UCD Societies

ElCapitano

Is it just me or has there been a distinct lack of quality events put on by the UCD societies this year?

LawSoc - terrible Ents events such as Klass Party, PJ Party, Back to the 80's, and Xmas Party

LnH - There have been no "huge guests" as in John C McGinley from Scrubs or guests such as Roger Moore and John Commisky in previous years.

CnE - Finally moved the CommBall from the hell hole that is the Pavillion but still doing the same old events

BnL - Fair play bringing in Justice but, Mystery Tour cancelled, Holloween Ball moved to a worse location at the last minute, Bunny Ball moved from Anabels to 21, Back to da Bog?

QSoc - The Mystery Tour, and the Qock Party in Lillies, enough said.

Scraggs

I have to say I've been impressed with Law Soc. and have gone to a few of their events. Very disappointed with the rest of the big societies though, especially L&H who just don't seem to be on form at all at all [imho of course].
Some of the smaller socs and the sports clubs have had great nights out that I've tagged along to and had a savage time!

The_Minister

Law soc had McDowell in, that was great.
Dewy from Malcolm in the Middle is ment to be coming, as is Patrick Stewart. They aren't small fry (except for Dewey obviously).
But, in general, yea, ****.

fish-head

JazzSoc forever.

gliondar

UCD societies have died a slow painful death over the last 5 years. The student atmosphere and college experience is now officially on its last legs for thousands of students. Its clear from a dramatic drop in student participation in societies and attendance at events. NOTHING sells out after Freshers' week anymore. If anybody remembers 4 years ago, tickets for the major society events were gold dust and I even remember stories that you had to queue from 7:30am in Arts to get a ticket for events like the C&E Beach Ball. On the other hand gross mis-managment by Auditors may also have contributed to this state of affairs. Welcome to the Exam Factory of UCD

gubbie

Clubs Forever!!

Tom65

Bill Bryson is supposed to be coming for an L&H event. Anyone know what the craic with that is?

pimpy_c

gliondar wrote:

UCD societies have died a slow painful death over the last 5 years. The student atmosphere and college experience is now officially on its last legs for thousands of students. Its clear from a dramatic drop in student participation in societies and attendance at events. NOTHING sells out after Freshers' week anymore. If anybody remembers 4 years ago, tickets for the major society events were gold dust and I even remember stories that you had to queue from 7:30am in Arts to get a ticket for events like the C&E Beach Ball. On the other hand gross mis-managment by Auditors may also have contributed to this state of affairs. Welcome to the Exam Factory of UCD

I remember queuing for that beach ball wen I was in 1st year! What a laugh. Didn't even go in the end! I did sell my ticket for 20 EUR tho and managed to hold onto the rappers and slappers ticket.... which I didn't go to either! There was probably something even more exciting on! That was the time we lived in!

I totally agree that the party vibe of college is disappearing. The societies just aren't making an effort anymore. Maybe people are studying or something nowadays.

Having said all this, I think Ents was by far the greatest of all time just last year. What a hero!

mloc

I'd say it's probably down to:

a) Semesterisation -> Two exam seasons just plain wrecks the buzz
b) Alcohol policy changes, subtle and broad -> Lack of campus atmosphere
c) Repetitive events losing thier charm
d) SERIOUS screw ups by some societies, I mean how QSoc are still around after thier absolutely unexcusable performance is just testament to the state things are in
e) Lack of innovation
f) Semesterisation -> Two exam seasons is really, really **** for ents (thought it deserved two)

Having said that, LawSoc are pulling in the guests. Fair play to Mulrooney and his team, they're cleaning up on debates and guest stuff.

Stabshauptmann

Some societies are growing in both events and members, but yeah as far as Im concerned the college is dead

b) Alcohol policy changes, subtle and broad

Thats why myself and the SU Welfare officer are doing our best to rewrite it. Watch this space!

Stepherunie

The current set up isn't helping either.

I set up a society - got all my applications in - having spent ages hounding Richard Butler to even tell me what I needed to submit.

I got 2 days notice of the Society Recognition Committee meeting being held - this was after no communication for 4 months and it was held in the middle of my exams.

I found out AFTER freshers week that the society had got approval because no one thought to contact me to inform me that the society had been recognised which meant I missed out on getting a stand together.

