Week 15

This week's work:

• Update job description - 1 hr
• Update manual - 1 hr, unfinished
• Tally final numbers: sales, badge numbers, who didn’t pick up badges (use physical badges you have and electronic numbers) - 1.5 hrs
• [FINAL] Presentation for 4/28 - 1.5 hrs
• Archive badge materials - 30 min
• Recap blog post - 1 hr

Visions5 Response

Visions was probably one of the best things I could have ever done. I actually can't even believe I am writing a response to it, because it is over now and I never get to do it again.

At the beginning of this semester, I had no idea what I was doing. But as confused as I was after our first class, I was also pumped. I was ready to figure everything out and do it. So I put on my metaphorical reading glasses, went through my manual about a dozen times, and just kept pretending I knew anything at all. Eventually I did, and somehow I was prepared for the day of the event. Sort of.

Most of the time, I felt like I was making it up as I went along. I had the exact right tools, knowledge, and coworkers to make all of my improvisations work smoothly. As every second happened, I decided what to do next. From the night before when I decided to clip 300 lanyards to badge holders (with Rika's help) to be prepared for stuffing them in the morning, to the morning of when I assigned about fifteen people to stuffing badges and organizing them, to everything else in between, before, and after.

The best part for me was mingling and networking with all the filmmakers and scholars. I got to know people that I would never have met otherwise, and I now know so many different people in so many different cities that it's hard to keep track. We had so many intelligent, innovative people there with their work. I was blown away the whole time. And not only were they smart and great conversationalists, they were fun, funny, and nice people.

I also learned so much about putting together a film festival in general. This is now something that I can look into for applying to future jobs that I would never have considered otherwise. I got to put my problem-solving skills and time management skills to the test, and I proved to myself and I think a lot of other people that I can handle stress and pressure. It was a confident boost to see everyone's hard work and dedication pay off in an experience so many people appreciated. The filmmakers and scholars were blown away with how well they were treated and how organized all the events were, the audiences were so excited about the content of the blocks, and someone was always laughing.

I would never trade this experience for the world. I am so glad I got to be involved with this festival exactly when I did in my career as a student and filmmaker.


To the future me (registration coordinator...not myself in the future): my biggest piece of advice is to make sure you keep good and communicative relations with all the directors. You are involved with marketing and hospitality as much as operations. Start early with how you'll push badge purchases out there, and make sure you stay on top of printing. But don't worry, this is all in your manual.

Week 14

This week's work:

• Talk to M. Johnson for moderating - 10 min
• Coordinate swag bag stuffing night with Adrienne - 2 hrs
• Coordinate badge stuffing night - 4 hrs
• Fill in volunteer names in passes sheet - 30 min
• Print names onto sticker labels - 2 hrs
• Continue editing passes spreadsheet as needed - 1 hr
• DO VISIONS - Thursday 11am-Saturday 4pm

Week 13

This week's work:

• Get team assembled to hang posters around campus - 15 min
• Hang posters around campus - 2 hrs
• Final email push to professors about comped badges - 15 min
• Email to professors from other depts - 15 min
• Talk to Indian Cinema class about registering, show trailer - 10 min
• Talk to Kyle about stickers on badges - 20 min
• Print test copy and check sticker size - 20 min
• Edit email to com studies professors - 15 min
• Bake for bake sale - 1 hr
• Continue editing passes spreadsheet as needed - 2 hrs

Week 12

This week's work:

• Organize bake sale discount code with Chelsea - 15 min
• Send Shannon information about badge materials so Lauren Fitch can order them - 10 min
• Feedback on program for Kyle - 30 min
• Put together presentation for April 7 - 2 hours
• Continue editing spreadsheets - 30 min
• Coordinate badge and bag stuffing night with Adrienne - 20 min
• Social media assignments - 15 min

Week 11

This week's work:

• Run sound for the director's interview for the marketing team - 2 hours
• Edit spreadsheets as needed - 1 hour
• Figure out discount code for spring bake sale and coordinate with Chelsea - 10 min

Week 10

This week's work:

• Email Dave Monahan about the rest of the faculty receiving their compensated badges - 10 min
• Message J'amie on Facebook about his free staff badge - 10 min
• Talk to Lauren Fitch about last year's invoice for badge purchases - 10 min
• Research lanyard and badge holders according to last year's invoice and how many materials we currently have - 30 min
• Add amount of money needed for badge purchases to the tech and ops budget - 10 min

Week 9

This week's work:

• Continue editing spreadsheets as comp responses come in - 30 min

Spring break happened...I didn't do much.

Week 8

This week's work:

• Email FST faculty about their comped badge (confirmation due by Monday 3/9) - 45 min
• Type a draft of an email Melissa can send to IndieGogo badge winners - 1 hour
• ON FRIDAY: remind everyone to add their family members in for comps if they want badges - 5 min
• Edited spreadsheets as needed - 30 min

Happy Spring Break!

