UCD Ball 2013

EDmon

Is there going to be a UCD Ball 2013 ?


heard it couldn't be on campus, unsure of the reason for this.

Jello

I saw in one of those university newspapers a couple of weeks ago that they'e managed to get it back on. Everything mustn't be going according to plan though as it's usually announced well before now.

Raphael

Reasons for not having it on campus include lack of a good site, the university not being happy about shutting for the day, and apparently the gardaí being concerned about the level of drunkenness, which may make it difficult to license the event.

There's an Observer article from January that goes into some detail here, but more info may have emerged since then: http://www.universityobserver.ie/2013/01/22/location-and-licensing-problems-threaten-ucd-ball-2013/

ironclaw

With respect to all involved, the line up was getting worse and worse each year. In fact it was usually the headliner for Trinity and whoever we could afford after that. Yeah it was a good day out and unique in its own little way but the cost vs quality left a lot to be desired in my eyes.

bbuzz

Raphael wrote: »

Reasons for not having it on campus include lack of a good site, the university not being happy about shutting for the day, and apparently the gardaí being concerned about the level of drunkenness, which may make it difficult to license the event.

There's an Observer article from January that goes into some detail here, but more info may have emerged since then: http://www.universityobserver.ie/2013/01/22/location-and-licensing-problems-threaten-ucd-ball-2013/

There was a follow up article to that one in February, but its been deleted off the Observer website for some reason. Heffo managed to get the University and the guards to agree to have it on campus, and it's penciled in for the 26th of April at 1pm. Where on campus is still a mystery though.

All in all the signs aren't that positive.

Dani Pacheco

All we need is a place to drink large amounts of alcohol and dance. Be grand!

Jello

Just saw this on the Ents facebook page when someone asked about it

Hey Andy. We'll be making an announcement on this in the coming week.

Whether that'll be a good or bad announcement is another thing!

chancer12

They have 1 job. 1 JOB!!! This is UCD's landmark event. All Ent's ****ty little events in between are irrelevant and no cares about them, possibly with some exception to the fashion show. This is my last year in UCD, and I am not leaving without getting one last ball underneath my belt. They've had a whole year to organize this. Regarding licensing; Trinity never have this problem, nor is the likelihood of their event ever called into question. As well as that, there is roughly an equal number of people at the Trinity Ball as there is at the UCD, and therefore an equal amount of bodies to get intoxicated- AS WELL AS THAT, Trinity is in the middle of town, therefore a lot more destruction could be done by the Trinity Ball, whereas the UCD as we know is in a suburb and the population will be relatively contained as they are not likely to spill on to a dual carriageway and the event ends at 11pm, giving people the option to get the bus home (if they want to) for little cost. The Trinity Ball ends about 6am, with alot of drunk people hanging around town waiting for taxis, increasing the probability of anti-social behaviour.

Ents are tip-toeing around us and providing us with an array of baseless excuses. They are inefficient administration. Even if the ball does go ahead as planned (it better not be behind the student centre!!), all this speculation of will it/will it not happen is a joke. The standard at the ball as deteriorated year by year, with most people just happy to have a ball. I refer to us one year having Calvin Harris and Professor Green headlining and the next....Republic of Loose....:(.... DEMAND MORE FROM ENTS

However, if the ball goes ahead, I'll bite my lip because I'll be too wasted to care. CUZ IT'S THE BEST DAY EVER!!

chancer12

FYI this is my mom's boards account- I don't actually have a boards account, nor do I refer to myself as 'chancer12'

RandolphEsq

chancer12 wrote: »

FYI this is my mom's boards account- I don't actually have a boards account, nor do I refer to myself as 'chancer12'

opinionatedfan

Jello wrote: »

Just saw this on the Ents facebook page when someone asked about it

Whether that'll be a good or bad announcement is another thing!

expect a bad one

pancake_tuesday

chancer12 wrote: »

