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The NO2ID stance is sweeping the country and it is becoming apparent that we can, with the support of the public, stamp this bureaucracy ridden policy into the ground.
The first action to implement ID cards was to enforce it on international students.
However, former Exeter CF Chairman, Dan Ericsson, and myself have just successfully passed an opposition motion against ID cards at Exeter University. We opposed the introduction of ID cards on the following grounds:
1. To oppose the introduction of ID cards, compulsory registration and national Identity Register.
2. To hold a student-wide referendum on affiliation to the NO2ID campaign.
3. That the NUS representatives of the University raise this matter to the national executives. The motion passed with no opposition… A prime example that the young conservative movement can work to make a difference and make the resistance to ID Agenda campaign a real success.
So spread the word on your campus, it doesn’t matter how people are politically affiliated, it is apparent that a vast section of the public disagree with the implementation of ID cards. Whatever else we may disagree upon, we can all rally around freedom and individual liberty.
In terms of students, the cards are estimated to cost over £100, which is a big hit to any student budget. Not to mention the unfairness of alienating the international students by making them get the cards first. In hindsight, ID cards do not provide any benefit.
And by far the most daunting element of this policy is that all our information will be placed onto to one database, an invasion of privacy for one, and the track record of the government loosing vital information of members of the public is not exactly comforting! If they’re really such a great idea, why doesn’t the Government roll out their introduction in Whitehall? At least that way we’d know who was responsible for losing, leaking and prying into our lives and personal data.
So, NO2ID – spread the word…..the young conservative movement is making a difference!!
If you want to present a motion against ID Cards to your Student Union, a template is available here courtesy of Conservative Future and NO2ID
This excellent news comes as NO2ID launch a potent new viral video:
Last time, Tarasyn discussed insider tips for recruiting new members to your organisation. In her latest column she covers the essentials of running an exciting social scene.
Whilst travelling around the country to various CF events, and talking to people from committees from all over the place, when it came to covering the topic of CF socials many people expressed the difficulty of getting a good turn out. Certainly there is the regular faces who will always go, and are jolly good company too. But the social side of CF branch can become its blood line.
Not only could a great social scene really raise the profile of the society, it can widen its appeal generating a buzz around the society which can be pumped into campaigning, and getting young people out turning the streets blue. Furthermore, you can make a sizeable profit on top!
Down here at Exeter CF we took full advantage of our student environment so we could 
quite literally turn the CF socials into a legendary evening. Competing with the Rugby team and selling out of tickets, our social this Tuesday reached levels we didn’t think possible of CF!! We had a ‘Sex on The Beach’ theme party at one of the top clubs Exeter. With two tons of sand, £1.50 cocktails, beach balls and deck chairs and we had a turn out of 300.
How much did it cost us? Nothing. In fact we made £1100 worth of ticket sale, 75% of which goes to us and it can go straight back into the society and campaigning.
I talked through the success with my fellow colleague, Sophie Kelk, and we came up with some tips on how to do a successful CF social:
To sum up:
- It really is essential to start booking and organising your social at least 3 weeks before the event – its amazing the little contingencies that pop up that slow the process down.
- Even if you are short on money, try and avoid just saying that everyone should meet in a pub and leave it at that. Ring around cocktail bars and ask them if they could reserve and area and give you a drinks deal. Tell them a realistic but hopeful number that you except to turn out…it will make you work harder towards the target!
- Advertising: It is crucial that you advertise as much as possible, get the committee out on campus putting up posters and giving out flyers. Once you have something to hold onto such as cheap drinks, free buffet or fancy dress use that as your selling point – make your social stand out from everyone else’s.
- Regularity: Once you have captured a sizeable turn out to your socials, it is important to keep them going – a social at least every two weeks, and try to make sure that every other one is something new. Such as fancy dress, cheese & wine or a pub crawl.
- Ring the clubs you are going to end up in beforehand and get your society on the VIP list. If you get a good turnout, arrange with the club to have your society on the list permanently.
- Do not be afraid to cater to the student environment; do something strictly social and lash orientated and even controversial. Generating a buzz around your society will lay the foundations for people to get further involved, and thus campaign. Even if people just turn up for a good social, if you are selling tickets then you are making money for your society!
