The failure of the Bop...finally, the REAL story.

[Craig]

Quoting Abserdman from 02:07, 17th Feb 2008
I heard a good idea at work tonight: Every student who attends St Andrews should be made to do a Tuesday or Friday shift behind the bar. I know it's completely ridiculous and could never happen but it would give you an idea of what we do and how much work it actually is. All for minimum wage I might add.

Look, just because everyone doesn't work behind the bar doesn't mean we don't have a right to complain. As many people have stated, we don't blame the bar staff for the poor waiting times in the Union.

People are just asking for a look at the way things are run. A shift at the bar would just mean everyone would experience how hard it is to be at the bar. Which wouldn't stop the complaints about how it is run.

Yes, some people are bastards to the staff. I, for one, haven't worked behind a bar but I'm always understanding to the problems suffered by those who do. That doesn't mean I can't criticize the way a place is run.

[Starla]

Quoting Abserdman from 02:07, 17th Feb 2008
how much work it actually is. All for minimum wage I might add.

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"We all live in our Fantasy and only endure our Reality..." - R.A.Wilson

[Fawksie]

Quoting Students' Association from 18:50, 16th Feb 2008
Asinine? Hardly.

I wasn't attacking the reasoning behind the slogan, I was criticising its tone. You can be simplistic and memorable without sounding as unintelligent as "do stuff" does to me. Even "get involved" would sound better.

[JohnMac]

Having worked in bars before. It is clear that the Union staff work very hard. It is not their fault that they are nearly always understaffed.
However, I dont think making students do a shift on a Tuesday or Friday night would make it better. Why not open the entire bar and move the DJ for the main bar somewhere else on a Tuesday and Friday. Why not employ more staff or have a bottle bar in the corner next to the games room? Could you use the Beatons space as a Spirit and Mixer bar?
There are things that can be done to make going to the union a more enjoyable experience!

[Students Association]

Moving the DJ unfortunately isn't as simple as just shifting him and his records (or her). All the wiring has to be taken into account, and with the number of lines into the mixing desk for the Main Bar PA, that's a rather complex task.

If/when the Main Bar is refurbished, all this could be taken into account to provide us with a much more versatile venue that can accommodate 300+ on a Friday night, but can still provide a relaxed coffee bar atmosphere for 50-100 at a time on weekday afternoons.

[Nelson]

Maybe I am being naive (I do not pretend to know anything about the economics of the union) However, surely the Bop is no as much of a 'failure' as previous posters have described. Instead maybe there should be more focus on events held at the union which fail to make money. I am led to believe that the Bop is only one of a few events that actually make profit for the union, so maybe our usual Friday night cheeze-fest isn't the problem

[JohnMac]

Why can't the union match the Boozeday prices or pound pint prices which would attract people from the Vic or Raisin to the Union?

[eagle]

Yeah, the Bop isn't ACTUALLY a failure. As previous posters have mentioned, it still attracts at least 600 people each week (with last Friday's attendance somewhere near 850).

The Union doesn't match the ridiculously cheap deals offered in other places because they think it's irresponsible to encourage people to chuck booze down their necks on specific nights. The drinks are the same price all year (with a few noteable exceptions when they get deals from suppliers).
Besides, the small amount of money made from the sale of each pint, or G&T goes to pay for things like the free personal alarms, or the services offered by the Accommodation and Education Advocates (I'll bet you know people who have had problems or are having problems with accommodation right now).

A lesser known fact about the Union is that not only do they NOT promote silly drinking, but if anyone is in such a bad state due to over-drinking, they don't just chuck them out into the street like some other previously mentioned establishments; the Union will arrange to take them home (or in extreme cases) to hospital.

Personally, I think that's worth having a continuous pricing scheme throughout the year, and as an added bonus, I get to avoid the dickheads who enjoy pouring shot after shot of vodka down their throats before vomiting it all straight back up outside.

[JohnMac]

On the RAG week group, it said that the money from the last bop did not go to the charities campaign. Is that normal? I thought in previous years only a bit of the money went to the Union and the rest was for charity?
I hope that more than the 50p suggested donation went to the RAG week total!

[ARTooD2]

Quoting eagle from 14:38, 18th Feb 2008

A lesser known fact about the Union is that not only do they NOT promote silly drinking, but if anyone is in such a bad state due to over-drinking, they don't just chuck them out into the street like some other previously mentioned establishments; the Union will arrange to take them home (or in extreme cases) to hospital.

Now that isn't true at all. I have been thrown out the union twice for being in a terrible state (not saying thats a good thing) and have just been basically dumped outside the front door and told to bugger off....

[hr]

King Sinner

[Students Association]

Quoting JohnMac from 14:45, 18th Feb 2008
On the RAG week group, it said that the money from the last bop did not go to the charities campaign. Is that normal? I thought in previous years only a bit of the money went to the Union and the rest was for charity?
I hope that more than the 50p suggested donation went to the RAG week total!

For as long as the Bop has cost £3.50, every penny of that has gone to the Students' Association (Scottish Registered Charity SC019883). The Charities Campaign has either added on extra to that fee, or asked for donations -at the till or via collection buckets.
Sadly it would be against the law for the Union to give use its services and facilities (such as the Bop) to give directly to another charity to the detriment of itself, and it's quite clear that denying itself up to £3500 in takings would be somewhat detrimental.

If the incoming Charities Convenor and incoming sabbs were to get together, an agreement could be reached which would see a larger share of the ticket price going to the Charities Campaign, although this would have to be decided very early on in the year, before the year's budget has been set. Bear in mind though, that the £3500 would have to come from somewhere else, such as the Societies' Grants budget, or perhaps bar prices would need to rise to cover it.

[munchingfoo]

Quoting eagle from 14:38, 18th Feb 2008
Yeah, the Bop isn't ACTUALLY a failure. As previous posters have mentioned, it still attracts at least 600 people each week (with last Friday's attendance somewhere near 850).

When I first started uni the bop was open Tuesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday and the bar was always open.


You could have a live big brother stream on a Friday and people would still turn up, on a Friday. That is no measure of success.

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[s]Warning : The sinner is a plateau, with moral high ground manifesting itself as an optical illusion in the the bearers mind.[/s]