messages and phone calls when necessary. Some presentations.
With volunteers: in-person contact (at events), email (spreadsheets schedules, google forms, general info.)
12. HOW WILL YOU DETERMINE IF THE PROJECT IS SUCCESSFUL?
-If volunteers leave their shifts happy, healthy, and maybe even eager to participate in the future.
-If all operations go smoothly on the day of the event (if everything goes off without a hitch, it probably means we have enough volunteers and they are doing their jobs properly!)
Get some interested, enthusiastic people to volunteer for the V5 Film Festival.
2. WHO? (who's the customer?)
FST students, film lovers... people who are interested in building their resume, gaining fest experience, and seeing a cool festival for free!
3. DELIVERABLES? (tangible and intangible)
Tangible: a festival pass, t-shirt, free food, access to the after party (that's tangible-ish, right?)
Intangible: Resume material, a day filled with FUN, and the iNvAlUaBlE~~~~ experience of meeting fellow film students from across the country (maybe globe?!?).
4. BUDGET?
Maybe this is a crazy idea, but............. essentially free, right?
Jkjkjk nothing is free. We're not paying them in money, but we're paying them in passes, t-shirts, and food. So the cost will be the number of volunteers x the cost to swag and feed them all.
5. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
The process has essentially already started. I'll start recruiting actual volunteers once we start having promo events (like the bake sale, film kid mixer, etc.), and will shift an actual campaign into gear about a month and a half before the day of the event.
6. WHAT SPECIFIC SKILLS ARE NEEDED?
We'll need people in a variety of departments. Registration booth, ushers, people to guard the door, people to record the whole thing. General skills will likely include outgoing-ness (or at least the ability to fake it when dealing with the public), efficiency, and a level of professionalism.
7. WHAT SPECIAL RESOURCES ARE NEEDED?
Mostly people. We'll also need the film equipment, tables for registration, maybe a rubber door stop...
8. WHO IS WORKING THE PROJECT?
More details to come in the following months. A lot of ACE people, some FST students, people from the film community. Projectionists might be on the cusp since they get paid, but they're there too.
9. WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE?
Send out initial interest email to anyone who signs up at the bake sale around mid. February. Send another round in late Feb. Begin to create volunteer database in the first week of March. Launch official campaign within a day or two radius of March 2nd (upload volunteer signup sheet, start giving out slots, etc.) Keep searching for people and tweaking the schedule up until the day of the event.
10. WHAT ARE THE RISKS? (small vs. large impact, likely vs. unlikely)
-Not enough people sign up (large, but hopefully unlikely, if the outreach campaign is successful)
-People sign up, but some drop at the last minute (small; almost guaranteed to happen, which is why we should secure a handful more than we anticipate needing)
-ACE members don't want to help (large, since we rely on ACE like 50% for the volunteer manpower, but unlikely since they have been loyal in the past.)
-Volunteers get sick, leave early, or cause mischief during their shifts (small and hopefully unlikely, as we should ideally get people who want to be there.)
11. HOW WILL YOU COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR TEAM?
With my department: Facebook messenger, Google calendar updates, occasional text messages and phone calls when necessary. Some presentations.
With volunteers: in-person contact (at events), email (spreadsheets schedules, google forms, general info.)
12. HOW WILL YOU DETERMINE IF THE PROJECT IS SUCCESSFUL?
-If volunteers leave their shifts happy, healthy, and maybe even eager to participate in the future.
-If all operations go smoothly on the day of the event (if everything goes off without a hitch, it probably means we have enough volunteers and they are doing their jobs properly!)
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
"A Festival of Their Own" Response
This was an interesting read. As a young filmmaker, reading about success stories from up-and-comers is really exciting and inspiring. Festivals are especially fun to read about, because it seems like that's where it all starts if you're a person who wants to make your own films.
I think one of the biggest things we can take from this is the extensive commentary on the atmosphere of the festival. Koury talks a lot about energy and atmosphere, and how the community positions itself around the festival because of all the volunteers it takes to make it happen. Sure, festivals have the potential to bring in objectively beautiful films and A-list scholars, but what good would a festival be if it felt bland, didactic, and ultimately uninspiring? The underlying purpose behind any film festival is to inspiration and collaboration. I think the team behind such an event is a major contributing factor in its energetic atmosphere.
It was especially relevant for me to read about BUFF because, like Cucalorus, it's run pretty much completely by volunteers. It's cool to know that a miniscule group of people can just pick up, pour themselves into a project, and start up a film festival. If they can do it in New York, we can do it here. Visions is gaining traction! Undergraduates from the state, country, and even world are growing excited about the prospect of having their work presented at a stellar festival. Filmmakers and scholars feel important when they present at Visions, and as undergraduates, that must be so amazing and inspiring.
Signing off for now,
Ashley
I think one of the biggest things we can take from this is the extensive commentary on the atmosphere of the festival. Koury talks a lot about energy and atmosphere, and how the community positions itself around the festival because of all the volunteers it takes to make it happen. Sure, festivals have the potential to bring in objectively beautiful films and A-list scholars, but what good would a festival be if it felt bland, didactic, and ultimately uninspiring? The underlying purpose behind any film festival is to inspiration and collaboration. I think the team behind such an event is a major contributing factor in its energetic atmosphere.
It was especially relevant for me to read about BUFF because, like Cucalorus, it's run pretty much completely by volunteers. It's cool to know that a miniscule group of people can just pick up, pour themselves into a project, and start up a film festival. If they can do it in New York, we can do it here. Visions is gaining traction! Undergraduates from the state, country, and even world are growing excited about the prospect of having their work presented at a stellar festival. Filmmakers and scholars feel important when they present at Visions, and as undergraduates, that must be so amazing and inspiring.
