2012-13 meeting 10 reports

Queen Margaret Union Board of Management

Queen Margaret UnionReports to the Board of Management

Meeting 10: 25/02/2013

General Manager SubmittedPresident SubmittedHonorary Secretary SubmittedHonorary Assistant Secretary SubmittedCampaigns & Charities SubmittedCurrent Student Representatives SubmittedEvents SubmittedPublications SubmittedSocial Submitted

1. General Manager’s Report to the Executive Committee1.1 ComplaintI have received a complaint from C7 Church regarding the lack of respect shown to them last week and in particular the disruption to their service due to the need to source a cable for the quiz in Jims Bar. C7 are essentially the same as any other customer and should be treated with courtesy and respect at all times. They have a contractual agreement with Queen Margaret Union for the exclusive use of Qudos until 10.30pm on a Sunday although their service should finish at 7.30pm and we can start events in Jims bar from that time.

1.2 Block GrantFollowing the removal of the suspension to our funding we have now received our full funding for 2012-13. £157,500 has been paid into our bank account from the University.

1.3 Visit from Dorothy WelchI had invited Dorothy Welch to visit the Union and join me for coffee. I was pleased when she accepted this invitation and spent over an hour with myself and the President last Monday. It was good to get her input on the way forward and we have agreed to meet informally with some members of the sub-committee on Student Finance prior to submitting our budget submissions for 2013-14. We have also agreed to meet at least on a quarterly basis.

It was also very interesting to note how much we keep the University at arms length. We should make much more of an effort to work with the University in going forward and we can certainly learn a thing or two about communication with key university personnel from our friends at the other union. It has become clear from discussions with other unions within Northern Services how much dialogue they have with their parent institution and the importance of building and working on that relationship.

1.4 Glasgow School of ArtI met with the General Manager from the GSA last week in my capacity as Treasurer of Northern Services. It was interesting to see their current premises and to hear about his plans to return to their own venue later this year. One area they are planning to continue to develop is their live music and as a former manager at King Tuts he has plans to work closely with DF Concerts in providing them with a new city centre venue. This will no doubt put us further down the venue options as they will have a new purpose built 800 capacity venue

1.5 Mardi GrasAs many of you will know this was a very disappointing night with a low attendance (only 155 paying customers) and the event made a loss on ticket sales. It is now worth considering if this is a date that we should continue to invest in on an annual basis or simply let it drop as there is clearly a lack of demand.

1.6 Whisky Club

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The tasting events are continuing to be very popular and with the last three events being sell-outs I have agreed with the club to increase the tickets for their next event on Sat 2nd March to 75. Tickets continue to sell very well and it will be interesting to see if a sell-out can be achieved on this increased level.

1.7 Night SafeThere have been a couple of concerns raised recently regarding the practise of using the Night Safe and I will be producing a new operating procedure within the next week. This will directly affect Duty Board and therefore a copy will be sent to the Executive Committee for consultation before the procedure is finalised. Key concerns are around escorts to the night safe and checking the number of bags deposited before signing to confirm the number and colours.

1.8 Fire TrainingAll members of Reception staff including temporary cover have completed Fire Evacuation training. Other staff will be attending sessions this week. I attended an Area Fire Officers session at Pearce Lodge on Friday and a number of interesting points were raised which will require further investigation and action on our part.

1.9 InternetI am currently working to get this system up and running as well as access to our main server. I was successful in getting an engineer out on Friday evening who spent over two hours trying to solve the issues. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful in getting the system up and running but he did eliminate a range of possibilities. It seems now the issue is the re-allocation of addresses of the various computers. I have been assured there will be another engineer/consultant out on Monday morning who should hopefully have a little more luck in getting us up and running.

2. President's Report2.1 Dorothy Welch visitDeputy Secretary of Court Dorothy Welch came for a visit and tour of the Union last Monday. This seemed very productive, and it was nice to talk to one of the SMG outwith the normal surroundings of University meeting rooms. This will help going forward towards our next budget submission, and it was established that more regular meetings were constructive and informative for both sides of the table.

2.2 ElectionE. Murphy is in charge of this one. I'm pleasantly surprised by the lack of machinations present within the Union, and the atmosphere going into this week is nice. I wish all involved good luck. The four empty CSR seats is heavily disappointing, particularly considering the contested category which could have filled the other one. I think it might be time to look at the 'category' system in the official documents so we can avoid this happening.

