Alex Harries's diary

Sunday

(NUS Conference stuff coming shortly - I promise!)

The sight of a topless me hanging out of my front door making excuses for being late this morning will probably be burnt into the collective memories of Dave L, Janet H, Fraggy, and Yorkie for a long time. They were waiting for me to finish doing my make-up/hair/packing/whatever I was supposed to have finished five minutes earlier and get on the minibus Dave was piloting up to Liverpool for my first Annual NUSSL conference (or, the Annual National Union of Students' Services (Organisation) Ltd - "ANUSSOL" for short... ahem, sorry...).

The Annual NUS Services (Ltd) conference is the more business-orientated side of the NUS, focusing on services provision such as ents, bars and catering.

I must admit I wasn't expecting to be put up in a hotel as Gucci as the Liverpool Adelphi turned out to be - £199 per room, per night, isn't a bad level of quality (although I suspect we as NUS bods aren't paying that much... I certainly wouldn't!). Before arriving, I was regaled with horror stories about the place, mostly based on a fly-on-the-wall documentary which was less than complimentary, but to be honest, as long as I can get some sleep, have a wash in the morning and arrive on parade not looking like I've been thrown through a hedge backwards, I'm not complaining. Anyway, I have a room to myself on this trip - always a bonus in my books ;o)

So why are we all here then? Well, the NUSSL Conference is the annual gathering of the trading arm of the NUS to show off it's wares - including alcoholic and soft drinks deals, branded events such as Flirt!, and also as a networking event (apparently that means actually *talking* to people and saying 'ello - probably not one of my strong points). As the Union's Meeja & Publications Officer next year, I'll be acting as the NUSSL Liaison Officer. Not quite sure what that entails yet - I'm hoping the next few days will explain it a bit better - but it certainly sounds interesting.

This evening, we popped down to the Liverpool Uni Guild's Union (one of two, I think?) for a couple of drinks. It's *almost* a very nice venue (no DJ booth in the bar?! What a missed opportunity!), and they had a couple of Nintendo Wii's being demonstrated by a member of Union staff. Having had a play on one, I'm now pretty much in love and want one, even if it's only because of the vague chance it might help me get fit ;o)

Over the next few days, I'm going to be attending a number of seminars and "workshops" (?!) on different trading-related subjects, so - while I probably won't be making use of this knowledge in a hands-on role next year, it will almost certainly come in useful throughout the year. From that point of view, the experience will, I hope, be valuable both for me and the poor folks who'll have to work with and for me next year.

I've so far managed to avoid becoming Fraggy's bitch - something he's promising to change this week - so I'm fairly sober at the moment. I don't reckon I'll be getting much sleep for the next couple of nights though, so tonight's plan is to sleep!

Tomorrow's mission is to get as many free smoothies from the smoothie bar in the conference area as I can. Carrot, cucumber, grass and strawberry smoothies taste a helluva lot better than they sound... Maybe this could be a great addition to UPSU? I dunno, and it's not up to me to decide (but it *is* something you students can make happen, of course - get in touch), but I do like the idea of more healthy, good value food for students in Pompey.