James Murray 3rd Year Arts (English and Psychology) Running for Entertainments Officer Manifesto Contents: 1. R&G Week ‒ Bigger, Better Events 2. Cheap & Free Events 3. Clubs & Pubs ‒ Entertainment in Town 4. Make Use of Existing Facilities 5. Promotion & Branding 6. Major College Events 7. Videos 8. Clubs & Societies Involvement 9. Music 10.
Position Development
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Expand the Range of Entertainment
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College Balls
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Student Jazz Week
14.
Personal Message
Experience: •
I am currently on the Entertainments committee in UCC, helping organise student entertainment throughout campus during the year.
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I was on the R&G week committee this year, which proved to be one of the most successful R&G weeks ever.
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Peer support leader 2011/12.
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Entertainment Rep for Psychology, Music and Philosophy 2010/2011 representing over 1000 students.
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I was Managing Director of Glenpax YE Ltd which recorded, produced, marketed and sold G.A.S. CD nationally in 2008 as part of a TY project.
This gave me invaluable experience and insight in to the Music business.
R&G Week ‒ Bigger, Better Events: • More creative and funs ways to raise money, paying particular attention to getting bigger prizes, which would reward students and raise more money. • For example, I hope to work with the Parachuting club on a sky diving fundraising event during R&G week, which has the potential to raise a considerable amount of money. • Building upon the success of this yearʼ’s R&G week I want to introduce headline events for each night that are more ambitious and unique than the regular generic themed nights that usually occur during R&G week. Cheap & Free Events: • Not only do I want to try and reduce prices for students but I hope to create more free events on campus during the day, no tickets, just a way to enjoy your lunch and add atmosphere to your day-to-day life on campus. • On top of this, I want to use existing resources and talent within UCC to push for as many free, or minimal cost, events. Clubs & Pubs - Entertainment in Town: • As requested by students: To work with clubs and pubs towards ensuring Student cards are accepted as sufficient ID, and for student events, that they are mandatory. • I will push for further openings of the Bowery, which has proved to be a popular club amongst students during the R&G and Freshers weeks. • I want to continue themed club nights such as Project X and The Warehouse Project parties, as well as other established themed nights, that venues such as The Savoy and The Bodega have run, this and previous years.
• Though there is already a loyal student following in venues such as The Pavilion and Crane Lane, I would like to explore hosting more student nights and events in these already reputable venues. Of course, taking the wants and needs of their audience into consideration. Make Use of Existing Facilities: • Continuing the success of the SU and LMS's Thursday night gigs in the old bar, we have found a strong base of consistent music within UCC and by supporting it further, I aim to attract bigger headline acts to campus. • I would like to see a headline event making use of other venues such as Aula Maxima, The Glucksman Gallery etc. to provide more unique and alternative events for students. Promotion & Branding: •
I plan on trying to brand UCC Entertainments, creating an online social media presence and website similar to Trinity Ents, which is separate from current SU online promotion and is entirely dedicated to the promotion of entertainment.
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This branding will provide a reputable base from which to attract bigger acts and sponsorship.
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The online promotions for events will allow the Student Union to create an easily accessible timetable for events. I want to make this timetable available to clubs, societies and events organised by UCC students. This will give students access to a timetable listing of all the events that are taking place on a given day.
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In addition, I would like to update the R&G week timetable, with updates and information on events readily available online. This would give online updates of all events occurring throughout the week and information on each event.
Major College Events:
• The success of Freshers Week and R&G Week, have been rising for years. Through campaigning and talking with fellow students, there is a call for another major event in the college calendar. • I propose putting together a music festival style event on campus over a weekend towards the end of March 2014, before Study month and after R&G week. • Learning from the errors made with Campus Picnic in 2010, which had generated significant interest, I plan to make this event a reality. • The Trinity Ball gets mentioned every year, and so far it has always failed to become a reality. I will have the sufficient time to create something similar, initially on a smaller scale with realistic expectations. This will lay the foundations for future years to build on. Videos: • As mentioned, I aim to incorporate social media more in to the promotion of Entertainment in UCC. I want to make use of creative video marketing/advertisement strategies, as seen in my campaign so far. This I plan to do through Facebook, Twitter along with collegeroad.ie. Clubs & Societies Involvement: • Clubs & Societies are one of the driving forces behind on-campus entertainments in UCC. They are the people who have the experience to organise & run entertainment events, applicable to their area of interest and with the members that are interested in attending these kinds of events. • I want to work with Clubs & Societies to ensure that they are fully supported in running & promoting their events. • As mentioned, the entertainment timetable would include details of each of their events and the union resources should be used to collaborate with and support these events.
Music: • Using the new reputable and exciting UCC Entertainments Branding, I will attract big acts to play in UCC. • I will pair this with facilitating new and up and coming student artists, offering opportunities to showcase their music, hopefully by working with influential societies such as Capriccio and LMS. • There is a massive call for day-to-day music and entertainment, and so I hope to continue with lunch time gigs as well as adding more sessions to the timetable, across the various campuses, utilizing the talent within the college already. Position Development: • I will be working this part-time Entertainments Officer position, in a fulltime capacity. This means that I will not be a student in UCC next year, instead all of my time will be focused on organising the best possible entertainments for you. • I hope to make Entertainments Officer a full time position. There is talk every year about aspiring to the standards of Trinity's Entertainment. I want to make this a reality by proving the level of work that can be achieved by having a full-time entertainments officer and not expecting students to take my word for it. Expand the Range of Entertainment: • I will expand the range of entertainment to meet the criteria for all students of UCC, including International, mature, and disabled. • This would also include events for those who commute or do not drink. In order to accomplish this, I hope to work with individual courses and established bodies, such as International Development, who have a long history of hosting creative and fun events. College Balls:
• Balls are such an important event in student life, for fun and for bringing together a class and I look forward to helping courses with their events, in whatever way I can. • I will ensure that every course that wants to, will have its own ball, or at least respective event, making sure that the actions of the minority do not affect the entertainment of the larger student body. Student Jazz Week: • Even with a large Jazz following in UCC, it is disappointing that there is not more student involvement with The Cork Jazz Weekend. • As it is not feasible for many students to stay down for The Cork Jazz Weekend, I plan on creating a Student Jazz Week on campus working with the Jazz weekend organisers to bring Cork Jazz and student life together. Personal Message: I have mentioned a lot in this manifesto, but the main points to remember are:
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My commitment to improving the entertainment in UCC for everyone, across the board.
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That I am thinking bigger and better for UCC and hope not only to provide top quality entertainment in UCC next year, but to lay the foundations for bigger and better events in UCC in future years, through ◦ Developing the Entertainments position ◦ Branding UCC Entertainment ◦ Creating another major college event in the college calendar Finally, I have lots of ideas and am very motivated for this position, and
while I will work to implement these ideas for your entertainment, it is not all about what I want. More to the point, your feedback and suggestions are the drive behind these events and only with them can I put on the events YOU want. So never hesitate to contact me or get involved, as your opinion could be the
difference in making something a reality or not.