2.3 ReferendumThis was a success. All in all, the QM's turnout was almost twice that of the other polling venue, suggesting that our regulars are good citizens. Despite shaky setup first thing, and moody internet, the polling process soon took root and went quite quickly.I am interested to see if this many people through the door resulted in a good day for business, but the referendum was definitely a success for the QM's image and place on campus.

2.4 March 1st

This will be covered in other parts of my report. I have handled this badly. Following a super-productive meeting last week in which I drew on the most knowledgable aspects of Board, staff and expertise, a plan was hatched in order to progress Cheesy Pop. It represented a willingness to act and change people's perceptions and interactions with the Queen Margaret Union as an organisation and community, and a refreshing drive to bring visible and meaningful change and progress to one of the more defining aspects of our week.I didn't tell anyone afterwards, and for that I am sorry.The time here is a key factor, as it represents both the urgency with which I think we should act, and be seen to act, and a need to combat a habitual pattern of talking, and talking, and talking, and not acting. I completely neglected the talking part.

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I hope by now you have all seen my summary in the Board group online, but I would like to emphasise a few things:

1) The responsibility for everything here lies at the feet of myself and the Executive. People seem to determined to blame some persons involved in this, wrongly so.2) Though some aspects have tarnished this development, I remain to be convinced in any form that this is not the best plan of action. The development of change for our Friday night event is a hugely positive step, and one that I hope can be emulated in many of our workings, though obviously with some refinement.3) This is an ongoing process. We are seeing what works and what doesn't, and moving in. We won't know if we don't trying, but by god we'll try.4) None of these ideas are new. I don't mean that in a negative sense at all. I mean that everything on the table has come from Boards, Committees and members who have contributed time and effort to the Union, and are tempered by the knowledge of our limits, and the expertise given by specialists in this area.

I will leave it there just now. If this discussion descends into the mud without even the pretence of constructive progress, it will be a waste of everyone's time, and a destructive one. I am under no illusion that aspects of this have been handled badly my myself, and apologise profoundly for this. However, please separate the progress that this project represents from your opinions on the its handling by those involved – me.

2.5 InternetYou may have noticed that our internet and email systems are entirely down, which is more than a little frustrating. I can still be contacted at [email protected], and I believe several proxy addresses are being setup in the meantime. It's time to take a serious look at our internet facilities, as this is just the latest in a long list of technological hiccups.

2.6 Development focusThe March 1st facet is only one in a list of projects that we hope to roll out in the next few months that will bring real and tangible change and progress to the Union, hopefully bringing us more in line with the tastes and needs of the students of Glasgow, as soon as is humanly possible. I will briefly outline these areas.

2.6.1 LacunaThis is an area that we are hoping to make feel less like a Food Factory annex, and more like its own space. We are looking into specific ways to do this, but one can safely assume that it will be physically separated and kitted out to be a hirable venue. I am excited by this, and would like to see action ASAP.

2.6.2 BoardYou will see from this report and perhaps a few more that there are several aspects of Board handling and process that could do with tightening up/complete change. I am hoping to spend a significant portion of third term with E. Murphy, and the incoming Executive Committee, both conducting and enacting a complete review of responsibilities, duties, communications and so on.

2.6.3 Volunteer trainingThis has, in my honest opinion, been a considerable failing of my time on Board. From the last couple if meetings have emerged several conversations (but very little action) purporting to the program and range of skills offered to our volunteers. This should be a focus of all convenors, and myself, in the weeks to come.

2.6.4 Committee roomsLast week's Finance Committee meeting kicked off the development of our committee rooms with a large bang. We will be obtaining some fantastic projectors with which we may permanently install projectors in the main venue and committee rooms, providing an instant benefit to our affiliated clubs, societies and members, another facet to the attractiveness of our external hire business, and solve the Mystery of the Missing Projectors with which duty boards

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mailto:[email protected]


will, be now, be frustratingly familiar. In the next few weeks, I will be attempting to source whiteboards and design some genius system whereby all of our whiteboard pens won't be stolen.

2.6.5 Main venue improvementsAlso in last week's Finance Committee, Authority to Spend was approved for an upgrade/update of the Qudos lights, many of which are broken/ailing. The new lights will require less maintenance, use less power, and the purchase also included lighting for the coffee area/reception that is hoped will much improve the atmosphere in these areas during events.