This is now December and my treasurer is still trying to chase Richard Butler down so we can get a letter for the bank to set up an account.


If I've had that many problems just getting that much done I'm not surprised things haven't really gotten off the ground for a lot of people this year.

panda100

Stepherunie wrote:

The current set up isn't helping either.

I set up a society - got all my applications in - having spent ages hounding Richard Butler to even tell me what I needed to submit.

I got 2 days notice of the Society Recognition Committee meeting being held - this was after no communication for 4 months and it was held in the middle of my exams.

I found out AFTER freshers week that the society had got approval because no one thought to contact me to inform me that the society had been recognised which meant I missed out on getting a stand together.

This is now December and my treasurer is still trying to chase Richard Butler down so we can get a letter for the bank to set up an account.


If I've had that many problems just getting that much done I'm not surprised things haven't really gotten off the ground for a lot of people this year.

<snip>

Its definatly the price of alcohol that puts me of heading out to the student bar and into town. Bring back the 1 pound pegs and palace nights. Hiking up the drink prices hasnt deterred me from drinking on a night out,it just means I cant afford to eat the next day.

Kaptainredeye...Can the student bar serve drinks for 2 euro or is this against the law?Im sure they would make more of a profit then they are doing now if they have more special offers

Blush_01

JazzSoc are always doing something. Between the clubs and smaller societies, you could be out every night of the week, if you wanted to.

But yeah, UCD has changed - the difference between 2003/2004 and today is scary, with relation to the social side of things.

Stabshauptmann

The bars pay 50c a pint to the brewer and 1.50 tax and excise. So it cost €2 before they include costs such as rent (substantial), electricity, wages and sundry.

We have expanded the €3 pint range where the brewer charges less than 50c a pint

Thats why I want cans, they cost 90c-€1.05 each so we could sell them for €2, which is perfectly legal under our current license so long as they are consumed on site

Jonny Arson

mloc wrote:

I'd say it's probably down to:

a) Semesterisation -> Two exam seasons just plain wrecks the buzz
b) Alcohol policy changes, subtle and broad -> Lack of campus atmosphere
c) Repetitive events losing thier charm
d) SERIOUS screw ups by some societies, I mean how QSoc are still around after thier absolutely unexcusable performance is just testament to the state things are in
e) Lack of innovation
f) Semesterisation -> Two exam seasons is really, really **** for ents (thought it deserved two)

Yeah nail on head there except I'd add (g) The vast increase in continuous assessment. Compared to my first year, which was pre-modularisation, I've had a similar of coursework in this semester than I had for 2 semesters in first year, I've actually probably had more this semester. I've tried to get actively involved in a club and a couple of societies this year but the increase in coursework and now exams at Christmas has meant me only been casually involved in these and in the past month absolutely zero involvement.

Brimmy

Stepherunie wrote:

The current set up isn't helping either.

I set up a society - got all my applications in - having spent ages hounding Richard Butler to even tell me what I needed to submit.

I got 2 days notice of the Society Recognition Committee meeting being held - this was after no communication for 4 months and it was held in the middle of my exams.

I found out AFTER freshers week that the society had got approval because no one thought to contact me to inform me that the society had been recognised which meant I missed out on getting a stand together.

This is now December and my treasurer is still trying to chase Richard Butler down so we can get a letter for the bank to set up an account.


If I've had that many problems just getting that much done I'm not surprised things haven't really gotten off the ground for a lot of people this year.

What society is it?

The_Minister

Brimmy wrote:

What society is it?

IIRC radsoc.

gliondar

<snip>

I've given up trying to do anything about him at this stage, don't care..... All talk, but nobody ever lifts their finger and the people that do pay for it at the cost of their society.

rainbow kirby

Semesterisation has been a big factor. When trying to schedule events, having 2 exam seasons a year rather than 1 really cuts into the available time. Seriously though, campus feels way more dead than it did when I was in 1st year (2002/03), nobody really seems to care any more about enjoying the college experience.
*sigh*
*promises more Gamesoc-related fun after Christmas... may involve Halo and some retro gaming*

cast_iron

mloc wrote:

I'd say it's probably down to:

a) Semesterisation -> Two exam seasons just plain wrecks the buzz
b) Alcohol policy changes, subtle and broad -> Lack of campus atmosphere
c) Repetitive events losing thier charm
d) SERIOUS screw ups by some societies, I mean how QSoc are still around after thier absolutely unexcusable performance is just testament to the state things are in
e) Lack of innovation
f) Semesterisation -> Two exam seasons is really, really **** for ents (thought it deserved two)

Well put.
But I think a and f are the real culprits here. It has made life very hard for Socs and Clubs alike. And it has caused similar problems for other colleges also.

