War on the Floor - Arriving in Vegas

Ah, where to begin?  The last few weeks have been a total blur of pure stress, release and awesomeness.   Three weeks ago I had to prepare for the most incredible experience of my life.  A whole week of scrambling to put together a website, get business cards, write papers and work a week ahead in class.  Let me tell you, it wasn’t as fun as you might think.  When Thursday came around I was ready to be done with all of it.  The weird thing is, even though it was so stressful, a lot of fun was had through the stress, thanks to my friends.

Friday, April 8^th rolled around a lot quicker than I would have imagined.  That is the day before the Dream Team and myself were set to go to Vegas to compete in the War on the Floor at the NAB Show.  That was probably the craziest pre-trip day of any, even though I didn’t any classes.  The Dream Team got together to shoot some Pre-roll interviews to use in our first video, I had meetings AND pack!  I helped my friend/teammate Lauren pack first and didn’t leave her place until 1 AM Saturday morning.  Packing for myself didn’t happen until 2 AM.  I slept for probably a half hour before getting up at 4:30 to leave for the airport.  Oh man that was an early morning.

This is Lauren and myself at the Des Moines International Airport at the wonderful hour of 6 AM

We've just arrive in Vegas!  Left to Right: Me, Professor Evans, and Dream Team Member Rebecca

After 2 flights we arrived finally arrived in Las Vegas at the spritely hour of 10 AM.  Our first step was to drop our luggage off at our hotel, which was the Monte Carlo (can you say jackpot?), and then hit the strip.  It would be the only time we would be able to see it in the daylight.  We walked all the way to the other end of the strip where we ate Chipotle and took a well-deserved rest.  I don’t know if I have ever felt so tired in my life.  It was a struggle getting back to our hotel, and by 2 PM we were all passed out.  I slept on the floor for some odd reason, but that’s beside the point.

Lauren, Eamonn and myself in front of Paris.

At 5 we met our professor at the Las Vegas convention center to go to a pre-production meeting.  Or at least that’s what we thought it was.  Our whole team was a little disheveled.  We didn’t take too much time getting ready.  If fact, Eamonn changed from a button up shirt to a t-shirt.  It turned out that we were actually taping the open at that time and not just attending a production meeting.  Grrrrreat!  Now I’m not a priss but I would have loved an extra minute or two in front of a mirror.  It was topped off by the fact that the other team showed up in perfect professional attire.  Ha!  The juxtaposition between the images of the two teams was quite funny.  On one hand, you have a team from the East Coast dressed up real proper, and on the other hand you have a disheveled looking team from the Midwest wearing flannel and t-shirts.  Oh man did we laugh.

Look at those serious faces.  We are ready to go.

Just before the shoot I was nominated as the team spokesperson.  It kind of surprised me that we hadn’t discussed it before, but I wasn’t mad about it.  I have on-air experience and am a general camera hog so I jumped on the opportunity.

After the shoot we went back to hotel to eat, concept for the next day, and edit some stuff together.  We had plans to go out but decided against it.  Exhaustion and jitters for the days to come won out and we spent our first night in Vegas in a hotel room, asleep by midnight.  In hindsight it was the right decision.  We had no idea was in store for us in the days to come.

Since this post is already ridiculously long, I will stop here and post the other days in succession.  I apparently have a lot to say, but trust me, it’s a good story.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

"War on the Floor"

Again, I have really been failing at keep up this blog.  My life has been nothing but ridiculously busy this semester.  There are blog posts to come about that... but that is not what this post is about.  No, this post is about an awesome opportunity that has fallen into my lap.

Within the 2011 Radio - TV production major at my school there are four of us that have become great friends.  We've more or less formed a little production house at school.  We go by many names: the Go-To's, The Fab Four, and most recently The Dream Team.

