1

Queen Margaret UnionReports to the Board of ManagementMeeting 13 – Monday 30th April 2012

General Manager Submitted President SubmittedHonorary Secretary SubmittedHonorary Assistant Secretary SubmittedCampaigns & Charities SubmittedEvents SubmittedOrdinary Board SubmittedPublications SubmittedSocial Submitted

1. General Manager’s Report to the Executive Committee 1.1 Staff UpdateI have now met with most of the staff involved in significant changes to their contract and regretfully it now looks certain that two members of staff will be made redundant due to a lack of work. At least one other member of staff will be transferring job and at least another two will not have their contracts renewed at the end of May. A couple of other staff will have their working hours reduced. 1.2 Staff Consultative CommitteeThis committee met last week and I was surprised at how pragmatic the staff were in light of the current difficulties. It was clear that many staff were aware of the situation and were expecting changes to contracts and hours in order to keep many staff with a living wage.

It was suggested that despite the reductions in all areas and the cutback in hours that an increase in the hourly rate of pay is possible in recognition of the effort and hard work by many members of staff. It was also noted that productivity and effort will need to be increased in going forward to compensate for a reduction in staff numbers.

The staff also put forward a number of suggestions in order to improve the profile of the QM Union and inform both members and non-members of our services and facilities. A key point was to advertise our summer opening hours from this week in order that people are aware that we stay open during the summer. Other suggestions included a Saturday morning/lunchtime sports quiz, Saturday breakfast till 1pm, improved music in Jims bar, get more adverts into the library now and contact celebrities re using the venue eg Greg Hemphill and his upcoming wrestling match (which has no venue agreed yet). Bar staff among others are prepared to distribute flyers and posters around campus.

It was noted that the gender neutral toilets have no greater sign of use than previously and that the standard of cleanliness has remained high.

1.3 Employee of the YearNominations for Employee of the Year will open on Monday 8th May and close on Friday 18th May at 4pm. Publicity for this award will be distributed via departments and the ballot box will be at reception. Board members are eligible to nominate a candidate on the appropriate nomination form. Forms will be made available to board members via the Executive Committee prior to 8th May.

1.4 Financial AccountsThe third quarter accounts are almost complete and will be presented to the Finance Committee on Wednesday. I do not expect them to make pleasant reading although I suspect we made a small surplus in March and thus will reduce the cumulative loss for the year to less than £10K. I am still forecasting a deficit for the year of around £70K.

1.5 Late Licence Applications

2

I reported at the last meeting that I had applied for two late licences. One of these licences is for Friday 27th (actually Sat 28th 2am till 3am). It is disappointing to note that by late afternoon on the 26th we have not been informed if we have the licence. Potentially we will be informed on the day of the event. I have raised this matter with our solicitor and there is nothing we can do. If we get this licence I plan to contact the licensing office to see if applying earlier would make any difference. I believe it puts us in a very difficult position if we do not get a licence at some point in the future and have to inform customers on the day.

1.6 Licensing SolicitorI have spoken with John Bett, our licensing solicitor at McLure Naismith on a couple of issues recently. He informed me of the changes in Entertainment Licence requirements and the problems that it causing at this time. We will review our Premises Licence over the next month or so to ensure we have the widest possible options available to us and that may be helpful to clubs and societies with regards to shows, displays or exhibitions.

I also raised the issue of 17yr olds and he believes we should proceed with a full change to our licence to provide full access to 17yr old. I would also like to take the opportunity to extend access to children. This will allow us to provide more family occasions especially birthday parties, weddings etc and extend the rights of over 14s to be in the premises at gigs. A further benefit is that we can allow students to bring their children onto the premises for food or to record/comic fairs. There will be some changes required but nothing that is likely to cause us an issue or cost any significant amount of money. We can also sell this improved service to mature students and others who may have family.

