Minutes: 28th September 2009

STaG Board Meeting
28th September 2009

In attendance: H. Sloan, A. Blundell, R. Jones, S. Gregson, P. Mannion, M. O’Neill, L. Fenwick, T. MacKay, K. Nesbitt, J. Dyer, F. Andrew, A. Ralston, T. Wilkins.

Welcome!
A thousand times, welcome!

Agenda
1. Board Trip
2. Peribanez
3. STaG Nights
4. Copy and Print
5. Tech Committee Meeting
6. Publicity Committee
7. AGM
8. AOB

1. Board Trip
We are booking an Inverary hostel for the night of 17th October from the Board Trip away. J. Dyer, T. MacKay and, possibly, L. Fenwick will be sitting the minibus driving test, so we will be able to travel to Inverary for free. The trip costs £14.50 and money is due by 28th September (i.e. you should have handed it in!)

2. Peribanez
Peribanez has been cast. There was a read through on Thursday. A budget meeting has already occurred and the publicity committee will meet with the production team to begin publicising the production. A meeting is to be arranged.

3. STaG Nights
The STaG Nights committee has met, and will continue to meet weekly until the festival itself. There has been interest from other societies, who wish to be involved: Cut!, Crack (experimental music group), GUAVA. There has been a call for submissions, which are due on the 9th October.

4. Copy and Print
The account at the Copy and Print shop has not been settled. This will be fixed this week.

5. Tech Committee Meeting
The tech committee will continue to meet every week (Tuesday), after a successful first week’s meeting. The stage managers for the New Talent Play are being finalised, and should be emailed out soon.

6. Publicity Committee
An advert will be sent out in this week’s email for people who are interested in being involved in the publicity for Peribanez. Publicity will be assigned and delegated by the committee for every different project, as it is decided upon.

7. AGM
The STaG AGM is next week – 5th October in QMU Committee Room 2 at 5.30pm. Please tell everyone they are invited to come, especially new people who are interested in running for the board. P. Mannion will send round the constitution, and it will go round in an email to the society, and the board.

8. AOB

A. Blundell - wishes to hold a ‘proposal’s surgery’ – much like PlayGroup on Tuesday 6th October, so that anyone with any queries about proposing can approach her. This was agreed to be a smashing idea!

K. Nesbitt – was wondering about the small cupboard in the STaG Room, and its security. It was agreed that J. Dyer would enquire about getting a new lock.

A. Blundell – is meeting Vicky price soon to arrange dates for STaG in the Studio, but all board members are encouraged to think about new venues for our smaller scale projects. T. MacKay said she was looking into the ‘Lights’ situation, and P. Mannion offered to assist. H. Sloan reminded that the society is not in a great financial situation, but funding applications will be looked into by P. Mannion.

F. Andrew – the social committee met on 27th Sept and will continue to meet weekly. They have decided on a theatre trip for interested members of the society, and the first outing will be to ‘Memory Cells’ at the Arches on 21st October.

F. Andrew – enquired about the Summer Steele situation. P. Mannion is in contact with her and will attempt to attain her phone number for H. Sloan. Various options were discussed, but nothing was agreed.

R. Jones – suggested that we apply for a Made In Scotland Grant for next year’s Fringe. This was agreed and A. Blundell will look into it.

T. MacKay – asked about board reps for STaG Nights – H. Sloan is going to oversee the process of the Festival.

That’s all.

DON’T FORGET – Alice’s party on 3rd October

Snack Rota for 12th October – Lizzie and [I can’t remember]. Sorry.

Minutes: 21st September 2009

In attendance: H. Sloan, R. Jones, S. Gregson, P. Mannion, M. O’Neill, L. Fenwick, T. MacKay, K. Nesbitt, F. Andrew, A. Ralston, T. Wilkins.

Apologies: J. Dyer, A. Blundell.

Welcome!

Agenda

1. Mondays
2. New Talent Play
3. Freshers’ Week
4. Feedback
5. STaG Nights
6. AOB

1. Mondays

Good news from H. Sloan – she has spoken to Lee Scott at the G12 Theatre and STaG has both Mondays for both the Peribanez and STaG Nights slots.

“Lovely”, interjects R. Jones.

2. New Talent Play

The New Talent Play has been cast over the last weekend (18^th – 20^th Sept.). 55 people in total have been cast with 7 shows, plus a special Improvised Teatime performance. A Director’s Pack has been circulated to all directors and rehearsal should be starting soon.

