UBMC Annual General Meeting!

It's just 3 weeks until the one of the biggest, most exciting events in the UBMC calendar (or any other calendar for that matter), the UBMC AGM!!! This is your chance to vote for who you want running the club this year, or to run for any of the amazing committee positions on offer. It's a great chance to have a say in the future of the club, and if that hasn't already sold it there will be competitions, a curry, and if shitson gets his way maybe even a raffle!

How does the AGM work?

The AGM starts at 6pm on Wednesday 14th March, and lasts a little while so bringing snacks/beer is recommended! Despite its length it is loads of fun, and we’ll be going to a curry afterwards if you’re not already convinced. There will be a couple of presentations recapping the past year, and a competition for the design of hoodies and beaters (send designs to [email protected]) as well as the results of the photo comp (send pics to [email protected]). This will then be followed by the elections!

How do I run for a committee position?

If you want to run for a position at the AGM then you’ll want to follow these steps:

1) Read the role descriptions below and decide which you’d like to run for! – Don’t worry if you don’t get voted into your first choice of role, if you’re mega keen to be on committee you can run for multiple roles on the night! Any UBMC member can run for any position, so don’t be put off!

2) Talk to the suggested people at the end of the role description about what that role involves specifically, and any past/present committee members about committee life in general! You need to be sure of what you’re committee-ing too!

3) Come along to the Open Committee Meeting on Tuesday 7th March – This is a great opportunity to experience committee life first hand before the AGM. Don’t worry if you can’t make it though, it won’t be counted against you at the AGM!

4) You’ll need to prepare a short speech covering why you want to run including why you’re going for that position and what makes you great for it (although this can be as serious or winged-it as you like!). For the executive positions (President, Vice-President, Secretary & Treasurer) you’ll probably want to say a bit more about why you’ll be good for that particular role!

5) Find someone to nominate you on the night, as well as a seconder for the nomination – While this might sound scary don’t be put off, just ask a friend to shout out your nomination and there’s always plenty of willing seconders on the night!

6) After all candidates for a role have given their speeches you’ll have to answer questions from the audience – Each question will be asked to every candidate so don’t worry about getting unfairly difficult questions (or difficult questions full stop, executive roles generally get more serious questions but the majority of questions for non-exec roles will be similar to “What’s your favourite animal and why?”!)

7) The candidates will be asked to leave the room and following a brief discussion period votes will be cast, the candidates will be fetched from outside and the new committee member(s) will be announced!

Committee Positions

All the committee positions come with some general responsibilities, as well as those specific to your role. Committee are expected to supervise at redpoint and lead on trips, as well as having good attendance at club events and committee meetings. Every committee member also runs one trip.

President

As President your workload is basically split into two parts: managing the committee and club, and acting as a spokesperson for the club.For the first part you should be prepared to chair committee meetings, support other committee members in their roles and attempt to keep the club running smoothly. For the second bit you need to maintain positive links with the MAM and university, as well as any other organisations you encounter such as climbing centres.

A good understanding of how the committee and club function is very useful, as well as the ability to manage your time effectively. The role is incredibly rewarding, and gives you the chance to push the club in the direction you see fit, as well as get to know everyone in the club, but does come with quite a significant workload.

Talk to: Ed, Alex W

Vice President

If you’re the kind of selfless angel who wants to manage the best club in the University and then let the president take all the credit, then this role is for you! In seriousness, the role will keep you busy organising summer trip, the annual hoodie and fleece orders, all of the relevant training for committee, and generally keeping an eye out for the health and safety of the club! While a lot of the work for VP typically occurs before first term even starts you’ll spend the rest of your time on committee being a reliable face, helping out at events and ensuring everything runs smoothly. A good knowledge of how a club is run goes a long way and an appreciation of the unique challenges that we face as a mountaineering club will only add to that. Taking on this role, you’ll also be keeping an eye on your president and all other committee members, ready to lend a hand where necessary. A recent extension to the role involves keeping any ex-VPs up to date on all the club gossip xoxo.
VP can feel like a demanding role at times, but with good personal management you’ll find it to be a hugely rewarding leadership position and, most importantly, great fun!!

