Exec Meeting @ 2012-05-03 17:25:00
Thursday 3/05/12 (Summer term week 2) 17:25 H3.45
Summary of Relevant Points:
The society has been granted a license to show films.
Ask the Exec was agreed to be held.
Exec agenda points must now have some explanation.
Facebook marketing found to be not very effective.
1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence
Present : Mike Lee (chair), Timothy Green (minute-keeper), Ed McCutcheon,
James McLachlan, Enrik Nako, Harry Austin, Clarissa Gillingham, Rob Maas,
Richard Townsend, Scott Griffiths
In Attendance : Rob Gardner, Fergus Cooper, Matt Wilkinson, Andy Smart
2. Licensing Update
Mike informed the committee that, following a phone conversation with the council, the society now has a license. The paper version is expected to arrive next week. Mike has been in discussion with Space Management for a permanent public position for the physical version of the license.
The license is held by the society, but the current registered Designated Premises Supervisor is Jacqui Clements (CEO Warwick SU). The license is permanent and will not require yearly renewal, but will require yearly payments of the order of £300. The cost of these payments and that of the premises supervisor course have been budgeted for next year.
Currently a new licensing bill is going through parliament. If this is to be made law in its current form then the society will once again be exempt from requiring a license.
3. Outdoor Screening
Tech Update
Rob M has been preparing for ordering this year's equipment by going through the paper work from last year. Rob has found a company in Nuneaton that can provide the sound equipment at a lower cost than last year (company in Nottingham), this would also save us the cost of driving to Nottingham.
The hiring of the van is also being organised. Andy is once again happy to drive the van, but another driver will be needed. It is understood that the insurance limits drivers to those over 25 with several years of driving experience. Potential candidates include Rob Gardner and Tim Davidson.
Rob stated that the Tech Team will need to be on the field by 10:00am on the day of the Outdoor Screening to ensure all the equipment is set up on time.
Publicity and Marketing
As Publicity Officer, Clarissa was asked if she had had any ideas for some special method to publicise the event. The following ideas were offered around.
Plastic horned helmets, axes and shields could be obtained from LARPS to be worn by those on the pub run.
Origami dragons could be made out of flyers.
Posters of the various characters and dragons could be created.
On the day, the film's soundtrack could be played.
Organising with RAW to get soundtrack plays on the radio.
Massive inflatable dragon could be hired.
Dragon themed bouncy castle.
Chinese parade dragons.
4. Sponsors
At this stage in the academic year it is thought that our sponsorship contract with KPMG will be renegotiated. Otherwise, it is thought that Ernst and Young would be more interested than last year.
5. WSAF and Outdoor Screening
Mike has been emailed by the WSAF schedule organiser. They are interested to know if we would like the Outdoor Screening to be added to the WSAF line up this year. It was noted that the Outdoor Screening has been on this before, and it would give the event extra publicity.
Mike plans to meet up with this representative of WSAF to negotiate our inclusion in their line-up.
6. Ask the Exec Proposal
It is proposed that the executive would hold a meeting every term where they will make themselves available to the membership for any questions that they might have. The purpose of this event is to increase the transparency of the executive.
It was noted that the current official methods of the dissemination of information from the exec included exec meeting minutes and the presidential crew updates.
It was generally agreed that it would be interesting how many, if any, members turn up to the event.
Rob G mentioned that the title of exec meeting agenda points (the only piece of information publicity available about the agenda points prior to the meeting) was not normally sufficient information for non-exec members to be aware of what the agenda point entailed. It was suggested that the exec member that proposes a point to the agenda should write some explanation about it and these explanations should be included with the agenda announcement.
It was agreed that this would be done for all future exec meetings.
A vote was held on whether an Ask the Exec Meeting should be held this term. The motion passed with seven in favour, two against and one abstention.
It was decided that the first of these meetings this term would be held on Wednesday week 4 starting at 5:30pm in L3.
Rob G commented that the problem of non-exec members feeling poorly informed could be averted if more of an effort was made by exec members to filter information down.
After a long discussion is was decided that committee heads should be responsible for the dissemination of relevant information from exec decisions or discussions.
With the continuation of Presidential crew updates and the new Ask the Exec Meeting planned, the exec can investigate this issue in the future to see if the situation has changed for the better or not.
7. Constitution
The new constitution is still with Matt Rogers for his approval and ratification. It was requested that the proposed constitution be placed as a link on the constitution page on the website.
It was also requested by Tim G that the 'supporting documents' be finished and ready for when the new constitution has been ratified.
8. Event Transportation
Tim G wanted to clarify the use of SU minibuses. It is understood that minibuses can be used to go on events related to society activities. They cannot be used for socials.
The prices for minibus hire are currently being overhauled.
For members to be approved drivers they need to be over 21, have been driving for two years, have attended the relevant SU lecture and complete the specific SU driving test. Andy can be used as an approved driver.
(At this point the meeting was adjourned for a short break.)