If we are planning to approach the Licensing Board with this level of change then I think we should also ask for a 3am licence. To be honest I think our chances remain slim but I think the time is right to at least ask them again.

1.7 Flyers & Adverts around CampusSome members of staff have already indicated they are prepared to help distribute flyers and adverts for the QM Union around campus and especially for our Cheesy Pop event. The impression among the staff is that the Board are no longer active in this role and the evidence of promoting the first Cheesy Pop after the Easter break seemed to indicate that it was very poorly publicised. Indeed it was suggested that some members of the Board of Management did not know the event was even on.

1.8 Tennents’ Mini Main StageI have managed to get in quickly to secure this promotion for the 18th May against some competition. I am aware that it does not exactly fit in with our theme but the opportunity to have our venue promoted by Tennents and to have the possibility of winning more T-in-the-Park tickets seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. It will be located in Jims bar and will have a much more professional set-up than last time with the booth, TV screens, hosts and promotional staff. It will not interfere with the activities on Jims bar stage but will hopefully be an added attraction to help bring more people to our event. They will set up as soon as Pop Culture finishes and be ready by 9pm.

1.9 Future EventsI have again been in touch with the promoter of the MMA fight night and there is a good possibility that we will host an event in June.

I have agreed to have an evening reception for a wedding in August for two former students and regular attendees at our events. I believe the couple even met here at one of our club nights. This event will take place on Sat 4th August and ideally I would like to close Champions bar for this night if possible and give them exclusive use of the building. This however, may depend on the programme of events for the Olympic games which will be running at that time.

1.10 Sponsorship & AdvertsI am trying to work with a number of companies with regard to taking advertising space or provide sponsorship to some of our events. While the usual suspects are all involved I have one or two new companies who are interested in us. We need to discuss opportunities around freshers week as

3

companies are keen to ensure value for money but I don’t necessarily wish to set up an alternative Fair to the SRC.

2. President

2.1 Handover

2.1.1 PresidentColum and I have mainly been discussing the upcoming changes to CBP and proposed changes for the AGM.

2.1.2 Exec TrainingMr Mac and I met to discuss exec training. We hope to change some of the focus toward future planning and slightly more indepth finance training. If Lauren and Euan can meet me asap to discuss what they think would to learn that would be very helpful!

2.1.3 Convenor/ExecMost people seem to be getting on well with handover documents and training. If you have not started your handover document then I would suggest you do so within the next few days. If anyone needs any help do not hesitate to ask.

2.2 Strat PlanThe last meeting's discussed action plans for the ‘Our Community’ section and I hope to meet with departmental managers to discuss specific plans related to their areas in the next few days. The other focus has been on the mission statement, vision and values which will be discussed later in this meeting.

2.3 Life Membership SurveyI have been working with Lauren Hinton to produce a life membership survey. It’s been posted on twitter and passed to several past presidents. We currently have ~20 responses. If anyone would like to pass it on then that would be extremely helpful.

2.4 Clubs & Societies MeetingI have also been working with Lauren Hinton to produce a clubs & societies meeting on the 15th of May. We hope to get some clubs & societies thinking about events and affiliation now instead of waiting until september. I think she would like some help on the night to mingle so if anyone would like to then let myself or Lauren know. Also, please invite anyone you know in club or society to the facebook event.

2.5 AGMJust a reminder that all first draft AGM reports should be submitted by 2nd of May, to allow two weeks before the AGM. Papers will be circulated by the 11th of May, so final drafts will go out then. If anyone needs any help please just ask.

2.6 Cheesy PopI’m sure we’re all aware that the first Friday back from easter break wasn’t at all successful. I know there were several of you who tried to put out posters and I most ord board did at least one shift of F**k it let’s Cheesy Pop posters. I’m glad that we identified how we could do more this week to improve the numbers and I want to say thank you to the board members who have done extra PR shifts and extra

4

work this week and I hope it will pay off. There’s always more we could be doing, but I think the majority of the board now have the right mindset to push this forward in the last few weeks of term and I look forward to seeing you all work hard to make our events a success, because I know you will.

