What's on?

[Jennifer W]

Originally Posted by ChrisMiller

As for not being able to find any bands to appear within freshers week, I dont really think anyone looked hard enough. Strathclyde managed to find the Hoosiers, Dragonette, The Twang, Amy MacDonald, The Sunshine Underground, The Vengaboys, Dave Pearce as well as the Headphone Disco, all for £36. All these bands are charting right now, and the Vengaboys were big with 10 year olds- when the current crop of Freshers were 10 years old.

My point about the maccabees and the Dykeenies approaching the QM to hire the venue is, that the QM would much rather put them on outwith Freshers and charge a tenner a head, than make any attempt to book anyone that might remotely resemble giving people value for money.

As mentioned above Strathclyde clearly have a far larger budget to book the bands you mention and do not have to share the income from the freshers' passes with three other student bodies. Saying the QM did not look hard enough for bands for Freshers' Week is not only incorrect but insulting to our Entertainments Staff who worked very hard to try and find bands that were available to play and fitted into our budget. The reality was (as stated previously) that many many bands were unavailable due to touring, or recording commitments. A decision was then made to spend the money making our club nights amazing instead of spending prohibitively large amounts of money on one band.

Even though it has already been explained once you seem to have failed to grasp the fact that the QM is hired out for gigs. DF concerts have hired the QM as a venue to put on gigs by the Dykeenies and the Maccabees. We (the QMU) are not 'charging a tenner' a ticket - it is DF concerts that charges that and they pay us for the hire of our venue. I personally would have loved for us to have booked the Dykeenies for Freshers' Week but they were unavailable. I can assure you that we will be giving Freshers the best value for money having worked very hard all summer to do so.

Incidentally for the person who asked when the gigs are check out www.qmu.org.uk for up to date listings but the Dykeenies are playing on the 27th of September and the Maccabees are playing on the 3rd of October.

[endless psych]

Originally Posted by Hammer

I do think that it's worth spend a fair wack of cash at the start of the year to get people in the building first. You need to get the Fresher's mind first and their consumer loyalty will follow and big bands are a good way to do this rather then have them head to the clubs.

You know I can't help feeling theres something wrong in the world when Student Unions are talking about "consumer loyalty"... [/aslso end hack]

[ChrisMiller]

In relation to the bouncy castle, it was for an event last year, not university related, and not SRC related, and Im sure it cost £155. Anyone that wants it can have the contact details for the company if they should so wish. In relation about not being able to criticise the entertainments staff because they get offended if people dont always tell them they are brilliant and may go off home and cry themselves to sleep... well, you're big people now, if you cant take criticism, dont organise things that will be in the public eye. You wont catch politicians saying: "Yes, actually, that plan was a terrible idea, but Im actually very offended and upset, Mr Speaker, as I worked very hard on that policy, only for everyone to tell me it was crap." Simple fact is, you get a chunk of money, and if you dont do well enough with it, you are accountable to the poor folk who shelled out for it in the first place.

What Im saying in regard to other bands is, even had a band been available within freshers week (and really, Ill have to take your word for it that there was none, in the whole wide world), the QM would have baulked at the price, and figured that should they put the same band on outwith freshers week, they'll get a hall hire fee, and some income from drinks sales into the bargain, instead of having to pay them to play out of the freshers pass money, when a cheaper alternative would do the trick instead. An example of this was Biffy Clyro, who combined freshers week with a tour date, allowing both freshers pass holders and BC ticket holders into the event. Meaning a) it was packed, and b) it was a great success from a fans and freshers point of view. Had it been GLC's first appearance here, or had they even been in the public eye recently, wouldnt make it quite so awful, but by the looks of it, Strathclyde must have had 20 times the cash pot the QM did, based on whats on offer.

PR is a marvellous thing. Making club nights extra-special is one thing, and I think anything that could be done to further improve Cheesy Pop (if its at all possible) is a great idea, but think of this from a fresher's point of view. When I came to Glasgow, I didnt know anything about Rev, or Cheesy, so making them twice as good isnt going to pull in the new punters. If it doesnt pull in the punters during FW, what chance has it got of continuing to do so, once the Garage etc has got its foot in the door? People may point out what GLC have done four years ago, but they arent a name that immediately relates to Freshers in the way the Hoosiers or Amy MacDonald would. Its this that gets people in the door, once they're in, then its up to the QM to keep them there.

Don't get me wrong, I do hope this Freshers week in the QM is a huge success, I really do, but I fear that it will be one of the biggest flukes in living memory if it is. Expressing mine (and many others) concerns now, avoids the inevitable argument from officials, that its "Easy to criticise with the benefit of hindsight". The fact remains, that even at this early stage, it is apparent the QM could have done better. Anyone that doesnt think so, is kidding themselves on.

