Pippa and Steff take a look at the Socs and Colours Balls and give information on the changes to both events this year!
Make way for the balls! Last Friday we launched two of the biggest events of the Students’ Union calendar – Colours and Socs Ball 2017.
Over the next few weeks committees will be reviewing their year and filling out applications for the big group awards, as well as taking the opportunity to nominate members for individual awards for outstanding contribution, effort and performance.
There have been a couple of exciting changes to the events this year, some of which you have already heard about and some of which we will talk about in a bit.
Simpler Nominations
First off, nominations have moved online! Instead of faffing around with emails and PDFs, you can now fill in a simple online form directly from the Socs and Colours Ball websites.
Closer to the events we will be putting up a list of the nominees on the sites. This is based on feedback that we got from last year where you said that you wanted to see – so let’s celebrate nominees as well as winners!
We’ve also included details on what happens after we receive nomination forms and who decides the awards, meaning that we are excited to welcome student representation onto the panels with one student sitting on each panel.
This student will be joined by the relevant Co-President, coordinator, and, in the case of Colours Ball, the assistant head of Active Lifestyle and Sport. The Student Opportunities Manager will also sit on both panels.
Co-President Cup Up For Grabs
For the first time ever, we are also opening up the Co-President Cup, the most prestigious individual award, for nominations! In previous years the winners have been selected by whoever held the Co-President, Societies and Media, post but I want to put the power back into your hands. So if you know someone who meets the criteria we want to know!
But most of this is stuff you knew already. We’ve had a few other questions about some things that haven’t appeared on the website so we’re going to answer those now so you’re all in the know.
The Real Reason Behind The Price Rise
One big change that people have spotted is the price which has increased by £3 from previous years. No massive conspiracy, no huge money-making schemes, the only (very boring) reason behind this is that the price of the venue, and everything associated with it has increased.
The balls, as ever, will only break even so we needed to increase the price in order to make sure that our budget can stay the same for next year. The ticket price hasn’t increased in the last five years, despite the cost of the venue increasing, meaning that the balls weren’t meeting their budgets.
People have also asked why they are not allowed to have guests and plus ones this year. As the amount of student groups grow, the amount of students attending grows. However the capacity at the venue remains the same.
So bearing this in mind, and because we have had to charge more for the tickets, we want to make sure that as many students as possible can come to Socs and Colours, and that they are the priority for the whole night.
This also means that we have limited the number of college staff in attendance. This is about celebrating students, not us schmoozing with the big dogs at the college!
Changes To Subsidies
Another big one is subsidising. In previous years groups have been able to subsidise tickets for their members. Unfortunately this year we are unable to permit subsidising, not because we don’t recognise the importance of giving back to your members, but due to the financial situation of club and society finances this year.
We know you’re all sick to death of hearing about debt, and so are we, but the reality is that subsidising Socs and Colours tickets was a massive factor that led to the debt accumulated by student groups over the last few years.
We wish this was different and the subject will be revisited in the future but for now we’ve had to draw a hard line.
However, where groups have enough money in their social accounts they will still be able to purchase extra wine and soft drinks for their tables. Committees can email the Events and Give it a Go Coordinator, Alison Baker, to order extra bottles in advance of the night but make sure you check your account first.
We know that some of these changes aren’t ideal but it’s all going towards what will hopefully be the most successful Socs and Colours Balls yet!
Pippa Gentry, Co-President, Societies & Media
Steff Milne, Co-President, Sports & Development