Member at Large's Report

Position Report: Member-At-Large
Sub-Position: Bar Manager

Written By: Nicole A Lewis
B00493390
3rd Year CS Student
Lewis@cs.dal.ca

Report for Summer Computer Science Council
May - August 2009
Date Submitted: August 19th, 2009

Table of Contents

Introduction 3
Member-At-Large 4
Bar Manager 5
1. Advertising 5
2. Event Planning 5
3. Themes 6
4. Hiring 6
5. Organization/Inventory 7
6. The Liquor Order 7
7. The Event 8
8. Conclusion 9
Appendix A 10

Introduction

This is my term report as Member-at-Large (MaL) as well as Bar Manager for the Dalhousie Computer Science Society Summer Term. The main purpose of being a MaL is to represent the CS as a whole and act on the direction of council. The main purpose of being a Bar Manager is to ensure events are held and that the bar is taken care of.

I’ll start with duties, details and experience of the MaL and then explain about the bar manager position.

Member-At-Large

During my time as MaL, I attended most meetings, and attended as many events that were held by council as possible. At the meetings I submitted weekly reports of what I had done the previous week, and offered my opinions on other subject matter when required.

As MaL I promoted CS meetings and events to many people. I spoke to crowds, made posters, and informed many on Facebook/MSN. These methods are very effective at achieving a high rate of attendance at events. Just don’t pick one method and assume that it is going to work for everyone, such as facebook. For some people I relied on facebook as a way of communicating; little did I know that these people never check their facebook and therefore never made it to any events because they didn’t know it was there.

Being a MaL allows you to take on a fairly simple position, while learning more about council and getting involved.

Bar Manager

Being hired as Bar Manager, I honestly did not know what to do or where to start. For a couple Geek beers before hand I had only bartended, after the event was over I went home. I hope that this little write up will help out any of those that take on this position after me and will feel just a little more prepared. You have to remember one thing, being bar manager is not just getting liquor on a table and selling it, it often requires you to do a full on event.

I’m going to tell you about: Advertising, Event Planning, Themes, Hiring, the Liquor Order, Organization, and the Event itself.
1. Advertising

Having any successful event requires heavy advertising. You need to address all the mediums on which people find out about events such as posters, word of mouth, and internet forums. Posters should have something to catch the eye of the reader, and contain just enough information so they know what’s going on. Word of mouth can be anything from talking to friends, standing in front of a class, or asking a teacher to talk about it before class ends. Internet forums can be anything from announcements on class websites, facebook, msn, etc.
2. Event Planning

A well planned event is a happy event, starting early is key. Allow at least two weeks to plan your event; it gives you more time to think and more time to advertise. Make sure you have all the needed equipment on hand (normally in the CS cage) as well as everything ordered and received before the day of the event. If you feel the event is too much for you to handle alone speak to council, they are willing to help out where they can.
3. Themes

The theme of the event is an important one; you must consider your attendees as well as the time of the year. For instance, having a Greek theme in the middle of the summer doesn’t work so well as the beginning of school in the fall. Some themes that happened this summer include: DDR, Retro Games, Greek, Zombies, Shooters, Fighters, and then a combination of Rock band and Retro games. Themes aren’t always necessary, and they don’t have to be outrageous, just make sure everyone is going to have a good time.
4. Hiring

As Bar Manager you must have two people at minimum to work the bar on the night of the event. You can bartend if you want to but it’s not necessary. You’re employees will be paid for the evening, so make sure you have hired some trust worthy people that are going to do their job. The ones hired must have their “It’s good business training”, they are not required to have their bartending certificate. You can get the “It’s good business” training here: http://onlinetraining.tourismhrc.com/Register.php. You must also ensure you have a back up bartender; just like any business, people do get sick and can’t come in for that day.

5. Organization/Inventory

Organization ties into Event Planning, but there are some other things you must keep in mind. You deal with a lot of liquor; it must be kept tidy and organized for easy access and inventory. Try to keep the boxes of beer tidy, in the open, and arranged for easy access. Keep the beers in the fridge neatly aligned, filled the day before the event (or they won’t be cold). It’s also helpful to keep the liquor/liqueur organized in their holding box for easy set up on the day of the event.

I have a copy of an excel spreadsheet that I’ve used all term to keep track of the liquor that was consumed, how much we had, how much we now have, how any cups we used, what mixes were consumed, etc (See Appendix A). This is helpful when wondering what you need for the next event, so keep on that after every event.

Also keep a neat count sheet of the till. It’s easier to figure how much money was brought in during an event if the till is counted before and afterwards. It’s also just good practice.
6. The Liquor Order

If the sheet I mentioned above is used regularly, then the liquor order is not a difficult thing to do. All you do on this form is to fill out what organization is involved, where it’s being held, the time, who’s in charge, roughly how many people are coming and your inventory/what you want. If you counted all your liquor on the sheet above then this is very easily filled in, and you can use the sheet to see what sells better than what and saves you from ordering things you don’t need.

You want to get the liquor order in at least one week before the event. This allows Grawood to do their order and get everything/most of what you ordered in.
7. The Event

For events such as Geek beer, you should show up about one hour before the event starts. Have at least two-four people helping you set up (moving heavy things is hard to do alone).