- Network: Spread the committee out to network the room, make sure you have people talking to the freshers and initiating drinking games if need be. Whilst ensuring the quieter or people intending on having a political conversation are being looked after by the other members of the committee. You know when you have had a successful night when you have hardly seen your fellow committee members!!
- Do not look stressed: Even if the organisation of the night is a nightmare, and you are running around like a maniac, try and contain your stress levels. If you look like you are having a bad time it rubs off on other people. Have an era of calm and “everything is under control” about you. Keep a look out for people with an empty glass, give them a top up or walk them to the bar….keep the drink and merry times flowing!!
Have fun socialising, and if anyone found this tips useful or are going to try them out…get back to TYC…!
Exeter Christian Union (ECU) certainly seem to think so. In a motion set to be put before the General Meeting of the Guild of Students tomorrow they call for the amendment of the Guild’s Equal Opportunities Policy. They submit that the current policy, whilst admirable, fails to protect the collective right of groups. The proposed amendments are:
I. It shall be permissible for particular clubs or societies to impose restrictions on eligibility to join or participate on such grounds as Belief.
II. A club or society shall only be allowed to impose such restrictions if they are the grounds upon which their purpose as a society lies.
III. Societies which are permitted to restrict membership or participation in this way shall not be allowed to restrict the attendance of anyone, member or not at any of their events on the basis that the society is required to show a commitment to the principles of free enquiry and free speech within the law. The only event at which such societies shall be allowed to limit attendance will be the society’s committee meeting.
The proposal, which echoes a 2006 row (a part of which saw the Guild try to rename ECU ‘Evangelical Christian Union’), has elicited a strong response from campus students, including a nearly 900-strong Facebook group in opposition.
The amendments raise interesting points of philosophy as much as law. At what point does one group’s rights trump those of another? One can hear overtones of the numerous rows over freedom of conscience, such as the Catholic adoption agencies disapproval of gay couples in which the Government appeared to rule that not all rights are equal. The proposed amendments are clearly carefully couched so as to press for discrimination only in the context of membership, not attendance.
Exeter University Conservative Future Freshers Rep Sophie Kelk commented
“People have been fighting for their rights for years, and it seems incredibly backwards that this is being put forward! However, the response from the university students has been huge and I expect for the motion to be crushed!”
Also on the agenda for the meeting are various motions, including one which seeks to halt the university practice of placing Bibles, funded by the University, in rooms; and also a motion from EUCF seeking the Guild’s endorsement of NO2ID. We’ll be following this story with interest.
(l-r) Patrick Sullivan, Edward Hallam, Simon Richards, Mark Wallace
On Thursday evening TYC joined the CF Coalition Campus Tour panel at Exeter University in a Question Time style event, taking questions for the award-winning Exeter Conservative Future. We were in sound company, seated between Simon Richards of the Freedom Association and Mark Wallace of the TaxPayers’ Alliance to one side, and CF NME member Patrick Sullivan to the other. Kudos to Patrick for having put together this entire nationwide tour under his remit as Student Life chairman; undoubtedly the highest achievement of the NME this year, and hopefully a new fixture in CF life for the years and administrations to come.
The abiding sense I took away from the evening was the value and importance of going into schools and universities and disseminating ideas. We were undoubtedly preaching to a home crowd and there wasn’t a great deal of dissent, for better or worse. But I do think it was of great worth to bring non-Party speakers before the activists; people prepared to give fresh answers, not trite Party-line ‘isn’t it exciting to be a Conservative’ platitudes. I was particularly impressed by the quality of the questions asked. All were well thought out, erudite inquiries, not simplistic paeans for tax cuts and the like.
(l-r) Dan Ericsson (EUCF Chairman), Patrick Sullivan, Edward Hallam and Simon Richards
Following the event the Freedom Association laid on one of their famous ‘Free Spirits’ events for all who attended, as well as a raffle, won by Alexander Cook, for a bottle of ‘Free Spirits’ Gin. We thank them for their generosity!