Week 7

This week's work:

• Meet with Adrienne to see when we can talk to 302 narrative class about keynote/what I need to know about Caroline - 10 min
• Count current badge materials - 10 min
• Figure out and fill in what volunteers I need - 15 min
• Fill in IndieGogo numbers for comped badges - 15 min
• Work on raffle basket for party - put together google sheet and go acquire gifts - 4 hours
• Help set up and clean up Masquerade/Mardi Gras party - 2 hours
• Work Masquerade/Mardi Gras party - 3 hours
• Continue editing passes spreadsheet as needed

Week 6

This week's work:

• Count badge materials we currently have - 30 min
• Talk to Zach Hanner Saturday with Dustin about sponsorship - 30 min
• Work on raffle basket - put together google sheet and go acquire gifts - 1 hour
• Off-day folder work - 2 hours
• See if Mom and Dad want to come to Visions - and they do!

Week 5

This week's work:

• Brainstorm ideas for basket for raffle prize with Emily and Rob - 1.5 hours
• Finish updating website blurb - 1 hour
• Add tab for parent comps to visions passes excel sheet - 10 min
• Go through etix badge buying process and note changes that need to be made - 20 min
• Email Chelsea w/ updates about: etix website issues, you need to buy ticket for vid race screening if you don’t have a badge - 20 min
• Make personal final decisions for films - 2 hours

Week 4

This week's work:

• Watched and graded films - 2.5 hours
• Read papers for discussion - 3 hours
• Put together presentation about meeting w/ Chelsea and marketing for registration - 30 min
• Met with Luqi about website blurb: what it will look like, etc. - 30 min
• Updated website blurb for registration - 1 hour
• Met with Hillary (at directors' meeting) about marketing for registration - 1 hour
• Emailed Chelsea and updated her about when we’re going live and change in dates of ticket price increases [decisions made in directors' meeting]
• Typed meeting minutes and sent to Adam G. - 30 min
• Make bake sale treats (Monday 2/9) and buy ice - 1 hour

Week 3

This week's work:

• Watch and grade films: 2.5 hours
• Share Facebook post and tag a friend: at least 10 minutes because I fought myself over who to tag

My work load was light this week so I feel like I've done something wrong. I'm pretty sure that isn't so. But. It feels weird.

Week 2

This week's work:

• Completed the "Dirty Dozen" for the registration table - 2 hours
• Created spreadsheet for passes - 15 min
• Put together presentation for 1/27 on updates for registration - 2 hours
• Meet w/ Shannon about presentation - 30 min
• Department meeting to discuss updates with each other - 1.5 hours
• Set up meeting w/ Chelsea Blanton and Shannon about E-tix - 2/4 at 12pm in King Hall
• Read and graded abstracts, watched and graded films - 3 hours

"Dirty Dozen" - Registration

1. What is the project supposed to achieve?
The day of Visions, the registration table is organized and everything runs efficiently

2. Who is the customer?
Filmmakers and scholars that attend the festival to present their work

In a way, the volunteers who dedicate their time to the event are my customers as well, as they will be expecting me to have my shit together.

3. What are the deliverables of the project?
A registration table that is organized, and therefore a group of people whose visit to Visions5 is an amazing experience.

4. What is the budget?
The budget will be about $210 for the badge holders and lanyards, judging by past Visions budgets.

5. How long will it take?
About 12 weeks, starting with week 2 on the schedule

6. What specific skills are needed?
Organizational skill, time management, orderliness, commanding presence and voice, respectability, preparation skills (i.e. ability to make legible lists, ability to communicate with all partners/anyone helping my ideas and come up with solutions to questions/problems)

7. What special resources are needed?
- Volunteers

- Physical badges/holders, lanyards, bags (?), badge vouchers, program guides

8. Who is working the project? What is each person's job?
Me - set up online registration for filmmakers/scholars/attendees, communicate with and prepare badges for everyone attending the event, set up E-tix for people to purchase badges, create spreadsheets to keep everything organized, lead volunteers through event

Ashley Marshall - find and organize volunteers

Rob - signs for event, keep water/food stocked during event, cleaning (trash, recycling, etc), parking plans/execution

Adam Getz - oversee all operations

Volunteers for the day of to help operate registration table

9. What is the schedule?

• Week 2- email Sandra F Jackson about setting up a meeting to discuss E-tix
• Week 3- set up an excel file with different sheets for passes; presentation to class on what I'm doing now to prepare
• Week 4- set up meeting with Sandra Jackson, Shannon, and Adam G to discuss E-tix, and from there figure out how much money Visions will receive from badges post-event; create registration blurb on website w/ creative dept; set up emails so website registration and confirmation emails will be sent directly to me
• Week 5- publish website registration, maintain all spreadsheets
• Week 6- order any additional badge holders/lanyards; put Indiegogo list in my spreadsheet; get numbers from Sandra
• Week 7&8- email all individuals who will receive comped badges, i.e. Indiegogo winners, professors, other people who submitted to Visions, volunteers, etc.
• Week 9- spring break - maintain all spreadsheets
• Week 10- make sure volunteers are all arranged appropriately for the day of; set up a night to stuff bags w/ hospitality coor
• Week 11- meet w/ Sandra about registration lines; email people about 1 hr/1 take sign up; finalize badges w/ art dir
• Week 12- finish any fulfillments left (as I assume there will be a few)
• Week 13- finish any fulfillments left; final update to spreadsheets about badges, purchases, etc. 
• Week 14- Visions week! organize badges with names and stuff in holders; create quick and easy check-in w/ hospitality coor; train all volunteers; execute registration plan; set up and clean up all registration materials pre- and post-event