Perhaps the SU could maybe have a look at this and bring something to Mary Clayton (I think she's the right person) to at least show that the social aspect of campus life is (rapidly) dying. No harm in letting Hugh Brady know what's happening also...

Blush_01

Isn't Mary's term up now? Someone else will be VP for Students in the new year, as far as I know.

Stabshauptmann

Blush_01 wrote:

Isn't Mary's term up now? Someone else will be VP for Students in the new year, as far as I know.

mary is being replaced by Dr Butler, former Dean/principal of the Quinn School.

Umaro

cast_iron wrote:

Well put.
But I think a and f are the real culprits here.

It took me ages to figure out you werent talking about abercrombie and fitch.

Pythia

I find Butler quite easy to deal with.

Semesterisation has really hit us hard. It's much harder to get committee members to commit to anything from mid November on and the drive is lost, as well around the end of October for mid terms. There's been a big difference between this year and when I was in first year.
Everyone is very caught up in exams (and rightly so) so it's very difficult to do things as well.

dajaffa

cast_iron wrote:

Perhaps the SU could maybe have a look at this and bring something to Mary Clayton (I think she's the right person) to at least show that the social aspect of campus life is (rapidly) dying. No harm in letting Hugh Brady know what's happening also...

As a whole I know the SU is concerned about how the changes to the college are killing the social aspects of college. It's not easy thou, like some of the sabbats raise simple issues like the lack of postering space in newer buildings like Quinn and Health Sci but services don't really care. Also, eeven smaller things like services not doing the poster rip on the same day now (it used to always be thurs, but anything goes at the mo, could be a ploy...) makes life very difficult too.

TheVan

As some people might know, myself and some law students re-set-up the legal aid society.

We hasn't been able to do anything because the college is being really difficult about insurance but we really hope to be up and running in full swing for semester 2 (especially considering the work we've put into it!)

With regards to the complaint about the recognition committee...we sent in our new constitution over 2 months ago and haven't heard a word from them?

Stabshauptmann

you're grant has been assesed and a sum awarded (will not go into any details of anyones grants), we wouldnt have done that if the recognition comittee had had any problems with ye, so i think you can assume all went well.

arbeitsscheuer

Modularisation killed the UCD society...

Granted, that's a mantra that doesn't quite have the ring-to-it that, say, "Video killed the Radiostar" has, but this was short notice ok?

beanyb

<snip>

I reckon we might see the demise of a good few small societies over the next few years. We're having major trouble in World Aid getting new recruits to keep the society going. Most of the committee arent going to be around next year, and the few new people that have gotten involved this year are generally 2nd or 3rd years so they probably wont want to run it next year. I'd be pretty sure we arent the only people in this position. Nobody has the time to get involved anymore.

dajaffa

beanyb wrote:

I reckon we might see the demise of a good few small societies over the next few years. We're having major trouble in World Aid getting new recruits to keep the society going. Most of the committee arent going to be around next year, and the few new people that have gotten involved this year are generally 2nd or 3rd years so they probably wont want to run it next year. I'd be pretty sure we arent the only people in this position. Nobody has the time to get involved anymore.

Ya but some poor fools join + hear nothing (cause another boardsie *cough* gubbie *cough* kept pressing delete when they were typin) + feel all rejected...

arbeitsscheuer wrote:

Modularisation killed the UCD society...

Granted, that's a mantra that doesn't quite have the ring-to-it that, say, "Video killed the Radiostar" has, but this was short notice ok?

WANTED: SnM 4 the murder of society fun??

gubbie

dajaffa wrote:

Ya but some poor fools join + hear nothing (cause another boardsie *cough* gubbie *cough* kept pressing delete when they were typin) + feel all rejected...

