President Speeches

Introduction

Here represents (the start of, at least) an archive of President speeches throughout the years, documenting the activities of the society during that exec year.

President 2011-12 (Edward McCutcheon)

Well guys, what a year.

I'd like to start with a quote from WSC's page on Wikipedia:

"At some point, WSC will have to replace its projectors with a new digital projector, as film will stop becoming available in the standard 35mm print currently shown (hypothesised by the Projection committee to be within 7-10 years)."

Lets go back a bit, to the AGM last year. We were staring at the potential of lack of sponsorship from KPMG, as their budget had been slashed in half. Many lengthy meetings later we'd created a sponsorship pack, and had applied to nearly 50 companies as a backup. We won our contract back again, with no reductions, to become one of just two Warwick groups to be associated with KPMG. We've made good on our commitments - via the Outdoor Screening, and two sell-out sponsored events at The Butterfly Effect and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Speaking of films, we've sold 15,826 tickets since the last AGM, with the big films including The Lion King, The Inbetweeners, Harry Potter 7 Part 2 and Pulp Fiction. Summer saw Up screened on Tocil Field, with around 700 people in attendance despite the rain earlier in the day. Our 2,000 strong following of the event on Facebook certainly impressed KPMG, and is part of Scott's efforts this year establishing the role of Marketing Officer, along with regularly getting WSC promoted in The Bubble, and on the SU site, amongst more. Most recently the Marketing Team has formed, with a view to expanding our electronic publicity and working on new digital content.

It hasn't all been plain sailing - issues with keys, our couriers NFT, personal issues on the Exec, moving of the LCD screen, and a few other bits have both tested and solidified the society. We've been recognised for our efforts - both the society as a whole, winning Distinction in Best Student Society at the BFFS awards again, and as a group of 10 exec members - with the Best Exec Prize at the SU Society Awards.

We've tried some new stuff - Summer 2011 was the first term of Business Card Mini-Schedules, the Autumn AllNighter brought online ticket purchasing, and we've been putting A0s on the front of SUHQ. Foreign Thursdays was revived for Autumn 2011, and Oscar Tuesdays has been extremely successful this term.

The £25,800 Digital Cinema installation has been an exciting time for WSC, opening up our programming options, allowing for new promotional opportunities, and safeguarding the society against the reduction in 35mm print availability. Never did I think I'd be on the Exec when digital was installed, and still can hardly believe it occurred. The kit is fabulous, the quality tremendous, and we've not fully realised the potential it has. We are now on Digital Advertisements & Trailers, and have warranty protected the equipment until 2017. A lot of hard work went in from a variety of sources into this project - whilst it might seem entirely Tech on the outside, it required finance, planning and IT interaction. Tech Week, along with the Pre-AllNighter Tech session has improved our picture quality, and P2 platter finally came to pass.

The Crew have covered 194 shows since the last AGM and dealt with over £28,000 cash in ticket takings alone. There's a healthy batch of new crew this year - the Stewarding rotas were rammed last term even with an extra slot on each show, and the Projectionists scheme was roughly 10 times over-subscribed.

Then there's the little things - we've established an association with SU Food & Beverage for 10% off at Xananas, and introduced the WSC roller banners. I got to represent Student Life at Supper with the Vice Chancellor as President of the largest campus society, and subsequently gained a £250 donation towards the Outdoor Screening from the VC's office. We've now got 24hr access to L3 through card reader access on the fire door, and we've done small associations with SIBE and RAW, plus a new microwave and office chairs of course.

As WSC moves into a new year and new Exec, there's still a few bits on the table: planning has started for the next Outdoor Screening, we are looking at Air Conditioning being installed in the Projection Suite, and have applied for a 35mm Projection related Guinness World Record for Gone with the Wind.

I'd like to thank all the crew - we've had a busy year and you've all been great. To those who routinely pull out all the stops for the society, please know it is recognised and appreciated, although perhaps not verbally often enough.

To my Exec, well, I opened with a quote, so I'm going to close with one too, from a former Exec member, sent to us just after handover last year:

"I wish you all the best in your year on Exec - and don't forget - whilst Exec meetings might be long, you can do amazing things that people will usually accept if you explain things to them thoroughly."

We might not always have explained well, or handled everything the best, but you've been great, and I think, we have done some amazing things.