Publicity Meeting @ 2000-01-01 00:00:00
In attendance: Alina Haddad (Chair), Kat Sroga, James McLachlan, Sam Kidman, Andy Smart, Chloë Pugh, Jess Walker, Lauren Howard
Apologies received from Olivia Lynch.
Meeting started: 17:10
1. Welcome and Introductions
Each member in attendance introduced themselves and explained their involvement with the society/publicity team.
2. Review of Spring Term publicity
a. It was highlighted that a mistake was made with MTW's event dates ('Jan' instead of 'Feb') on page?? To avoid making this mistake again, it was resolved that a list of collaborations could be included with any proofing documents that are released and to ask societies to email any material that they would like to have included on the relative film page.
b. It was also noted that the 'WSC Movie Pub Quiz' page was a little blurry; this was spotted at physical proofing but was dismissed as a page for fixing due to the lack of time and uncertainty of how this might need to be done. The Publicity Officer explained that this was an issue that appeared in the physical proofing of the previous booklet and that the page was recreated with a higher resolution and resent to Emmerson's to fix this problem. The Publicity Officer suspected that when creating the new page for the Spring Booklet, the wrong version of the tiff file was mistakenly used.
c. There was consensus amongst all of the editors present at the meeting that the shorter reviews were preferable from an editorial perspective. It was noted that some reviews appeared a little too short (or that the graphics on that page were not large enough) making those pages look a little plain. It was explained that the graphics available can be out of the editors' and the graphics collectors' control due to the film not having any suitable graphics available. An example was given of The Blair Witch Project that appeared on the schedule of the previous term. It was resolved to remove the range available on the word limit for reviews and to proceed with a limit of 250 words.
d. From a DM perspective, the new matt loyalty cards were much simpler to use but it was expressed that they appear less appealing in comparison to the previous cards. It was also raised that the quick-drying stamps proved to be a big pain for those using them as they can dry out incredibly quickly.
e. It was suggested that some of the exec pictures are a little old. It was resolved to encourage updating these pictures every year and to request for higher resolution pictures.
3. Pigeonholing And A2 poster rolling
a. It was noted that Chemistry has already been pigeonholed and that the Publicity Officer will pigeonhole in Social Sciences tomorrow.
b. It was explained that if anyone has the time to pigeonhole, A4 posters can be found under the publicity table (science concourse). First year pigeonholes should be prioritised. Please inform the Publicity Officer which department has been done once completed.
c. The Publicity Officer highlighted that we were beginning to run out of rolled A2 posters and that if anyone had time to roll the posters, it would be greatly appreciated.
4. Publicity production process
a. It was much easier to have the booklet in one file. There were no complaints of being unable to use quark (perhaps due to other users accessing the document). The difficulty of reconstructing the booklet (for the previous Autumn booklet) far exceeded the gains of separating it. It was resolved to continue to create the booklet in one file.
b. The Publicity Officer explained that Quark is a dated program and that Adobe InDesign is the industry standard. Thus, it was suggested that research will go into the cost/licensing etc to change to the latter and will be reported on at the next meeting.
c. There were no major problems reported of the remote log in when using a PC however, there does seem to be significant trouble encountered when using a Mac. It was resolved that the Publicity Officer will contact the IT team regarding this issue.
d. Finally, it was raised that last minute schedule changes proved to be incredibly inconvenient. It was resolved that the Publicity Officer will encourage the Films Officer to finalise the schedule at a much earlier date.
5. Revamping Publicity
The floor was opened for discussion, suggestions, and opinions regarding how we could revamp the physical publicity in terms of its structure. Please note that no discussion was made of changing the logo.
a. Everyone present agreed that there should be no significant changes made to the A2.
b. Likewise was said of the loyalty cards.
c. The following ideas were raised for discussion regarding the booklet:
i. Making the booklet into an A6 production
ii. Moving toward a matt booklet
iii. Even shorter reviews with the hope of fitting two or more films of a page or replacing reviews with a synopsis
The following discussion resulted from the former:
i. Everyone present unanimously agreed that an A5 booklet is preferable as it would look better with regards to the editing and graphics. Furthermore, it was noted that our sponsor, KPMG like having their advert in its current format (A5 colour).
ii. The point was made that the gloss finish creates a more professional look to the booklet; the booklet appears less disposable with this finish. There was no significant objection against a matt booklet but all preferred the gloss finish. There is no guarantee that this would reduce costs.
iii. here is always trouble encountered in allocating all of the films each term; this could be a way of limiting this problem. One member expressed concern about losing review writers as a result of this change. However, it was explained that this would not mark the end of all reviews as the longer reviews would still be requested for the standout films on the schedule. Equally, it may only be a handful of films that are chosen to have shorter reviews and so would not eliminate the whole process entirely. Reviews could still be written for a WSC blog - this allows contributors to write reviews on films that they have seen and will allow for a more immediate reaction to new films. This would also allow contributors to write reviews on films that we may not show on schedule and would allow for more than one reaction to a single film.
Further points and suggestions raised:
- This decision could be based on how many people volunteer to contribute in the future. If not enough people sign up, then it may be case that the Publicity Team has no option other than to reduce the size and to create a more simplistic layout.
- It was suggested that we could abandon the chronological structure of the booklet as a result of the smaller reviews/synopsis. This may add more editorial complications, and certainly more decisions having to be made regarding the layout of the films but this could result in a greater collaborative process that involves the whole publicity team and input/suggestions made by the Films Officer.
- Less well-known films can have a section that suggests films similar; an 'if you liked these films… then you will like this film' section in the hope of encouraging sales. This would not be necessary for the big blockbuster names.
It was ultimately resolved that the Publicity Officer will contact Emmerson's to enquire about pricing details for a shorter booklet.
d. There was not enough time to discuss the A4.
6. Position openings in the Publicity Team
a. The position that are opening this term include: Publicity Officer, Chief Editor, Reviews Editor, Titles Coordinator, and Graphics Coordinator.
b. For the positions of Reviews Editor, Graphics Coordinator, and Titles Coordinator, it is feasible that these positions can be filled by members who may be abroad for their term as they can be done remotely.
c. An email will be sent out regarding these positions in the next few weeks detailing the deadlines and the roles themselves.
d. Although not present, Olivia, our Reviews Editor passed on the message that she would be happy to answer questions Regarding her position by email.
7. A.O.B.s
It was suggested that a meeting to further discuss the potential for revamping publicity should take place, perhaps after a decision has been made by the exec regarding what publicity will be produced in the Summer term. Several of those attending thought that it would be most beneficial to open this meeting to all members. An email will be sent out to all members with more details of the meeting once suchlike decisions have been made.
The meeting ended at 18:00