2.7 Tech Team rewardsFollowing conversations with B. Johnston wherein concern was expressed at the relatively little [read: no] rewards given in exchange for the enormous amount of time and effort given by tech. volunteers, I have established that 1-3 hour duties be rewarded with a small meal and drink voucher, and longer duties be given a main meal and drink voucher. I would suggest that this process be more formalised in the future, but am happy that this is happening in any shape or form currently.

2.8 ApologiesI have, for several reasons – uncontrollable, or moreso – been rubbish at communicating for the last week. While it was not my decision to fall ill or spontaneously destroy the internet and communications of the Queen Margaret Union, I do realise that the timing of these incidents could not, in any way, be worse.

2.9 ThanksAs a direct result of this, I have a lot of thanks to give out. S. McFarland has been brilliant, as have the Executive (exc. me). E. Jewson and B. Johnston have made me do things that would have otherwise potentially fallen by the wayside, and deserve everyone's admiration for doing so.

2.10 GoodbyeThank you and goodbye to everybody going off Board. It hasn't been the easiest time, but you've all given the Union a portion of your time and effort that – I genuinely believe – has made it a better place. I hope you have valued your time here and you have my undying gratitude for your part in the QMU's story.

3. Honorary Secretary

3.1 Clubs and Societies

3.1.2 Club and Society GuestlistsThe Glasgow University Swimming and Water Polo Club were granted a guest list for Friday 15th Cheesy Pop as they aimed to bring in the 100 people from their subcrawl. Not all 100 from the list did attend but other swimmers that were not on the list did, and paid. I think this was worth it as it bumped up the numbers significantly. C.Cuthbertson has made a poster advertising the 10 standard guestlist spaces for Cheesy Pop that will be placed in committee rooms and the food factory when I have them printed.

3.1.3 Club and Society MailerI will be sending one out this week – If anyone has anything they would like to be targeted at them then please let me know.

3.2 Life Membership

3.2.1 Life Membership DinnerThank you very much to T.Kelly for the design for the ticket. I am waiting on a quote from the printing company that T.Kelly recommends and these will be sent off before the end of the

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week so they can go on sale as soon as possible. The dinner continues to get good reception from the people I have spoken to since the alumni newsletter went out.

3.2.2 Life Membership MailerI will be sending one out this week – If anyone has anything they would like to be targeted at them then please let me know. It will include the election, Revolution and LM Dinner.

4. Honorary Assistant Secretary4.1 Constitution, Bye-Laws and PolicyIn the last fortnight, I arranged by Doodle poll two sessions for interested parties to meet and discuss any issues in the documents.

I was around on both occasions, and saw no interest. In the interim between the meetings, I drafted some changes which have been circulated along with the papers. Firstly, I resubmit the health and safety section as I believe it is the better wording of the current section. Secondly, I have looked at the CSR committee attendance, and following some excellent and constructive online discussion, I believe that the CSR committee along with board meeting attendance should be compulsory and failure to meet specific meetings over a term would result in severe and immediate disciplinary procedure, namely immediate dismissal from the board of management.

Finally, the other section I have found time to look at in the last fortnight is the role of the CCSR. I read it over and decided that there was duplication of tasks between the CCSR and Honorary Assistant Secretary, and the CCSR role was wordier than it needed to be. As such, I have tried to streamline it and I hope this makes it easier to use.

4.2 Board SurveyHere follows my attempt to summarise the responses, and discuss some points. I have attempted to paraphrase and not attribute any comments to individuals, and equally not address any individuals or groups other than "the board" and "the membership" throughout my summary.

On occasion I have perhaps injected some of my own feelings into this, and my meaning may be lost, fuzzy or misinterpreted. I will gladly try to clarify any points, and attempt to remain objective.

Having seen this survey and the comprehensive answers I have received, I believe that the board may benefit from some form of anonymous feedback system, although I would rather it not be needed.

Why did you run for the Board of Management?Many responses focussed on becoming more involved, improving current services and events as well as the Union as a whole, and trying to offer either a fresh insight or different perspective on items of discussion.

One person was keen to run to make sure that the Union would still be around to offer to future students what it had offered to them.

Another person commented that being on a committee didn't allow them to make enough of a difference.

What were you expectations when you joined the Board of Management? Were these expectations met?

