The grand winner that evening was Samuel Ong Ming Hoe.
And this year, because my still camera battery charger was either lost or stolen during my trip to Madrid in 2011, I have to rely on friends for pictures. I still had my trusty Flip camera to capture the moments.
Special thanks to Ong Jing Yi (Novis) and Ong Ming Hoe (Samuel) for the awesome pictures! :D
I have no idea why the name was changed, but I can say this: they did introduce new categories and new awards. It was different from last year's VRE, but it did have some elements from last year's event.
Just like last year's VRE, this event was by invitation only -- and served to honour the students who contributed, either to their societies or to the community beyond the university.
Upon entry, each one of us got this ticket and a UHSU pin. Well... the text on the ticket is self-explanatory. I needed a drink very, very much (having not drunk anything that morning and afternoon), so I was among the first to spend it on lemonade. In case you're wondering why there are two pins in the picture... Samuel (and I) went for VRE 2011 and SRE 2012, and on both occasions, got UHSU pins.
Wooooo Swing Dance! Having taken part in a few of their meetings in 2010/2011, I can say that I did enjoy myself back then, and it's always a joy to see them dance. ^_^
And now, the first category of awards for the night: the RAG awards.
And then, came Student Representatives.
Wow, that face is priceless! :D Great job, Novis!
This, guys..... THIS is one of the reasons why Samuel and Novis took the pictures that I have showcased in this blog entry. :P They were both nominated as Community Champion. Samuel (Ong Ming Hoe) was the star of last year's VRE.
From that point on, I was very, very nervous. I knew the Media Awards would fall into the second half, and I just couldn't expect anything anymore.
Then there was a performance by the Salsa Society. Now, there aren't many pictures for this -- in fact, I know that my pictures are very selective, but there was only one in Novis' stock (and none in Samuel's stock). You can imagine that a lot of people had their eyes fixed on the dancers...... for pretty obvious reasons. But hey, I have every reason to take delight in carnal stuff too, if it's good! :D
By the way, the one on the right in this picture is Fawn Kay Lim, one of my schoolmates from my secondary years.
Then it was the turn of the Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield, Councillor Carl Storer, to go up and present awards. This time, he would be presenting awards for societies. Apparently Samuel didn't concentrate on the Mayor; he focused rather on the girl with "hair like Paramore's lead singer" who took snapshots of the event.
There was a new system in place which was introduced during one of our Societies' Federation Meetings. Essentially, there are a few things societies are recommended to do to reach out to the student community. Examples include writing something for UniVerse (for the uninitiated, that's the Student Union newspaper), and I don't remember what else. (That makes me a bad committee member! Nuuuuuu!) Doing more of these things gives a society Bronze, Silver or Gold Accreditation. There were a few societies who did reach the Gold mark this year, and they were awarded.
The Charity Fundraising Award was one that I looked forward to. Not because my society or I scored any nominations, no. One of my friends, who hosted Musical Explosion -- a gospel concert on 18 March in the Auditorium at the Forum (yes, you read correctly) -- came from RACE Fellowship, and I was rooting for him. Good on 'im, he did win! :D
And then..... Best Society. The Drama Society. No surprise there. Apparently half the audience went up! (Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but still. LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE UP ON STAGE.)
Aaaand Best Society Collaboration. Again, no surprise there. ^_- Somebody get me a Gryffindor banner please?
Here's a society that literally rose out of the ashes: the Alternative Music Society. I had known them to be there ever since I first set foot in the University of Hertfordshire. But hearing what the commentators had to say... I am pretty impressed. They have music sharing sessions and live gigs pretty much every single week now.
Those of you who have missed the fun from 2011's Freshers' Fair: the Outdoor Society had only recently been set up when I came there. I remember them distributing flyers at the Freshers' Fair that time. I'm not sure if they were the ones into go-karting, but it didn't seem like they had much feedback. But one cannot judge feedback by the amount of people that appear at the Freshers' Fair. The Outdoor Society is now the Best New Society.
You know, I really don't know what the difference is between Society of the Year and Best Society anymore. This, friends, is Believers' Loveworld. Good on you guys!
Then came the media awards. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor was going to present the awards for this entire section. I paid attention to nearly all the speeches, but his speech.... well, his speech moved me to tears. I'll be linking the video in the playlist at the end of this post, but to put it succintly: a lot of people tend to focus on the winners without remembering that all the people who got in there were recognised and nominated. This one was different.
By this point I had stopped taking videos, because I did want to see in which direction the Media Awards would go. And then came Soapboxer of the Year. Yep, there are awards even for this blog too. I looked at the screen and went....
"ANNETTE SIGN? SERIOUSLY?"
I just burst out laughing. Well, way to have my surname Anglicised! :P
Yet I must say, I knew, deep in my heart, long before I came to the SRE -- in fact, the moment I was nominated, I just knew who was going to win. Just at the entrance to the Auditorium there was a banner displaying the achievements of the SU and the societies under its banner. And only one person was the face of Soapbox.
This person is.... *drumroll*
From deep within my heart, congrats, Kate.:D
Other things I especially took note of in the Media Awards were:
It came to me as no surprise that the UHSU Elections were the Best TV Programme of the year. The Elections tend to attract people across the university. They did so in 2011; they did it again this year. I know, because I stayed behind in the EleHouse to cover both Elections, and I'm sure many would agree with me that one would always find unexpected things in the Elections. In 2011 we had Martyn Gray being jumped on by Thom Palser and his fans. :P In 2012 we had someone from Hollywood Herts (a competing slate) who brought his drum into the EleHouse to rouse people's excitement.
It also came to me as no surprise that Crush Radio had the Best Media Committee.
Jamie (?) Cawthra, whose article on PIPA and the open Internet gained rave reviews, won the Best Feature.
Right before the Special Awards (the last category of awards) were dished out, there was a performance by the B-Boy and B-Girl Society. Now they're relatively new as well; having only been established in 2010. I know, because I met the founder at Freshers' Fair in 2010 and he was seriously considering setting this society up. They did contemporary dance -- no hip-hop, and their moves followed the lyrics of the song they were using. By the way, great shot there, Samuel! :D
Erika: "How do you pronounce this word? I had been practising this word all day....."
I tell ye, Soapbox has produced some really good stock! This is Kenny England, one of the pioneering six bloggers of Soapbox. We haven't seen him much on Soapbox these days, but he's moved on to achieve success in another field. Good on you! ^_^
A new award was introduced: the Union Fellowship Award. Essentially whoever won this would be the champion of the SRE. Our first Union Fellowship Award Winner ever is Ben Butters.
Welp, SRE wouldn't have been SRE without us, so...... you're welcome. : )
Guys, here are Samuel and Novis, the people whose photos I have used with permission.
To end off, here is input from yours truly. I have managed to provide a little bit more video coverage on the SRE than before. Presenting the SRE 2012 playlist.
I had a great evening, and it was good to see faces old and new. It was a day off for me, a day of celebration. Thanks to those who nominated and voted for me (and for Musical Explosion! XD).
And this closes another chapter in the history of the UHSU, the societies and the volunteers. But closure of a chapter could mean the opening of several new chapters, right? We'll have to wait and see!
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