About three weeks ago The Dream Team was presented with a challenge.  While at our post DrakeLINE production drink at Jethro's I received an e-mail on my phone from our professor encouraging us enter a contest to participate in this thing called "War on the Floor".  "War on the Floor" is a scavenger hunt of sorts that takes place during the NAB (National Broadcasters Association) Show that is held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada.  It is heaven for anyone interested in broadcast, television, film, audio, etc.  To enter to be one of the two teams chosen to compete in this amazing scavenger hunt, teams must fill out an application and submit a 1 minute video entailing why they should be picked.  On the night of the deadline we submitted out video with minutes to spare.

Here's our video submission:


War on the Floor - Audition from Rachel Yancey on Vimeo.


Nine days later, received an e-mail saying that we were chosen to compete!  The NAB and BEA are providing us with hotel accommodation in VEGAS for 5 days, as well as production equipment to document our findings, and a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Words cannot express how excited, lucky and blessed I feel to have this opportunity.  It will for sure be the highlight of my college career.  More updates to come.

We know Drake is proud of us.  Heck they even wrote an article.  Check it out!

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Beyond The Blue Line

I really did have intentions to keep up a regular blog on here but my school work took me by surprise.  I will make no promises to regular posting yet, but for now I have a goody to share with you all.

This past semester I have been a part of a student production for my Sports Production class at school.  Between the filming, editing and promotion of the show I caught few hours of sleep, but it was all worth it.  Now I have a finished product that am happy to share with everyone.

The show is called "Beyond The Blue Line" and it follows the lives of three USHL hockey players.  I like to think of it as a True Life meets the Mighty Ducks.  I was a line producer and am really proud of this production.  So I encourage you to watch the show and let me know what you think.  Don't forget to look for my name in the credits.


Beyond The Blue Line from Todd Evans on Vimeo.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

My Last First Day of School

Time really does fly.  I can't believe that I'm a senior in college already.  What am I going to do with my life?  First thing is first, I need to find myself an internship.  Actually before that, I need to get myself acquainted with my classwork.

Monday was my last first day of classes.  I'm about 90% positive that I won't try for any sort of masters or doctorate, I just want to get out there and work in a field that I love.  I start off every day with a 9:30 class in Advertising with the same professor.  Monday is account management.  I mostly excited for the fact that we are going to take a whole bunch of field trips to agencies and I will hopefully make some big time connections for later.

After a wonderful meal from our cook, Rob, I went to my next class which is sure to be one of my favorites, Broadcast Sports Production.  As a person who loves sports, shooting and editing, I can tell you that this class is culmination of all my loves.  Today we pitch an idea of a long form sports production.  I know what I will pitch but we will see how it stacks up against the other ideas.

Tuesday starts out with a Advertising research.  The teacher had us go around, introduce ourselves and say whether or not we would take a research class if it wasn't required.  I'm pretty sure I was the only person who was honest and said "No, I wouldn't take a research class if I had the choice."  It made me feel like a jackass but it's the truth.  Who really enjoys doing research anyway?

From ad research I went to marketing: consumer behaviors.  It seems like a decent enough class.  For those introductions, everyone stated who they were and a brand they were loyal too.  Me, I'm loyal to Target and Old Dutch Pickle Chips.  If you haven't tried them, you must!  They are simply delicious.  No one makes pickles chips like Old Dutch.

I ended the day with  my short stories class.  That I think I am going to love.  I will post some of my stories here if I deem them worthy.  I found some other fellow Jane Austen lovers and I'm thinking about starting a club devoted to her works.  NERD ALERT!  We will see how it goes.

So far I am really enjoying this years class schedule.  I hope drama doesn't interfere.  It always seems to rear its ugly head at the most inopportune moments.  Anyway, that's my update for now.  I'll update again soon.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

PS - If you would like to see some of my movie reviews check out my other blog: Rachel's Reviews

Almost Back to School

It's so hard to believe that my summer is almost over and I have successfully accomplished next to nothing this summer.  A whole two months of near pure relaxation with some chores thrown in there.  But on Friday I will be moving into a new house around campus.