[raikje]

Originally Posted by erithromycin

additional plastics/non-glass glasses***

*** More get broken at the big events than in whole months of normal operation. The good ones aren't cheap.

surely you can't apportion this as a freshers' week cost? they only get given a glass/other suitable (or usually unsuitable) drink container once they've paid for a drink, and the increase in breakages or costs for disposable (lip-shredding, beer-tainting, fill-to-rim even though you can't possibly carry it without squeezing it and thus reducing the internal volume and spilling beer) cups comes with a corresponding increase in bar takings. you don't say "we need to put extra bar staff on, that's an extra cost", because it's only required as a direct consequence of the unholy amount of tennents that's being sold - same for the glasses.

sorry, this was as much a rant about low-grade plastic glasses as anything. i expect the "good" plastic glasses get broken because nobody is quite sure if they should treat them the same as the crap ones (ie throw them on the floor) or the same as they would treat a proper glass, so a lot of them get chucked. i personally hang on to mine all night, because i know when i go back to the bar i'll get one of the lip-shredding ones mentioned above...

oh, and the vision statement is "To meet, then raise, then meet again the expectations of the students of Glasgow University", not just the members. however, it doesn't specify what should happen once the expectations have been met for the second time - any suggestions?

[ally.h]

it's an endless loop. just like this thread.

al.

[endless psych]

Originally Posted by raikje

oh, and the vision statement is "To meet, then raise, then meet again the expectations of the students of Glasgow University", not just the members. however, it doesn't specify what should happen once the expectations have been met for the second time - any suggestions?

If it is that now?

If so then I suspect thats because it was changed the last time the QM was in the throes of "joint student membership" lets change all our policy documents and the like. (Did the QM decide to consider all matriculated students at Glasgow members or did the GUU have a hissy fit? I remember such a thing being mooted at some point)

But anyway the apparent lack of "big name" acts does not a failure make. Freshers will still get drunk regardless of the entertainment on offer and really the only thing a big name guarantees is that you might reach capacity for the duration of the "big names" set. After that I reckon it depends on the "atmosphere" in the Union more then anything else - aye a big name can contribute to that but not as much as the staff, security and other punters can. Beyond the rather ethereal concept of atmospehre the second deciding factor (if going by the end result of membership figures is how success will be measured) is likely to be the Freshers helpers themselves rather then the quality of the events. Apart from one Freshers week I've always thought the booked entertainment was a bit baws at the QM (although it was usually better then the GU's efforts ) but every year the Freshers seem to have fun regardless, get drunk, do inappropriate things and join the Unions regardless.

[i am rod hull!]

So there's been a big load of wank posted on here, and I really don't know where to start, so instead, here's a picture of what I imagine you all to look like.
that's right, massive cocks!

[djtoast]

Originally Posted by ChrisMiller

Bands such as GLC aren't going to induce anyone along to the QM, not least freshers, as its been three years since they released anything of any note. Music moves that fast, that a three year out of date novelty act, are hardly likely to be striking a chord with the 17/18 year olds of today.

...

the Vengaboys were big with 10 year olds- when the current crop of Freshers were 10 years old.

Have you undermined yourself here?

One of the most successful (in terms of crowd reaction) acts I've seen at the QM was N-trance, who are aren't exactly cutting edge. Music doesn't have to be recent to be enjoyable in the context of a freshers' week night, it just has to have been, at some point, enjoyed by the punters. I think sufficient folk'll have enjoyed chuckling along to "guns don't kill people, wappers do" when it came out for the band to be able to entertain some folk for a while. Would booking The Rolling Stones appeal to more people?

Yup... but seriously, and I don't mean to be insulting here, but those people saying the QM shoulda done better are speaking from a position of almost total ignorance about the realities of getting that done.

Seriously, if anyone thinks there was something the QM could have done that they didn't do in order to book "big name bands" for freshers' week, do tell us what that is.

And I'll remind you that it doesn't work by saying "who would be cool for FW? I know, XXXXX, I'll ring them and see how much they want." Anyone who understands how it does work will find it very easy to appreciate that sometimes there just isn't a huge smorgasbord of suitable acts tripping over themslves to play a union FW.

Originally Posted by fuckin-yaldie

Has this got anything to do with the lack of big name acts at QM FW07 then?

Freshers' Week was almost entirely booked before our previous ents manager left us.

Originally Posted by fuckin-yaldie

The point was the GU has Dave Pearce (big-ish), Dizzie Rascal (big-ish) and the Cut Up Boys (big-ish) - 3 acts to invoke simple curiosity versus one.

They're all fair enough and will probably do well but I will say that Dizzie Rascal is a little more marginal than I think is ideal for a FW crowd. Some people will really enjoy that, many won't at all. If you measure it on who's "better" or cooler or more current etc then yeah, DR > GLC. But if you pluck 1200 freshers at random and dump 'em in a room, I honestly think GLC would entertain a higher proportion.

And here's an uncomfortale truth: I guarantee that a school disco, or a toga party, or a beach party, or a foam party, or any one of the other over-used, predictable and unimaginative theme-night-by-numbers with an unknown dj playing the proclaimers and 2 Unlimited would also entertain at least as many at least as satisfactorily. When I've been working as a photographer in Campus I've seen people going wild for stuff that I think is just too low-rent but hey, people enjoyed it and they went back in droves...

