What I Did On My Holidays, by Kate Griffin, aged 30

The ADM for the National Union of Journalists happened over a week ago, but this is the first time since then that I’ve been able to sit at my home computer and collect my thoughts about it. Even now, this is going to be a rushed "what I did on my holidays" post, because I have to go off and do other things. In summary, I’m very glad I went, and very grateful to Anna (secretary of the Oxford & District branch) for giving me the push I needed to go along.

Good surprises

• How democratic the union is in the way it’s run. I hadn’t realised that ADM is the sovereign body of the union. The NEC (executive council) is just there to carry out decisions made by ADM.
• How exciting the debates were, and how passionate people get. There were some very dramatic moments.
• Getting a big cheer for being a first-time delegate when I stood up to speak. "I'm a first-time delegate..." seems to be the ADM equivalent of beginning a wedding speech with "My wife and I..."
• The plentiful, tasty food
• The friendliness of other delegates
• How lovely Southport is, even out of season.

Bad surprises

• The general atttitude to technology. James Doherty’s remark about “blogging, facebook and – dare I say it? - twatting” set the scene for a conference where use of the internet cost £5 and most of the bloggers and tweeters were student delegates.
• The complicated and counterintuitive procedures. I was only just getting the hang of it by the last day. For example, if you think a motion to give £50 to the Fund for the Eradication of Ink Stains is a good idea but doesn't go far enough, and want to propose giving £100 instead, you have to submit an amendment. This means standing in the same place you would stand to oppose the motion, even though what you're effectively saying is "Yes, but more so!" At one point, two people who were obviously NUJ stalwarts spoke passionately for and against an amendment, neither of them realising that they were speaking on a completely different amendment from the one currently being debated. So I don't think I was the only person confused.
• The complete lack of helpful information about buses to and from Southport. At one point I was directed to the "Monument" bus stop, so I headed to the stop labelled Monument, which was next to the war monument. It turned out that I needed the other Monument stop on the other side of the road, which doesn't have a name on it at all. It's only thanks to the kindness of strangers that I didn't end up in Liverpool.
• Scaremongering from one delegate, who warned that just debating the BNP would result in delegates becoming targets for attack.

Overall, I feel as if I've had a closer look at how the union works, and that makes me feel even happier to be a part of it. I'm now feeling energised and enthusiastic about doing NUJ things at branch level.