{"id":4938,"date":"2014-09-21T02:47:44","date_gmt":"2014-09-21T02:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guamnesty.org.uk\/?p=4938"},"modified":"2014-09-21T02:53:23","modified_gmt":"2014-09-21T02:53:23","slug":"newsletter-2014-09-20-welcome-to-gu-amnesty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.guamnesty.org.uk\/2014\/09\/newsletter-2014-09-20-welcome-to-gu-amnesty\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsletter 2014-09-20: Welcome to GU Amnesty!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow, what a week<\/em>! A most warm welcome to folks new to the newsletter and the group, and thanks to everyone who came by the Freshers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 stall and those who took part in the CFCI petition- it was very heartening to hear from so many keen people! Thanks to all the people who helped with the stall too, you rock.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/a><\/p>\n

So as a busy Freshers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Week 2014 draws to a close, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for me to make good on the promises made at the stall and to give details of the first meeting of 2014-15 and some information on what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coming up in the next few weeks. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll try and keep this first newsletter of term short!<\/p>\n

Tuesday 23 September: First Meeting (and Social) – Who are GU Amnesty?<\/h2>\n

5PM, QMU Committee Room 1 (3rd floor)<\/em><\/p>\n

Our first meeting of the year! Come along at 5PM to the Queen Margaret Union<\/strong> on University Gardens (just at the bend), then take the lift or the stairs (both straight ahead of you as you come in the door) up to the third floor, turn left and enter the first room on the right and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll find us there. We are fairly laid back, so if you cannot make it for 5 or have to leave early that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite alright.<\/p>\n

Just a heads up: we expect this meeting to be quite busy<\/strong>. Given the number of signups we had in the Fresher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fair we tried to book an extra room in the QM, but they were full. Please bear with us and if it is packed we do apologise; we will try to get another room for next week if this is the case.<\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be doing a proper introduction to GU Amnesty – who the committee are, what we do, and what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s coming up in the next few weeks. Because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be chatting about who we are and what we do at the meeting I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go into much detail in this newsletter, so on Tuesday you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get a repeat of what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve said. If you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make the meeting, the presentation I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be showing will be uploaded so you can peruse it at your leisure. Since there will probably be some questions at the meeting I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll try and address those on here too. In the meantime though, you can find a comment I wrote about what a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctypical meeting\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 is on the website<\/a> if you want to get a heads-up.<\/p>\n

If you aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sure of how to find where we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re meeting or have any other questions, please either email us<\/a> or ask on Facebook<\/a> or Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"QMU<\/p>\n

Welcome to GU Amnesty – First Social @ Old Schoolhouse!<\/h2>\n

Tuesday 23rd September, 6:30\/7 PM, Old Schoolhouse, Woodlands Road<\/em><\/p>\n

Following on from the first meeting will be our first social of the year. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll walk down after the meeting, but you are welcome to join us straight there if you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make the meeting. If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know it, the Old Schoolhouse is on Woodlands Road just at the roundabout, across from the St Andrews building.<\/p>\n

Come along for a bit and say hi! One of things our members talk about is how good it is to hang out with Amnesty folks, and this is a great opportunity to do it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also good to know the folks who will be be turning up to meetings, demonstrations and events.<\/p>\n

The Old Schoolhouse also does food if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re feeling peckish by then!<\/p>\n

\"OS<\/p>\n

Upcoming Events and Information<\/h2>\n

Election of Ordinary Board Members<\/h3>\n

Tuesday 7th October<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk a bit more about this at the meeting, but we will be electing ordinary board members in a few weeks time on 7th October. Have a think about if you want to stand for a position (there are two OB positions available), as you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be expected to say briefly why people should vote for you. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stress though, everyone is friendly!<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a position with a flexible role, meaning you can get out of it what you want from it; and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good way to be more closely involved in the minutia of actually running the society. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re considering it but not sure and it all seems a bit nebulous don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry, there are a couple of weeks in which to make up your mind and well get a previous ordinary board to explain what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s involved.<\/p>\n

Activist Mixer (Tomorrow\/Sunday)!<\/h3>\n

Sunday 21st September, 5PM onwards, Curler’s Rest Byres Road<\/em><\/p>\n

Short notice and reminder!<\/strong> There is an activist mixer on Sunday 21st September in Curler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Rest<\/a> on Byres Road (by the subway). Invitations have gone out to a number of activist groups on campus, so there will be a mix of different groups doing good work. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great opportunity to find out about what other societies are doing, and to network; we as a group tend to work with a number of familiar faces so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s useful to meet these good folks. Come along for a bit if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re passing and say hi.<\/p>\n

Next Week (Tuesday 30th September)<\/h3>\n

After the introductions this week we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be looking at campaigns on 30th. This will involve chatting about campaign suggestions and voting on what ones we want to prioritise. More details in next week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s newsletter!<\/p>\n

For those of you who made it this far, reward yourself by watching a video of some goats balancing on a wobbling sheet of metal:<\/p>\n