Election time has come. It's your chance to become a committee member of
our brilliant society and carry on the work that we've been doing for the
next academic year 09/10. There are 9 different positions that you can
nominate yourself for, including a new officer role which will need to be
passed in our AGM as part of our constitutional amendments (please see
below).

If you are thinking of nominating yourself then there are a number of
steps which you must take. Firstly decide which role is most suited to
you. You can do that through a number of ways;- look at your interests,
skills and abilities, read the descriptions below, email the current
holder of that position or come to our open evening this Thursday in the
Winston Theatre in the Union between 7pm - 9pm. Here you can learn more
about the committee roles, meetings, our society and the elections
process. You will also have the chance to speak to all of the committee
members on their specific roles.

The next step is to put forward a formal nomination. Nominations are open
between 9am on Thursday 23rd April and 9pm on Thursday 30th April. Your
nomination will need to be sent to Harry Bevan (our returning Officer) to
elections@gayinbristol.com With this you must also submit a maximum 400
word Manifesto with a picture. I advise you to create it on word or as a
pdf and send it as an attachment. You should, but are not obliged to, use
bullet points and you must attach your picture.

Committee Roles:-

PRESIDENT (Must be a full member of the union in academic year 09/10)

- Oversee general running of the society
- Act as ambassador between society and external organisations
- Chair committee meetings
- Delegating tasks to committee members
- Attend sponsorship meetings, president meetings and social meetings
- Attend socials
- Responsible for resolving PR issues
- Responsible for resolving issues between committee and/or members
- Communicate and work with other LGBT Societies
- To work closely with the VP and to delegate certain tasks to them
- To work closely with I.T. & Comms to ensure the handbook is produced
- To work with the Union and LGBT Officers to ensure the LGBT socs views
are representing within the Union
- To make sure epic events abide by H&S rules and meet welfare
requirements and financial requirements
- To look at issues from all aspects of the society: finance sector,
welfare sector, social sector, communication sector & education sector and
act as mediator between them.

If you are interested in this role please contact Tom on
tk6457@bristol.ac.uk for more info.

VICE-PRESIDENT

- Helping the President plan and run meetings
- Going to socials (planning) meetings with the President and Social Secs.
- Organising the Parenting Scheme
- Helping with the day-to-day running of the society
- Raising concerns of society or committee members in meetings and making
sure these get discussed
- Working closely with the Freshers’ Rep. to ensure the interests of
the Freshers are looked after, especially at the beginning of the academic
year when the new Freshers begin.

How much and what you do in this role depend a lot on the President, as
you’re effectively there to help them out and work together to run
the society. It’s a good idea to meet with the President at the
beginning of your term as VP and set out a clear framework of what each of
you is responsible for, as otherwise it’s easy for the President to
end up doing far too much. Your job is to try and prevent this!

If you are interested in this role please contact Catt on
Catt.Turney.07@bristol.ac.uk for more info.

TREASURER (Must not be in their final year for 09/10)

• The main role is finding sponsorship for the society (i.e.
spending half of your summer on the phone asking for money)
• Once sponsorship is found, and the money is safely in the society
bank account (this takes longer then you think), you have to stop the
social secretaries spending it all at once
• Keeping an accurate account book, keeping an eye on the
society’s Union bank account, going to the bank regularly, guarding
the cheque book with your life
• Attending meetings and helping out other committee members when
necessary
• Helping to find raffle prizes for charity events
• Keeping on top of all the sponsorship emails that are sent/received
• Chasing up lost cheques and getting the president/vice to
countersign cheque
• Collecting membership money throughout the year, and also
collecting money for trips and meals

If you are interested in this role please contact Sam on
sg7706@bristol.ac.uk for more info.

SECRETARY

- Keeping an up-to-date membership list for the society
- Dealing with online membership sign-ups and sign-ups which don't happen at
Fresh
- Distinguishing between paid and unpaid members in terms of society member
discounts
- Being able to listen to and record what is discussed when a lot of people
are talking at the same time in meetings
- Taking minutes at Committee meetings and distributing them to the committee
- Reminding committee members of action points they need to carry out
- Being a general dogsbody for the committee and helping with other peoples
roles if they require it

If you are interested in this role please contact Matt on
mw5276@bristol.ac.uk for more info.

