2018-10-10 Committee Meeting Minutes
Present:
- Bruce Turner (Building Supervisor)
- Adam Powrie (DoES)
- Paul Lancaster (SSC Entertainments Convenor)
- Lucy Brook (Entertainment Space Manager - Deputy Head)
- Spencer Percival (Secretary)
- Will Thompson (Performance Space Manager)
- Tom Groves (Technical Coordinator)
- Polina Sevastyanova (Social Secretary)
- Natasha Maurer (Technical Coordinator) - 16:25
Meeting begins: 16:01
Previous minutes accepted.
Events:
- Run-through of events
- Tonight
- The building will be trialling the DJ being in Club 601, not Main Bar, and having the partition open – basically a ‘big Main Bar’
- Tuesday 16th
- Internship Speed Dating event in Beacon
- Adam will sort out projector
- Wednesday 17th
- Music is Love have not come to Users’ so they will not be getting assistance from us
- Science and Technology Fair will send information to Bruce and he will forward that to us
- Discussions about why Music Is Love live lounges are not happening anymore
- Different people have enquired and no one has been able to find an answer
- RockSoc know how to setup for their events and are provided with equipment buy the porters, so we are no longer required
- The Union shuts for Raisin Sunday
- Events can only be spoken about outside of the committee after they have been posted on social media
Equipment:
- Please don’t mess with the lights for Rabbit Hole
- Paul to set up the camera for the Darts event, tonight
- Will Bindi be charged for damages?
- Security has not filled in a report and was not aware of any incidents
- Bindi and associated societies will be dealt with for their conduct by Adam
Other:
- Polina has requested a bar tab for a social next Thursday
- Adam has agreed
- We will support other societies as long as they ask for our help and provide us with details of what they would like – Paul
- Lucy and Will are leaving during Independent Learning Week (ILW)
- Lucy - Friday to Thursday
- Will - Tuesday to Thursday
EM Role Discussion
- Recap of last week’s discussion What the EM is in charge of
- Whether they have to be central
- What their job has to be
- There were 3 opinions
- EM should be consulted on everything
- EM should be consulted but they can delegate positions
- EM should be told about everything but are not in charge of the different sections (LX, Sound, Projections)
- Should EM be consulted on everything?
- Natasha - seems like micromanagement
- Polina - decide on certain points people control and then control a certain section
- Knows what everyone is doing, but everyone decides what they’re doing
- Not micromanaging
- Tom - agrees
- Knows how to do lights, but not more detailed things for example
- Will - specific colours are not the EM’s area, but the bigger picture is
- Not where lights are rigged, but the logistics of rigging a light
- Changing a colour doesn’t affect everyone in the room, but the actual rigging does
- For a sound example, if an act requests another mic, they should get it, but if a sound person is taking their own initiative then they should consult the EM
- Lucy - the EM should pass on information; take information the act gives you and pass it on to the relevant people
- Stage plans should be passed on to crew members etc
- If they’re doing a sound check, the sound person should be in charge
- But if it’s outside of a sound check, then the EM should be consulted
- The EM is not there to make decisions in specific areas, especially if they know nothing about that area
- For big events, an EM needs to know about what is happening so that everyone can present a united front and be professional
- EM usually talks to bigger acts through another person
- Adam - is there for bigger events to make sure we can focus on doing tech
- Act management should not fall to the EM, that should be a separate role, unless it falls under the DoES’s role
- There should be an accountability chain
- Natasha - the EM should be a logistical person
- A head of stage-crew type person
- Not where they do the things, but they are more central
- Have list of things that need to get done, delegate them, and then help to get the things done
- A structured but fluid plan, with the EM easily accessible and central
- The head sound and EM should confer in each individual instance and decide based on who’s working
- Adam - we need a specific person who can be accountable
- The building puts a lot of weight on the person who signs the form
- You’re volunteers until you sign a form, then you are responsible
- Paul - we are unique in that we do not have a paid Technical Director here with a final say
- The person with the final say should be the person responsible
- Event form needs to be updated
- Spencer
- The EM should be kept in the loop (agree with Lucy)
- They should be informed of everything happening in the building either in person or via a messaging platform
- So that we can have a united front and for there to be a single point of contact
- Agree with Natasha - they should not be micromanaging
- For sound/projection/lighting specific things those different people should have the say in what they’re doing in their individual areas as long as that’s the focus for a specific time period
- If a sound check is being done then the sound person has the say and similarly for other roles, as long as that time has been allocated for that specific designation by the EM in conjunction with the section leaders
- Outside of designated time periods the say should go back to the EM so that we don’t have instances where the lighting person decides on a whim to change the direction of a light and affect the whole event
- Paul - so you’re saying that EMs are not only being informed, they’re being asked
- Spencer - no, the EM should only be asked outside of the agreed time periods for the specific sections
- Paul - the only allocated time we have is soundcheck, so are you saying outside of soundcheck?
