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Exeposé
Record sign-ups despite queues Monday 10 October 2011 • Issue 583 • www.exepose.com • Twitter: @Exepose
Charlie Marchant Senior Reporter
A RECORD 12,000 students joined up to societies at this year’s Activities Fair. The new online sign-up system, which will allow students to sign-up all year round, means that this number is still rising. So far, RAG has received the most sign-ups, approximately 1200, followed by BodySoc with 760 members and CA who have also received over 600. Ellie White, RAG Officer, said: “We had signed up 958 people by approximately 3pm on Sunday, and have now got 1200 members. This is a real success for us, bearing in mind we are charging for membership for the first time.” However, despite the successful sign-ups, the Guild has admitted there were a number of issues with the new barcode system. These issues included confusion for some students who did not understand the systems, long queues at the tills on the day, overcrowding in the Great Hall and the Terrace and problems with input of society data into the system.
“We’re looking to ensure everything is smoother in the future”
James Fox, VP Participation and Campuses Ellie White commented on the new system, saying: “Students had to return to tables to collect membership cards and freebies. RAG is lucky in that we have a large committee which could handle this, but it was undeniably difficult for small societies and created traffic jams around the hall.” On the other hand, BodySoc took over £10,000 at the Fair and therefore recognised the pros of the new system. Helen Thompson, BodySoc President, said: “The barcode system made mon-
Free
Photo: Hannah Walker
ey handling a lot easier this year, with that many sign-ups at £17 our Treasurer would have been permanently queuing outside accounts!” She further added: “However, I have no gauge for how many prospective members were put off signing up by the queues in the Great Hall, I hope the number was low, and feel that as the guinea pig year we weren’t too badly affected.”
“It was undeniably difficult for small societies and created traffic jams around the hall” Ellie White, RAG Officer
James Fox, VP Participation & Campuses, has responded to these concerns, assuring students on behalf of the Guild that “improvements across the board will be made in time for the Refreshers Fair in January and next year’s Activities Fair.” He added: “An all-society consultation will be opened, asking groups to identify their key concerns and areas to build on for future years. We will make sure no stone is left unturned in the review; looking to ensure that everything is smoother for students and societies in the future.” The Athletic Union chose to continue with the previous sign-up system, accepting cash in hand payments from students. Beth Hampson, AU President, said that the AU didn’t want to make students queue multiple times as they believed this would hinder the number of members that signed up. She added: “We have always found this system works very well for us and have never had difficulties with it. So we took the view, why fix something that doesn’t need fixing?” See Comment for reactions to the Activities Fair
Intruder occupies student house See page 3 for full story