10. What are the risks? (Small vs. large impact, likely vs. unlikely)

• Large impact, likely: the printer messes up the day I go to print out all names/stickers for the badges; materials don't come in on time; website registration crashes and no one notices; registration software crashes the day of
• Large impact, very possible but not likely: We don't get enough volunteers for the day of the event
• Large impact, unlikely: I or someone else loses/misplaces all the badges right before the event; not enough people attend the event for us to make the money we are expecting
• Small impact, likely: I have a hard time keeping up with all spreadsheets and information that needs to go into them
• Small impact, unlikely: there is a disgusting storm the day of the event and it makes everything a mess/1000x harder to keep up with and organize

11. How will you communicate with your team?
I feel that I make a very good leader because I have really good communication skills. I am also approachable, so people are usually not afraid to ask me questions and feel comfortable looking to me for guidance. Therefore, I will remain firm in my team and make sure everyone is completing all tasks, but I will stay relaxed so they still enjoy themselves.

12. How will you determine if the project is successful?
If all problems that may arise the day of are handled properly and efficiently; if everyone who attends Visions5, be it students/filmmakers there to watch and hear the event, filmmakers and scholars there to present their work, film department faculty members, the volunteers, or even the Visions staff, enjoy their time spent and look back on their experience with registration fondly (or at least without contempt); and if I don't end this semester with a head full of gray hair, then the project was successful.

"Festivals of Their Own" Response

To be completely honest, I had no idea film festivals are so new in the US. Sure, Sundance has been around for a while, but for all the other thousands to have mostly sprung up in the last ten or twenty years is kind of a shock. Probably because I was alive ten and twenty years ago. It seems so natural to have film festivals, therefore it seemed to me that they have just always been there. That said, I find it inspiring that so many people have stepped up to start so many interesting festivals in this country. If there is one thing about the industry that inspires me the most, its the drive, determination, and eventual success of independent and underground filmmakers, festival-runners, and festival-goers. The fact that there are now numerous "successful" festivals (which now have the clout to have their screened beauts picked up by distributors) and so many other opportunities for people to just exhibit what they've done is like a big F.U. to Hollywood as an exclusive, greedy, self-serving corporation.

I was also really excited to see Cucalorus on the list of underground film festivals! That is an amazing thing for Wilmington to be recognized so highly in this tight-knit community and among the other festivals the article mentions. It was even more amazing to see a second North Carolina festival mentioned.

The most interesting part about the interview with Josh Koury is how knowledgable he is about marketing and business strategies. Not only did he make a well-received film that toured the world, he did so because he knew exactly which strings to pluck. Not only did he start a film festival that has grown to be very successful, he did so because he pick something specific and modeled every single thing after his artistic ideas about how he wanted it to feel attending that festival. Specificity is a huge strength of his.

Job Description and Manual

I love whoever made this list in the manual. It is exactly how I would make a list for a manual.

The first thing I realized is how interesting it is that the Operations department is so crucial to the actual day of the event, which means the spring semester is jammed with preparation between weeks 2-11, only to then watch everything come to fruition. It will be essential that I make lists and organize every single thing in my life this semester, or else the day-of I will definitely fall apart. For any job, but for this one especially, proper preparation is key.

I am going to love being the boss of the registration table. Having people come from all over the country/world/wherever and meet me first is going to be exciting and gratifying. I have a feeling it will be similar to being an Orientation Leader for the university. I will love every second of updating my 500000 lists (which I am going to download to my kindle/tablet thingy so I can keep track of them and update on the go), being the person to receive confirmations from the attendees, bossing around a few volunteers, and even creating name badges and registration packets.

Things I did not realize I'd be in charge of: anything having to do with Indiegogo (though in hindsight that makes perfect sense), the video race (also makes perfect sense), design things on the website

Things I always knew I would do this semester: not sleep.

Week 1

And so my experience with Visions starts off with a BANG! (I am basically required to emphasize the onomatopoeia here)

This week's work:

• Wrote staff bio - 10 min
• Set up my blog and post my first weekly update (see: this post right now)
• Post about my job description, the tech and ops manual, and some reading we were assigned - 2 hours
• Read and grade the first round of abstracts. There were some really interesting and exciting topics here. Favorites: 3, 7, 8, 14, 17 - 2 hours
• Look over blogs of past registration coordinators and, using this information plus the manual and job description, start on my presentation about what I think will happen on the day of the event (presentation is week 3) - time tbd
• Set up a meeting with Shannon about my presentation