X2 SOCIAL SECRETARIES

• Create Facebook events and draft emails to the society to keep
members informed of event details.
• Regularly attend events (usually organise beforehand who will go
to what to ensure adequate committee representation)
• Ask members what they want from the society and try and cater to
everyone’s tastes accordingly by including more non-alcoholic events
such as coffee, bowling and ice-skating trips
• Feed information back to the rest of the committee both in
meetings and in e-mails (i.e. maintain good communication)
• Support other committee members in their roles, particularly LGBT
officers in respect to campaigns e.g. Sexuality Week and the welfare
representative
• Organising epic trips, accommodation, meal locations,
venues/places to visit, maps and money collection etc
• Contribute to the newsletter, handbook and help create events
calendars
• Ensure integration of new members and/or freshers with the rest of
the society as we are often the first point of contact along with the
welfare rep

If you are interested in this role please contact Charlotte on
cb7599@bristol.ac.uk or Dean on dw7487@bristol.ac.uk for more info

WELFARE REPRESENTATIVE

- Provide welfare, information and support to all of our members
- I have found you need background knowledge of the following topics:
Bi/Trans issues, STD'S/Sexual Health, Mental Health, Religion
- Make sure that all members feel included
- Meet up with members on a one-to-one basis if requested (Important, as it
has taken up most of my role this year)
- Keep everything you have been told strictly confidential (Important, ties
into last point)
- Attend the majority of events
- Help with Sexuality Week
- Have good links with the Freshers Rep and freshers

If you are interested in this role please contact Mark on
mf5137@bristol.ac.uk for more info.

POSTGRADUATE & MATURE REPRESENTATIVE

- To create Mature & PG events, at least one per term
- To provide welfare for PG & Mature students along with the Welfare rep
- To promote LGBTsoc to PG & Mature students
- To attend LGBTsoc Committee Meetings and help out other Committee
members who may have larger workloads

If you are interested in this role please contact Tom on
tk6457@bristol.ac.uk or Lauren on l_eowyn@hotmail.com for more info.

I.T. & COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

- Maintain the society mailing lists, adding and removing members as
  necessary.
- Compose the monthly newsletter informing members of events, news, and
  points of interest.
- Maintain the society website, keeping all information up to date, and
  adding information about upcoming events.
- Design and edit the handbook during the summer.
- Ensure our society is visible, accessible, and approachable to all
  potential members in the student body.

If you are interested in this role please contact Mike on
mikekellyuk@googlemail.com for more info.

EDUCATION AND CAMPAIGNS OFFICER (New Position - needs to be voted in at
AGM, but you can still nominate yourself for it)

- To work closely with the Welfare Rep and the UBU LGBT Officer
- To make sure LGBT students are treated equally in all aspects of the
educational institutions
- To promote LGBT awareness and LGBT NUS Campaigns
- Will research how other LGBT Societies are run in order to improve
Bristol LGBTsoc
- Will run the LGBT Media Library and will be responsible for sourcing
external LGBT publications (i.e. Gaytimes, Diva, Pink Paper etc)
- Will research LGBT friendly employers & companies
- Will organise graduate LGBT skills sessions and diversity corporate events

If you are interested in this role please contact Tom on
tk6457@bristol.ac.uk for more info.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

If you are wanting to write a motion to amend our constitution (this can
be found on our website http://www.ubu.org.uk/societies/lgbt) Then these
must be submitted in formal motion style to Tom on tk6457@bristol.ac.uk by
Wednesday 6th May at 5pm.

Hustings will be open from Friday 1st May after an official elections
meeting which will be held in the Union at 6pm. Voting will take place
online in two weeks time and at the gAyGM on Friday 8th May. Details will
follow.

If you have any questions please contact Tom on tk6457@bristol.ac.uk

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE,

Tom & The Committee

Please Note:-

i) All Nominees are expected to attend an official elections meeting on
Friday 1st May. Details will be sent to all Nominees in advance.
ii) Nominations are open between 9am on Thursday 23rd April and 9pm on
Thursday 30th April. Extensions will only be accepted for uncontested
positions at our discretion.
iii) Hustings does not open until after the elections meeting on Friday
1st May. You are not allowed to create facebook groups or promote yourself
until after this date. Anyone found completing hustings actions will be
dealt with by our elections complaints committee.