AV News 175 - February 2009
My First RPS AV Event
Tony Collinson
It was with great anticipation that I booked for my first visit to an RPS AV
event, the 2008 RPS International Festival which was to be held at the Royal
Agricultural College in Cirencester on the 19th - 21st September.
I arrived in glorious sunshine at what can only be described as a very
pleasant venue. There were one or two faces I recognised and it didn't take
long before I was chatting along with others about the forthcoming event. This
was to be the first RPS International AV Festival where only digital sequences
were shown. I opened my information pack and browsed through the list of 71
titles to be presented during the week-end, quite a formidable task for the
judges, Ian Bateman, Gordon Gray, Christion Brion and Matthias Pfister!
So, what were my impressions? Well,
here goes. Overall the weekend was well
organised, the sequences of an excellent
standard, the venue impressive, the food
superb, the accommodation adequate and
the social interaction most enjoyable. Our
MC, Marilyn Leedham, did a brilliant job
keeping us all informed by leading the
event from the front. The technical team
were flawless in the presentation of the
sequences.
It is not possible to list all of the sequences but for me the most memorable
were:- The Red Shoes by Dave & Carol Gillow; This Is A Town by Colin Balls;
The Minstrel Boy by Len Deeley; Hedd Wynn by Ron Davies; Talbot House by
Linda & Edgar Gibbs; Isadora's Legacy by Eddie Spence; Stand Proud Brother
by Robert Albright; The Quiet One by Keith Brown; A Sense Of Proportion by
Bryan Stubbs and The Messiah by John Smith. My own vote coincided with
three of the four Audience Vote Winners. The list of worthy winners for all the
awards can be seen in Issue 174 Page 28 and on the website
www.avnews.org.uk. Well done to all.
The evening meals were excellent both in
quality and quantity and gave opportunity to
sit with other AV enthusiasts and chat about
the days' proceedings. Saturday evening we
enjoyed our Gala dinner where attendees
were invited to dress for the occasion. Mike
Woolnough arrived in great style with his
dinner suit T shirt! The meal was followed by
a short speech by the RPS President.
During the course of the weekend there were
a number of questions raised by various
attendees and perhaps this might be a
suitable place to air them:Page 18