Visions4 Reflection

I wouldn't say too many things surprised me about the event itself, in terms of operations and things. I think one of the reasons it went so well this year is because everyone knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing, and had already planned back up plans, etc,. and it just all panned out perfectly. Although I was surprised how professional it came off. I was most surprised by the filmmakers and scholars, and their reception of the festival. Surprised, I guess, seems like an odd word here, because it's not as though I assumed they wouldn't enjoy it, or that I wouldn't enjoy their company. But I was really proud and blown away with how impressed they were with the festival. That was awesome to hear, and I heard it a lot. I also loved all of them--which actually is surprising. Everyone who had done Visions before told me you formed lasting connections and have such a great time with all the filmmakers and scholars, but I just assumed that attitude was reserved for those extrovert types that genuinely enjoy everyone's company and are okay knowing people on a more superficial level. Going into visions, I thought, "okay, I'm only meeting these people for a weekend, and it takes me much longer to get close to someone." However, they were all so cool, and so laid back, and so inspiring, and so inspired....the list goes on. I genuinely had so much fun. I was also surprised--in a good way-- how much weight the conference blocks had this year. I think in the past, they tend to get sort of brushed under the rug and we have to keep saying "Visions is a conference, too!" but the conference blocks were my favorite part this year, and I talked to several guests that felt the same. Also woooo feminism as a theme! This blog is so all over the place. In terms of social media, I was really happy with how it turned out. Evenstagram (the live feeds that we were able to project) worked out perfectly! One thing I didn't anticipate was not having service/internet connection in Lumina, so I had to leave every 3 minutes or so to post something. I was really good about that in the beginning, but the social media sort of weakened as the day went on. That's one regret I have--after party coverage could have been cooler. I was just on such a high at that point... I also really liked how we had the schedule this year--I would recommend doing something similar next year. For some reason I feel like it put more focus on the conference blocks, but I'm not really sure why. The after party was awesome, though I think we should have emphasized the step and repeat a bit more. For the majority of the night, I didn't see anyone taking pictures. But who knows, as I clearly missed out on a few photoshoots! Haha. Overall, I'm sooo happy with how everything turned out, and I can't wait to attend next year!