Hey I was just bitter after spending a whole year not hearing from them myself!!

Anywho's that all water under the bridge... cos Niamh shouted at me

And in relation to Dajaffa, its Physio killed the Radio star... prob jealous of Stephs button pushing abilities... took her down with some form of deadly rubbing

The ages in all the societies and clubs too are generally older. Tis bad, I feel an old chill a-comin

ElCapitano

I also think the reason why events such as the Beach Ball and Bunny Ball no longer sell out in record time is that the whole novelty of going out to a venue mid week with cheap drink has gone.

There are no less than 7 "night club promoters" running student nights on Wednesday, and that’s just Wednesday alone!

Many of these "promoters" include past auditors from the large societies.

I completely agree that modularization has hit societies hard but I also believe that saturation in realtion to nights out caused by these "promoters" is a huge factor.

mloc

ElCapitano wrote:

Many of these "promoters" include past auditors from the large societies.

Cough *wilson* cough *buckley* cough

panda100

Pythia wrote:

I find Butler quite easy to deal with.

.

<snip>

I think the craic has gone out of campus cos theres more people coming from the institute ,south Dublin and there gennerally quite dry.There way less people from the country around UCD these days .....im gonna get slated for saying that

fish-head

panda100 wrote:

I think the craic has gone out of campus cos theres more people coming from the institute ,south Dublin and there gennerally quite dry.There way less people from the country around UCD these days .....im gonna get slated for saying that

*throws slates at panda100*

mloc

panda100 wrote:

I think the craic has gone out of campus cos theres more people coming from the institute ,south Dublin and there gennerally quite dry.There way less people from the country around UCD these days .....im gonna get slated for saying that

Yes, yes you are. The fact is if the entertainment "consumer base" is changing, the societies will have to adapt.

panda100

mloc wrote:

Yes, yes you are. The fact is if the entertainment "consumer base" is changing, the societies will have to adapt.

The societies already cater for that 'consumer base' and that why there boring and no fun. Society events are always in bondi or twenty one.Really boring clubs with nil atmosphere and zero craic.Lets have a few more in flannerys,the palace,the portbello,then maybe society nights might be worth going too.

dajaffa

panda100 wrote:

I think the craic has gone out of campus cos theres more people coming from the institute ,south Dublin and there gennerally quite dry.There way less people from the country around UCD these days .....im gonna get slated for saying that

I'm hurt, so hurt, wah..........



Sidenote: these days loadsa ppl move to Dublin from the "country" 4 a year to go to the 'tute. And I repeated in Ballybrack/Loughlinstown area, I'M NOT A D4-head, stop calling me one!

panda100

dajaffa wrote:

I'm hurt, so hurt, wah..........



Sidenote: these days loadsa ppl move to Dublin from the "country" 4 a year to go to the 'tute. And I repeated in Ballybrack/Loughlinstown area, I'M NOT A D4-head, stop calling me one!

Obviously you dont fit into this bracket dajaffa

mloc

panda100 wrote:

Society events are always in bondi or twenty one.Really boring clubs with nil atmosphere and zero craic.Lets have a few more in flannerys,the palace,the portbello,then maybe society nights might be worth going too.

I agree about bondi and 21. Both of those clubs are pretty dismal.

I have to say the palace would be a great place to have an event. I even like Crawdaddy, it's huge outdoor area is quite cool. Same with D2, although it gets a little too packed sometimes.

As for the porto, there were reasons behind the lack of society events on there in the last year or so.

Stabshauptmann

The best nights that I've heard of have either involved SurfSoc, JazzSoc or DutchSoc - three of the smallest socities.

Believe it or not but Dutchsoc is actually one of the largest societies, we just keep that intimate feeling going. The secret ingredient is love.

There are only 7 official large societies IIRC (1000+ members):
C&E
Law
L&H
B&L
Qsoc
Drama
Engineering (by the skin of their teeth)
(retro were a large society last year but are now down to 400 members, netsoc was once THE society to join but as a victum of changing times is down to circa 300 I think)

The next three biggest are Comedy, Ag sci and Med

Then theres a couple bobbing around the 500 mark, thats where dutchsoc is. Theres 120 UCD societies I think, approx 80 are active this year, so to be in the top 15-20 makes me happy enough (DutchSoc Auditor). Traditionally we beat the political parties but this year being an election year the KBC's membership doubled and they nipped us by 20-30 members. But we'll get em at refreshers day!!

mloc

so societies eh?

anyone know the story is in other colleges, if they are feeling a similar burden? Even from what I've heard about trinity it doesn't seem as much fun anymore.

hullaballoo

Right, the next person to reply off-topic in this thread is getting a good banning.

