Priorirites

That day, I went home after the Re-Freshers' Fayre and immediately uploaded my clips onto my computer so I could begin editing the film.  The software on my computer was just a standard version of Windows Movie Maker, and its capabilities were extremely limited in comparison to the software I had been using on the computers at university, but after the success of my digital camera, I decided there was little point in me waiting until I was back at university to edit the film.  Besides, I was far too excited to wait.

I edited the video the best I could and uploaded it to the YouTube channel, and the response I got was fantastic.  Paul and the rest of the Media Group team were enthused that RGU:TV had finally uploaded its first video. I regretted waiting so long to build a team when I was capable was making the video on my own, and I knew I couldn't do it alone forever, but I was motivated that my video had engaged people to hopefully become involved too.

Over the next few months, I continued to produce videos on my own.  With its increasing presence, RGU:TV started to receive requests from other societies asking us to film events they were holding.  This provided great opportunities for us and it was exactly the sort of thing that I wanted RGU:TV to cover.  I'd always had a vision of RGU:TV producing a 'Society of the Week' programme, and, although this was not going to be achievable at such an early stage, it looked positive for the future as other societies were acknowledging us.

I filmed a video for the Nassau Business Society with the help of another RGU:TV member, who asked if we would cover an event they were holding. I also produced a video of the charity bungee jump held by RGU:RAG on my own which was very enjoyable to film.  Both videos, although short, received a great response and added to our gradually growing catalogue or programmes.

As the requests continued to come in, it quickly became apparent that I was going to need a bigger team in order to fulfill them all.

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.

A New Beginning

In terms of my own work experience, I had a successful Summer. I achieved a four-week placement at the BBC in London, and I returned with a renewed confidence in launching the television station.

A new university year brought a new President of Communications & Democracy, who was both extremely friendly and encouraging. He was also very understanding of the struggles I'd had the previous year and promised to support me in the project.

He suggested that I set up a social media presence using Facebook and Twitter.  I had definitely planned this for the future, but as we were yet to film any content, I thought it was too soon to promote the station online.  But, I set up the accounts and generated a number of 'likes' and 'followers.' Now all I needed was videos to post on the pages and for that, I needed to recruit passionate students.

RGU:TV's first ever Freshers' Fayre was an exciting and energetic experience. It felt fantastic to finally have a presence alongside all the student societies and sports clubs.  We didn't achieve a huge number of people signing up to get involved, but we had finally become established in the student body.

Student Involvement

In March, I held a meeting with interested members to discuss ideas and how we could promote a station, but there was very little contribution from the few people who attended, and I felt like I was just sharing my own ideas while everyone else nodded along.  I was hoping to leave the meeting with motivated positivity, but it was a deflating experience and I found myself feeling embarrassed sharing my ideas with people who seemed so disinterested.  

Student interest in a television station was always strong at the beginning of a new semester, but the weeks always flew by and when the time came to go out and film something, everyone was too caught up in coursework and exam revision.  The Radio team was continuing to develop and expand, and the magazine soon caught up with it.  With every Media Group Meeting we had, I felt more and more lost in the actions I had to take to start up the station.

When second year ended and Summer began, I found that no one was interested in meeting up to carry out filming projects and, with many students not being from Aberdeen, a lot of people had gone back home. Demotivated, I temporarily abandoned the project.  I felt that when I returned, the other members of the Media Group would be disappointed in my lack of progress and would hand the position to somebody else. But, what actually happened was quite different...