Re-Freshers Fayre 2014

Freshers' Fayre had been a huge excitement, but it wasn't the turning point that I had hoped for.  We had become recognised as a television station, however, we had no content to engage people's interest.

When Re-Freshers' Fayre came around in Semester 2, I was dubious that we would gain any new members with us having so little presence. I set up the stall with the sign-up sheets and promotional leaflets that I had created, and stood quietly whilst people glanced at the stall and then moved onto the next one.  Nobody was interested in what RGU:TV had to offer, I wasn't asked any questions and we received very few sign-ups.

After about an hour of this repetition, I decided to do something about it.  We had no content, and that was something that I decided to change on my own without the help of a team.  I had my camera in my bag - I have a passion for photography and I always take it with me so I don't miss a moment - and I decided to use it to film the atmosphere at the fair.  My camera is just a regular digital compact camera, and its filming capabilities were no match for the university cameras, but it was adequate and I didn't want to miss the opportunity.

I informed Paul of my plans, and he was very enthusiastic, even offering to help film using his phone. The members of the Radio and Magazine groups were at the stall, so I wouldn't have been leaving it unmanned.  With my camera in hand, I walked along University Street, filming shots of each of the stalls and the small crowds of people who were engaging with them.  I walked upstairs to the balcony outide RGU:Sport and took some shots from above.  I walked outside and filmed through the glass.  It was my chance to experiment with different shots and I found it really exciting.  

People asked me where the video would be seen, and when I informed them of our YouTube channel, it got people to engage with RGU:TV in a much more effective way.  Seeing the filming in action made people much more likely to look us up, than it did before when we were just showing them leaflets.  It was a pinnacle learning curve for me and it made me much more excited for the future, as opposed to doubtful and scared.