But, yes, part of the job of FW is to convince students that the unions are "cool" (and I think they are more so than eg Strathclyde Union) and we can't just do some bingo and a quiz and say "hope you enjoyed FW". My point though is that freshers want to have a fun, safe introduction to University life, and there may be more ways to skin that cat than putting on indie bands.

Originally Posted by raikje

glasses

I agree that the squashy ones are horrible. My impression is actually that it's more to do with the fact that when the building is that busy it becomes pretty much impossible to collect the glasses again effectively. Meaning firstly that we'd end up with 4000 rigid plastic "glasses" littering the place, potentially quite dangerous... and also we'd need to chuck 'em out since if they're not washed pretty soon after use they stain and can't be used again. And they're quite expensive; if they effectively became disposable, we'd have to either add their cost to the price of the drink, or make significantly less money on each drink. Neither of which is an appealing option.

[fuckin-yaldie]

Originally Posted by djtoast

They're all fair enough and will probably do well but I will say that Dizzie Rascal is a little more marginal than I think is ideal for a FW crowd. Some people will really enjoy that, many won't at all. If you measure it on who's "better" or cooler or more current etc then yeah, DR > GLC. But if you pluck 1200 freshers at random and dump 'em in a room, I honestly think GLC would entertain a higher proportion.

That's not really the point (GLC vs DIZZEE), as stated in my earlier post.

The point is 1 act VS 3 (as stated in my earlier post).

With regards to the point made earlier - "it's cool, they'll all get pissed and have a good time"... they have to come through the door first.

[ChrisMiller]

Originally Posted by djtoast

Have you undermined yourself here?

No, Vengaboys will be big with the freshers because it hits the nerve that reminds them what it was like to be at Primary School, without any cares or pressures. In the same way we love N-trance because it reminded us of being 13 year olds in one of those 'safe-raves' that seemed to be all the rage for about three weeks at the start of high school. The common denominator with both is that they were massive at the time, whereas GLC had one minor hit in 2004 and disappeared, before being dropped from their record label. I believe it when you say that people will dance to anything, Ive seen it enough times, and the toga parties and foam parties get people drunk and they all come back in droves. But thats not what gets them through the door in the first place. Its the big names that do. In making my point to a member of the QM staff, I compared it to putting on T in the Park, but instead of booking the Chilis and the Killers, they booked a mates band from down the road, and concentrated on making it less muddy instead. It might be improving the experience, but it aint pulling the crowds in.

Earlier on, people mentioned that once people are in, its up to the helpers and the union to create an atmosphere people will want to come back to. This is 100% correct, so all thats needed now is something to get people through the door for. This is where Strathclyde and the GU seem to have stole a march on the QM. Its not down to me to advise who or what they should have done, all I can do is compare the QM with its rivals. Based on this, they haven't managed to make a sufficiently strong enough lineup that I think will get the joe-random Fresher through the doors of the QM, as opposed to the doors of the GU. I wish them all the best, and Ill be at Cheesy as always, but right now, it just smacks of a missed opportunity.

[grmeehan1]

I dont think the QMU board seem to understand what people are saying here.

The band line ups for the QMU are sub standard at best, and im really sorry if tht offends the people who organised it but the evidence is proof.

I find it hard to believe that out of all the big up and coming bands the QMU could only get GLC again...

And I have to agree tht making cheesy and rev twice as good is pointless if u dont get the freshers to join the union in the first week

First impressions and all that

And being a member of the QMU it really does annoy me tht the GUU is putting on a much better line up, you can complain about budget constraints, but explain to me how the GUU did it, seeing as they must get the same portion of the budget as the QMU.

I really do love the QMU and I want the freshers to love it, but frankly I just feel let down by the organisers.

[fuckin-yaldie]

Just out of curiosity, is this the first year in memory that the QM have failed to find big name acts for FW?

[endless psych]

Originally Posted by fuckin-yaldie

Just out of curiosity, is this the first year in memory that the QM have failed to find big name acts for FW?

Not by any stretch of the imagination depends how long your memory is though.

[fuckin-yaldie]

Originally Posted by grmeehan1

And I have to agree tht making cheesy and rev twice as good is pointless if u dont get the freshers to join the union in the first week

To be honest, making it "twice as good" is a relatively fruitless task given that the freshers won't have the experience of a normal cheesy/rev to compare it to. The end result may well be freshers just deciding that normal cheesy/rev are "half as good" as freshers cheesy/rev.

I'm really not sure how you could make cheesy or rev twice as good (besides giving out free drinks, which isn't an option because apparently it's illegal).

Free food maybe?

Originally Posted by endless psych

Apart from one Freshers week I've always thought the booked entertainment was a bit baws at the QM (although it was usually better then the GU's efforts ) but every year the Freshers seem to have fun regardless, get drunk, do inappropriate things and join the Unions regardless.

Yes but there's always been semi well known acts, baws or not.

As you said:

Originally Posted by endless psych

Not by any stretch of the imagination depends how long your memory is though.

[endless psych]

The whole crux of the problem with semi well known acts is Freshers week by its nature has to appeal to the lowest common denominator. To do that you could probably get by just as well booking 'known' tribute acts as big acts.