Signing off for now,
Ashley
Job Descriptions and Manual Response
Hello visitor!
Welcome to my Visions blog for V5! I'll start by saying that I'm really excited to be here. I usually try to only take classes I have a personal interest in, so I usually like most of my classes, but I walked into a realization during a studies course today that I am there to absorb information. Classes are essentially what you make of them. I really try to learn from critical studies courses; while I'd probably rather be putting my hands on film equipment and making creative decisions that I can call my own, I still don't SUPER hate the studies and history classes I have to take, because I still hope that subliminally they'll make me a better filmmaker. But it gets redundant sometimes and starts to feel useless. This week, we watched a film — now, I'm not saying it was bad, but I did not particularly enjoy it — and listened to a professor tell us why we were wrong about reasons we cited that made it "different." For the first time in my college career, that I myself recognized at least, I found myself in a lecture where I felt like an object. Anyway, the point of that story is that Visions feels like the opposite for me, which is so exciting. Not only is it a class where I'm an active member, but I'm important. I have responsibility and a certain level of control over certain things. If I don't perform, not only is that a bad grade, but it will affect actual people. That's terrifying and exhilarating. But it doesn't feel useless, which is so important. And I'm really excited to be part of it.
Anyway. Actual response to manual/job description readings now.
WHAT I LEARNED: I'm 1000% responsible for wrangling enthusiastic, hardworking, skillful volunteers to help pull off V5. I pretty much knew that going into the class, but one thing I didn't realize was how structured the process is. There's a recommended protocol, and week-by-week steps to complete. And it starts as early as NOW. The more I think about it, the more this job excites me, because it reminds me of the absolutely wonderful and fantastic and thrill-filled time I spent volunteering at Cucalorus 20 in November. I took a lot of volunteer slots, was very clear about my skillset and experience (including in the early stages), and showed up for my shifts ready to work. I consistently got tossed around to other stations and venues (I was in the box office department) and had to learn a lot really quickly (like, on-the-spot kind of quickly), but it was great. I spent a reasonable deal of time around some of the people in charge of hoards of volunteers (Tommy van Arsendale, Ryan Jaccard, Winthrow Newell, etc.) and found it amazing that Cucalorus runs on volunteers because people want so badly to be a part of it. It's really inspiring to think about! So, I feel like my job is not only to recruit the volunteers, but to generate excitement for it.
WHAT I NEED TO DO (by mid-February):
Welcome to my Visions blog for V5! I'll start by saying that I'm really excited to be here. I usually try to only take classes I have a personal interest in, so I usually like most of my classes, but I walked into a realization during a studies course today that I am there to absorb information. Classes are essentially what you make of them. I really try to learn from critical studies courses; while I'd probably rather be putting my hands on film equipment and making creative decisions that I can call my own, I still don't SUPER hate the studies and history classes I have to take, because I still hope that subliminally they'll make me a better filmmaker. But it gets redundant sometimes and starts to feel useless. This week, we watched a film — now, I'm not saying it was bad, but I did not particularly enjoy it — and listened to a professor tell us why we were wrong about reasons we cited that made it "different." For the first time in my college career, that I myself recognized at least, I found myself in a lecture where I felt like an object. Anyway, the point of that story is that Visions feels like the opposite for me, which is so exciting. Not only is it a class where I'm an active member, but I'm important. I have responsibility and a certain level of control over certain things. If I don't perform, not only is that a bad grade, but it will affect actual people. That's terrifying and exhilarating. But it doesn't feel useless, which is so important. And I'm really excited to be part of it.
Anyway. Actual response to manual/job description readings now.
WHAT I LEARNED: I'm 1000% responsible for wrangling enthusiastic, hardworking, skillful volunteers to help pull off V5. I pretty much knew that going into the class, but one thing I didn't realize was how structured the process is. There's a recommended protocol, and week-by-week steps to complete. And it starts as early as NOW. The more I think about it, the more this job excites me, because it reminds me of the absolutely wonderful and fantastic and thrill-filled time I spent volunteering at Cucalorus 20 in November. I took a lot of volunteer slots, was very clear about my skillset and experience (including in the early stages), and showed up for my shifts ready to work. I consistently got tossed around to other stations and venues (I was in the box office department) and had to learn a lot really quickly (like, on-the-spot kind of quickly), but it was great. I spent a reasonable deal of time around some of the people in charge of hoards of volunteers (Tommy van Arsendale, Ryan Jaccard, Winthrow Newell, etc.) and found it amazing that Cucalorus runs on volunteers because people want so badly to be a part of it. It's really inspiring to think about! So, I feel like my job is not only to recruit the volunteers, but to generate excitement for it.
WHAT I NEED TO DO (by mid-February):
- create a volunteer spreadsheet & share with class
- "During the first week of class create a Google Spreadsheet and title it “Volunteer Needs by Department” and share it with the class. This should include a column for “Director’s Name,” “Department Name,” “Number of Volunteers Needed,” “Volunteer Duties,” “Recommended Shift Time per Volunteer (hours).”"
- Talk to Luqi about volunteer tab on website with paragraph, telling people there will soon be a call for volunteers
- "First, there should be a paragraph informing site visitors that there will soon be a call for volunteers (give dates as soon as possible). Second, there should always be information on the website regarding the benefits of volunteering and a list of incentives for volunteering. In the past these have included a free badge to the event, free food, an official Visions T-shirt and admission to the after party."
- Ask directors to come up with volunteer needs
- Attend Visions events and organize and create volunteer signup sheet
- by mid Feb., email early volunteer signups with initial interest email
- Attend meetings with ACE to establish volunteer needs
This concludes my first Visions blog post. Until next time,
Ashley
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