RACL Student Nominated For Prestigious "Webbie" Award
The Webbie Award Ceremony is held annually in St.
Louis and recognizes student excellence in several different
categories.
RACL
student David Bolton
was nominated in the Print Review/Column section and produced
the following article for The Journal, Webster's news
resource.
Win or lose, Webbies proves jolly good time for British
nominee
" And the winner is "...
I sit there with my heart pounding, clammy hands, a prayer to a
previously ignored deity. Speech prepared, dressed in a nice shirt,
tie and sporting a newly purchased waistcoat, I look like a man who
should win an award for elegance at the very least. I know that
being nominated is supposedly enough, but when you have endured 24
hours of air travel with an extended and unplanned visit to Atlanta
to be here, you want to win.
The envelope opens ...
I have always found awards ceremonies to be very curious events.
Having not attended too many in my life and mainly on a very low
scale (Manhattan Lights Football Club, awarded 1999 Clubman of the
Year), my impression of them is formed from what I see on
television or read in the newspapers. They seem to be glamorous
affairs - the glare of the spotlight and the red carpet. The great,
good and talented coming together for a night of back-slapping and
bonhomie.
They exist as a celebration of not only success and of honoring
the worthy, but also as a reminder that not everyone can be a
winner. If you look at the Oscars, for five nominees for best
actor/actress/director/film, there will be four who do not win.
They will sit there, the eyes of the world upon them as they
politely applaud their own failure. I will always remember a scene
from the American show "Friends" when Joey was nominated for an
award, didn't win and was filmed swearing and ranting at his
companion. I happen to think that is a far more realistic reaction
than nodding sagely as your name is not read out and mentally
relocating to the bar.
So, upon discovering that I had been nominated for a Webbie for
print review/column by the School of Communications at the Webster
Groves campus, I was unsure how to react. It was fortunate that I
had already been invited out by SOC Dean Debra Carpenter to take
part as the London representative. This meant I would have the
opportunity to see another campus, but being nominated for an award
meant that I would have to keep my competitive nature - well known
to my colleagues back in London - firmly in check. So it came as a
great relief to me that my mind was taken off the forthcoming
ceremony by a litany of travel problems that absorbed me until the
time I arrived in St. Louis. I was just pleased to be there and not
stranded any longer in Atlanta, waiting for a standby flight, as
nice as the Econo Lodge was.
Once in St. Louis, the welcome afforded me could not have been
warmer. My lodgings were comfortable, my fellow international
student (Alexandra Ruths from the Vienna campus) was fun to hang
out with, and I got to see the famous Jefferson National Expansion
Memorial. Faculty members took time out to show us the campus,
discuss subjects as diverse as Fox News and Star Wars to the race
for the White House. We were well fed and watered and generally
made to feel like VIPs. Even when we arrived at the ceremony, we
were interviewed on the red carpet by GTV; we posed for
photographs; and we were ushered to front row seats. And that's
when I realized the reality of the situation. I was nominated for
an award. I was representing not only the London campus but also
England itself. And yes, I still wanted to win.
The awards ceremony was impressive in many ways. Apart from the
red carpet treatment, the place was decked out in photos of the
nominees, and there was a big screen that would be used to show
snippets of the nominated films and projects. It was hosted by the
self-titled "comedic duo" Larry Baden and Bernie Hayes, professors
who worked as hard as they could to ensure that the ceremony
proceeded on schedule. Larry seemed more concerned with the result
of a basketball game, but as a running joke it worked well (if you
like basketball), and there was a skit with a muffin that drew
appreciative laughs.
There were the Larry Girls, female (mainly blonde) students who
made me think of "Wheel of Fortune" for some reason. There were 63
awards handed out and a short student film split into easily
digestible chunks, which was inoffensive and definitely
non-xenophobic and certainly distracting enough for me to calm my
nerves. The crowd seemed enthusiastic, and although we had no video
acceptance speeches, there was a good turnout of winners.
As we know, these ceremonies are to highlight and reward talent.
There is no shortage of this in St. Louis, and the work that was
presented was of a very high quality, which is a testament to the
faculty and the facilities that it provides. In my brief time
there, I was shown the Media Center, which as you know has
everything the aspiring Spielberg, Scorcese, Woodward/Bernstein or
Kensuke Kajita could want. In short, talent is nothing without
support and the SOC does that. Hopefully, the skills learned here
at WU will be honed to perfection when the time comes to start
bringing home a paycheck.
This brings us back to my situation: sitting in the front row
and waiting for my moment in the spotlight - waiting for the damn
envelope to open and knowing that I am going to have to be gracious
whatever the result. A sudden realization that maybe the nomination
is enough when the competition is fierce and that even being
invited out here to be part of the awards is, in itself, a reward
for the hard work put in during the course of the year.
"And the winner is ... Alexandra Ruths."
Bugger. Nod sagely, smile and shake her hand.
Thanks for having me. Now where is Weber's Pub and Grill again?
Article by David Bolton
Page last updated 4/22/2008