- Spencer - no, we have time periods where we’re rigging lights so when the ladders are out then that’s usually during time we’ve set aside for light rigging for example
- The EM and sound/lighting and projection people should confer and set aside time for each section, which can obviously overlap, but during that section the different section leaders are responsible and should have the final say, but outside of that time the EM should have the final say
- Paul - What happens for full building events like at halloween? Where should the EM be?
- Spencer - I do not think that there should only be one EM for all those different spaces. I think there should be a different EM for each individual event (provided it is big enough)
- It shouldn’t be one person’s responsibility because then they’re going to be running all over the place and not know exactly what’s going on
- Will - sounds like a Production Manager’s job if we have multiple simultaneous, connected events happening
- There to liaise with EMs of individual events
- Lucy - professional theatres would give responsibility to the people in charge of the different sections before doors open and then after doors open the Stage Manager gets the power
- Paul - the duty manager is responsible for the whole building
- They operate above us
- Adam - they have been asked to listen to Ents
- Polina - do we have enough people to have such complicated structures of different tier EMs?
- Paul - yes, but your point is very valid
- We cannot have tiers for every event
- Spencer - the tier system would only be used for bigger events, where different venues are in use
- Lucy - the EM is trusting their team by signing the health and safety form because they cannot be there for every single light being rigged
- They’re trusting in the training of the team
- The EM has to be messaged and kept in the loop
- Paul - should it be the responsibility of the people who made the decision, or the EM because they knew
- Lucy - the EM should be checking different sections before the event starts to make sure everything has been done properly and safely
- After an event starts then the EM is responsible because they’ve filled in the event forms
- Paul - summary
- Majority is aware there is a responsibility that needs to be assigned
- Are people in agreement that the EM always has the authority to stop something / always has the authority?
- If one area wants to do something, at what point can they make the call, and who’s responsible
- We can have PMs and multiple EMs for bigger events
- We are voting on whether the EM has to be asked for something to be done because it is a serious role
- Ask vs tell
- Before doors, is the EM responsible, and do they have final say and do they have to be asked about all decisions or do the individual section managers have the say for their areas and have to tell the EM and are section managers responsible for their own areas?
- After doors - same question
- Is the EM the person in charge throughout the whole chain?
- Same thing goes for PM Is the EM responsible?
- What say does the EM have before and after doors?
- Not voting on this today
- We are not responsible for changing the health and safety form - that’s Phil’s responsibility
Other:
- Polina wanted to know why the Ents Facebook Group visibility was changed to secret
- Paul would like the Ents Crew Facebook page to be used for publicity and public relations, and the Ents Facebook Group only for internal communication with active crew
Meeting ends: 17:20
Meeting continues: 17:41
Present:
•
- Paul Lancaster (SSC Entertainments Convenor)
- Lucy Brook (Entertainment Space Manager - Deputy Head)
- Spencer Percival (Secretary)
- Will Thompson (Performance Space Manager)
- Polina Sevastyanova (Social Secretary)
- Natasha Maurer (Technical Coordinator)
- Tom Groves (Technical Coordinator) - 17:59
EM Role Discussion Continued:
- Before doors, is the EM responsible, and do they have final say and do they have to be asked about all decisions or do the individual section managers have the say for their areas and have to tell the EM and are section managers responsible for their own areas?
- After doors - same question
- Is the EM the person in charge throughout the whole chain?
- Same thing goes for PM
- Paul - When should before and after doors transition be?
- Polina - pass
- Will - the moment civilians enter
- Unless they come in under setup
- Lucy - when punters are coming in Natasha - whenever the event form goes in
- That’s the final check of the venue to make sure it’s up to the EM’s standards
- Spencer - agrees with Natasha
- Tom - when doors open to people attending the event (security says doors)
Meeting part two ends: 18:00