Minutes

Why are votes going to be after class rather than during, out of interest?

I've arranged to meet Beatrice for a meeting about my dissertation just after 4. Do we have any idea how long the voting will take? Really don't want to miss either event obviously!

Do we have to have the votes in before Monday? If not couldn't we all post on here? -- like create a thread for each role, everyone write their piece about why they want the responsibility, we all agree to read the pieces before Monday and then fit in a vote during the class. It's student led on Monday again isn't it? Then everyone gets a vote and also gets to say why they'd be a good choice.

Okay. So I guess this is part of my job now. Thanks for giving me a little nudge in the right direction, Michelle

Minutes for Literary Journal/Student Meeting 28/1/13


In Attendance

Claire Alexander
Gemma Auld
John Campbell
Jennifer Carr
Jenna Couston
Kathleen Coyle
Marissa Dacey
David Finnighan
Anthony Lydon
Rachel MacDonald
Callum McSorley
Michelle O’Donnell
Katharina Prokopp
Melissa Reid
David Rush
Cheryl Scott
Dean Turner

Apologies

Kerry-Ann Kerr

Final Roles/Jobs

Some class members missing, so no full confirmation at the moment. Most members of class have been assigned a role. Currently, we have two co-chief editors, four editors and two proof-readers, a head treasurer (Caitlin McKenna) and a chair (David Rush). I have taken on the job of secretary. It was agreed that fundraising efforts be split evenly between the class as a whole. Michelle O’Donnell, Dean Turner and Rachel MacDonald expressed interest in contacting design companies and designing web pages, as well as ideas for advertising.

Mission Statement

We came to the conclusion that our tagline for this statement, concerning our main theme of time, should be, “We aim to show how people, memory and cultures are affected by time and how nothing is left unchanged.” There was talk of challenging normal notions of writing and a desire to include Scottish/Glaswegian history as much as possible. Some members of class advocated the idea of interpreting our theme of time within a historical context, which includes the opportunity to find and present research along with the written prose. The main agreement was, with this journal, to try and do something subversive and cultural.
We discussed the possibility of splitting the journal into different sections regarding what type of story was being told: for example, in the context of the setting (past, present and future) or the different story structures (memories, nostalgia, premonitions).
Gemma Auld proposed that we reach a final decision on the title for our journal once some of the material has been written but before we began advertising, in the hope that a title would become clearer through the ideas being explored in our writing. We also agreed to continuing offering up ideas on the forum created for this class. We agreed that our title had to be something specific but with a deeper meaning.
We then discussed the types of ideas we would like to write about in our written pieces. In the previous student-led workshop, we came to the conclusion that time was the best theme to use because of the many different possibilities that can be gathered from it.
Melissa Reid suggested that we brainstorm on the white board the different associations that the theme of time brought to mind, in order to narrow down what we want to look at in the journal
Dean Turner then wrote our ideas/themes on the whiteboard. We came up with several ideas (including, but not limited to: memory/movement; change; growing up; childhood/adulthood; tradition/standardization; transience; journeys/expansion; fluctuation) before narrowing them down to three sub-themes that we would explore in our writing:
- Change in terms of culture, history and memories
- Identity as defined by time, culture, childhood/adulthood
- Travel and movement
Melissa Reid narrowed down our mission statement to the phrase: "time leaves no thing unchanged". We decided as a group that, while these words may not appear in the final journal, they would be useful to keep in mind while writing our stories/poems/etc.

Title Discussion

In relation to the decision above to make a finalised decision on the title of our journal after writing begins, we suggested ideas, which were again written on the whiteboard. We also discussed the idea of taking our title from the title or a phrase in someone’s story. Titles suggested included: “Resonance”; “Orbit”; “Sundial”; “Rush”; “Strike; “Flux”; “Elapse”; “Signature”; “The Clockwork”; “Epoch”; “In the Mean Time…”; “Borrowed Time”; “Pendulum”; “Metronome”; “Infinity”; “Mayfly”; “Origin”; “Momentum”; “Dimensions”; “Unravel”; “Unfold” and “Again.”