They have 1 job. 1 JOB!!! This is UCD's landmark event. All Ent's ****ty little events in between are irrelevant and no cares about them, possibly with some exception to the fashion show. This is my last year in UCD, and I am not leaving without getting one last ball underneath my belt. They've had a whole year to organize this. Regarding licensing; Trinity never have this problem, nor is the likelihood of their event ever called into question. As well as that, there is roughly an equal number of people at the Trinity Ball as there is at the UCD, and therefore an equal amount of bodies to get intoxicated- AS WELL AS THAT, Trinity is in the middle of town, therefore a lot more destruction could be done by the Trinity Ball, whereas the UCD as we know is in a suburb and the population will be relatively contained as they are not likely to spill on to a dual carriageway and the event ends at 11pm, giving people the option to get the bus home (if they want to) for little cost. The Trinity Ball ends about 6am, with alot of drunk people hanging around town waiting for taxis, increasing the probability of anti-social behaviour.

Ents are tip-toeing around us and providing us with an array of baseless excuses. They are inefficient administration. Even if the ball does go ahead as planned (it better not be behind the student centre!!), all this speculation of will it/will it not happen is a joke. The standard at the ball as deteriorated year by year, with most people just happy to have a ball. I refer to us one year having Calvin Harris and Professor Green headlining and the next....Republic of Loose....:(.... DEMAND MORE FROM ENTS

However, if the ball goes ahead, I'll bite my lip because I'll be too wasted to care. CUZ IT'S THE BEST DAY EVER!!

Cool story, bro.

On a different note, anyone else notice the email from the SU president? Basically outlined all the events for the remainder of the semester and the UCD Balls not on the list....

BDR

In 2010 they were told that the running track would only be available for use for the UCD Ball till 2012. So it was known by the union that an alternative site would have to be found this year.

If they don't make an announcement either way in the next week I can see there being drama. Last year the Trinity Ball and UCD Ball took place on the same day and Trinity Ball is happening on the 5th of April. So if that comes and goes with no word about ours it's not going to go down well.

Tayto2000

Given the time needed for applying for and getting the licence, satisfying planning requirments and squaring things with the Gardai and UCD, there's no way it can be organised in the remaining time unless a site has been secured already. If this were the case, it would have been announced by now. I wouldn't be optimistic tbh.

RayCarley

Tayto2000 wrote: »

Given the time needed for applying for and getting the licence, satisfying planning requirments and squaring things with the Gardai and UCD, there's no way it can be organised in the remaining time unless a site has been secured already. If this were the case, it would have been announced by now. I wouldn't be optimistic tbh.

At the same time, two years ago they reorganised the entire Ball in 6 days after the University suddenly cancelled it. The only official word coming back this time is that they're waiting for the Gardaí to approve the event management plan, so it really is fingers crossed at this stage.

ironclaw

RayCarley wrote: »

At the same time, two years ago they reorganised the entire Ball in 6 days after the University suddenly cancelled it. The only official word coming back this time is that they're waiting for the Gardaí to approve the event management plan, so it really is fingers crossed at this stage.

They had 6 days having already had a plan in the bag to start with. Its entirely different to having no plans and building one in 6 days. For example, those stages alone are booked months in advance. Each one needs an Engineer's sign off. Event management isn't as simple as signing a piece of paper and getting approval. Plans need to be audited by insurance companies, H&S etc. There are barriers to events that even all the money in the world couldn't fix.

The biggest issue is money. To my knowledge there has been zero promotion of it. When are they going to print and sell tickets? There's 23 full days (Including weekends) to the end of term. Its not happening.

RandolphEsq

Cans on the grass by the sports centre and portable BBQs. It'll be a ball of sorts.