2.7 Presidents DinnerIf anyone still hasn’t received their invitation then I’ll distribute them at the meeting.

3. Honorary Secretary

3.1 Life Membership.The key point with this, is that by the time of the meeting there should be posters advertising life membership. Hopefully this will boost our numbers for the end of the year and give L.Hinton a good starting point. If the ord board and social convenors wouldn’t mind incorporating these posters into their PR rotas I would be very grateful.

3.2 President’s DinnerA group of volunteers have been working on this. I intend to meet with the General Manager very soon to discuss the arrangements, potential decorations etc. This has been delayed by other commitments on my time. If you could all RSVP to me soon that would be good thank you.

3.3 Clubs and Socs (Completed by L.Hinton)On the 15th of May at 6pm there will be a Clubs and Societies event in Qudos. A facebook group for this event has been created and emails have been sent to all of the Clubs and Society contacts that we have access to. The meeting will be a cheese and wine event with the aim to provide information for the executive members of the committees as to the services that we can offer. K.Hill and I are currently working on a pamphlet that will hold all of this information and hopefully spark interest. At this event there will be the opportunity to organise block bookings and venue hire for the next term. There will also be affiliation packs available. If anyone would like to attend this event to talk to clubs and society members about the QM then that would be much appreciated.The decision has also been made to allow members of clubs and societies to enter the QM for their meetings without QM membership cards. Their position as a member of a club or society will grant them temporary membership for the allotted meeting time. Responsibility for these persons will lie with the executive of their club or society.

4. Honorary Assistant Secretary

4.1 TrainingAfter the close of exams, this will have to be looked at fairly hard. I plan to – in my current- and elect role, run a convenor training session based on last year's. Current cons, please humour me on this before you go. It is very important that the Board hit the ground running next year and to this effect, I hope that we can run a full training day – operation, conduct, duty and personal development – so we can prepare for the year, and have some ideas of what we would like to do over the Summer.Additionally, while I realise there are several hardy veterans on the Board that could more than fill the responsibility of Level 1 training, the 1s currently outnumber the 2s by three. After the outgoing folk leave, I'd recommend the next holder of this office to adjust accordingly.

4.2 ConductAttendance has risen in the Ord. Board, so that's good. Please keep it up, this is a quiet time of year for volunteers and each committee needs all the input it can get.

4.3 CBPAgain, E. Murphy has done a stunning job of pulling this all together. This is a good sign. The articles in front of you should give you a good idea of the changes that the CBP committee have discussed and settled (for the most) on, and I hope we can solidify all of these at the meeting. To echo me at the last

5

meeting, it would be an incredibly positive sign if – following discussion and motion at this meeting – the agreed changes could see full Board backing come the AGM. This would put us in a good position for next year, and would look like we know what we're doing, which is never a bad thing.

4.4 Freshers’ WeekThe Freshers' Week Committee met last week to put together an idea of how the week will run. My view of this meeting is that it was constructive, and may serve as a good basis for the months to come. One aspect that arose, however, was the urgency with which 2012-13's Board should solidify their plans for events and programmes to run in the coming year. This will help us showcase these events during the Week, and equip board, volunteers and staff with the experience and knowledge for the year to come.

4.5 ReportsWe really haven't been very good at getting these in on time this year. I will be recommending to my successor to greet such behaviour with the disciplinary action that it constitutionally deserves next year. It would make my day if we were to sit in the bar on Friday 14th next month at 5pm and all have submitted our reports on time.In other news, you may have noticed that this report has contained some material that does not strictly belong under my current role's title. I notice that many (all) of the convenor-elects have had a hand in reporting over the last two meetings. For this reason, I recommend that from now on – and in future – the elected executive committee collectively produce a short report detailing their various preparations for taking office during the handover period. This would, I believe, help with the continuity of the process and avoid the traditional months of a complete lack of contact between the Board and the new Executive Committee leading up to September. It would also avoid people like me taking credit for the absolutely sterling work of people like L. Hinton and E. Murphy, who are fantastic.We will discuss the length of this handover period in the CBP section of the meeting.

