Minutes: 17th May 2010

STaG Board Meeting

17^h May 2010

In attendance: H. Sloan, S. Gregson, D. Hahn, R. Jones, S. MacDonald, T. Pennock, P. Mannion, H. Allan, T. Mackay, C. Felstead, L. Taylor, K. Nesbitt, L. Monkman, S. Bradley, A. Kane, E. Burckhardt, L. Fenwick, F. Andrew, F. Bird, A. Ralston, T. Eaton.

Apologies: A. Blundell, J. Dyer

Agenda

1. Devised Slot
2. Board Availability
3. Survey
4. Opinion Poll
5. New Talent Nights
6. Main Stage Slot
7. Website
8. Cheques
9. Fringe
10. Fresher’s Week
11. Other Business

1. Devised Slot

Operators were needed for all dates, Thursday will be covered by D. Hahn, Friday by C. Felstead and Saturday by L. Taylor. Doors for the nights are to be K. Nesbitt and T. Pennock on Thursday, K. Nesbitt and T. Mackay on Friday and S. Gregson and L. Monkman on Saturday. It is said to be progressing well and flyering around campus is hoped to increase awareness. Laura Jones is to be added to the list of thanks in the programme.

2. Board Availability

The board are hoping to meet three more times before the Summer break. These dates will be the 24^th May, 31^st May and 7^th June. If you cannot make the meeting please let someone know.

3. Survey

Information about the survey will be going in the email again and the closing date is next week. After this, the £10 prize will be awarded.

4. Opinion Poll

S. Gregson suggested putting out an opinion poll regarding STaG’s slots and people’s opinions of them. H. Sloan suggested people should to propose before the summer if possible to avoid things getting hectic when it is difficult to keep in touch.

5. New Talent Nights

It was suggested that the format of selecting people and plays for this should be changed. H. Sloan has looked into various spaces that could be used and stated that better organisation is needed before the Summer break. P. Mannion suggested an open discussion could be a useful tool to reassess the goals of this event. In the past new talent has increased membership of STaG but it was said that people need to be more involved in order to continue to increase. If little plays are to be produced then the quality of the plays needs to be improved. It could be beneficial to provide Freshers with feedback forms afterwards to find out how successful it was. An announcement regarding New Talent will be out soon. Some people suggested the format could be based on that of the Cecilian society. Others said auditions should be held for a prewritten play in order to increase interest. T. Mackay suggested that more technical positions should be advertised in order to encourage people to join STaG even if they are not as interested in acting.

It was suggested that two versions of the same play could be staged which is hoped will increase socialisation between members and also improve the numbers of people coming to see the performances. However, it was noted it could be boring for someone to see the same play twice. This would add an element of competition to the proceedings. S. Gregson suggested making the plays more open to all and providing a feedback form for auditionees. This could include tick boxes where they can state if they are interested in other things, for example directing. It was decided a well known play should be chosen as this should increase interest. Possible play-writes were Shakespeare, Wilde and Brecht.

Everyone promised to think about what play could be chosen… (This should also appear in the email.)

6. Main Stage Slot

Proposals for the slot will be advertised in the email. S. Gregson suggested the proposals should be acquired first and then the venue and date will be agreed upon possible venues are The Ramshorn Theatre and the G12 space. A provisional booking may be made for The Ramshorn. Proposal forms will need to be sent out this week. The 29^th May was decided as the date where proposals will be heard by the board. People can propose virtually if they are unable to make the meeting.

7. Website

R. Jones has begun to look for a new way of hosting the STaG website using the domain name “stagstage.org.uk”. A new host site is estimated to cost around £50 and should be a better way of collecting all the various blogs and pages associated with STaG, for example the minutes blog and a calendar of forthcoming events. The board all voted in favour of a new website. S. Gregson, R. Jones, A. Kane and T. Pennock will work on this project together and will meet on the 28^th May at 4.30pm at R. Jones’s house.

8. Cheques and Financial Issues

If anyone has any cheques to cash then they should be cashed as soon as possible. This will also be put on the Facebook group and included in the email.

9. Fringe

No meeting with Simon or Ed has been confirmed yet however F. Bird will hopefully arrange one by the end of the week. Rehearsals are due to start soon as an availability email has been sent out to the cast. The board agreed that an ultimatum needs to be set for Simon and Ed in order to force them to begin fundraising and communicating more with the board otherwise STaG may not be able to support them at the Fringe. F. Bird will email Ed to encourage him to begin a fundraising plan.

10. Fresher’s Week

This is a basic discussion and a more detailed one will take place next week. S. Gregson asked the previous board members for ideas about what to do this year. It was agreed that more STaG publicity is needed as both T. Eaton and H. Allan stated they had not seen much of STaG during Fresher’s week. This could be done through more team members getting involved, STaG t-shirts, more flyers, a showcase night, a workshop. It was also said that a map to the STaG room should be included on all leaflets distributed. H. Sloan also suggested there needed to be more information about what STaG is, included in the events list.

11. Other Business

H. Sloan offered her congratulations to all those involved with Cleansed. The takings are thought to be around £180. However, a contract from the GUU has not been received despite being told one would be emailed. Approximately 80 people came to the performance over the 2 days.

T. Mackay will be meeting with Tony after the exam period. (Not sure where this was intended to go so… here it is!)

Please meet with your Board counterpart this week if you have not done so already! There will be an executive changeover meeting on 25^th May at 1pm.

Thanks to S. Gregson, who brought biscuits and F. Andrew who brought doughnuts. Snack rota is back on so feel free to bring something to the next meeting.