3 things that would improve the union are...

[Al]

How many times are people going have to say to you that we know how much work goes into the organising of events because we have experience of organising events? There are people posting on here who have served at the very highest levels of the Association. To say that we don't know what we're talking about is - frankly - insulting.

[exnihilo]

There's also a curious mentality in the Association, which I did my level best to break that each and every thing is in isolation from everything else. Thus an event in venue 1 must cost to get into because there are costs associated with putting it on - it does not seem to occur to people that making it free would probably result in higher attendance and far higher bar takings benefiting the Association as a whole.

This is the kind of thinking that declines to redo the toilets because "they are not revenue generating", no, not directly, but if they're utterly repugnant that has a knock-on effect on other areas. The Association is plagued by short-termism, fierce territory guarding, and a tendency to never see the bigger picture.

[Cain]

Quoting exnihilo from 01:20, 15th Oct 2006
This is the kind of thinking that declines to redo the toilets because "they are not revenue generating", no, not directly, but if they're utterly repugnant that has a knock-on effect on other areas.

There's an easy solution for that; start charging to use the toilets.

[hr]

I hold an element of surprise

[someone who cares]

in response to the original poster:

one thing that would improve the union is if they stopped pretending they weren't in financial difficulty.

[munchingfoo]

Is the union actually in finiancial difficulty?

I don't really know enough to comment fully but I would have thought that if we gave £1m to a club entrepreneur we could make a revenue generating venue and from this we could run the other student services.

[hr]

Tired Freudian references aside - your mother played my mighty skin flute like a surf crowned sea nymph trying to rouse Poseidon from his watery slumber!

[Cain]

Quoting munchingfoo from 13:47, 15th Oct 2006
I don't really know enough to comment fully but I would have thought that if we gave £1m to a club entrepreneur we could make a revenue generating venue and from this we could run the other student services.

Outsource the Union's entertainment remit? That would make the DoES redundant (make of that what you will).

It's a bloody brave idea.

[hr]

I hold an element of surprise

[Mohawk]

Quoting Cain from 14:11, 15th Oct 2006
Outsource the Union's entertainment remit? That would make the DoES redundant (make of that what you will).

It's a bloody brave idea.

[hr]

I hold an element of surprise

did Scumdee Union not do something very similar?

[Spike]

Quoting munchingfoo from 13:47, 15th Oct 2006
...I would have thought that if we gave £1m to a club entrepreneur we could make a revenue generating venue and from this we could run the other student services....

thats a very bold move to make and, while i totally agree that the venue could generate revenue, i personally dont think that would be the best move to make.
i mean for one thing the running costs of the venue would increace dramatically as the club entrepreneur would hire in full time staff at great expense.
also i am not entirely sure what a club entrepreneur would do to make venue one, as you call it, revenue generating. the fact of the matter is that venue one already generates a sizeable revenue.

as far as i am aware the drain in the revenue of the association would be all the temp staff that they have to take on due to shortages, rather than any shortcomings of the venue (this is my opinion and NOT that of the association). so a plausable solutuion to the theroetical difficulty (if any exisits) would be to be able to have more people applying for jobs in the union, rather than making bigger and cooler events.

[Telinar]

Moving back to the original post...

1) Hire some good/well known people to play venue 1. If we hired some well known popular bands, maybe not A list, I'm well aware the Union's not made of money, to play the union, you'd pull the crowds in. The last I heard, KT Tunstall would love to do a homecoming gig and she'd pull in punters like wildfire.

2) More innovation. Yes, I'm not the first person to say it but it is a fact. Don't scrap the bop as it's a helluva lot of fun and it's well set up but we need more than the bop, desperately. I will give Lee Kane (DOSDA) credit where it's due, he's trying new ideas such as the run your own classes idea, not sure if it'll work but kudos for going for it.

3) I don't have a third idea right now.

Orudge, I'm with you on this one, we need a new union but realistically, it isn't going to happen anytime soon, certainly not before I've graduated. Also, what is the max. capacity of venue 1 and the main bar?

[hr]

http://telinar-beln.deviantart.com or http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37105240

[Mohawk]

i have a few ideas, but i dont feel the sinner is the correct place to air them,i'm going to do it at one of the SSC sub committee meeetings, so it gets minuted

[munchingfoo]

Quoting spike from 15:30, 15th Oct 2006

Quoting munchingfoo from 13:47, 15th Oct 2006
...I would have thought that if we gave £1m to a club entrepreneur we could make a revenue generating venue and from this we could run the other student services....

thats a very bold move to make and, while i totally agree that the venue could generate revenue, i personally dont think that would be the best move to make.
i mean for one thing the running costs of the venue would increace dramatically as the club entrepreneur would hire in full time staff at great expense.
also i am not entirely sure what a club entrepreneur would do to make venue one, as you call it, revenue generating. the fact of the matter is that venue one already generates a sizeable revenue.