4.6 Database/Mailing ListI have experimented with the notion of a mailing list for some time, and took this to the next stage recently by extracting almost 6000 email addresses from the electronic database held by ourselves and creating an address book in a secure email server. I expect to further this in the next few weeks, the beginning of a series of several – quite easy, I believe – steps to establish a frequent membership newsletter, life membership contact database and other such possibilities. Due to the sensitive nature of this contact information, this project will currently be limited to the executive and administration sections, but any and all ideas of how we could use this, and at the same time avoid spamming our members, gratefully accepted.

5. Campaigns and Charities

5.1 Sederunt16/04/12: 9 board members (E. Munro, R. Callaghan, H. Brand, A. Compton, L. Porterfield, S. McFarland, J. Reid, L. Clarke, G. Setwart) and 5 ordinary members 23/04/12: 8 board members (E. Munro, R. Callaghan, H. Brand, G. Stewart, T. Kelly, A. Compton, A. McAllister, S. McFarland, M. Bruce) and 4 ordinary members.Numbers are very low at the moment but that’s to be expected. Thanks to all board member regulars. Robin has started chairing meetings now and is doing a lovely job. I have been very much absent over the past two weeks, for which I apologise. Exams and things.

5.2 FundraisingA massive thank you to Eugene who sold glowsticks at Friday’s event. Hero.

[grids attached

6. Events

6.1 Sederunt

6

17/4/12 – 7 Board Members (L. Clarke, S. McFarland, P. Kelly, G. Stewart, L. Hinton, C. Sutcliffe and J. Reid) & 10 Ordinary Members.24/4/12 – 11 Board Members (L. Clarke, S. McFarland, P. Kelly, T. Kelly, G. Stewart, L. Hinton, C. Sutcliffe, E. Zhadanov, J. Reid, A. McAllister and A. Black) & 11 Ordinary Members.

6.2 F**K IT LET’S CHEESY POP (27/4/12)For this event, there was an extended license until 3am and the event was advertised well. The Committee and Board really tried to push this event and PR-ed halls, advertising the free entry for first years! I hope our extra 5% effort paid off! I will report verbally on the success of this event during the Board Meeting.

6.3 Miniature Dinosaurs (10/5/12)The Miniature Dinosaurs gig will be taking place in Jim’s Bar on Thursday 10th May. There are three support bands – Duke, Jack Butler and Reverieme – doors are at 7pm, advanced Tickets cost £5 for QM Members and £6 for Non-Members, and tickets on the door cost £8. We will be allowing temporary membership for this event. The Events Committee and Ordinary Board have begun to PR this event, taking posters to halls and around campus. The Events Staff have also been hitting music shops and bars to attract a wider audience and the Committee will continue with this over the next 10 days. I would encourage everyone to attend this event, and bring friends! Please add your friends to the facebook event as we only have 50 people attending so far. The gig is under the label of “QM Live”, an event we would really like to be successful and to continue next year.

6.4 90s Cheesy (18/5/12)The penultimate Cheesy of the year will have an extended license to 4am and will be 90s themed. Tickets cost £4 for QM members and £5 for non-members. We have booked the UK’s BEST Spice Girl’s tribute act ‘WANNABE’ and they will perform for an hour in total, potentially split into two thirty minute shows. Karaoke will take place as usual, but Jim’s will be turned into a second club-room (with a mini dance floor) playing 90’s rave music. Everyone who attended the Committee on Tuesday 24th April put down to make a 90s poster to go somewhere in the building! These will be going in the poster clip frames and will just make the building slightly more 90s. If anyone wants to make one, please feel free to do so and email it on to A. Challiner (Size: A3). Please invite all your friends to the facebook event and help PR if you have the time! We all need to make a massive effort for this so our final big event of the year can be a success!