This so called "house" is still under renovation that was supposed to be done on August 1st.  We still don't have the furniture that we ordered.  It's getting a little ridiculous.  The furniture was supposed to arrive on Monday, then that was pushed back, then again on Tuesday, and Wednesday, but today Wednesday has come and gone and still no furniture.  This will be an interesting weekend if I have to assemble beds, dressers and wash all new dishes.  Yikes!

I've been helping around this new house where I can.  Two weeks ago I painted, last week I gardened and today I helped with some closets.  So now when I leave, part of me will always be in that house.  I have also been busy around my house.  Before I leave I have been instructed to basically pack up my whole room.  Yesterday, I went through all my clothes and picked out the pieces that I can finally part with and tomorrow's task is to go through all my papers and crap.  That will probably be more painful than getting rid of some of my clothes because it involves reading.

It's weird to think that I will be a senior this year.  I've already had one future-freak-out session and I'm sure there are more of those to come.  School has gone by a lot faster than I thought it would.  I was so confident Junior year and now all that confidence seems to fade in and out of uncertainty.  I hope that through my last year of classes I can gain back that confidence that I once had.  I know I'm smart and talented but I hate it when I forget.  Perhaps I should start some daily affirmations to get my mind back on the right track.  Or maybe I just need to write some more.  Only time will tell.

I think that we can consider this the restart of my blog.  I'm rusty, I can tell.  It will get better and more interesting as things pick up.  I promise :-)

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Back in the States

I have bee back in the states now for a little over a month.  It was more of an adjustment coming home than it was leaving.  So now that I am back I think that I will keep this blog and turn it into more of a daily blog.  I will try my best to keep it up with interesting things that I have been doing.  Stay tuned.

Pip Pip Cheerio!

Finals, Goodbyes and Mom Arrives

Finals week went by surprisingly smoothly.  I finished one paper on Monday, a second on Tuesday, and the third on Wednesday after my Art Final.  Art was by far the most strenuous because I had to basically memorize the artist, title, method and year of over 100 works of art only to be tested over 20.  We had a very enjoyable study session for that test.

On Thursday morning my Mom arrived.  I was supposed to pick her up around 6AM to help her navigate the tubes but her flight was delayed and I had to get to a few finals, so I wrote her an e-mail so she and her friend Lee could navigate the system themselves.  However, at the bottom of the instructions I clearly stated that it would be easier to take a taxi, but they didn't read that part.  The two boarded the tube in rush hour traffic with big suitcases for an hour and twenty minute ride.  Now there are a few things everyone should know about the tube.  First is that tube etiquette is very similar to elevator etiquette, you don't talk to anyone and you don't take up much space.  Along with this knowledge everyone should know that the tube gets very congested and hot in weather over 60 degrees.  So my mom and her friend stood out like a sore thumb with there big luggage and semi-constant chatter.  She loves to tell the story, so if you see her, you should ask her to tell it.

While this is happening I was taking my Contemporary Britain final and my BES exit survey.  Neither were too strenuous, but they did leave me with a hand cramp.  As it was a Thursday, a whole group of us went for our last burrito at Tortilla.  Absolutely delicious!  It was a great sort of ending for our group.

I checked in on my Mom to make sure she made it and then went for my exit interview.  That was really our time to gripe and praise the program.  My group was the last and consequently, the longest.  I'm sure our Program and assistant director loved us after that.  I then met my Mom and Lee for a quick drink in their hotel.  I then showed them where I lived and pointed them in the direction of Buckingham palace because I had to leave for our exit party at Vandon.  There were contests for journals and pictures.  To my surprise this blog got me the award for best journal.  Woot!

While all this was going on my Mom managed to see Prince William through a car window exiting Buckingham Palace.  I had been there four months and never seen a member of the royal family, she is there 10 hours and sees a prince.  Where is the fairness?

I met my Mom and Lee for a pub dinner at the Albert.  That's where Mum fell in love with Fish 'N Chips.  I can't blame her though, that stuff is delicious.  We had a big day planned for Friday so we made it an early night and I had to pack still.  That was a chore and a half.

Stay tuned for the rest of Mom's London Visit.

Pip Pip Cheerio!