When we were informed of the Bright Network Society of the Year awards, as a team we knew that from our achievements so far we should nominate ourselves and aim to succeed in these awards too.
We believed that we would do so much more and improve our social community immensely by winning this award. We created video nominations for the following categories: Community Outreach and Impact on Campus. The process of making the video nominations was simple to an extent, despite the two-minute time limit. Initially, we reflected on the events, workshops and sessions we had held so far in the term, and also considered the plans we have for the second term. From these thoughts, we developed a script centred around success: the success we have already achieved in the community and on campus, and the success we will continue to gain as the year goes on. A team effort, we all collaborated in the creation of the video, each of us starring in the video stating talking points about our social impact in our community on campus.
Learning that we were shortlisted for the Community Outreach Award was in itself a great deal for us, though we knew that we had to keep pushing and striving. The voting process for the Bright Network SOYA was an equally exciting and stressful time. As a team we devised a strategy to get the word out and gain votes. Social media is an extremely useful tool in this day and age, and we made sure to use this to our full advantage. We posted our nomination and information on our committee and personal social media accounts and had great reception. Many of our society members reposted and shared our nomination. We wanted to ensure we got the word out even further, therefore we went to the library and handed out flyers with details of what we were nominated for and a QR code that took them straight to the page. Many people who weren't even aware of Bright Network made an account to vote but also said they would utilise the services further after we informed them of the massive benefits that being a member of the Bright Network gives you. We ended
the day feeling accomplished and agreed that even if we didn't win the teamwork we displayed during the voting process was success enough.
When we found out we had won the Community Outreach award we were elated! We had been noticed for the work we had been doing in the community and it made not only us, but our members proud as well. When preparing for the awards lunch and the pitch for the main Society of the Year award, we devised a presentation, once more capturing what we believe makes the Kent African and Caribbean Society such a powerful and impactful aspect of the social community on campus. Attending the lunch itself was awe-inspiring and seeing the achievements and goals of so many other societies and presidents motivated us to keep up momentum in the spring term. It was particularly great to meet our sponsors, Police Now, who presented us with our award and dined with us during the lunch. We are already in talks to work with them again.
Overall, the Bright Network Society of the Year Awards experience was a challenging yet fulfilling time for our society. Being the only Kent society nominated for these awards this year, we knew that we had to achieve this goal not only for our society, but for our university as a whole. Looking to the future, we look forward to providing our members with even more opportunities, events and workshops to help them flourish and strive for greatness.