Undoubtedly there were some lessons to be learnt from this first date, and we’ll be channelling our feedback to Patrick, but the principle of the evening was sound, and was a welcome step towards a YAF-style interfacing of activists with the broader conservative movement. We see in this event the foundation of something indispensable, a new facet for Conservative Future which should grow and become a mainstay of what CF is about. We’re now very much looking forward to the next stop on the Tour – UEA.
With these tips you
In this point by point guide Leadership Institute graduate Tarasyn takes you through some of the tricks of the trade for running a successful recruitment stall at Freshers.
Recruiting freshers to join Conservative Future, or any other organisation, can be long-winded process consisting of balloons, posters, safety pins and a repeat of ‘the benefits joining CF can give you’ conversation a million times over per day. However, this is a vital part of the young conservative movement, reaching out to new young members who could become activists, and thus more people out on the streets canvassing and turning the country blue.
Creating contact is essential. How do you get it with freshers? Well, if Exeter CF is anything to go by, it would be worthwhile noting their tactics. Last week they signed up nearly 300 members, a number that has tripled in 3 years.
Following discussions with my fellow committee member Sophie Kelk, the freshers’ representative for Exeter CF, and very much the woman behind the successful drive, we devised a set of pointers for creating a success in recruiting students to join a conservative movement:
1) Booze and freebies sell: For the political passionate out there, it may be a sad thought to think that you need club deals and freebies to recruit members, but it is a solid student fact. Once you have them signed up, you can initiate contact and gradually show the appeal of the more serious political goal side of the society.
However you need to get people to sign up in the first place. With a mere £5 for the Exeter CF membership, we organised deals and discounts with over 7 top clubs and restaurants in the city – including exclusive discounts cards just for us for some of the most popular clubs, students love this! Plan months in advance, get calling and meeting all your local establishments and see what deals you can organise!
2) Layout: The stall needs to stand out and look good. With little expense and the famous stall package from CF NME’s Owen Meredith, you can create an effective stall. Make it coordinated with balloons and posters that appeal, such as YBF’s “Life’s better under a conservative” poster – the perfect environment for it! Also, photos expressing all aspects of the society are a good touch too. Make use of your area, get there earlier and swap tables with another society that has a better spot, or move your table to a corner so you can dominate the largest part of the room.
Don't all stand behind the stall
In terms of people-set up get your most charismatic people out at the front of the stand drawing people in -actively engage with people, and if anyone wants to talk in-depth politics direct them to the people behind the stand so as not to block the front of it and tie up your lead people.
3) Organisation: Make-sure everyone knows exactly what they are doing, and have some sort of production line-set up ready for when it gets busy. Package all the membership packs the day before. With a see-through freezer bag from Pound Land, and some blue ribbon….throw in a bottle opener, badges, membership card, discount cards ,your society and the party leaflets and you have one attractive looking membership pack!
4) VIP: Get you local Conservative PPC or MP down for an hour or two, introduce them to the freshers and create an air of importance. Make the freshers feel like it is a privilege and a political window of opportunity if they sign up – which it is!
5) Extra bonuses: Go out you way to make your stall stand out. Make fairy cakes and cookies the night before, a further way to attract people.
What next? After a successful freshers drive the work is by no means done, you need to connect your new members, and make your CF part of their social calendar. Regular, decent socials will get people drawn in and create an energised pool for you to recruit campaigning activists from.
It’s vital to keep planning ahead and maintain a buzz of activity and excitement around the society. If your organisation looks to have gone quiet, people will find other ways to socialise and use spend their time.
For the next month, Exeter CF has the following social events organised:
- Boat Cruise and coffee morning (freshers week)
- Second meet and greet drinks social (already been!)
- Cheese and wine evening
- ‘Sex on the beach’ party at a top club.
- YBF training day
- CF coalition tour: panel of guest speakers
- Christmas black tie ball
- Regular campaigning!
Remember, most universities hold a Refreshers event later in the year, so start planning now!
NB: Keep a note of what works well and always try out new ideas, and if they don’t work you know for next time!
Happy recruiting!
No doubt out of modesty Tarasyn hasn’t mentioned that you should also remember to keep in touch with TheYoungConservative. Not only can we promote what your organisation is doing, we’re also both YBF trained and Leadership Institute graduates and only too happy to give one-to-one advice. – Ed