This question provoked some interesting and alarming responses. Some elements of board involvement may have been misrepresented or miscommunicated at certain stages - the phrase "day to day running" appeared, and did not happen, but specific event planning did for this person. People were aware of being kept busy whilst on board, but to what extent you are kept busy, the responsibility involved and difficulties faced are something that you have to go through to fully understand.

One response mentioned an expectation of in-jokes, and their being on board was going to be viewed negatively by other students.

Many people were expecting to make a difference, have support in the development of their ideas and receive feedback on them. In some circumstances this occurred, and in others it

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did not.

What are the current problems of the Union?How can these be overcome?

Here I started to hear some things that had been raised more, but with more vigour, but more worryingly I was only hearing of some issues for the first time. Either communication channels do not exist or are not working, and this for me is probably the most alarming issue. A response which highlighted this question as the problem, as issues should be raised in the board meeting or committees and not in anonymous surveys, struck me as an interesting observation.

A common response was our events are a problem; in a broad sense, quality and attendance were mentioned, with Cheesy raised explicitly on a quarter of responses. One person highlighted that we cannot make people need us, without them wanting what we offer first. Currently members do want the Union, but as a social space without the requirement to spend money. The concept of a union was highlighted as too vague, whereas specifics such as a shop, or a bar were seen as better to focus on.

Member involvement was highlighted in a number of ways. Firstly it was felt that members do not realise fully that the board is there for them. Secondly, the lack of first year involvement was raised, and the lack of encouragement or distribution of it for members to come to committees was discussed. Leading in to the next section, one person responded that the board does not do enough to interact with members, by doing such simple things as talking to them on duty.

The final section that I want to discuss here is the board itself. Following from the last section, a few people wanted to see more feedback, recognition and team work from the board. This was raised also as an issue of discipline - it was felt that motivation fell when you are trying hard but you see other people doing nothing and no repercussions coming for it.

Some people raised issues and ideas about the building; one person stating that the building's appearance was bad, and it could use some paint and new chairs "if anyone wanted to put the time aside" but then when asked how these problems could be overcome, the response was "I don't know". This answer, along with a feeling of lack of empowerment amongst some board members, is something that has been raised in previous board surveys. A response featured the line "We have a lot of ideas, of which very few are taken to fruition." I am not sure whether this is down to people not knowing how to enact ideas, needing and or wanting support to progress ideas, or feeling it is not down to them or not within their capacity on board to make these changes.

It is this section that has caused me the most stress, worry and concern over the last two weeks, and something I have ideas to address following the election. I started this section saying that I was worried by how little I had heard of these issues, and I'll repeat myself here - despite what I felt was regularly asking for input or feedback, I very rarely saw board members raise issues to me. I am not sure where the problems come from, or if a reactive or proactive approach is best although I am now considering the latter may be needed from top down. That being said, I would like to see an atmosphere where everyone asks questions of each other.

What were your personal highs and lows whilst on board?Due to the inherent personal nature of this question, anonymity was difficult, but I appreciate the honesty of the answers from people. I shall not be going into full specifics about any answers.

An overarching theme for a positive was not surprisingly seeing the reward of the hard work put into events which ran well. In general seeing good numbers at an excellent event made everything worth while, which was also one of my highs whilst on board.

People also enjoyed meeting new people, making new friends and gaining confidence, skills and graduate attributes from tasks such as duty.

Lows were the opposite of the above. When events failed, when the board were not working cohesively, in it together or avoiding the Union, morale was low. The change of board at the autumn election needs to considered carefully, as a new board is not responsible for the actions of those who came before. This can be extended to the annual elections also.

Closing RemarksThe final two questions were "Where do you see the Union, and yourself in regards to the Union, in one year's time?" and "How important do you feel your contribution to the board

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was?" These questions are again of a personal nature, but were present to grasp the feeling of board members after they had considered the survey.

Many people seemed to see themselves still interested in the Union, but active in a much reduced capacity. Regarding the Union, people either saw it on the increase, with successful events and services, and increased involvement from members, or not improving or stagnating. A few people had ideas to get more involved, with aspirations of convenorships or executive roles.

Contributions felt successful on occasion, but only in very limited numbers. Many people left board feeling they had contributed very little, and that they had been blocked in their progress, despite answering with some strong positive experiences earlier in the survey. That being said, a lot of responses were a balance of the two opinions, and people would still recommend the experience to other students and would take away proud moments from their time on board.