6.5 PR and DutiesThe Events Committee are following a rota from now until the very end of term, with everyone putting in the extra effort to PR and do Events Duties. We do still have a few empty spaces on the rota so if anyone is willing to help out, please let me know. S. McFarland took Marty the Mouse to the library on Friday 27th April so hopefully she can feedback to you all on how this went. Thank you to L. Porterfield for organising the Ord Board PR as I know they have made a big effort.

6.6 HandoverWith the help of P. Kelly and S. McFarland, I have started compiling a handover document. The events Committee have given us feedback, both during the meeting and online, about the positive and negative aspects of Events in general and the Events Committee, all of which will be included in this document. Once P. Kelly has finished with exams, we will write the document up and let you all have a look! This document will then be used for the Events AGM report, as well as highlighting what was good and bad about every event this year! (Wish me luck writing this!)

7. Ordinary Board

7.1 PR ProjectsFollowing the last Board Meeting, I held a committee meeting specifically for updates on the PR projects. I am very happy with the progress of these so far, with everyone being able to present to the committee either a verbal report of their project or some draft copies of designs. This also proved to be an effective way of brainstorming ideas and being able to give feedback on designs. I hope that by the next meeting

7

that some of these projects will be finished and we will have some fabulous new PR to distribute.

7.2 Question of the WeekLast week the committee began distributing new QOTW posters with QR codes made by Kirsty with a link to answering a question about the Food Factory. I have made this design into posters and flyers, and these have been placed around the building, in particular the second floor, as well as various places around campus. I am excited to see what response these receive, and will definitely pursue this method of gathering member feedback if it is successful.

7.3 Extra 5%As part of the push for everyone to give a little bit extra to the Union in the past week, I wanted to ensure that the committee give their extra push into PR, so asked them all to volunteer for at least two shifts during the week, with a particular focus on promoting Friday's Cheesy Pop. I'm so pleased with their efforts, especially because it is exam time, and I'm happy to report that literally hundreds of posters and flyers were distributed all across campus over the week and they all certainly have given their extra 5%.

8. Publications

8.1 Issue 96

8.1.1 EditingThe editing for this issue was provided a good opportunity to train the new lieutenant and future editors, there were some last minute printing issues which caused the issue to be printed late

8.1.3 ContentThis issue’s content was slightly rag tag due to the late handing in of some features. Steps have been taken within the committee to ensure writers know this was not good and we hope it will be much better next issue

8.2 Online contentJake Casson has been appointed to the role of Online Editor, his direction will hopefully give online a stronger focus.

8.3 Issue 97

8.3.1 New Editor TrainingThis next issue will be a good opportunity to train the newly selected editors, who are eager to get started. Some training has already taken place for the Illustrations Editor and the new Tech Editor, I hope to continue this with all of the editors as they are appointed.

8.3.2 Fundamental changes to the magazineA new cover will be implemented with the qmunicate logo enlarged along the top of the page. This will hopefully be more eye drawing and strengthen the branding of the magazine. Sports will now be a full page of the magazine, with features losing a page as a result, with the continual struggles we seem to be having to fill features, this seemed like the wisest choice of where to borrow a page from. Tech will also be moved forward as a result so Sports can take up the final page that would traditionally have been a black and white page.

8.4 Freshers Week Publications

8.4.1 HandbookHandbook has been drafted and budgeted. 4 additional pages must be drafted and I will hopefully meet with the incoming executive today to discuss this today.

8.4.2 Wall Planner

8

Now that prices have been established and the wall planner designed and budgeted, we’re going to mo-bilise the advertising sub-committee, feedback on the prices so far indicated people believe them to be reasonable, which is hopefully a good sign that we can sell a few.

