The Ball is Back - but it needs you!

For years students at Brookes have been without a quality end of year event. Last year those complaints were recorded and the Students' Union has worked extremely hard all year to make an End of Year Ball possible this year - The Ball 2008!

However, the SU doesn't have an established reputation for massive events like the Ball which itself is going to cost around the £100,000 mark so there is a substantial risk to the SU if the tickets don't sell.

To this end a review date was imposed on The Ball 2008. If we hadn't sold 1000 tickets by 14th March then the event would be cancelled! Despite being way under the sales target, the SU had managed to negotiate a staggered payment plan with our suppliers so we were able to pay half on the 14th with the rest due on the 16th April.

To go ahead with the event we need to have shifted 1,500 tickets by the 16th April. If we have to cancel at that point then the SU will have losts £22,000 on an event that apparently students really want.

I know quite a few people who intend to go to the ball, which is going to be the biggest event that has been held at brookes for at least the last 5 years, but they have said they will get tickets nearer the time. I completely understand this thinking as even on the 16th April the event will still be a month away. But the companies helping us put together the event need paying before the event can take place and the SU can't afford the risk of going ahead without confirmed ticket sales.

So, bottom line, if you are thinking about going to The Ball 2008 (and if you're not then you'll definately be missing out!) then please buy your tickets now. We've got Vernon Kay, Danny McNamara, Doug Walker and Hed Kandi DJ as well as Headphone Disco.

Check out http://www.thesu.com/theball for more information and full event listings.

Sound Impact Bronze Award

For the second year in succession Oxford Brookes Students' Union are the proud winners of a Sound Impact Bronze Award. The Award recognises environmental and ethical best practice within students' unions. The SU also achieved a Bronze Award last year, although the criteria were tightened this year and it is now considerably harder to achieve Bronze and therefore our award does in fact represent an overall improvement in our environmental and ethical practices.
A big thank you to everyone at the SU who has contributed to the award this year, whether you have submitted evidence of best practice or have just been a little more conscious regarding sustainability whilst going about your normal work. A special thank you to Suzette Starmer who has been the lead manager on the award from when the SU first signed up to the scheme and has really been a key player in driving the progress of our E&E work, particularly surrounding this years refurbishment works.

Also, James Robertson and Helen West both made considerable contributions to get this years evidence workbook ready for the NUSSL audit. Finally i would like to thank the University, specifically Lucy Millard for her support with a number of E&E issues throughout the year which included providing a wealth of evidence for our Sound Impact Award submission.

NUSSL Convention 2008

Firstly a little bit of background info:
NUSSL, (which stands for National Union of Students Services Limited,) is the purchasing consortium for students' unions up and down the UK. Students' Union that pay their affiliation fee to NUS are entitled to also be members of NUSSL and subsequently benefit from the nationwide deals with suppliers that NUSSL negotiates on behalf of all SUs.

Unlike the NUS, NUSSL is not a policy making organisation and is in fact a company. However, it still has democracy at its heart and student officers can be elected to its various committees and boards. NUSSL will also reflect NUS policy, for example if NUS voted to ban a product nationwide, or boycott a company then NUSSL would not buy that particular product or work with that company.

Every year NUSSL has a convention. The convention hosts NUSSL annual general meeting, its annual elections, various educational sessions, as well as workshops and focus groups.

On Sunday 16th March the SU President Antoinette and myself along with the newly elected VP:CDC for 08/09 Di Caplinska headed off to Liverpools Adelphi Hotel for the Convention. The convention is a great opportunity to re-acquainted with officers from other SUs that we have met throughout the year. Also, as there are many companies hoping to work with NUSSL, the convention often hosts external companies as well giving out free samples or goody bags etc!

NUS is going through a governance overhaul at the moment and NUSSL is doing the same. Information about new structures and committees formed a large part of the session on the first day. I would say that out of all the sessions the most interesting were the environmental ones focussing on the Carbon Academy Project and best practice/innovation from the Sound Impact Awards.

I declared OBSU interest in being part of a pilot energy efficiency scheme being run through NUSSL in partnership with Coca-Cola. I hope this will mean tangible benefits for the SU as well as improving the image of coke on our campus.

Exec Report 26th Mar 2008

Increase student participation in the Union, its elections, meetings and volunteering through high visibility Communication and Engagement Campaigns.

• The Elections 2008 have finished and I would like to congratulate all the successful candidates. Voter turnout was lower than last year which partially reflects the reduced number of candidates running for positions. Lower voting numbers can also be attributed to the gentle campaigning that has defined the election this year.
• Despite the fact that there were fewer candidates, we have filled the Executive and I’m happy to say that the Executive Committee for the year 08/09 will be running at full capacity at the start of the new academic year.
• Union Council has a large number of vacant spaces. This is in part due to the new constitution and the increased number of positions available but also because the main emphasis of the election was to elect the Executive.
• The Seriously Big Student Survey has been delayed and will now be taking place after the University’s Student Satisfaction Survey.

Attract a greater number of students to run in Union Elections and provide access to comprehensive training and information regarding the available positions and the Union in general.

• We hope to be setting up an elections debriefing meeting very soon with all the candidates invited.

To ensure that the Union improves or at least maintains its Sound Impact Award Status.

• I am pleased to be able to announce that the SU has managed to again achieve the Bronze Award standard of the Sound Impact Award.
• At NUSSL Convention we expressed an interest on behalf of OBSU in a follow up project to the Carbon Academy. It involves becoming a pilot SU for new energy efficient equipment from suppliers such as Coca-Cola. It will be great if we could get included as it would support the constructive engagement argument and deliver some quantifiable differences through Coke.

Communicate the achievements and successes of the Union internally and externally using all available media.

• No update available on this objective

Develop the Commercial Services of the Union so they are recognised as value for money by students through establishing provision level agreements and providing a high standard of customer service.

• The Summer Ball, planned for the 17^th May will be key in influencing future student opinion on the ability of the Students’ Union to provide quality services and events that reflect what students want.
• The Line up for the Summer Ball is confirmed and a new wave of Marketing Material is being produced.
• The Ball will only go ahead if we have received sufficient ticket sales! So please buy your tickets asap.
• Peachy and Pleasuredome continue to benefit from heavy advertising as well as a largest ever number of guest appearances. The amount of money being spent on making these events special is considerable and is squeezing the profit margins. However, the extra income from the Virgin Media ‘Ave it’ offsets this increased expenditure.
• There is a questionnaire that focuses on assessing the quality of the services provided by the commercial department the results of which will inform the work over the summer to address the issues mentioned above and to improve our service for the benefit of students.