April 9th 2014 Visions4Reflection

     So, I'll be honest. I tried my hardest to have absolutely no expectations going into Friday's activities. I was actually hesitant to look at the schedule too much because I didn't want to start fantasizing about how each block was going to go. All I knew before Visions4 started was that we had all done a great job preparing, and that no matter how it all turned out I was going to be happy! I had to be; we had worked to freaking hard to be disappointed.

     Even though I had minimum expectations, I was still surprised by a few things. One thing that surprised me was my reaction at the end of the festival. I thought I was going to be sad, and longing for more festivities, but I really was as satisfied as I could have been. I watched as all the filmmakers and scholars left on Saturday, and I was not disappointed to see them leave. They told me that they had a wonderful time and that they would love to be a part of Visions5. That was enough for me. Visions4 gave them an experience that they will never forget. I don't know how I could have asked for more than that.

     About the festival specifically, I was surprised by the amount of respect given by each attendee. Everyone listened to each other, and, even though there were groups from the same school in attendance, I never felt like cliques were created. That was really nice. When we were at meals, or even at the after party, I saw that everyone was mingling and truly listening to one another. This was probably my favorite part about the entire day.

     As a whole I was more than content to go to bed that night and not feel the need to change anything. But as I continue to look back and reflect I realize that there is one thing I want to change for next year. I want to talk to the filmmakers and scholars more! I really tried to communicate with them as much as possible, but being involved in the activities and blocks actually distracted me from getting to know them... as weird as that sounds. I think the best way to do this, and the main piece of advice I would lend to the staff of next year is to really study the people that are coming before they get here. KNOW THEIR FACES, and of course know their names. The people I knew the most about before they even got here were the people I felt closest to from the very start.

     That said, I think that any of the changes I can suggest are so minuscule that even if they weren't implemented I would still be completely satisfied. I think where we succeeded the most was with our audience. I heard so much great things from people who came to Visions. The people who weren't even staff, filmmakers, or scholars just had so much to say that was really high praise. This is not necessarily something that can be recreated next year, but I think it is something to shoot for next year. This means that Visions has passed on the passion and the sense of ownership on to the Wilmington and surrounding community.

Yeah... I guess that's it...

April 2nd 2014

Wow!!! Visions is in literally 2 days! I can't believe it! I don't even know what to do! I am so excited and nervous at the same time. I hope that everyone gets here okay... Oh my god.... Everyone gets here tomorrow!!!! I will get to meet all the people that we have been talking so much about!

That was so many exclamation points. But I really am excited. And it's pretty relaxing to be on website right now, because I am not scrambling to get anything done last minute. I guess really there are only two things left to do. We have the live feed to get up on the site Friday morning, and after that it is really just figuring out how to leave the Website after all the festivities are over.

That said, I don't want to stop thinking ahead to the festival and conference! I am SOOOO pumped for our early morning on Friday. I guess all we can do is the best that we have to offer. Let's do this, and show all these filmmakers and scholars what Wilmington has to offer!