Talk to: George, John Luckett

Secretary
As secretary, the main role is to record each of the committee meetings minutes, as well as those for the AGM. As the clubs contact to the BMC, it is also up to the secretary collect and submit the insurance information from all members and ensure trip participants lists contain everyone's necessary details. Another important part is overseeing UBMCs main email address and ensuring all emails reach the right people.

Talk to: Tom D, Maggie

Treasurer

Being on committee is hugely rewarding, and treasurer is the best! As treasurer you have to plan for the long and short term and keep track of the accounts with the Guild and the Sports Centre. Your main job is applying for external funding from grants and making sure we have enough money for gear, insurance, trips and training. You should help the committee with trip budgeting and generally keep an eye on the club spends.

A treasurer should be enthusiastic and organised above all else. Knowing how to use a spreadsheet helps (nothing fancy required) as does being able to write a good application for funding!

Talk to: Fergal, Piers Allen

Social Sec

Who doesn’t love a social sec? You’ll get to be involved in so many aspects of the club, from
teaching at Redpoint to organising trips! The social secs are responsible for organising the
two biggest (and best) trips of the year; Stanage and Annual Dinner! This involves getting to
know both the old gits and the MAM, so gives you a great opportunity to get involved in
organisations wider than UBMC. But of course your main job is to plan the fortnightly
socials! These can be as wacky and as wild as you want, so the more ideas you have for
costumes, themes, venues and activities the better!
You’ll need good commitment and organisation for this role, but the pay-out is huge, and
you’ll definitely get to know absolutely everyone in the club! So if you fancy planning
awesome socials, running fun trips and love a good chat then this is the position for you!

Talk to: Tom shitson, Alex Howe

Gear Sec

If just hearing the sound of hexes jungling in the wind puts a smile of your face, and seeing a beautifully coiled rope improves the view at a crag enormously then gear sec just might be for you! You and your partner in crime will be responsible for maintaining, signing out and collecting all of the clubs equipment! that means having and integral role at weekly redpoints, outdoor trips and any requests from members asking to borrow gear on personal trips. You’ll also be responsible for buying a shiny new rack, ropes and all other gear for the club at the end of your service! If your not entirely sure what on earth a rack is or how you go about coiling a rope that’s no worries at all you just need to be willing to learn, we can teach you everything you need to know!

Talk to: Holly, Lily, George, Nick, Alex W or John Luckett.

Team Sec

(Editor's note: In true Team Sec style, Campbell just sent me a list of bullet points...)

As a Team Sec you will be expected to:
Budget the team
Get a team coach
Organise team trails
Pick team
Organise entry and transport to comps
Organise friendly comps

Talk to: Campbell, A.dam R-W

Mountain Sec

Do you like mountains? Always up for a gnarly time? Are you in love with type 2 fun? Looks like Mountain Sec could be your dream role.
Primarily Mountain Sec organises and runs the best trip of the year. The Scotland trip involves a week in the Cairngorms with all the excitement of mixed Scottish Winter mountaineering and climbing with a dash (or a dram if you will!) of Scottish culture.
Alongside Scotland you’ll also have a few other responsibilities such as organising exciting and informative talks to promote winter mountaineering and alpinism to club members. With all this paperwork you need to be organised! Another important quality of a good mountain sec is enthusiasm. You’ll need to be able to raise psych for Scotland throughout the year whilst fulfilling all the general committee tasks such as running Redpoint sessions as well as a few “traditional” duties.

Talk to : Alex D-L, Ed

Media Sec

Are you a fan of the Gram? Are websites your jam? Maybe Media Secretary is for you! This role includes promoting the club through Instagram, Twitter?? and whatever other means you fancy. It also involves managing the forum and the Facebook group and advertising the club anyway you can.
You will be in charge of the challenging task of getting the rest of committee’s trip reports and posting them on the web. The role also means being chief photographer/in charge of stealing other people’s sweet sweet climbing photos (with permission of course) and showing them off. Organise a photo competition or a naked calendar if you really want to spice up the role!

Talk to: Nicole, Joe Ramsay