9. Projection Box Cooling
The Digital Projector warranty will become void if, whilst the projector head is turned on, the projector is exposed to an external ambient temperature above 35 degrees Celsius. With the projector head off, the ambient temperature is permitted to reach 60 degrees Celsius.
Investigations have been on going into sourcing an appropriate air conditioning system. A quote has been received from the university approved supplier at £10,000 excluding VAT. This is for an evaporative cooling unit. A conventional air conditioning system would be a similar price, but the installation of an evaporative cooling unit would allow us to apply for the Salix fund from the university (this fund supports the installation, and upgrade to, more eco-friendly air conditioning systems).
Any movement on the installation must first wait until we hear back from the application from the Salix fund.
It was pointed out that until then a temporary solution would be required. Proposals
included borrowing an available portable air conditioning system from estates or renting or purchasing our own portable system.
At it currently stands the largest amount of money that the society could feasibly field for the air conditioning project is in the order of £7000.
After a long discussion is was accepted that, due to the British climate, the projection suite would only have the potential of reaching this ambient temperature of 35 degrees whilst the society required the operation of the digital projector in the summer term, and hence it was agreed that if the society was unsuccessful in a full installation this term, the project could be put on hold until Easter of next year (Easter 2013).
It was agreed that until a temporary air conditioning unit can be installed the projection team would need to follow some strict guidelines, when using the digital projector, to ensure that we do not void the warranty.
Some of these guidelines were agreed in the meeting and they follow.
A thermometer will need to be installed near the projector so that the ambient temperature can be accurately known.
The projector head must be turned off immediately following the Adverts and Trailers.
The projector head cannot be used if the ambient temperature is above 33.0 degrees Celsius.
If, during its operation, the projector head reaches 33.0 degrees Celsius it must immediately be turned off.
Further suggestions that were discussed but not agreed: that the platter would be used for double showings and that the lamp auto-strike feature could be used.
Further guidelines to be discussed and agreed upon by the projection committee.
10. Qualification Ratifications
Harry proposed that the exec ratify the qualification of Kat Sroga, who qualified as a Duty Manager at the early showing of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Sunday 11th March. The motion passed unanimously.
Harry then proposed that exec ratify the qualification of Tim G, who qualified as a Duty Manager at the early showing of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows on Friday 2nd March.
(Tim G took this opportunity to leave the meeting momentarily.)
The motion passed unanimously.
(Tim G returned to the meeting.)
11. Facebook Marketing
Scott reported on the result of the Marketing Team's £20 investigation into the success of Facebook marketing. The budget was spent over three weeks, with three types of advert being created which were all targeted at Warwick students. It was decided that the pay-per-impression system would be used as this was thought cheaper than the pay-per-click system.
The result of the trial was that the pay-per-impression system was much more expensive than the pay-per-click system. Meaning that the adverts averaged less than one click per thousand impressions. It is thought that this means that the trial showed that Facebook marketing was not a cost-effective form of advertising for the society.
12. Society Awards
These are held at the end of the academic year (26th June) by the Student's Union.
It was decided that the society would apply for the following awards, with the submissions being written by the exec member alongside them the names alongside them:
Best Society - Mike
Best Exec - Tim G
Best Non-Social Event - Outdoor Screening - Scott
Outstanding Contribution - Mike
The deadline for the submissions is the 1st June. The Outstanding Contribution award cannot go to an associate member, if anyone has any suggestions for a nominee then these should go to Mike.
(The Meeting was adjourned for a break.)
13. E-Ticketing
Due to the closure of Natwest the SU would like for the society to look into ways that would reduce the proportion of cash in our total ticket sales; more online ticket sales are proposed.
It was discussed that 5 film passes could be sold online on the SU website. This would cost the SU around £1500 due to required updates to the SU website for this to be a working feature. It was agreed that the society would not cover this cost.
Whilst is was thought that online tickets sales might increase the number of tickets sold, each transaction would incur a 10p charge. After a long discussion on whether the ticket prices would be increased to include this fee, or if the fee would be absorbed by the society no conclusion was come to.
It was decided that 5 film passes could be sold on the website and that we need not come to a decision on prices now.
14. Time and Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Sunday 13th May, further details will be decided over email.
15. Any Other Business
Tim G and Rob M are looking into the possibility of acquiring a second-hand 35mm
projector to reduce the cost of the Outdoor Screening.
Richard enquired about the constitutionality of doing Skype or email committee meetings. It was stated that these were constitutional.
Ed brought up the point that due to the new license the society now has the right to
admit members of the public who are not holders of university cards. It was voted to
remove the restriction on the number of external guests per university card holder.
This vote passed with nine in favour and one abstention. The discussion on external entities being admitted whilst not the guest of a university card holder will be adjourned until the next Exec meeting.
It should be stated that Matt Wilkinson was offered life time crew status and that this
was rejected.
Meeting Ended at 21:12