Exec Meeting @ 2011-03-17 18:00:00
Exec Meeting - B2.03 – 6:00pm
Welcome and Apologies for Absence
Present: Edward McCutcheon, Fergus Cooper, Liam McNamara, Oliver Bell, Timothy Green, Harry Austin, Robert Gardner, Alex Ware, Matthew Wilkinson, Scott Griffiths.
Apologies were received from Joseph Morgan, and apologies for early departure were received from Alex Ware.
Lord of the Rings AllNighter
It was discussed whether to hold two AllNighters on successive nights (Friday 6th and Saturday 7th May). It appears that enough crew are able to attend to make staffing the events possible from a FoH and Projection point of view, so a vote was held on the motion; 8 for, 0 against and 2 abstentions. We shall be holding two AllNighters!
There are be two quizzes produced by Olie with input from interested members of Exec, one for each night, and the prizes bought will be the same for both AllNighters.
Exec members should ideally attend at least one of the events.
A discussion was had about the usual free food and drink at these AllNighters. It was thought that some food and drink is necessary to help keep crew awake during the events, but that in line with recent cost cutting measures, £50 each night seemed excessive. A vote was held to spend a total across both nights of £60 on free food and drink; 10 for, 0 against and 0 abstentions. This is a reduction of 40% on recent AllNighters. Given that there would now be a reduced quantity, it was questioned who should be entitled to the free consumables. A vote that only crew helping out at the AllNighters should be allowed the free food and drinks was held; 7 for, 3 against and 0 abstentions, so only those crew helping at the events are entitled to free food and drink.
An idea has been raised that we could retail pre-packaged food and drink to our audience at special events such as AllNighters. Various points for and against this idea were raised. In particular, it may prove difficult to maintain constant staffing of such a stall, however it would also provide some money towards to event. Andrew Maddison has agreed that under such plans, he would purchase stock and reclaim any excess after the event. Such plans would be subject to approval by the relevant authorities, and by FoH staffing capabilities. A vote was held to trial this idea; 9 for, 1 against and 0 abstentions, so subject to approval it shall be trialled at these AllNighter events.
Because of the length of the films, it was decided to have breaks of at least half an hour between each feature, allowing the audience plenty of time to stretch their legs. Because there will only be two intervals, the idea was broached of having just a quiz and no raffle. This proposal was voted on; 6 for, 3 against and 1 abstention. Therefore there will not be a raffle, however the quiz will become more of a headline event, slightly longer than other quizzes, with rounds accessible to all in the audience.
Prizes for the quiz are to be discussed on the mailing lists and decided upon by Friday 8th April. Some Lord of the Rings related prizes seemed quite popular, such as a replica One Ring.
Digital Projection
Alex informed Exec that he has spoken recently to Sound Associates who will be contacting him shortly with information on digital projection (especially quotes) as well as a list of parts needed post service (a Sound Associates engineer recently performed a service of our equipment and a sound equalization).
Ed informed Exec by email prior to the meeting that Peter Hall (at Future Projections) had a refurbished digital projector potentially up for grabs at a cost of approximately £10,000 + VAT. A full system with this projector would cost roughly £31,000. Given that this is a saving of approximately £23,000 from a generic quote supplied by Peter Hall, the question raised is whether we want to seriously consider attempting to purchase this system now.
Alex leaves
A decision is required imminently as we would need to register an interest forthwith with Peter Hall. Several questions remain:
• Do we want to proceed now?
• Do we wish to approach the Union to secure the necessary funds?
• Is the system suitable for WSC? A thorough discussion is required by the Tech team.
Because £31,000 is slightly more money than we currently have, and we need to leave ourselves working capital, we would need help should we wish to buy this system. The biggest ‘if’ is whether the system would be suitable. Therefore, it was decided to contact the Union and attempt to secure the required finance so that we would be in a position to move forward immediately if that was the decision of the technical team.
A vote was held on whether to register interest in this system, provided Tech are happy with the system, we can finance it and this offer was not likely to come again; 9 for, 0 against and 0 abstentions. Because of the substantial saving potentially involved, a subsequent vote was held to purchase just the projector, if that was an option, should finance for the whole system not be forthcoming, and should Tech deem it suitable, allowing us to purchase the other equipment separately later; 9 for, 0 against and 0 abstentions.
Outdoor Screening Film
It is now confirmed that we may show any film with a rating of up to 12A. The two options still on the table for showing at the outdoor screening were Up or Raiders of the Lost Ark. A vote was held; 5 for Up, 4 for Raiders of the Lost Ark and 2 abstentions (with Joe and Alex voting by phone).