WoollyRedHat

Presuming the Ball isn't going ahead, and even if it does, this must be the most disappointing and underwhelming Ents year to date. Granted the bar was a huge loss, but even in that sense, much of what was talked about has failed to come to frutiation that they even hoped for, correct me if I'm wrong.

themont85

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Presuming the Ball isn't going ahead, and even if it does, this must be the most disappointing and underwhelming Ents year to date. Granted the bar was a huge loss, but even in that sense, much of what was talked about has failed to come to frutiation that they even hoped for, correct me if I'm wrong.

Every year is a disappointment pretty much. Most promises go unfulfilled. Not sure which Ents officer got the UCD Ball off the ground originally but that really is a great lasting legacy for that person. A lot of these Sabats instead of honing in on one thing they can achieve promise the world and come up with nothing.

ironclaw

themont85 wrote: »

Every year is a disappointment pretty much. Most promises go unfulfilled. Not sure which Ents officer got the UCD Ball off the ground originally but that really is a great lasting legacy for that person. A lot of these Sabats instead of honing in on one thing they can achieve promise the world and come up with nothing.

The Ents officer was never the force behind it. He / she was merely a face to the organisation. It was always the likes of the background team, headed up by PK in the past few years that really put the effort in. Its worth noting that this is the first year they were thrown out, the first year I would truly call Ents 'abismal' and the first year when the ball hasn't happened

errlloyd

RandolphEsq wrote: »

Cans on the grass by the sports centre and portable BBQs. It'll be a ball of sorts.

This got quoted by the dean of the law school during a lecture today. I dunno if it means he's listening to us, or watching us, either way it's hilarious.

WoollyRedHat

errlloyd wrote: »

This got quoted by the dean of the law school during a lecture today. I dunno if it means he's listening to us, or watching us, either way it's hilarious.

That's it, we have a backer, let's make it happen!!!

Mugsy_P

It's an absolute joke that they haven't released any word on this yet. I've known Heffo for years, and always thought him a good lad, that'd do well with the position, but this "If we ignore it completely, maybe they'll forget we ever have a UCD Ball" attitude that seems to be present at the moment is a disgrace.
Time to start flooding the fb page and emails with questions/complaints? (And I don't mean the disgusting bullying that happened with Jonny 2 years ago)

RoundBox11

I thought we officially don't have an Ents officer anyway? I think the Ent officer role was removed as part of some USI thing.

For those of you that voted on the USI membership thing a while back would have seen the vote on whether or not to reinstate the Ents officer. As far as i know it wasn't reinstated meaning we don't have an official ents officer now.

Realistically, even if it was on everyone would be moaning about how ****e the line-up is anyway so the way i see it is were all just saving money on an overpriced field piss up.

What annoys me is that if the Ents officer is actually still in place (again im not sure if he was reinstated), then wtf is he getting paid for. Theres been pretty much no events on this year at all.

Raphael

The position of Ents officer will no longer exist once the new sabbatical officers terms begin, but it still does till then. The current serving Ents officer was elected before the position was gotten rid off, and his term continues to sometime during the break. The vote was to recreate the position, and had it passed, someone would have been elected to the position - as it is, someone will be interviewd and hired in over the break for the job.

ironclaw

Just to correct, the Ents Officer still exists, it was his back office team that we're given the sack (Wrongly in my eyes) They organised everything and between the 3 of them they did 99% of the work. You can easily see the correlation between their removal and the nose dive in Ent's events. They were mainly headed up by PK, probably the hardest working guy in all of UCD.

The reason why any of them are paid or allowed to control the financials they do is beyond me. If it was an unpaid position I guarantee no one would run for election.

Entsballer1

ironclaw wrote: »

Just to correct, the Ents Officer still exists, it was his back office team that we're given the sack (Wrongly in my eyes) They organised everything and between the 3 of them they did 99% of the work. You can easily see the correlation between their removal and the nose dive in Ent's events. They were mainly headed up by PK, probably the hardest working guy in all of UCD.

The reason why any of them are paid or allowed to control the financials they do is beyond me. If it was an unpaid position I guarantee no one would run for election.