Yeah, I wasn't actually suggesting we do that, i was just using it to point out that the union isn't really in "financial difficulties" as suggested by the unreg. user, in terms of real world finances.

[hr]

Tired Freudian references aside - your mother played my mighty skin flute like a surf crowned sea nymph trying to rouse Poseidon from his watery slumber!

[macgamer]

Régime change.

[October]

Quoting nicolafoister from 11:27, 6th Oct 2006
What 3 things would you like to see done that would improve the union??

1) A little more open-mindedness (of everyone)

2) More events, (yeah sure we all "love" the bop, but my gog, pinning everything on one day of the week, yeah that's smart. (people go to the bop because where else is for them to go? Dundee? I think not))

3) throwing eggs at Spike,
ok, that won't help anyone, but by gog I'd enjoy it, hell It could be a new event, I'd go more to that than I have ever the bop.

[hr]

I'm Telling you.
It was the Ninja Robot Monkeys that did it.

[Jono]

Quoting macgamer from 00:19, 16th Oct 2006
Régime change.

Yeh, because we didn't have one of those all of six months ago!

Also, christ almighty! Why does every single thread on this forum have to degenerate into heavyweight egos slugging it out?

Ok, the union isn't perfect, and attendance to certain events might be low. But short of forcing people to attend events as a requirement of their membership of the union, I fail to see what can really be done to improve it. It doesn't matter if you put on a free live gig with an A-list lineup. you won't get everyone in the union because people have other priorities. Essays, Tutorials, family visits... People who generally can't be fucked going out on a given night!

It might not be perfect, but it's the best Union we've got!

[hr]

http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37105376
Exclusive to The Sinnner, and all other forums.

[Spike]

if you have any events planned im sure graeme hamilton (Director of events and services) would love to hear them. he should be found in his office most days of the week from about 9 till 5. any event other than egg throwing of course .

im sorry about my previous posts btw, i didnt mean to be offensive i just came accross that way (sorrys)

but yeah. if you have any ideas for events email
doserv@st-and.ac.uk

[exnihilo]

Quoting jono from 01:09, 16th Oct 2006
Also, christ almighty! Why does every single thread on this forum have to degenerate into heavyweight egos slugging it out?

???

[nicolafoister]

Oh well...

I started this thread in the hope of finding out what the student body wanted from a union and how they would like to see their union improved.

Unfortunately only a few realistic ideas have been propsed and this thread has just turned into another opportunity to slag off the union and the people who run it. Criticism is all fine and well as long as it is constructive!

Damn Shame!

I am a union officer and I DO want to see changes - that is why I started this thread in the first place! I cannot really speak for the Association as a whole as I am only one officer elected to represent a small group of students. But I do believe the current team is doing it's best to improve the union for the whole student body.

[nicolafoister]

Oh well...

I started this thread in the hope of finding out what the student body wanted from a union and how they would like to see their union improved.

Unfortunately only a few realistic ideas have been propsed and this thread has just turned into another opportunity to slag off the union and the people who run it. Criticism is all fine and well as long as it is constructive!

Damn Shame!

I am a union officer and I DO want to see changes - that is why I started this thread in the first place! I cannot really speak for the Association as a whole as I am only one officer elected to represent a small group of students. But I do believe the current team is doing it's best to improve the union for the whole student body.

[munchingfoo]

Quoting nicolafoister from 11:11, 16th Oct 2006
Oh well...

I started this thread in the hope of finding out what the student body wanted from a union and how they would like to see their union improved.

Unfortunately only a few realistic ideas have been propsed and this thread has just turned into another opportunity to slag off the union and the people who run it. Criticism is all fine and well as long as it is constructive!

Damn Shame!

I am a union officer and I DO want to see changes - that is why I started this thread in the first place! I cannot really speak for the Association as a whole as I am only one officer elected to represent a small group of students. But I do believe the current team is doing it's best to improve the union for the whole student body.

I am of the opinion that this thread degenerated into, not the "slag off the union" topic as you suggest, but to a "slag of the people offering helpful criticism" thread by members of the union's volunteer staff.

[hr]

Tired Freudian references aside - your mother played my mighty skin flute like a surf crowned sea nymph trying to rouse Poseidon from his watery slumber!

[Mohawk]

i'm attending the SSC meeting tomorrow night to put my suggestions forward, perhaps our sabbatical team will listen...