4.3 InternetI have a meeting with the IT managers. It is on Monday 25th in the afternoon, so I can give a verbal report of how the meeting went in the board meeting.

4.4 Auf WiedersehenTo those who will be leaving the board on Thursday, thank you for all your work over your terms. Good luck with all your future endeavours, and I hope you remember your time on the board fondly.

I would like to thank everyone who distributed election PR, and went to great effort to talk to members and convince them to run in the election. Thank you to S. McFadden for his work on the presidential debate on this coming Wednesday - I hope everything goes well.

5. Campaigns & CharitiesPast 2 weeks

CondomsThe service has been running well, we have got better at ensuring that people make their shifts. We need to improve on updating rotas.

FundraisingHas been going well over the last few weeks with a regular stream of money coming in.JailbreakI will give a verbal report

Coming WeeksRAG WeekI have let a few of these events slip due to Jailbreak organisation but hopefully it will not be a disasterHandoverI will begin on the job training when my replacement is elected & write a guide before the AGMFundraising theme for 10 Hour Will be discussed so we are on the ball this year

6. Current Student Representatives

6.1 SederuntsMeeting 14/2/13 Present: A. Compton, C. Cuthbertson, K. SimmonsApologies: S. Strausz, B. Johnston, J. Reid, E. JewsonN/A: S. McFadden, C. MacInnes, R. MaleMeeting 21/2/13

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Present: A. Compton, C. Cuthbertson, E. Jewson, J. Reid, B. Johnston, S. McFadden, C. MacInnes.Tech Team: K. SimmonsApologies: -N/A: R. Male, S. Strausz,

6.2 Past FortnightCompile a handover document: Ongoing – essentially finished.Report on the final progress of projects: Done.Return of QotW: Sort of completed by C. Fraser.

6.3 CSR ProjectsCSR Projects have produced positive, if not slightly mixed, results. I'd recommend wholeheartedly to my successor that these be continued. All CSRs have been asked to be ready to provide verbal feedback on their projects, to avoid this section being ridiculously long winded. I have perhaps failed to properly thank each of the CSRs for all the hard work they've done over this term, and that's a failing on my part, so an extra special thanks go to E. Jewson for her phenomenal work ethic and determination in bringing back DJs in Jim's, as well as ensuring that it is fully booked up until the end of term. Her commitment to bringing back and supporting this event has been the 110% that all board members should strive to give to the Union. A further special thanks to K. Simmons for her launching of the QM Tumblr. Although I may not understand what a Tumblr is, I'm led to believe that Katy has been providing consistent, frequent updates to the site, whilst also hosting/reforming the MNMQ, as well as always looking for extra projects to take on alongside her role as Ents lefty. The fact that Katy has consistently apologised to me for “not doing enough” expresses both her incredible dedication to this Board of Management and her relentless work ethic. Her attitude is something which I hope inspires the people around this table the way it has inspired me. She is an asset that the board should consider itself very lucky to be holding on to post-election. A sincere vote of thanks to both of you.

6.4 CSR CommitteeI took the decision to continue the regular meeting time in the board room format. Despite having this regular time – which the committee agreed to – there was a significant drop in attendance in the committee. This was hugely disappointing with obvious patterns in who was missing the committee and how often. It is my hope that the proposed change to CBP to explicitly state the same punishments for missing multiple meetings than Board meetings will address this for my successor.

6.5 FarewellThis will be the last report I submit to the Board of Management as the Convenor of the Current Student Representatives. Indeed, this will be the last meeting of the Board of Management in my term on board. It is both with a heavy heart and sense of pride that I leave the board, and this is a time that I shall always look back on fondly. I apologise (in)sincerely to T. Kelly for the relentless bullying I've put him through this year. I thank R. Callaghan for being the voice of damn-near insufferable insanity, The CSR Committee for being the favourite and least favourite aspect to my job, C. Fraser for his remarkable tolerance for my berating, and finally to the Board of Management. Serving with you all has been an honour for the last 12 months, and whether it was the occasional chat in the bar, or something much more involved, each and every one of you have made this experience what it is.

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6.6 The Weeks AheadSpend more time sleepingHave time to do university workHave social life.

