Minutes: 10th September 2012

Minutes of STaG Board Meeting 10th September 2012

The STaG Room, 62 Oakfield Avenue 5:35-6:20pm

In attendance were H. Allan, A. Cameron, N. Donald, W. Foote, M. Godden, C. Goldstone, D. Hahn, E. Igelström, S. Linsley, A. McCallum, A. Rutherford, Z. Williams

Apologies from A. Ciupka

Agenda

1. Re-cap of Board Protocol
2. Freshers’ Update
3. NTN 
4. MS1 Update
5. SN
6. FS
7. Glasgay
8. Improv
9. Social
10. Online Presence
11. Gatehouse
12. Affiliation
13. Annual Budget/Exec Meeting
14. AOB

 

1.  Re-cap of Board Protocol

1. Post-Mortems - relevant non-Board members (directors, writers, etc.) shall be invited to speak with the Board at the start of a meeting, and then can leave instead of then sitting through the rest of the agenda.
2. Socials/Events - if a Board member is unable to attend a social or similar event, it is appreciated if Aidan and the event organiser is notified as early as possible, so the Board's presence can be gauged [ACTION: All].

2.  Freshers' Update

1. W. Foote and A. Rutherford both commented on how successful the first days of Freshers' Week has been.
2. Socials Supplies - S. Linsley and M. Godden are to buy drinks tomorrow morning in preparation for festivities [ACTION: Sinead & Mabs], with some Board members remaining in the STaG Room to help set up [ACTION: All].  W. Foote and C. Goldstone are to buy food and 4 more barbecues tomorrow [ACTION: William & Catherine], and E. Igelström shall look over food budgets from previous years to give an idea of the spending allowance [ACTION: Erik].  As rain is forecast, any spare umbrellas at the barbecue would be gratefully received  [ACTION: All].
3. Stall - information and velcro pads shall be supplied by the SRC before the start of the fair.  Flyering tomorrow shall be concentrated around the main building and near the STaG Room, the rota shall be circulated tonight [ACTION: William] and 200 more flyers have been printed, with some to be folded at the stall during quiet moments.

3.  New Talent Nights

1. Before the auditions, meetings with A. Rutherford, the Board reps and the directors should be arranged [ACTION: Aidan, Mabs & Debs].  The auditions also need to be arranged properly, the directors to be contacted by the Board reps [ACTION: Mabs & Debs]. 
2. A rota is also required for Board presence during the auditions, 2 representatives in 1.5 hour shifts from 1.30-7pm [ACTION: Nogs].

4.  MainStage 1 Update

1. A. Rutherford and H. Bolwell had a successful meeting on the 9th September, and everything seems under control and very promising.  Today more venues were investigated, although M. Godden asked for an idea of the budget, which shall be researched [ACTION: Erik].
2. Improv Clash - due to a change in dates of SN, MS1 has been moved to the last week of teaching [EVENT: History Boys, 29/11-1/12/12].  This impacts on the scheduled Improv performance, which has been moved to the week beginning the 19th November [EVENT: Improv, provisionally], provided Jim's Bar is amenable [ACTION: Erik].
3. A Board rota is also needed for the MS1 auditions, excluding anyone on the judging panel [ACTION: Nogs].

5.  STaG Nights

1. Venue - the arrangements made with The Arches in June have been altered; SWG3 provided limited flexibility as an alternative.  Therefore A. Cameron settled with Stereo on the 13-15th November [EVENT: STaG Nights], who will charge a very reasonable fixed fee (possibly a small extra charge for Get-In/-Out arrangements) and are entirely flexible regarding set design.  Tech and Dress Rehearsals are to be confirmed. 
2. Publicity - A. Cameron and S. Linsley had a very productive meeting, focusing on web campaigns and social media.  Firstly a pre-campaign shall involve tagline posters around the city with a mirror effect and the theme question, with a QR Code leading to more information on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, alongside home-made business cards.  This should come to £15.  The second campaign shall expand on the posters' information and involve photographs of a room full of beautiful things, with the second batch of business cards being printed with performance information and a QR Code for buying tickets.
3. Fundraisers - one fundraiser is to be in the Flying Duck, possibly on a silent auction or swap night.  Another fundraiser shall act as the launch night, hopefully on the Friday or Saturday night preceding the festival, in the form of an open-mic session in the STaG Room.  Details to be confirmed  [ACTION: Amy].
4. Production Meeting - technical, financial and publicity arrangements shall be discussed after this meeting is adjourned.
5. A. Cameron will send H. Allan some materials for the newsletter a.s.a.p. and will meet with A. Rutherford and E. Igelström shortly [ACTION: Amy; Aidan & Erik].

