Minutes 24th October 2011

STaG Board Meeting 24/10/2011

In attendance: S. Gregson, T. Pennock, C. Felstead, A. Rutherford, C. Goldstone, G. Bennett-Lurie, D. Di Rollo, D. Keenan, Erik Igelstrom, L. Taylor, H. Bolwell, W. Foote

Apologies: L. Monkman, I. McArthur, H. Allan,
1) Much Ado About Nothing
2) STaG Nights
3) Closer
4) Stroke Association
5) Social
6) Poster for other unis
7) NSDF
8) Board Trip
9) Memberising
10) Gavin’s Proposal
11) AOB: Website, FB, Mainstage deadline


1) Much Ado About Nothing: Update- all is going well. Communication seems better. Josh no-longer playing the music himself. Contract needs to be signed by cast. A. Rutherford held creative team meeting yesterday. Need to remind Josh about fundraising ideas. Josh must run the date by the Board first to make sure there are no clashes. T. Pennock to get in touch about budget so far and get an overview of how it’s going. E. Igelstrom has cast list and will memberise this week. Bonding drinks for cast and crew still to come but Josh knows about this.

2) STaG Nights: With L. Monkman and I. McArthur missing, the board were not sure yet if posters had gone to printers. L. Monkman looking to find/rent ‘tractors’ (DJ equipment) for the social on 5th Nov. Booking form to go up on website, T. Pennock will look into this. Fundraiser last week went amazingly well – raised £369.49. T. Pennock to speak to L. Monkman about possibility increasing budget on the basis of the very good fundraising. The board we’re not sure if L.Monkman had received any information about the grants applied for. T. Pennock to contact SRC about possible meeting about grant for STaG Nights. E. Igelstrom will contact L.Monkman for cast and crew lists for memberising. Musical rehearsals are underway and going well.

3) Closer: One actor has dropped out, so director’s looking for a new actor. As no other male actors auditioned and considering the lack of time, the directors will ring around and approach people face-to-face to try and fill the position. H.Bolwell suggested cushions and beanbags in front rows to increase capacity in the STaG Room and improve sight-lines for those sat at the back. S.Gregson and D.Keenan will try and fit chairs into STaG Room to figure out capacity. This will be done asap so that the booking form can go up on the website. T. Pennock is to have a budget meeting asap. S. Gregson highlighted the possibility of getting set designers involved. I. McArthur must have a publicity meeting asap. S. Gregson will send E.Igelstrom cast list for memberising.

4) Stroke Association: D. Di Rollo will email those who were interested to see if they are still on board. If they are on board still then S.Gregson and D. DiRollo will organise meetings for Sunday. If they are no longer interested D. Di Rollo will reply to Kirsty asap apologising.

5) Social: D.Keenan will not be available to attend the social but will sort out all prep during the daytime. L.Taylor will pick up the projector. D. Keenan was given a budget by T. Pennock of max £15 to buy decorations for the social. Any board members who are able to help should meet in the STaG Room on Tuesday at 1pm to decorate and carve pumpkins. G. Bennet-Lurie and D. Keenan will stock the bar.

6) Posters for other unis: As I.McArthur was not present it was unclear whether posters to distribute at other universities have gone to print yet.

7) NSDF: L. Taylor is to send out the letter about NSDF to all productions so far this year to advertise the opportunity to them. C. Felstead will email Durham with questions about their festival.

8) Board Trip: Due to lack of time the overnight trip will be held during second semester. However a daytrip will be held sometime before Christmas holiday. G. Bennet-Lurie highlighted that board members should fill in the doodle to find a day that suits all. Suggested trips included: M&Ds, bowling, ice skating, laser quest, bingo. G. Bennet-Lurie will look into the various options and their prices. Christmas meal was arranged for Sat 10th Dec at D.Di Rollo’s flat.

9) Memberising: The board discussed whether STaG should memberise people who attend workshops and groups such as improve teatime and the writing and reading group. Overall everyone agreed that people attending workshops such as Mark Westbrook’s workshop which STaG are subsidising should pay for STaG membership. However those attending groups should not have to pay membership. Reasons for this decision: The logistics of memberising those who join clubs is difficult as many people pop in and out and may not come regularly, also clubs do not cost STaG much to run, the atmosphere of clubs would be ruined if we tried to memberise people. C. Goldstone suggested that we should look upon clubs as a type of publicity for the society and that hopefully those who attend clubs will join in in other ways and thereby be memberised at a later date. C. Felstead will send E. Igelstrom Mark Westbrooks email address so that he can memberise those who attend the workshop.

10) Gavin’s Proposal: It was agreed that it is not feasible to have a found spaces slot this semester due to time constraints. Instead the board proposed suggesting Gavin propose for New Works Festival if he wishes or otherwise propose for next semester’s found spaces slot. The board set a date (2nd & 3rd Feb) for a found spaces slot for second semester and a deadline for proposals of Fri 2nd Dec. If was pointed out that if someone wanted to propose for found spaces and wanted their ‘space’ to be the STaG room this was allowed and would then be a STaG Studio slot. C.Felstead would email Gavin explaining and encouraging him to propose again (either for New Works or Found Spaces) next semester. C. Felstead will write a blurb about the Found Spaces deadline for the newsletter.

11) AOB:

Website: The new website is up and running!! ☺ To log in to email accounts and admin for website A.Rutherford has added buttons in the bottom lefthand corner of the website. The passwords and usernames were distributed to the new board reps. A. Rutherford suggested having an demonstration session on how to post and use the website. Everyone agreed this would be a good idea. A Rutherford will ask the library whether we can book the computer group meeting rooms for Wed 2nd Nov for this session.

Facebook wall posts: T.Pennock brought up the issue of people deleting facebook wall posts. It was decided that board members were allowed to delete posts which are not theatre opportunities for our members. If a post is non-STaG related but is theatre related it should be allowed to be left on the wall.

Mainstage deadline: It was decided that a mainstage should be selected before we break up for the Christmas holiday. A deadline for proposals was set for Fri 9th Dec. Proposals will be discussed and a meeting with the directors will happen at the meeting on Mon 12th Dec. C. Felstead will write a blurb about this for the newsletter.