It's been a blast, y'all. This is Creampuff, over and out.7. EventsThe Last Two Weeks Mardi Gras, whilst a very exciting night in terms of décor and attractions, was unfortunately very quiet – approx. 200 in, but with around 95 left in the last few hours. Reasons that have been suggested to me are that many students do not quite understand the concept of Mardi Gras and it was a Tuesday, but it may just boil down to not enough PR. Take Me Out was a successful night, as all the contestants brought friends with them - there were around 70-80 people in the bar and 60-70 tickets sold I believe. One thing that was nice was that whilst it was very busy, I saw very few familiar faces. I think the event could have been busier if the problem with PR had been communicated to me a bit earlier (we ran out several days before because of the delay with an order). Cheesy Pop had good numbers, which may have been due to a sub crawl that stopped by, but I’m not sure – around 640 in 75 out I think .QM Live had around 55 people in. Aonghas (the QM Live rep on the committee) was happy with the numbers, as it is a big improvement on where we were. I think QM Live may have faced the same issue with PR running out, but am unsure. Cheesy Pop this Friday was 630 in, still around 400+ at 1:30am. I hope these high numbers continue over the next few weeks.

Looking ahead I am concerned that Committee numbers will see a serious dip following the election – most of our regulars are running for something. This Friday we will have ‘Snap, Crackle and Cheesy Pop’, an experimental night so we can try out new ideas to improve Cheesy for the future, including a VIP area, main stage Karaoke and two DJ’s. Some new lighting has also been ordered. Whilst I think many of the ideas are good ones and am glad we are making steps to improving Cheesy for the future, however I understand that many people are upset that the change was made without them being informed or consulted for ideas and input. I share the same concern as I was not told anything about the idea until Monday. I have made the Events Manager aware of my concerns that I was not told earlier and therefore could not gather ideas and input from the Events Committee before it was passed by Finance and the poster ordered. The Events Manager has made it clear that it was due to a time constraint and not a desire to keep me uninformed – it was also suggested that it may have been the Executive Committee’s responsibility to inform me earlier. An improvement in communication is needed, and I would advise for the future that the Events Manager attends Events Committee at least monthly. I also feel our constitution needs to be updated to accurately reflect the role the Events Committee plays. That said, I am looking forward to this Friday and to see how it goes – I think it is definitely time we experimented with new Cheesy ideas.

Tech TeamSo far we have had one form back, hopefully more will follow. Also the team will now get vouchers for duties and I an looking into ordering t-shirts before I go, huzzah!

What can you do?Maintain a positive and constructive attitude and outlook. Remember that everyone around this table or working in this building is fighting for its success – infighting and blaming won’t help, but constructive discussion and action will. And, as usual, PR and invite your friends on facebook. 8. PublicationsPublications Sederunts for 13/2/13 and 20/2/13.

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13/2/134 Board Members and 10 Ordinary Members. Board Members: B. Johnston, T. Kelly, E. Jewson and J. Reid.20/2/13 4 Board Members and 11 Ordinary Members. Board Members: B. Johnston, T. Kelly, E. Jewson and J. Reid.Publications Committee8.1Goals from the last meeting8.1.1 Distribute issue 101-Successful- whilst not entirely distributed, distribution has been going very well on this magazine and continues to do so, pick up shows a continuing interest in the magazine.8.1.2 Promote Jailbreak Event-Successful- R. Callaghan's article received a large number of likes and attention, which was good for us and I hope Charities and Campaigns aswell. I hope that we can do more cross committee work like this in the future.8.1.3 Complete Retrospective-This is finally nearly complete, I simply need to get an advert for the anniversary dinner and this will be ready to upload, hopefully bringing some attention to ourselves, giving life members something to engage in and providing some entertainment to our current members.

