Last Wednesday was the first OUSA-affiliated Clubs meeting of the year, held at the Clubs and Socs building. Critic was told, by Clubs and Socs Rep Emma Jackson, it would be “very informal,” as she also told people to get their fill of chips which she had “bought too many” of. Rest assured, Critic Te Ārohi indulged.
A crowd of 43 club leaders attended the event, as well as the occasional Brewers club member who would wander in while the wine was stewing. Smelled good, boys. Head clubs honcho Emma facilitated the meeting, saying that it would be a “chance to get feedback basically and let you know our goals for the year.” Scandal unfolded, however, when the feedback section of the meeting was skipped. Not cool.
Caroline Hallgarth, the Clubs and Societies Development Officer, was also at the meeting to tell club members of their goals for the year. Her main focus would be on “improving communication […] trying to make things as easy as possible. There is so much information and so many things to know.” This goal is also staunchly held by Emma, who has begun writing weekly newsletters to relay information between club exec members – with a very cute design, we must say. She told the audience, “I’m not going to ask how many of you have read it because it might make me sad.” We did, Emma!
Club members were also introduced to the grants progress. In the process of explaining the grants process, several club members complained about their previous experiences receiving grants, with students reporting that the process was heavily events-centric, along with a lack of information about limitations of the process.
Emma stated that OUSA Clubs and Socs “have a cap budget of $60k which has to be evenly distributed throughout all the rounds.” She went on to inform club members that they could apply for up to $2k in grant money every year, disappointing the crowd when she said, “In terms of food, you can only apply for $200 in total.”
Significant attention was given to the promotion of Clubs and Socs, with suggestions from the crowd including an events billboard in the foyer and a room-booking display so students could more easily see what events they may want to attend. Emma then announced the arrival of a TikTok competition for clubs (not including mukbang, since there apparently isn’t the food budget). She said that it “can be anything but it has to be club-based and you get bonus points if you talk about your club.”
Then onto the feedback section – which never came, disappointing Ski Club Prez Peter who’d eagerly anticipated asking his two questions. The meeting’s minutes report that they were “running out of time so skipped this. Emma suggested anyone who had a question to scan the QR code.” Multiple club members approached Emma after the hui had ended.