What should we do when people don’t come to Users’ at least two weeks before – discussion
Let Adam know so that he can cancel events - Adam
Cancelling events would teach people to plan in advance and that they cannot sneak events in at the last minute - Spencer
If we have less than 2 weeks notice then we end up scrambling to try and find ents for events - Paul
Remind people when it approached the 2 week mark - Polina
That would require automating the system because staff do not have the capacity - Paul
We cannot allow a booking to continue if a booking has failed to fulfil their obligation of attending an Ents meeting at least 2 weeks in advance - Bruce
We will receive a lot of backlash in the first few months after that - Paul
The Association has an obligation to look after its volunteers which fall under its HR department, unless they make the decision to employ someone for technical matters. The Association should note on the booking sheet that they reserve the right to cancel any bookings. - Bruce
Adam, Paul and Spencer agree
People do not understand that even if they put everything in their booking form, they still need to attend a Users’ meeting - Lucy
A room booking guide was released recently which doesn’t even mention Ents Users’ meeting - Will
It’s all good and well, but our biggest problem is the University trying to force events to happen - Paul
A technical assistant has been recommended time and time again - Bruce
If we have sufficient time to plan then the Ents can continue to provide the service - Paul
Let us go to the operations meeting and bring up that a clause needs to be added stating that not attending an Ents Users’ meeting will jeopardise a booking. It is in our own interest to have advanced warning to do events properly and to get a decent audience - Bruce
If we approve a booking two weeks in advance then users only receive confirmation emails after that, meaning they can only attend Users’ meetings a week in advance - Adam
Our biggest problem is in The StAge where people expect more than in the other venues. The clause should be added to guard us (the Association) against reputational damage. - Bruce
What about the time delay between proceed, provisional and approved? - Adam
To put on a show, people need to put in a booking well in advance to make it worthwhile putting on - Bruce
Our problem is not doing the tech, it’s finding the people to do the tech at short notice - Paul in reply to Adam
Bruce described a full-time technical assistant to repair equipment, pack up and make equipment available
All agreed that that would be amazing
We need to add to the booking form what is expected at the Users’ meeting - Spencer
The booking form is really bad at prompting people - Paul
We need to agree in advance about what we need - Bruce