8.2 Goals for the next meeting8.2.1 Complete 102-Following the last meeting, I decided that it was more appropriate to wait until after the election to send this magazine so we could publish the election news. This is going well, most editors have edited the written articles and they now need to be compiled in a design document. However, rather dangerously, I have been left to write qmunicuts myself which I might have to ask someone to help me with.8.2.2 Improve AttendanceAttendance was steady for large portions of this year, with a decent amount of regulars mixing with people coming for one offs, however in the last two weeks there has been a significant drop. I have not been making a good enough effort to advertise the committee. This will have to change to avoid a very quiet committee coming into the holidays/exam times. I have committee PR and will be using online more effective to try and get this job done.8.2.3 Indesign TrainingI tried to run an indesign training session the other day, but I had forgotten alot of my committee come from the same courses as I do and were very busy at that time. I need to find an effective time to do this if I am to ensure I am ready to open it up to the wider membership as Colum has asked me to and to get some of the committee training so they can run for editorships next year. 8.3 Other points8.3.1 Thank you BryceBryce Johnston has been a stellar lieutenant, he is an outstanding human being with many admirable qualities which I am lacking in, which meant our partnership lead to a good balance for the committee.8.3.2 SuccessionI have nearly completed an extensive handover document, which will hopefully allow the successor to the position of publications convenor, who should be appointed this week, a strong idea of what is required, but this time has a large number of ramifications for the committee. I would like to present this incoming Convenor-Elect the opportunity to run the last magazine of the year as they hope to next year, the same opportunity which was offered to me. This could mean editor change-over and magazine re-design depending on the direction an incoming convenor may which to take our publications. I have already broached this with the editorial team and the committee members.9. Social9.1) Sederunt9.1.1) 14th January – 14th Feb - 4 board members (J. Ansell, J. Reid, A. Compton, K. Simmons)

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9 ordinary members

9.1.2) 21st February –21st Feb - 8 board members (J. Ansell, J. Reid, C. Cuthbertson, A. Compton, S. McFadden, L. Hinton, B. McBride, B. Johnston), 17 ordinary members

9.2) Monday Night Music Quiz11th January – 39 people, 7 teams18th February – mid 40’s, 7 teamsThis quiz is now resting at around the 30/40 mark for participants and currently I am happy to see consistency in these numbers. I see the hosts growing in confidence every week and I truly believe that with a tweak here and there that by next year we can see this being a full, solid (and well attended) addition to the social events programme.9.3) DJ’s in Jim’s11th January – 2818th February – 39I am happy with the progress of this event. Whilst numbers are not huge, we are keeping 30/40 people in a bar until close on a night that would otherwise be quiet for us. I want to thank Emma for her exceptional work in helping me with this event, and we have now also secured bookings right up until the end of term, which I am very please about.9.4) Unplugged19th February – 47The musicals night was really good. There were lots of sign ups and the event was at full force right up until the end. The Competition begins next week and we already have 9 sign ups which is a number I am pleased with. The event will carry over 2 weeks and for the prizes; Nick and I are in contact with several local studios over trying to arrange recording time as a prize, as well as a few other things to give the winner.9.5) Big Wednesday Night Music Quiz13th January – 20 people, 5 teams 20th February – 34, 6 teamsFirstly, I must apologise. This event has become the weakest event that we currently run numbers wise and more should have been done to curb that trend. I feel that the current hosts have completely lost their enthusiasm and drive for this event and I should have intervened much sooner in finding their replacements. However, as will be mentioned in more detail in 9.8.2, the auditions we held for hosts turned out very promising and I am fully expectant that with new blood and the renewed enthusiasm that this will bring, we can get this quiz back on track and bring back the numbers expected of it.9.6) Pop Culture and a Piano15th February – 40 people, 9 teams22nd February – 48 peopleI am so happy with the current effort being put into this quiz, great numbers are being seen during the time of year when numbers are normally expected to start declining and the quiz still feels fresh and fun. Great work9.7 KaraokeKaraoke is going well. On the 15th there was a mess-up in getting extra hosts, and Calum had hosted the whole night on his own. I take full responsibility for this and have since apologised profusely to Calum and bought him many nice things as recompense.9. AOCB9.8.1) Winners Boards in Champions BarI am very sad writing this, as I feel I have failed on something I was so keen to bring to this union. After being allowed the go ahead for putting up boards in champions bar for winners of big events held in the union in January I have been in contact with past presidents and social &

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charities convenors in an effort to find out previous winners of pool tournaments, unplugged competition winners etc so that each board could be put up with a few names already on them.My efforts have been met with almost a complete failure to find previous winners, although in reality, it is hardly surprising that board members from years gone by do not remember the names of event winners. If anyone has any advice they could give me on how to proceed with this, I would be most grateful. This is something I am so keen to bring to the union, but I have hit what I see to be a complete brick wall.9.8.2) HostsBateman and I held an interview session for prospective quiz hosts after social on Thursday and what we have seen is very pleasing.I am happy to report that there are potential hosts for both quizzes and over the next few weeks we will be trying them out to see if they cut the mustard, and if they do then we will have the new hosts in place for the beginning of the next term.

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2012-13 meeting 10 reports

Documents