| Shocking News: Regional conferences were fun! |
| 22/02/2006 |
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Just like the rest of the NEC I dread regional Conferences, not because of the level of work involved or the chance to meet student officers you understand, but the fact that you spend 5 days with half of the NEC! Things tend to get a bit tense between people, not because we don’t like each other (in fact if people were really honest they'd admit we all get on pretty well) but because if you put any 10 people in a mini bus for 5 days with no time to yourself you tend to get slightly agitated. This can be especially true for me…the driver. Driving the NEC around the country in what's sarcastically called the 'Fun Bus' isn’t always a barrel of laughs let me tell you. And with all the scepticism around elections I expected fireworks. What I actually got was a bunch a nice individuals. We laughed, made silly jokes and comments (read Jo's Blog) and generally got through it without any bruises. The Officers and students were pleasant and engaging and although the food left a little to be desired (as did the hotel decor) I had what can only be described as a 'larf'. Luckily for me, I actually get on and respect my opponents in this years election and I have no doubt that it will stay that way up until and long after National conference. I hope that those that attended the often delightful settings of Bognor Regis in particular, took away as much as we did - campaigning ideas and assurances that reform pledges are indeed a-foot. My one gripe about regionals though is their lack of inspiration. Year after year we see the NEC talking at students, presenting campaigns that they've run in order to promote themselves, and although this year (on my side at least) there was less of this, I still felt that there was to much presenting and not enough discussion. Being an NEC member at these things is often like being a door to door sales person. 'Please buy into our product, it's very good'. But delegates need to be able to test drive, try the product out and be won round by what they can gain from the purchase. This isn't an attack in anyway at those who organise these things; historically regional conferences have never quite been about accountability or engaging members in our campaigns. It's always been stuck somewhere in-between. I believe we need a huge overhaul of some of our democratic events (and don't even get me started on National Council!). We need to find out what they're for, clearly define their role and work from that. As an previous sabbatical in a union that struggled for participation, those that hinted at being involved were grappled to the floor and never let go. We would immediately send them on the first NUS event that came up, unfortunately allot of the time that first event was Regional Conferences. Regional conferences that talk to those in the know, not those who want to know. The 'regional' aspect must be more important than the 'conference' bit and hopefully the reforms that may pass through conference may aid that. In my next blog I will talk a bit more about the last National Council meeting but for now, here's what the rest of my diary looks like. In January
In February
The rest of the month I'll be
Please email or ring me if you have any comments or questions around the projects I'm running but please be mindful that if I don’t get back to you straight away it's probably because I also work four days a week for a charity in central London! Until next time, Stephen x The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students. All links in blogs will open in a new browser window. The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/stephenbrown/272030.aspx |
