Committee elections 2010-11
All committee positions available
Open to students at all colleges
An introductory meeting for all those interested in running will be held on February 7th at 8pm at the New Cellars, Pembroke College.
Being on the Pembroke Players committee is a fantastic experience and absolutely anyone from the university can apply - not only Pembroke students. There is a lot going on in the society, so you will have to be pretty dedicated, attending the weekly meetings and taking your turn on Front of House, as well as fulfilling your specific role (see below). Moreover, each committee member should be interested in the society as a whole, constantly looking out for new projects and ways to promote and improve Pembroke Players. Bonuses include pizza, access to a special key to New Cellars, free entry to any PP event, and the chance to be at the heart of one of Cambridge’s top drama societies.
For more information on a particular position please email the current position holder. To register your interest to stand at election please contact the current President, Claudia Mair (cm551@cam.ac.uk).
President
The President is responsible for the general running of the society. Key tasks are organising and chairing weekly meetings, liaising with Pembroke College re venues, special events etc, helping the artistic director to interview potential directors and making sure that events run smoothly by checking that everything necessary has been done. Good leadership and organisational skills are vital for the role and you need to be reliable- if you don’t turn up, why should anyone else?! Most importantly, the president should be a driving force for the society, bringing new ideas and enthusiasm to the table. A lively interest in theatre is essential, but you don’t necessarily have to have a huge amount of experience- other committee members will bring experience in directing, tech etc- you just need to be able to make the most of their skills! Being president is a fairly time consuming role (make sure you learn to delegate), but a lot of fun as well; you will develop a great bond with your committee and it is great to see shows and events do well. Basically, as president, the buck stops with you and you can really make a difference.
Claudia Mair (cm551@cam.ac.uk)
Artistic Director
The artistic director's main duty is to publicise application deadlines, assist directors in applying, organizing interviews, holding them (either alone or with a few other committee members) and deciding, with consultation from the treasurer and potentially other members, which shows to fund. The AD will also be the point of contact between the production team and the Players, which means mainly forwarding emails to the appropriate people, following the progress of the shows, answering questions etc... The total involvement with shows depends a lot on the director/producer and yourself. For some shows, you send them an email saying "Yes we will fund you" and a month later, there's a show. Others production teams will welcome your involvement in the process- it's a great way to be a part of the producing of a show (if you so wish) without he responsibility of being the producer. Of course, "artistic director" is also the best position title there is.
Karoliina Lehtinen (mkl25@cam.ac.uk)
Treasurer
The Junior Treasurer is responsible for deciding, along with the President and Artistic Director, which shows the society want to fund. They then hold a pre-production meeting to confirm the show's budget, to sign a show contract and advise the show on spending and how to make the best choices and get the best bargain with regards to costume, publicity and set. After a production they will liaise with the director and producer to take account of all the production's costs, reimbursing claims that are accompanied by receipt and that have been taken into consideration previously in the budget. They are also required to make sure that the Pembroke New Cellars cash box is full of change. The treasurer is obviously in charge of the Pembroke Players' bank account and cheque book. They write cheques to other committee members for society spending. The treasurer also has to keep the society's management accounts up to date, submit an annual financial report to our Senior Treasurer and apply for GAC funding from the JPC on behalf of the society. The role of treasurer requires basic skills with numbers, a good practical awareness of money and good organisational skills.
Olivia Crellin (oc242@cam.ac.uk)
Secretary
The secretary takes detailed minutes at the meetings, while also focussing on points of action, i.e. what needs to be done and when. Other responsibilities include helping out with front of house duties and generally assisting other members of the committee.
April Cashin-Garbutt (ac630@cam.ac.uk)
Technical Director
The Technical Director maintains the tech equipment for the Pembroke Players as well as teching the Freshers Events, Smokers and Garden Party for the society. They are not required to tech every show the Players fund or put on in the New Cellars but do meet with the Director and Technical Director of every show to discuss tech plans for the performance and offer guidance where necessary. They are also responsible for the hiring of any technical equipment.
Andy O'Brien (ao262@cam.ac.uk)
Comedy
The first responsibility of the comedy rep is to organise the Pembroke Players Comedy Smokers. This means holding auditions, and possibly inviting one or two really good headliners. Usually you’ll compere the each of these Smokers too; but if for whatever reason this is impossible, or is too terrifying a prospect (which it shouldn’t be, you pansy) then you can ask a Footlighter or some other funny person to do the job instead.
The Smokers you’ll be responsible for are, in order: Golden Gods, start of Easter; Garden Party, May Week; Sticky Floor Smoker, start of Michaelmas; Black Tie Smoker, middle of Lent.
The rep's other responsibility to over see the Freshers’ Panto at the start of Michaelmas. Usually the Rep, in conjunction with the rest of the committee, will come up with a title and possibly a very loose plot framework. You’ll then have to lead a meeting with interested Freshers and work out between you how to fill out the story and how the thing is going to get written, directed and produced. Then you need to look over the script and make sure it isn’t utterly racist, homophobic or written in Latin. The system tends to be different each year, depending on who is in charge. The rest of the committee will usually help you out.
The Rep also takes on general committee duties such as manning front of house.
It would help enormously if the Rep could also get involved with the Footlights and start meeting funny people at other Cambridge smokers.
Tom Ovens (teo22@cam.ac.uk)
Development Officer
This role has been somewhat neglected in the past. Currently the Pembroke Players are monitoring the imminent renovation of New Cellars, developing a Director-in-Residence scheme and a new writing competition. Plans for a termly development publication for alumni are in the pipe-line and would be achieved in conjunction with the publications officer. Once links have been re-established with interested alumni, the development officer will be responsible for organising events for such alumni and and managing donations. The development officer is required to meet regularly with the College's Development Office and liaise regularly with outside contacts. This position requires someone who will be dedicated to the role for a number of years. A first year student or someone who knows they are likely to pursue further education or embark on a post-undergraduate degree course at Cambridge would be ideal. The development officer must have vision, discretion and good communication and people skills.
Olivia Crellin (oc242@cam.ac.uk)
Front of House
Being in charge of Front of House is one of the more practical roles on the committee. The main responsibilities are to create a rota for committee members to sell tickets for each of our shows in the New Cellars; to keep an eye on the state of the props cupboard and hire our props out to stage managers; to make sure there is enough change in the Front of House float; and to organise refreshments for bigger events such as the Black Tie Smoker and the May Week Garden Party. It is not a particularly time-consuming job but requires a degree of flexibility in order to fill in when other committee members are unavailable to sell tickets.
Emily Andrews (ela30@cam.ac.uk)
Publications
The publications officer is responsible for organising the publicity for Pembroke Players events such as Smokers and term cards. They also give advice and support about the publicity material for shows sponsored by Pembroke Players. The publications officer is also in charge of the development newsletter. They will also work alongside the communications officer with regards to the website, helping write or edit material. The publications officer is a flexible position where personal initiative is key. They should take any opportunity to publicise Pembroke Players events, whether it be through university publications or word of mouth. The publicity officer should be creative, organised and with an eye for detail. I.T skills are a bonus for designing publicity.
Charlotte Granville (cag56@cam.ac.uk)
Communications
The Communications Officer is responsible for maintaining the Pembroke Players website and our listings on camdram.net; managing the mailing lists; sending out adverts and notices on the lists; and formatting and distributing public documents. The job is not time-consuming. It requires general computing skills but not necessarily the ability to code websites.
Andy Jones (aj327@cam.ac.uk)