Format

There was support for a strong online presence, with the suggestion that it could be used as a portal for a potential target audience. We agreed that the web would be a good place to show our art and designs for the journal, as well as it being a cheaper alternative for the time being. We discussed the idea of having a limited run of physical copies before transferring to a digital format, but agreed that that may not be the best way to sell our journal as we couldn’t be sure who or how many would specifically buy an online version. We suggested that if the initial run is successful, maybe then we could look again at branching online. We agreed that for the moment, a physical book would be more eye-catching and the possibility of creating accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr in order to advertise it.

Writing Choices

I took note of who was interested in writing which genre, which we have narrowed down to fiction, non-fiction and poetry. We have five who were interested in poetry (Jennifer Carr, Dean Turner, Callum McSorley, Claire Alexander and Katharina Prokopp) and seven who were interested in writing non-fiction (Kathleen Coyle, David Finnighan, Melissa Reid, Michelle O’Donnell, Claire Alexander, Marissa Dacey and Rachel MacDonald). We defined non-fiction writing as “creative non-fiction” and “flash non-fiction”, in that they are taking the real world and writing about them with a creative streak, e.g. real-life memories, reports on real-life events. The class as a whole is interested in fictional writing (short stories, etc.).

Fundraising

Our main treasurer was absent from class on this occasion, but we still discussed ideas for how to raise our funds. At the moment, we are still unclear as to how much money we will need to raise, but we agreed to look into the possibilities of alumni funds and facilities available at the Student Union. We also suggested ideas for events we could host in order to start raising funds: theme nights; music events; open-microphone events; a Valentine’s event if possible; pub quizzes and raffles with prizes; and ceilidh dances. We also agreed to try and come up with prizes from our own line of work if possible (e.g., Dean Turner works at a hotel and offered a free dinner as a possible raffle prize).
We also came to the conclusion that to start things off, each member of class should contribute a small amount of money, e.g. £20, in order to cover the basics.

Deadlines

We all agreed that within the next week we would contact the alumni over the possibility of funds and look into printing companies. We also agreed to come to conclusions as to when fundraising events could/will take place and when writing pieces are due. In the near future, we will agree on a list of publishing options along with prices, creating pamphlets with our agenda and edited content before the release of the journal and arranging time in the Debates Chamber at the Student Union for further discussions.

Goals for Next Week

We agreed to start working on our own material for the journal in our private time, before handing them in to the editors and proof-readers for checking.
We also agreed to discuss what the word limit for each piece of writing should be, as well as further talk on fundraising with the treasurer present and the costs of printing.

Minutes for Literary Journal/Class Lecture 31/1/13

In Attendance

Claire Alexander
Gemma Auld
John Campbell
Jennifer Carr
Jenna Couston
Kathleen Coyle
Marissa Dacey
David Finnighan
Kerry-Ann Kerr
Anthony Lydon
Rachel MacDonald
Caitlin McKenna
Callum McSorley
Katharina Prokopp
Melissa Reid
David Rush
Cheryl Scott
Dean Turner

Class Discussion for First Hour

Michelle O’Donnell (absent) was mentioned as having looked into printing costs, which will be looked at in more depth during the next student-led workshop. It was agreed that the four teams (design, marketing, editing and fundraising) would require a chieftain, which we would look into next week.
When discussing fundraising we surmised that we would need around £700 for initial formatting and the design of an original cover. As there were some members of class who have not managed to attend a lecture yet, we agreed that we would need to allocate them jobs.
The class as a whole seemed to agree that “Flux” was the most popular choice for our journal’s title, though further discussion will still be needed. We also thought of making stickers and pamphlets that incorporate this title in order to promote the journal.
We have started planning our written materials, discussing our ideas and agreed to bring in some early drafts to our next student-led workshop.

