Now we own rulers! Sarah on her Backstage legacy (and a bit about what its like to be Secretary)

As Secretary you have all the obvious jobs like admin, minuting, filing, maintaining membership records etc. etc. bla bla blaa yawn. As part of the Exec, you’re also responsible for developing and maintaining good working relationships with LUU staff, as without their Help and Support ™ (wahey) we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. This has been fun this year as there have been a lot of new staff who we’ve gotten to know and worked together with on how we can improve our working procedures and how we share our spaces.

TFW your show wins a Riley

I won’t bore you on all things Secretary since Katie who was more invested than I ever was, wrote everything in her blog post last year, which you can read at http://luubackstage.com/2018/03/backstage-secretary-18/. The role is a lot of constant work and sometimes life can get in the way, but the President and Open Seat are always there to help you out – shout-out to Chris and Sian for being my lil Assistant Secretaries this year and taking over at times. Nevertheless, here are some of my highlights from this year:

After handing P&C over to Lucy, I started my new and improved role on committee pricing up the first of many LUU Grants and l i t e r a l l y running around B&Q with Chris and a trolley full of Ryobi goods, so that Backstage was finally equipped with some Fresh New Tools. No more using string dipped in paint to draw straight lines! Now we own rulers! I also organised our first trip to LCOM Freshers’ Fair so that we could spread the good word of Backstage, and organised a nice new bookings calendar so that Committee and PMs could keep on top of what was going on in the Riley.

Cycling away from your degree again Saz?

As always, I have continued PMing, Set Designing, and hiring a HECK load of scaff this year (apologies), and after 3 years of being too scared, finally had a go at Lighting Designing with my Secretary Queen Katie Hayton which was a lot of fun. It’s important to not let committee take over from the reason you joined the society and continue to do shows and try out new roles!

Being on committee is great fun and has given me a nice escape from my degree which I truly h a t e. It gives you the chance to make positive changes to the society, as well as help members improve their skills and move into bigger roles. Although I haven’t done everything I set out to do, I don’t think anyone has ever been able to say that they have, and it’s nice to leave some challenges for next year’s committee!

I’ve had a fab 2 years on committee with some great friends, but now it is about bloody time for me to say my goodbyes (to dat committee lyfe, not the society – fear not. x) and focus on actually making it to 3rd year.

By Sarah Lewis

Posted on 24th March 2019