ULSAC Committee Meeting Minutes

12th September 2005

held at The Royal Institution

Apologies for absence:

Helen Collie, Anjali Shah, Michelle Kim (and training team excluding JoJo Graham), Jimmy Cooke, Catherine Stanley, David Wright, Sarah Whittington, Farez Rahmen

Previous Meeting Minutes:

The minutes from the previous meeting were accepted.

Items for Attention:
ULU Room Bookings (from Anjali): Work is overrunning at ULU, and room bookings cannot be confirmed until September 19th, after which there will still only be 3 meetings rooms available. Therefore we are not necessarily guaranteed more than meeting rooms on a Monday, and possibly not even one. In addition, builders may be in and out of any rooms being used. Other locations were considered. JD has looked into UCL as possible venue but will check whether ULU will pay for such a booking. Also, JD will email SOAS, Birkbeck and halls of residence in Euston area to enquiry about possibility of using facilities for lectures. Action: JD

Christmas Party Dates:

Issues had been raised about the provisional booking date for Christmas Party (16th December 2005) namely the fact that UCL break up on this date. This was discussed and concluded that people were likely to come along after/before other parties and that in the past there have not been too many UCL trainees attend the Christmas Party anyhow! The date was therefore concluded to remain as the 16th December and Mairead will confirm booking, food, late licence and DJ. Action: Mairead.

Still possibility of a theme: pirates & cowgirls? Also advertising needs to be addressed, as last years party was deemed to be badly advertised.

Battle of the Bands:

Issue raised but not discussed. Action: still lies as an idea with Squishy

Best Buddy:

Jimmy Cooke reported that the Best Buddy project was a success and thanked all involved.

Fresher’s Fayre:

JoJo informed us that the Training Team had been delegated and that the organisation of the Fayre was under control. Volunteers had been organised. Computer/projector/video will be supplied for display. Possibility of RIB at Fayre was discussed again- would be great but needs to be organised. Action: JD to email ULU about parking space outside ULU for Fayre.

Also ideas about how to attract attention were raised – wearing dry suits, masks, fins, bikinis etc……

Action: Silene is apparently in charge of advertising fliers for individual colleges to advertise ULSAC.

Training Packs:

Possibility of the club purchasing training packs before receiving money from trainees. JoJo says there may be some spare left in the cage which could be used but was generally concluded that the club could not put up money for it. Possibility of the training team chipping together to purchase a number of packs in advance or emailing club to generate money from people who still have club debt. Action: training team

Training Team Report:

As from email:

“*Fresher's Fair will be Friday 7th October - 1 day only this
year. We'd appreciate as much help as possible, although we realise
that this will entail a day off work for a lot of people.
*The introductory lecture and try dives will be on Monday 10th
October.
*Check out dives for crossovers will be on Friday 14th October.
*We are hoping to have an introductory social on Friday 14th
October and will liaise with the Social Secs.
*We are hoping to start a rota for air runs and will return to
the policy that any novice who helps with air runs will be guaranteed a pool lesson on the date of their choice (instructors permitting)
*We are hoping to organise medicals early in the training season
and are planning to have them before the end of October, hopefully on a Monday or Friday. The exact date may depend on ULU room availability.
*We would very much like to liaise with this year's Membership
Secs to ensure that all novices and instructors are members and
registered with Angela Jelfs (at ULU) within 1 month of Fresher's Fair.
This will prevent any problems with them gaining access to Energybase
and the pool. To do this we would ideally need a membership secretary available at the start of every Monday (and hopefully every Friday) lesson throughout October and early November so that forms can be processed quickly”

Action: Training team will ensure pool is free and ready for the appropriate evenings. JD will also check the availability of room for introductory lectures. Sarah J said she would be around ULU at least one of the evenings a week in next term but had been unable to contact Holly.

Boat Officer Report:

Boats survived another diving season. Minor problems as usual but nothing major. Tango has been fixed and is ready for payment and collection but will remain at BHG until payment is ready. Trailer axle mended- thanks to Bonnie and Al. £1000 GPS purchased for £160 but broke after 3 days so being repaired under warranty. Grease gun stolen.

Recall explosives had not been a success so other possibilities for diver recall safety features being researched. Eventually, boats will have safety sheets on, to explain actions for emergency situations. Action: Al.

Social Secretaries Report:

Social evening went ahead last week- small numbers but good fun! Paint-balling planned for 30th October. Action: Mairead to book, email webmasters regarding advertising on website and sign-ups. Other suggestions include visit to Aquarium, aquatic film showings, lectures from experts and speed dating.

Diving Officer Report:

Bonnie pleased with diving season- no major incidents etc… Bonnie will soon sort out Marshalling bag. There might be two further trips this year, run by Al and Nathan. Possibility of getting crossover students on at least one of these.

Equipment Officer Report:

No equipment officers present

Treasurer Report:

Money situation alright but still many outstanding debts. Club has been awarded £3000 by ULU for general stuff, £1000 for safety and £5000 for the boat fund. Action: Vicki will continue to follow up long term debtors.

Any Other Business:

Bonnie and Al still have cylinders at their house. Situation of garage and boat store raised. Action: JD email ULU regards possibility of setting up a compressed air/fuel locker so that we can store both at boathouse.

Previous meeting minutes to go onto

Date of next meeting:

The next meeting was scheduled for 3rd October 2005 and importance was made on having a significant turn out (unlike this meeting). Action: JD to send email strongly encouragingCommittee members to attend especially so close to Freshers Fayre.