AV News 192 - May 2013
What a Weekend!
John Smith APAGB CPAGB
The Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union annual AV Competition
moved to a new venue this year - a fully fitted lecture theatre on the campus
of Edge Hill University in Ormskirk. Entries had been slowly coming in and by
the closing date we had 31 entries from 8 clubs - this was a little dissapointing
as there are around 34 clubs within the L&CPU that have members who
make sequences and around 20 clubs hold their own AV competitions. The
entries were checked to ensure that they started and passed over to our
projectionist - Colin Balls.
On Friday 22nd March it started to snow.....and snow ... and snow and it
continued throughout the night blocking roads all over the region. This year,
as the person charged with running the event, theoretically I had to say if the
event went ahead... but I wasn't alone. Living right on the doorstep so to
speak was our President (and the proper AV Secretary!!) Henry Mullarkey
and so emails were sent out giving the current weather conditions in Ormskirk.
Sunday was also the L&CPU Big Day with speakers coming from
Scotland, Norfolk and The Midlands and over 200 people due to attend the
event - so more worry.
Our judge, Richard Brown, had made it up from Birmingham to Wilmslow
that evening to give a talk and, after the meeting, successfully transferred
himself to the hotel in Ormskirk so that was one problem out of the way.
Thankfully all the Sunday speakers had also arrived safely - so more
problems over..... or so we thought!
The snow had lessened by the Saturday morning but was now blowing
around and drifting across the open roads. The main motorways were clear
but unfortunately the main road into Ormskirk from the M58 had become
blocked by a jack-knifed lorry and this caused all those attending (and our
judge) to have to try and find their way by various routes into the centre of
Ormskirk and then subsequently out to the university campus.
Our Henry as well as doing the weather reports had been up at some
unearthly hour to ensure that the University had left a trail of arrows to enable
everyone to make it all the way from the car park to the lecture theatre. There
a welcoming hot drink was available for those who had successfully
completed the L&CPU 'orienteering course'!
Another person who we were extremely pleased to see had made it safely
from the snowy wilds of downtown Wrightington was Colin complete with the
Royalle projector and sound system.
Now emails were starting to come in from people who were unable to get
out of their own homes to make the journey and we wondered just how many
would arrive. We needn’t have worried - they are a hardy lot these av'ers as
around 40 people came!
The welcomes’ having been made, the competition started in earnest
around 15 minutes late - not bad considering all the obstacles that had been
put in our way and we were confident that we could make up the lost time.
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