On Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 12:40:46PM +0100, Martin Emery wrote:
On 28/06/06, Charlotte Ruddick <charlotte@> wrote:
Ummm, it's a science fiction society?!
But what does one of them do?
What does any society do? The old gamesoc website had a good definition of
"society" on the home page. It read:
"so.ci.e.ty: n, pl -ties : a voluntary association of individuals for common
ends; esp: an organized group working together or periodically meeting
because of common interests, beliefs, or profession."
Seems pretty straight forward. In this context, the society (
IFIS) is a
group of people with an interest in science fiction (and fantasy) that
periodically get together to discuss and enjoy that interest with like
minded individuals.
This is further confirmed by the constitution (from the website - might be a
tad out of date)
"2. Aims and Objectives
2.1 To promote discussion of, and organise events relating to, the
Society's interests of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and other
related genres.
2.2 To provide a
library for members containing books relating to the
Society's interests."
It's also a good place to make good friends too outside of your course.
I think it has in its current state has out lived its Need?
Why do you say that?
Just showing films has for a time made us successful, but sadly with the
rise of the dvd player in computers it is getting harder for us to draw the
crowds with just films
Then don't just show films. There's a whole wealth of other activities that
can be organised. Cinema trips, quiz nights, shopping trips to name but a
few things off the top of my head. The important thing is to let people
know we're doing stuff. Whilst it's good to let the current members know
what we're up to, letting non-members know mean they'll have a reason to
join up during the year.
Anyway, it's impossible to say why film showings have dropped off. It could
be because of the low membership this year. It could because the society
has gained a reputation for not doing anything. It could be because the
films we've been showing aren't what our members want to watch. There isn't
really any evidence to back up any reason.
Getting feedback about what films the membership enjoy would rectify one
potential reason. It's not too late to find out why people avoided the
films they did this year either.
There is very little reason for a society like
IFIS to exist, in fact
I would say that to get it to become a ratified society with the
Students union?
Will we get the membership to Survive? I not sure?
Have numbers really dropped off that much?
Yes they have
Last year we managed only 26, and that was at a push?
Yes, we managed to recruit that few number of people. But that was a
miracle given what a poor showing we had at Freshers Fayre.
One person on the stand was never going to work. I had a map, I knew about
the society and yet it was pure luck that I managed to find the stand. It
was only a brief glimpse of Phill in the crowd that meant I found it. If
he'd been sat down or signing someone up, I'd have walked right past. I
don't think the blurb in the SU handbook helped either, if it bore any
resemblance to what was on the SU website. It didn't give any indication as
to what the society did beyond showing films.
The provisional plans that I've heard being discussed for this year should
show a vast improvement in numbers.
Why don't we just file for Derafication and blow the social budget on
one huge Party?
We can have party fun anyway, we don't need to deratify :D Hmmm.. a giant
IFIS party is actually a top idea...
I don't think it's the best plan ( I like
ifis) but if the worse should
happen the uoin will eat all our money, so a emergency party plan is always
good to have.
Except that by the time we realise the society isn't viable, the SU will
have frozen the account and you won't be able to get hold of the money. But
I think this year has shown that even if you screw up Freshers Fayre, that
you can still get enough members.
Chris