Peribanez auditions – Tuesday and Wednesday 4-7pm, STaG Room

3. Freshers’ Week

M. O’Neill had suggested a Freshers’ Week post-mortem to reflect on the positives and negatives of Freshers’ Week and obtaining new members. The Board agreed to a reformatting of Freshers’ Week, basing it more on events than plays. It was agreed that the incoming board and outgoing board should collaborate on the event, as it is the “most important publicity event for STaG” (M. O’Neill).

Some more key points were decided upon:

• The SRC Tent is a very poor venue, but we cannot sever our ties with the SRC and it is a central and atmospheric venue.
• We should have a Freshers’ Week plan in place before everyone leaves for summer.
• We should be more creative and imaginative with our ideas; it is not just about the plays.
• We should make it a project for the First Year Board Reps as they will be around much longer than the outgoing board.
• Flyering in halls receive a positive reception, but we need to show a better cross-section of our society to display that we are a welcoming, inclusive society.
• We should be involved in Refreshers’ Week, to obtain non- Fresher members.

These criticisms should all being taken into account when we begin to plan Freshers’ Week, but H. Sloan stated that this will not really be relevant until next semester.

4. Feedback

K. Nesbitt was concerned, from previous experience, that there is not a formal avenue for giving a ‘proposer’ feedback. It was agreed that constructive criticism should be given to everyone who is proposing. R. Jones suggested that it could be the job of the secretary to take notes during discussion. P. Mannion agreed and said she would mock-up an all-purpose form that can be used as a model.

L. Fenwick jumped in with some other business:

She is meeting with H. Sloan to sort out the Awards For All funding application. Also she added that schools were very excited about the project.

5. STaG Nights

R. Jones has contacted some clubs and societies at the university that might be interested in GUAVA! A theme will be decided at tonight’s meeting of ‘STaG (K)nights’ and the call for submissions is Friday 9^th October. A proposal form is being worked upon.

6. AOB

T. Wilkins – wanted to check up on E. Wisker being reimbursed for stolen property in the STaG Room (£35). It has been agreed upon that she will receive this money back, but that this is the last time the board are handing out money for stolen property. STaG can take no responsibility in items that are stolen or go missing in the STaG Room – a sign should be put up.

K. Nesbitt – found the ‘memberisation’ equipment, and we received more new members over the weekend.

M. O’Neill – please ensure that is you are emailing departmental secretary that is passes through the publicity officer. Also there was a request to settle the £10 owed at the Copy and Print shop.

F. Andrew – requested that booking sheets are put up. H. Sloan will do this, as J. Dyer is not present. There will also be a Freshers’ Week debrief at 4pm on Thursday, in a venue TBT (to be texted).

S. Gregson – it has been agreed upon that the New Talent Play will have no money, unless an item is agreed upon by the board.

T. MacKay – please tell people about the Tech Meeting tomorrow.

Many thanks.

Philippa.

Minutes: 14th September 2009 (Executive Board)

In attendance: H. Sloan, R. Jones, A. Blundell, S. Gregson, P. Mannion

1. Finance
The financial situation looks bad, but it should be fine.
Freshers’ Week budget - £50
Agreed upon with £3 Membership fees for Freshers – should bring our revenue up.
The Bedlam Theatre has yet to send the takings from the Fringe.
The Fringe will probably lose us about £1000 – we missed out on Awards For All funding and the Express Grant.

2. Summer Steele
We should expect that we will not get the money back, but we still want to pursue it.
P. Mannion said she will try and email her soon, and if we can get her address, then we can write to her – maybe pursue taking her to the small claims court again.
R. Jones suggested that we could try and get some of the money back.

3. Mystery £700
S. Gregson is still pursuing the mystery £700 that the university sent us in January. H. Sloan suggested that it might be the G12 production fund, but it is still unclear. We also cannot cash the cheque because it has ‘STaG Night’ not ‘STaG. S. Gregson is on the case

4. Defining our Roles
H. Sloan wanted to ensure everyone on the Exec understood what was expected of them.

- R. JONES (Vice President in charge of Festivals) – mainly intra-university communications, Edinburgh – St. Andrews – Glasgow Theatre circuit. We want to strengthen ties. We have lots of opportunities to send performances to different venues, but R. Jones wants to use STaG Nights as a base for that. Also, Bedlam have offered a slot at a New Writing Festival in January, which might be a good connection.

