Pre-conference musings
It’s Sunday afternoon [Sunday 13 April, 2014] and I’ve just come onto campus and I’ve already seen a few people wandering about – possibly conference delegates, definitely admiring the grounds on such a beautiful day!
BBC weather tells me that the sun’s going to shine for the conference so hopefully everyone will get a chance to enjoy it between presentations and poster sessions. It’s certainly good news for me – I won’t have to wear layers and layers under my bright blue conference t-shirt!
Conference Goody bags
This afternoon us members of the conference support team are going to start the first of our many tasks – preparing the delegates’ conference bags, badges and other general final touches. There is so much work that goes on behind the scenes in these events, I’d never really realised it. From putting together the programme to timetabling our individual schedules and even more menial tasks such as putting up poster boards and rearranging rooms, there’s a lot of organising to do!
All the work Martin, Gaby and Lucie (among others) have put in is very impressive and everything seems to be going according to plan so far. On Wednesday we went through the programme and all, to everyone’s joy, the timetabling worked out perfectly!
We’ve been prepared about what our roles are (being human signposts, being in charge of the videoing of presentations, chairing sessions, moving poster-boards and, most importantly, putting together those all-important conference bags) and the training sessions have been very useful.
I’ve been in many lecture theatres and seminar rooms but I’ve never known how the technology in them works but, thanks to the training, I do now and hopefully I’ll be able to find my way around the different buttons! We also had to do mini-presentations so we could get a sense of timing as well as how it feels to talk in front of so many people. Although my presentation wasn’t particularly powerful or well-rehearsed (I had a lot of deadlines that week!), it did help me recognise that 15 minutes is quite a long time to speak for and that visual aids are definitely a good idea! I’m looking forward to seeing how much better the delegates’ presentations are!
When I was in sixth form, I helped organise a Model United Nations conference for about 100 year 12 students, which involved preparing committee topics and resolutions, organising chairs and even taking on the role of the Secretary General of the General Assembly. So while I like to think that I’m not a complete novice, I know that the BCUR conference is much larger, much more prestigious and that I’ll be learning lots more about public speaking, organising and directing people.
I’m not sure what I want to do after university yet and, as a French and History student doing a year abroad next year, I still have 2 more years to properly decide. Still, I think it’s very useful to be doing things in addition to my work and the University of Nottingham offers so many opportunities. From sport (this year I’ve been playing in the History society netball team), to volunteering (I’ve been part of a group teaching two year 3 classes about the History of Nottingham), the university offers it all. With such a range of extracurricular activities, the university thinks that it’s only right that these be recognised and that’s what the Nottingham Advantage Award is all about. Students can do different modules (including peer mentoring, volunteering in the community, career skills sessions, internships and study abroad placements to name a few), and when you’ve completed three, you receive the Nottingham Advantage Award which goes on the bottom of your university transcript and is widely recognised by employers.
It just so happens that taking part in the BCUR at Nottingham counts as one of these modules! So all the skills that we’ve learnt so far and will continue to gain throughout the conference will be credited by the university. I think it’s a great way to encourage students to get involved in activities and events which will give them not only skills to take on for future career opportunities but also fun, eye-opening experiences.
So that’s one of the reasons why I’ll be here this week, but that’s not the only reason BCUR stood apart from other modules. It’s great that the conference is made up entirely of undergraduates and I know it’s going to be really inspiring hearing from people who are so enthusiastic about their degrees. Sometimes it’s difficult to get excited about some of the work we do as undergraduates (my French grammar classes come to mind) but this conference reminds us that there’s plenty to get excited about. Also, it’s incredible how far BCUR has come since its first conference in 2011. There will be over 300 delegates this year and many of them will be from international universities – two delegates will even be answering questions through a Skype connection from India! There conference is a real opportunity for students to meet like-minded people as well as encouraging them to engage with students from a broad range of disciplines and countries. Personally, I’m excited about listening to a delegate talk about philosophy only to be followed by another talking about chemistry; it’s great to be able to step outside of our comfort zones and be surprised by what might spark our imaginations!
For now I ought to leave the library and play my part in the last-minute preparation before I go home and get some rest before it all kicks off tomorrow for us at 8.30am! I’ll be wearing my bright blue t-shirt so look out for us if you get lost, or need to ask a question. And if you get a chance, remember to wander round the campus (the lake is particularly beautiful in springtime with all the blossom) and enjoy yourselves!
Megan Shore
bcur14nottingham 