NaSTA 2017: Difference between revisions

The Nasta Conference 2017 was held in Birmingham University from March 31st to April 2nd. YSTV took a large contingent of members to the weekend and many shenanigans were had. Despite not winning any awards, the weekend was inspiring and certainly eventful.  

The process of submitting the NASTA submissions was, as to be expected, very stressful. Many submissions were not submitted until right up to the last hour. Ask [[Adam Tye]] for more details. Organising getting a load of YSTV members to the conference turned out, unsurprisingly, to be a logistical nightmare. The tickets for the events were expensive as it was, but the tickets with hotel rooms were daylight robbery so it was decided we would find our own accommodation. [[Sam Willcocks]] found airbnbs for the group and went about trying to organise people who wanted to go into groups on a mass spreadsheet. Inevitably the 'Nasta Party' spreadsheet fell victim to memes and party parrots. In the end, after some tense moments when committee members left tickets and accommodation to the very last minute, 13 members of YSTV arrived in Birmingham, at different times...off many different trains.

On the first day the group split into the two airbnb groups, one to a nice terraced house in Selly-Oak and another group to what can only be described as where you'd set a Brummie Trainspotting tribute. We dropped off luggage then met up again at registration. It was there that it was decided YSTV was too stingy to pay for food and drink considering the cost of a NASTA ticket and that they'd rather buy a load of food and alcohol and all go to the less terrifying airbnb. Here, an infamous game of 'Never Have I Ever' took place. This intimate game spawned countless Quotes Board entries and perhaps the most pertinent quote to the night itself:  

Nicely inebriated, the party moved to the first NASTA after party at Birmingham University Guild Hall where YSTV made friends with other stations, Stag TV took a shine to [[Kate Whittaker]] in particular and she was asked out over the YSTV Facebook page. [[Katherine Bell]] also reportedly drunkenly told anyone who would listen about how old and special YSTV was, though she denies she was that drunk.

On the second day NASTA provided informative sessions throughout the day on multiple subjects such as CVs, getting into the industry, tech innovations and a thinly veiled sales pitch by MadeTV. These was some chaotic scenes between sessions as there was confusion as to the location of the talks and whether this correlated with the guidebook. In the evening there was a formal meal and awards ceremony hosted by Guild TV and hosted by Lizo Mzimba. YSTV didn't win any awards this year but [[Kate Whittaker]] was shortlisted for best on-screen female, as judged by Fiona Bruce. {{unsure|This may or may not have led to the naming of the Bruce server}}  

On the final day, despite only needing station directors in attendance, at least 10 YSTV members arrived to the AGM as they has been hangover packs promised. There were many sensible contributions by YSTV to the motions tabled at the AGM, including voting in new officers to the committee and questioning sweeping reforms to the award catergories. There were also less sensible but amusing contributions such as [[Sam Willcocks]] who asked about the precautions taken against angry dead NASTA fellowship members following a hypothetical zombie apocalypse and [[Joel Mitchell]] who had taken to referring to election candidates as "hat boy" and "not hat boy". This silliness was fuelled by many hangovers, lack of sleep and an extensive group chat on slack during the proceedings. There was then a trips to Wetherspoons before trains back to York or members' home towns.

The awards ceremony may have been disappointing but many members were inspired by the quality of entries from other stations and planned many more ambitious productions. It was also discussed that YSTV should aim to produce more drama and 'artsy' videos as we focused too heavily on live and this was putting our entries at a disadvantage at NASTA. Connections were also formed with LA1 before roses, Stage TV and in particular LSTV who happened to be sat behind [[Edwin Barnes]] at the welcome talk and this initial meeting led to many future collaborations such as [[Roses 2017]] and [[Ask Look North (BBC Look North Collaboration)]]