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Secret Policeman’s Ball 2014 – Response to Feedback

I’d like to start by thanking everyone who came to the Secret Policeman’s Ball 2014 and helped us to raise so much money for such a good cause. It’s the biggest event in the GU Amnesty calendar and we’re always very happy to see it so well attended.
One thing we did a little differently this year was that after the event, we released an online survey form to get your feedback on how you feel it went. A huge thank you to everyone who filled this in; we’ve now compiled and gone through the responses and as a result of this, we wanted to let you all know our responses to some of the criticisms levied at the event. If you have further responses to make, or didn’t get a chance to fill in the survey, please contact us on spb@guamnesty.org.uk and we’d be happy to discuss any feedback (both negative and positive) further.
We’re really glad that the majority of attendees who gave us feedback enjoyed the event; most of the acts were well received, the merchandise and snacks stall appreciated (so appreciated, in fact, that we ran out of popcorn after the first act!) and the decorations admired. The photo petition was well engaged with – thank you to everyone who took part and to our photographers!
Despite this, no event is perfect and we feel it would be wrong of us to neglect some of the criticisms that emerged from the feedback, and we wanted to address these as transparently as possible.
Many people pointed out the issues with microphones; this particularly affected some of the sketches, and we apologise that some attendees were unable to hear and fully enjoy the comedy as a result. We did look into hiring individual mikes for our performers due to this same issue arising last year. However, the cost we were quoted for this was prohibitive; we wanted to ensure that as much money was raised for Amnesty International as possible and thus decided against this extra expense. This will be something we consider again next year, perhaps looking into cheaper ways of sourcing the necessary equipment.
We were asked whether it would be possible to provide a line up list so that the audience were aware of what acts were coming up. We appreciate that, particularly due to the length of the show, knowing what acts are coming next would be helpful for some people and so this is something we would like to consider for next year, with the caveat that often last minute line-up changes occur making this difficult! For example, this year, the running order was changed just half an hour before doors opened.
The major issue that came out of the feedback, and something that we as the organising committee felt, was that the content of some of the acts was inappropriate and, at times, offensive. We apologise unreservedly to those of you who raised issues with the style of some of the humour and would like to make absolutely clear that we do not tolerate racism, sexism, ableism or homophobia, and that ‘comedy’ which employs these elements is not fitting for an Amnesty event. We shall be passing the feedback onto our compere and discussing ways to approach the line up next year, with an assurance that those comedians responsible for the offensive content will not be invited back. We hope you understand the difficulties involved in vetting a line-up, particularly when acts have performed at the Secret Policeman’s Ball in previous years without including such inappropriate content. That being said, there is no excuse for racist, sexist, ableist or homophobic jokes and we will be addressing these issues for next year. We would like to express our wholehearted disappointment that this occurred as we believe that Amnesty’s values of equality are not furthered by this style of comedy.
Again, we would like to thank you all for coming and hope to see you again next year – please e-mail us about any concerns you have and we will work hard to make sure that the seventh Secret Policeman’s Ball is a huge success!

GU Amnesty

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Secret Policeman’s Ball 2014 Update

It’s now February, which means Christmas is well and truly behind us, we’ve given up on all hopes of snow and essay deadlines are approaching. But amongst all this gloom and doom, there’s something very exciting just around the corner! On the 22nd February, the Secret Policeman’s Ball is returning to Glasgow University!

We’re all working really hard to make it the best one ever but I wanted to write a wee update about what’s going on to let you all know what’s happening and why you should buy tickets to this year’s event! We’ve also got some exciting news about things we’re doing differently this year.

So, first, the line up! There’s still a few more acts to be confirmed so keep an eye on the for more announcements. So far we have:

Billy Kirkwood (Host)
Chris Conroy
The Geek Comedy Night
Rosco McSkelington
Eleanor Morton
Chris Dinwoodie (Magician)
G.L.A.S.S
Stu Who
Ryan Dooley

I’m particularly excited for the magician!

Like last year, we’ve got an afterparty hosted by which should be amazing!

We’ve got lots of raffle prizes for you! Confirmed ones so far have been donated by , , , Il Cappuccino and Amnesty UK. There’s more to come so keep your eyes open! Excitingly, this year we’re offering the opportunity to buy raffle tickets in advance, so if you can’t come along on the 22nd February but still want to support us, you can buy raffle tickets at one of our meetings, at our bake sale or e-mail me (Debbie) on spb@guamnesty.org.uk.

Another new venture for 2014 is the competition we’re running! Details are but it involves taking one of our flyers and getting a photo in the most exciting, strangest place you can! Entry is free and there’ll be a prize for the best one – just make sure you share the photo on social networks and email it to spb@guamnesty.org.uk. The competition is open to everyone – you don’t have to be a student at Glasgow University to enter.

I think that’s all – except a reminder that tickets are on sale! If you get them in advance from our then they’re £5/7 (higher price includes entry to the afterparty!) and on the door it’ll be £6/8.

If you want to help hand out flyers, set up Qudos on the day or have any general queries, then please do get in touch! See you on the 22nd February!

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Falun Dafa – Home

Falun Dafa – Home.

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Photos From the First Meeting of 2013

Thanks to everyone who came along to our (re)introduction meeting on Tuesday. We’re very excited for the SPB and everything that’s coming up in the coming year.