- A. BLUNDELL (Vice President in charge of Studio) – She has set up a meeting with Vicky Price to potentially book the Studio, and if it is not available, J. Dyer and A. Blundell will have a search for venues. We are buying lights – need to speak to T. MacKay about insurance and somewhere to store them – P. Mannion will ask the SRC if they have storage facilities that will be secure.

- P. MANNION (General Secretary) – keeping everyone in touch with minutes, encourage the website to be created, making sure that we are well documented, affiliating with the unions and the SRC, making sure that we keep on top of administration and any other general business. Also, attempting to archive the society and create a ‘wiki’.

- S. GREGSON (Financial Secretary) – monetary responsibilities. Budgeting.

- H. SLOAN (President) – make sure everything in the society that is supposed to be happening is happening, being the public face of the society, running board meetings

5. AOB
P. Mannion will draw up a Director’s Pack for all new directors.
There will possibly be a New Talent Pack.
There is a need to update proposal forms, but A. Blundell and P. Mannion will carry this out.

Minutes: 14th September 2009

In attendance: H. Sloan, R. Jones, A. Blundell, S. Gregson, P. Mannion, M. O’Neill, L. Fenwick, F. Andrew, A. Ralston

Apologies: J. Dyer, K. Nesbitt, T. MacKay.

Welcome Back!

Agenda
1. Fringe
2. Freshers’ Week
3. New Talent Play
4. Community Theatre Primary Schools Proposal
5. Board Trip
6. AOB


1. Fringe
Everyone was generally very enthusiastic, but it agreed it will be useful to build on ideas from this year and years previous. P. Mannion will meet with Fringe people and write out some constructive criticism for next year. F. Andrew suggested trying different venues, but ties with the Bedlam Theatre and EUTC cannot be ignored in the decision-making process. It was suggested that maybe we could try a week at the Fringe. Publicity this year was very good, and we should keep building on the years previous, audience numbers were very positive.

2. Freshers’ Week
Freshers’ Week is going well. The visit to Murano Student Flats was a very useful tool in making Freshers feel welcome into the society. Rota for the stall had been worked out, ensuring that a Board Member was present at all times. There is a plan to rearrange the STaG Room for the showcase. Please plug the Wild Goose Chase – Glasgow Guardian were very excited by the prospect. M. O’Neill suggested a Freshers’ Week post-mortem, which will be discussed in a few meetings, to reflect on the positives and negatives of Freshers’ Week and obtaining new members.

3. New Talent Play
Billed as a mixed bag, two nights of New Talent and new members – please encourage people to audition. We have booked Qudos for the 11th and 12th of October, with Qudos until 1am on the Monday for the aftershow party! There are seven proposals from Philippa Mannion, Hannah MacKenzie, Hannah McCormack, Ben Watson, Luke Mason & James Cathcart, Katherine Nesbitt and Matt Griffin.

4. Community Theatre Primary Schools Proposal
L. Fenwick has proposed workshops for Primary Schools, as part of her course at the RSAMD. Hoping to start after the October Break at about three or four Primary Schools, with a few STaG members who are interested. The budget was agreed at £100, but L. Fenwick is going to apply for a community grant to try and get some financial assistance as money is tight. All were agreed that is it is an excellent idea and should go ahead. M. O’Neill said it would excellent publicity if people who were doing the workshops could be interviewed by Guardian, Qmunicate etc.

5. Board Trip
It has officially been changed and will now be on the 17th – 18th October, provisionally. This is the weekend after the New Talent Play and the week before Peribanez. We are to encourage the new board members to attend.

6. AOB
L. Fenwick – is going to set up a community blog, that will be linked to the website, when that is up and running.

H. Sloan – block bookings at the QMU will be arranged and at present J. Dyer and A. Ralston are the two people allowed to book rooms at the QMU.

R. Jones – still looking out for STaG Nights committee members, so please get in touch, and spread the word around that STaG Nights will need a Floor Manager.

M. O’Neill – The publicity committee have met for the first time, and there was a rundown of what was discussed – website set up through wordpress.com hopefully, using everything to our full advantage, Glasgow Guardian – using them, finding photographers, having a standard model for all our posters and flyers, targeted flyering at lectures, faculties, discussions about tactics for Peribanez.

That’s it, see you next week.