6.  Found Spaces

1. Board Rep. - C. Goldstone has volunteered to be the FS1 Board Rep.  [ACTION: Catherine].  There will be a production meeting at 1pm on Thursday 13th September.
2. Venue - Offshore is not answering their phone; M. Godden shall pay them a visit  [ACTION: Mabs].

7.  Glasgay!
There has still been no contact from the Glasgay! Festival.  A. Rutherford shall email  [ACTION: Aidan].


8.  Improv

1. To be continued as a weekly session throughout the year; information regarding the first workshop and Improv Freshers' events shall be provided for the newsletter  [ACTION: Erik].
2. The amended performance details shall be confirmed next week.

9.  Social

1. To take place on the 25th September, refreshments need to be purchased and the night's procedure organised  [ACTION: William].
2. Z. Williams shall contact Estates and Building about locking the cupboard door [ACTION: Zoë].

10.  Online Presence

1. Board Reps - to take some pressure off the Publicity Manager, Board reps are to give updates on social media themselves, after their show has been publicised on the website.  The Twitter password shall be circulated [ACTION: Catherine].  It was advised that any Twitter contributors should be conscious of the professional contacts who may see their posts [ACTION: All].
2. A. Rutherford shall make a Doodle to create a guide/tutorial in the library on how to use the website [ACTION: Aidan].

11.  Gatehouse
N. Donald handed in an updated Board list to the Gatehouse, so now a key is available to borrow in exchange for matric cards.


12.  Affiliation
Still waiting on a confirmation from GUU; SRC and QMU affiliation is complete.


13.  Annual Budget/Exec Meeting

1. After reconsideration of the budget plan, it would have to be such a fluid outline that perhaps a basic outline for the Financial Secretary's own use is the best option.
2. In light of this, it was decided that there is not enough on the agenda to hold an Exec Meeting before NTN, considering there shall be one afterwards.

14.  AOB

1. New Works Venue - to avoid the problems surrounding MS1 and SN venues, it was suggested that the NW venue be booked now, probably the S.P.A.C.E. [ACTION: Mabs].                         *A. Ciupka joined the meeting.
2. MS2 Venue - for similar reasons, MS2 could also be booked.  It can be put in the proposals blurb, flexible venues being more of a selling point for FS instead, and there is the possibility of showing potential proposers their actual space; however the choice of a venue can impact heavily on the proposals received.  Provisional bookings shall be researched, findings to be reported next week [ACTION: Mabs].
3. Garage - A. McCallum spoke to someone from Garage, who would be happy to work with STaG as a venue.  Although perhaps not the most obvious choice, A. Cameron commented that a cabaret-style event she had attended there had worked well.
4. National Theatre of Scotland - S. Linsley has been working a lot with publicity events for NTS, and suggested that to make the most of these opportunities, theatre reviews could be written by any keen writers on Tumblr and more members could attend press calls.  This shall be mentioned in the newsletter [ACTION: Sinead].
5. Proof-Reading - for anyone would like some written work proof-read, Z. Williams, N. Donald, H. Allan and E. Igelström have volunteered their services.
6. M. Godden enquired whether desks in lecture theatres were mobile, as these are possible venues.

The date of the next meeting is Monday 17th September, 5:30pm in the STaG Room.

Meeting adjourned.