Please don't derail another thread like this.

hullaballoo

Oh, btw, I removed those posts to a separate thread, so you can continue your debate there.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055026756

Stabshauptmann

from what I can tell Trinnity is just Hist Vs The Phil, small societies dont do a whole lot.

jimi_t

hullaballoo wrote:

Right, the next person to reply off-topic in this thread is getting a good banning.

Please don't derail another thread like this.

??? Why was my post removed - thought it was perfectly on-topic?

hullaballoo

I moved 38 posts in one go, I'm doing finals, I didn't have time to scrutinise the detail of every post.

It's in the other thread anyway.

Technically, I should be banning you for posting off topic in this thread. Next time you want to take issue with me, PM me.

elmyra

ElCapitano wrote:

Is it just me or has there been a distinct lack of quality events put on by the UCD societies this year?

LawSoc - terrible Ents events such as Klass Party, PJ Party, Back to the 80's, and Xmas Party

LnH - There have been no "huge guests" as in John C McGinley from Scrubs or guests such as Roger Moore and John Commisky in previous years.

CnE - Finally moved the CommBall from the hell hole that is the Pavillion but still doing the same old events

BnL - Fair play bringing in Justice but, Mystery Tour cancelled, Holloween Ball moved to a worse location at the last minute, Bunny Ball moved from Anabels to 21, Back to da Bog?

QSoc - The Mystery Tour, and the Qock Party in Lillies, enough said.

John C. McGinley was a LawSoc guest.

There are a couple of big ones lined up for the 2nd term- Patrick Stewart (I will have to be forcibly kept away from him- I am such a nerdy trekkie), Dewey from Malcolm in the Middle, couple of other too, they're just the ones I'm very overly excited about.

As people said, S&M hasn't been too helpful to societies, it's frustrating because I know that a lot of us are still putting the work in and when you do have what's shaping up to be a good debate it's disappointing to have a low turnout. Maybe we should try topless debating or somethin'.

Easygainer

ElCapitano wrote:

Is it just me or has there been a distinct lack of quality events put on by the UCD societies this year?

LawSoc - terrible Ents events such as Klass Party, PJ Party, Back to the 80's, and Xmas Party

LnH - There have been no "huge guests" as in John C McGinley from Scrubs or guests such as Roger Moore and John Commisky in previous years.

CnE - Finally moved the CommBall from the hell hole that is the Pavillion but still doing the same old events

BnL - Fair play bringing in Justice but, Mystery Tour cancelled, Holloween Ball moved to a worse location at the last minute, Bunny Ball moved from Anabels to 21, Back to da Bog?

QSoc - The Mystery Tour, and the Qock Party in Lillies, enough said.

Lawsoc brought in John C McGinley...

I blame a general apathy to society events on it as much as semesterisation. Noone goes to debates anymore. We couldn't even fill th. M with Nancy Cartwright ffs. Granted you can't expect every debate to fill up or every night to be a success but people just seem to have enough money not to need to arse around college during the week.

I don't think the alcohol policy is too much to blame. If the alcohol policy stops people going on nights out because they can't drink in theatres, maybe that's a good thing...

gliondar

Societies now find it so much harder to run succeesful night events too. The likes of <snip> shouldn't be allowed force feed their little business down the throats of UCD students feigning them to be UCD run events. In societys, every penny counts and its because of <snip> them that make their money <snip> by <snip> position and contacts to set up nightclub promotion outfits that has made UCD societies pay dearly at attendance for events. Look at the current set of Christmas parties, most of them chancers bar LawSoc pretending to be UCD run events. The Ents Office should be providing events to go to like they did last year..... such a clown outfit. I hate seeing the system being abused like this, good grief

humbert

Who are <snip>, not everyone here is a hack. What events are you referring to?