I suggest moving the tables/chairs where you need them to be, and then work on setting up screens/consoles/the bar (arranging cups/shot glasses etc), then bring down the liquor. Make sure everything else is set up before bringing the liquor down, you don’t want to leave that unattended. Have the fridge placed in, then align the liquor/liqueur, and then count the till. Speak to the custodial staff about leaving a broom and mom to clean up later, as well as grab some rags for cleaning the bar. After that is said and done, people should start arriving and having a good time. Don’t get worried if people aren’t pouring in right away, most people don’t show up until the first hour or two.

As Bar manager you will be required to take care of spills on the floor and getting pop or other things you run out of during the event so expect a lot of running around unless you brought down an abundance of supplies and don’t need to do so. Also, as Bar Manager, you are not permitted to consume liquor. It makes for a sloppy and unprofessional appearance, and you can risk the liquor license privileges/face possible charges. You must also ensure your bartenders do not drink, this is also illegal.

Once the event is over some people do stay behind to help clean, but don’t expect your guests to stay so make sure you do have guaranteed help to clean. Taking down the screens and putting everything away can take from 30 minutes to half an hour. Always make sure to sweep and mop the area afterwards as the floor will get sticky and unpleasant in the morning.

The next day, return to the school and take back any rented equipment. This includes and not limited to: screens, projectors, sound equipment, cords, borrowed consoles/games from personal contacts etc. A quick return looks good on society and also keeps the privileges of such an option in the future.

Once everything is taken care of, and everyone has gone, pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
8. Conclusion

Spending four months in this position has been very busy and stressful at times. I’ve run myself ragged, and felt like a pack mule. In the end, reflecting on all this, I’ve come to see that it was actually very enjoyable. It gives you a sense of accomplishment to have run something so successful, and provided a means for people to get together and have a nerdy fun time where they can be themselves. I highly recommend this position to anyone who wants to have some managing experience and have a great time doing it.

Appendix A

First Person Shooter Theme
Money Made(not including float) People attended: ~40
$602.00

Liquor Supplies Mix Consumed Pop Consumed Liquor Consumed
Had Have
Gin 1.50 1.40 Daiquiri Mix 0.00 RootBeer 3 Gin 0.10
Dark Rum 2.00 1.50 Lime Cordial 0.30 Sprite 3 Dark Rum 0.50
White Rum 2.00 0.90 Grenadine 0.10 Gingerale 1 White Rum 1.10
Rye 1.30 1.00 Pineapple Juice 0.50 Pepsi 3 Rye 0.30
Scotch 1.80 1.70 Orange Juice 0.40 Big8Coke 0 Scotch 0.10
Tequila 2.00 1.50 Cream .5 litre Big8DietCoke 0 Tequila 0.50
Vodka 2.50 1.30 Sweet and Sour Mix .5 litre Club Soda(can) 0 Vodka 1.20
Baileys 1.00 0.70 Cranberry 0.50 Tonic Water 0 Baileys 0.30
Bols Blue 1.80 1.20 Energy Drinks 7.00 Coke 3 Bols Blue 0.60
Bols White 0.50 0.25 Bols White 0.25
Bols Yellow 1.10 1.10 Beer Consumed Beer left Bols Yellow 0.00
Bols Green 1.00 1.00 Bols Green 0.00
Coffee Liquor 0.80 0.80 Guinness 7 7 Coffee Liquor 0.00
Goldschlagger 0.50 0.30 Heineken 6 1 Goldschlagger 0.2
Jager 1.90 1.80 Oland 3 44 Jager 0.1
Sambuca 1.50 0.50 Keith’s Red 3 7 Sambuca 1.00
Green Sour 1.00 1.00 Keith’s Light 3 17 Green Sour 0.00
Red Sour 1.50 0.50 Keith’s 19 40 Red Sour 1.00
Purple Sour 1.30 1.20 Coors Light 5 12 Purple Sour 0.10
Peach Schnapps 0.50 0.30 Budweiser 2 18 Peach Schnapps 0.20
Jack Daniels 1.10 0.80 Moosehead 0 40 Jack Daniels 0.30
Drambuie 0.20 0.20 Schooner 2 42 Drambuie 0.00
Grand Marnier 0.20 0.20 Clanceys 4 45 Grand Marnier 0.00
Galliano 0.50 0.50 Canadian 7 30 Galliano 0.00
Kahlua 0.50 0.20 Blue 0 13 Kahlua 0.30
Frangelico 0.66 0.25 Bud 1 40 Frangelico 0.41
Cointreau 1.00 0.90 Becks 0 0 Cointreau 0.10
Bourbon 1.20 1.00 Brahma 1 5 Bourbon 0.20
Menthe 0.25 0.25 Stella 0 10 Menthe 0.00
Ouzo 0.50 0.50 Total: 63 371 Ouzo 0.00
Armaretto 0.50 0.20 Armaretto 0.30
ButterRip 1.00 0.95 ButterRip 0.05
Long Island 0.20 0.20 Long Isand 0.00

Coolers Left
Breezer 3 3 Ice: 3 bags
Mikes Lemonade 7 0 Shot cups: 100
Smirnoff 5 0
Rev 0 5
Mikes Cran 3 4