...And just to correct you ironclaw.

The union staff weren't given 'the sack' - Their contracts were not renewed. There's a big difference. It's up to the incoming president to decide what the staff jobs for the year shall be, and those positions change on a yearly basis.

The '99% of the work' statement is absolutely absurd and an insult to former ents officers. I don't include this current year in this.
I suggest you get yourself elected , do a year in that office and then come out with a statement with that.

PK is a very hard worker and his expertise is unrivaled within UCD, and no doubt the last few UCD balls would have been less than impressive without him, but if you really think that the Ents officer only does 1% of the work then you're sorely mistaken and clearly misinformed.

Everything else I agree with, the financial control should be in the hands of a non-student professional.

Offside

Entsballer1 wrote: »

...And just to correct you ironclaw.

The union staff weren't given 'the sack' - Their contracts were not renewed. There's a big difference. It's up to the incoming president to decide what the staff jobs for the year shall be, and those positions change on a yearly basis.

The '99% of the work' statement is absolutely absurd and an insult to former ents officers. I don't include this current year in this.
I suggest you get yourself elected , do a year in that office and then come out with a statement with that.

PK is a very hard worker and his expertise is unrivaled within UCD, and no doubt the last few UCD balls would have been less than impressive without him, but if you really think that the Ents officer only does 1% of the work then you're sorely mistaken and clearly misinformed.

Everything else I agree with, the financial control should be in the hands of a non-student professional.

yo entsballer, if you're so informed, what's happening with this years ball?

ironclaw

Entsballer1 wrote: »

...And just to correct you ironclaw.

The union staff weren't given 'the sack' - Their contracts were not renewed. There's a big difference. It's up to the incoming president to decide what the staff jobs for the year shall be, and those positions change on a yearly basis.

The '99% of the work' statement is absolutely absurd and an insult to former ents officers. I don't include this current year in this.
I suggest you get yourself elected , do a year in that office and then come out with a statement with that.

Apologises, 'the sack' wasn't meant in a negative light. They were a hard working group and I was trying to to say it was a huge loss for them not to be brought back.

As regards getting elected, I have no interest. Its far too political, far too covert financially and the complete lack of transparency in the SU on the whole annoys me greatly. Its a club for all your mates once you get elected as one can guess from the overt emphasis on the business soc side of things this year.

You'd need 2 years or more in office to make any sort of change, a years term merely gives you enough time to have one election promise fulfilled and prop it up for the next poor sod to come in. And I mean that about all offices, not just Ents.

Dani Pacheco

RoundBox11 wrote: »

I thought we officially don't have an Ents officer anyway? I think the Ent officer role was removed as part of some USI thing.

For those of you that voted on the USI membership thing a while back would have seen the vote on whether or not to reinstate the Ents officer. As far as i know it wasn't reinstated meaning we don't have an official ents officer now.

Realistically, even if it was on everyone would be moaning about how ****e the line-up is anyway so the way i see it is were all just saving money on an overpriced field piss up.

What annoys me is that if the Ents officer is actually still in place (again im not sure if he was reinstated), then wtf is he getting paid for. Theres been pretty much no events on this year at all.

Ents referendum missed quorum by 11 votes.

Entsballer1

Dani Pacheco wrote: »

Ents referendum missed quorum by 11 votes.

Shouldn't have been a ref in the first.
It was voted by over 70% of the students in 2012, that there would be no Ents Officer after 2012/2013, and instead a professionalised Ents manager (non student) would be instated, yet without it being even tested, ANOTHER ref was brought to 'bring Ents back'.

I'm all for Ents, but lets try what the students voted in, (student politicians represent the students right? - a concept lost on the few running the 'Yes' campaign in the recent Ents ref)

By all means come back and run a constitutional ref next year after at least respecting the students that voted Ents out and giving it a try.



Anyway, back to the Ball '13?