Ticket Prices
After the last Exec meeting, two ticket options remained up for discussion. These were:
1. Increase membership to £3.50 and increase all ticket prices by 50p
2. Reduce membership to £1 and standardise normal tickets at £3
Rob presented a detailed analysis of ticket prices since the 2005/06 year. Assuming similar attendances despite increased prices, option 1 would bring an expected increase of £7,000 per year in ticket revenue, with option 2 bringing an expected £9,000. However, option 1 includes paying the £1 membership tax to the Students’ Union, and option 2 risks antagonizing the Union. It is also hoped that a cap could be placed on the membership tax, as we expect £2,500 a year is a disproportionate hit to WSC even though we likely cost the Union more than other societies. Additionally if the Union were to abolish the tax, option 1 would bring an expected excess of £9,500 per year.
A vote was held; 8 for option 1, 1 for option 2 and 0 abstentions, so option 1 shall be adopted for next academic year.
It was proposed that we adopt a five film pass for non-members. This would be charged at four times the rate of a non-members ticket (£14 under the new system). While still more expensive than becoming a member of the society, this provides a promotion available to those not wishing to join the Societies Federation. A vote was held; 7 for, 2 against and 0 abstentions, so non-members will be able to purchase a higher-priced five film pass from next Autumn.
Publicity Officer Election
Owing to the pending resignation of Joseph Morgan from the position of Publicity Officer, elections must now be held. They shall take place on Monday of Week 3, 9th May. Fergus shall act as returning officer, with nominations opening during the Easter vacation and closing at some point in the week preceding Monday 9th May.
Publicity Run
A Summer term publicity run will take place on Tuesday 26th April, organised by Tim G. There will be free pizza for those attending. A separate publicity run for the Lord of the Rings AllNighters will take place on Monday 2nd May.
Time and date of next meeting
The next meeting shall take place on Thursday 12th May at 6pm.
Alternative Summer Term Publicity
We are currently investigating several alternative forms of summer term publicity.
• Business cards are being looked into. These would likely have a schedule on one side with a logo + web address etc on the reverse. We have been quoted £437 for 5,000 cards (double sided, 4-colour, 350gsm silk, laminated with rounded corners) and a basic quote with bolt-on extras is coming soon, since we are unlikely to want all the listed extras.
• We are perusing a quote for a run of single sided, full colour A4 posters possibly to be used promoting the Lord of the Rings AllNighter and other headlines for the term.
• Nikki Smith is to be contacted by Ed regarding getting some of our events (in particular the AllNighers and Outdoor Screening) on the SU term planner.
• Ed has been in contact with the Union regarding getting a mention in the Bubble.
• Ed is to investigate the possibility of an A0 poster outside SUHQ.
AoB
It was raised that the Films Officer may benefit from having a key to the proj box. This would be used solely if it is necessary to check the location of a film or to urgently get a film down to the dump if it’s required, for instance, on cross-over. A main argument against this was that projectionists should be taking their film back to the dump immediately after the film, so such situations should never have to arise. Giving the Films Officer a key may cause some projectionists not to bother returning their films. A vote was held on whether to give the Films Officer a proj box key; 6 for, 2 against and 1 abstention, so the Films Officer shall get a key to the proj box.
Matt asked for permission to give free pizza to members of the IT team taking part in a 4-day coding marathon during the holidays. There are, however, many reasons that this sort of activity has not been subsidised in the past. Pizza is used as an incentive for publicity runs purely because they are a job that no one likes doing, and there is no committee in the society whose purpose is to distribute publicity. One of the specific jobs of the IT team is to code the new website, and compared to many other members of the society, a programming marathon does not constitute more work than other members undertake, albeit spread over a longer period of time. In the same way that the society does not subsidise Tech sessions, several people present thought that this was not too dissimilar a request. A vote was held to allow free pizza; 3 for, 4 against and 2 abstentions, so the IT team will not be allowed free pizza.
It was proposed that next academic year we move our non-screening day from Monday to Wednesday. This was for several reasons, including:
• Allowing ample time for training sessions or even Snaps Tests to take place on Wednesdays
• Currently, Wednesday screenings clash with Pop! at the Union, and there is no Union event on Mondays
• We would no longer be competing with Orange Wednesdays, which probably draws away some of our audience
• Because of the lack of Wednesday afternoon lectures, we would have more time available for socials
A vote was held on whether or not to change the non-screening day to Wednesday, and it was requested that the vote be held by secret ballot; 8 for, 0 against and 1 abstention. A recount was requested; 8 for, 0 against and 1 abstention, so our non-screening day shall move!
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30pm.