8.5 Goals for next BM_ Brainstorm more advertising ideas_ Gather more feedback_ Looking into financial feasibility of full colour with the hopes of increasing advertising revenue and im-proving the look of the magazine._ Finalise Editorial Appointments_ Redesign of Tech and Film and Arts pages._ Start selling those wall planner adverts

9. Social

9.0 Sederunts 19th April 201216 board members (P. Hughes, J. Reid, P. Kelly, R. Callaghan, E. Zhdanov, T. Kelly, A. McAllister, A. Compton, C. Sutcliffe, A. Black, M. Bruce, B. Male, S. McFarland, L. Clarke, H. Brand, L. Porterfield) 6 ordinary members (B. McBride, J. Nelson, A. Stearn, C. Owens, K. Stevenson)

26th April 201211 board members (P. Hughes, J. Reid, P. Kelly, L.P. Hainey, E. Zhdanov, L. Clarke, T. Kelly, A. Compton, A. Black, B. Male, M. Bruce, E.F. Evans) 4 ordinary members (K. Stevenson, J. Nelson, A. Stearn, B. McBride)

9.1 Unplugged 16th April – numbers started well with about 40, but by the end of the night this had dwindled to around 16, but with exams looming this was to be expected. Also the lights were maybe considered to be too bright on the stage, resulting in maybe the loss of atmosphere – this will be looked into for the future. 23rd April – about 15 people went this week, which as this is exam season is understandable (this will be a recurring theme during my report). As more students become free of exams numbers should pick up, and hopefully we can ramp up unplugged with this, and hopefully get a small band or something similar in on the cheap/free for our last unplugged or the return of the ever popular themed unplugged.

9.2 Dj’s in Jims17th April – A. McAllister played some beats after a chaotic and last minute search for a DJ. The night was not very busy however. 24th April – Nobody could be found to host this week so the night did not go ahead. A regular person to DJ definitely needs to be sorted out

9.3 BWNPQ18th April - The quiz had a shaky start but actually ended up coming good.At 8:30 we had 3 teams and considered cancelling but by 9 we had enough teams to go and by the time everything was ready (9:20) we had about 40 folk in 11 teams. Unfortunately we then had to contend with the noise of the gig which meant absolutely blasting the music and mic’s but we persevered and by 10:15 the gig was over. The quiz carried a good vibe and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.Chris and Chris seemed to be getting to grips with the role and in a way I am glad they had a smaller quiz to learn the ropes with – I can see big things for these guys.Overall a good quiz when factoring in the time of the year. 25th April – unfortunately the quiz never went ahead - quite simply no one was there to take part, music was played for a while until about 9 but then the tech was packed away – this is obviously disappointing but possibly understandable as exams were in full swing and not many/if any had finished their exams by this point. As the weeks progress more and more people will be finished with their exams – so a big push is needed, possibly on an exam theme (like bring your exam papers along for points) – when more people finish I can see more people coming to the quiz.

9

9.4 Pop Culture & A Piano 20th April –Event went ahead but there was only teams of BM’s. No prizes were given away Disappointing. 27th April – Better quiz this week – 35 people and 8 teams, a quiet but nice, chilled quiz. For this time of year a success. We should push this event as a post-exam event for people and even consider a slightly later start to allow for end of day exam people to come.

9.5 ComedyA comedy event this term is being planned for this term. It’ll be in May, potentially on the second to last week of term.

9.6 Social FeedbackThe feedback sheets have now been collected in and condensed into one document. The feedback has been really good and has proved a lot to work with re: problems people have with current events and ideas on how to make them better for the future; please see attached copy, but it’s important to note we are by no means finished with the results. It will become part of the handover and it will help in the plans for next year

9.7 HandoverThis is going well, although in truth I have at the moment been a little distracted by exams (I don’t think the Psychology department will let me resit 2nd year…..again……). As soon as they are finished though I will be 100% in Convenor mode and can fully lay out all my plans and what not for the following year.