Minutes for Literary Journal/7th February 2013

In Attendance

Claire Alexander
Gemma Auld
John Campbell
Jennifer Carr
Jenna Couston
Kathleen Coyle
Marissa Dacey
David Finnighan
Kerry-Ann Kerr
Anthony Lydon
Rachel MacDonald
Eden Mackenzie
Callum McSorley
Michelle O’Donnell
Katharine Prokopp
Melissa Reid
David Rush
Cheryl Scott

Minutes

With the departure of Caitlin McKenna from the class, the first and foremost issue addressed was a suitable replacement for Treasurer. Rachel MacDonald offered to take up the post, with the possibility of a returning student, Laura Forsyth, also being helpful in this role, although further consultation on that will be needed.
Rachel informed the meeting of the Cash Office on the seventh floor of the Student Union, where it would be possible for us to create a bank account for funds raised during the class. Conversely, she informed us that the student alumni funds were not keen on the idea of donating money to our funds because they already did so the year before and deemed it a one-off. They did say, however, that they were keen to support all student projects, so the opportunity may come around again in the future.
We then discussed the possibility of taking external submissions for the journal in order to fill it up, but eventually decided it was unlikely that many volunteers would come forward, citing that the Keith Wright writing competition receives very few submissions.
Kathleen Coyle suggested building a website with some input from the design team, as well as creating an IT team and raising the idea of each member of class posting a blog on the website in order to generate publicity.
As we came to decide what goals each team would be responsible for, David Rush suggested melding the fundraising and marketing teams into one.
Before conversation moved on to role clarification, we all agreed that “Flux” would be the title for our journal.

Role Clarification

Fundraising/Marketing Team: Chieftain (Michelle O’Donnell)
- Using social networking to attract guests to fundraising events.
- Agreeing on budgets before starting web design
- Hosting music gigs to raise money (Edan Mckenzie and Callum McSorley are both in bands. Kathleen Coyle suggested the “Broadcast” bar on Sauchiehall Street as a viable venue)
- Check out and agree on dates that are available and venue prices (which Rachel MacDonald will investigate)
- Think up different forms of entertainment for events (bands, DJs, ceilidhs)

Design Team: Chieftain (Melissa Reid)
- Designing a logo for the journal
- Contacting Vista Print
- In conjunction with the marketing team, looking into the printing of posters and stickers (suggested by Claire Alexander)
- Looking into the costs of printing and the usage of colour and pictures (suggested by David Rush)
- Create a link on the forum for suggesting and debating printing companies (suggested by Melissa Reid)
- Binding and publishing possibilities
Gemma Auld suggested the possibility of waiting until the journal was taking shape before looking into printing possibilities.

Editors and Proof-Readers

Jenna Couston and Callum McSorley proposed that each editor would be given two/three classmates to oversee, depending on the genre (fiction, non-fiction, poetry) that they were writing, with the chief editors (Claire Alexander and Dean Turner) to look over each piece one final time before approving it. Michelle O’Donnell has a complete list of which student is assigned to which editor.

David Rush and Michelle O’Donnell proposed the idea of a “synopsis pitch” – each student pitches their material to an editor before writing it. We also discussed the possibility of having a discussion on the forum as to who would edit whose work, before agreeing to our original plan of assigning markers, although the markers would be allowed to swap with another editor if the material was out of their comfort zone. John Campbell suggested that we needed to come up with editing guidelines and plans on how to organise content in the future.

Team Discussions

The administrative team (Jennifer Carr and David Rush) gave the teams 25 minutes to discuss the future goals, as per the agenda;

Fundraising/Marketing:
- Elicit free prizes for fundraising raffles/quizzes
- Contacting the service industry (Michelle O’Donnell)
- Looking into retail (Rachel MacDonald)
- Coming up with ideas as to how the title “Flux” can be used in advertising
- Seeing what dates are available at “Broadcast” (Rachel MacDonald)
- Talking to DJs (Michelle O’Donnell)
- Finding out about poetry readings
- Advertising on Itison.com
- The possibility of organising a coffee morning as a pre-launch event
- Parent-friendly events

Design:
- Create forum thread for discussion on logo design, with the idea that it must be timeless
- Do some research on websites, fonts, images, wording and illustrations
- Create a design website
- Contact artists from the university
- Talk to Claire Alexander’s comic book illustrator friend about art/publishing.

P.S. Sorry this is late guys, I've been sick the past few days. Tentatively hoping I'll be back for Thursday, but this thing seems determined to be chronic

Just to say, it was the other David who proposed a synopsis pitch with Michelle, not me!