About Me

Hi, I'm Adam, and I'm running to be your SU VP for Societies.

During my time at Warwick, societies have given me so many opportunities that I never thought I’d have before coming to university - from running a cinema, to hosting a radio show, to performing in a panto! And now it’s my time to give back.

I’ve spent years in societies working with the SU and experienced almost every process and problem. I know what works, what doesn’t, and where I could improve things.

Starting the Warwick Student Arts Festival taught me how to work with the university to get things done – and showcase societies on a huge platform. I’m determined to take this to the next level as your VP Socs.

Instagram: @adamforsocs

Experience

• Socs Forum Member 2024-25
• SU Award - Outstanding Contribution to a Society (2024)
• Founder of Warwick Student Arts Festival
• Computing Society Tech Officer 2022-25
• Tech Crew VP 2022-23, President 2023-24
• Warwick Student Cinema IT Officer 2021-24
• TEDx Warwick Technical Team Member 2022-23

Key Pledges

1. Cut Socs Fed to £10 (and £2 to PGs) or less
2. Term 2 Societies Fair
3. Review and simplify spending rules
4. Create a societies marketplace for socs to share services and equipment
5. Overhaul exec resources to make them actually usable
6. GOAT - regularly Go Out And Talk around the university to speak to students directly about societies and their issues

Easter Egg: I will legally change my name to Adam Societies

Money

• Cut socs fed by at least £6 for the 25/26 academic year (making it £10 UG, £2 PG), and propose to eliminate it for 27/28
• Create guidance outlining existing SU and University funding which societies can access, introduce new funding opportunities, and expand and review eligibility criteria for existing funds such as the Innovation Fund
• Look into VAT exemption for society purchases

Promotion and Publicity

• Introduce a Term 2 Socs Fair for all societies
• Allow takeovers of official Warwick SU accounts for society events
• Work with the University to increase official advertising space across campus including by restoring the boards behind the Arts Centre and installing new SU-managed advertising columns around campus to advertise soc activities better.
• Open up SU atrium screens for society use
• Provide societies with better guidance and tools for creating websites without additional costs or technical knowledge

Cut red tape

• Allow societies to set up tickets and shops themselves
• Review and simplify all rules and guidance, with clear explanations for why certain rules exist and no inconsistencies and contradictions
• Redesign planning packs to be more understandable and relevant to the variety of events that socs run and make clear when they're needed (e.g. a trip abroad should require more documents than a bowling trip)
• Allow societies to subsidise merch for members, not just exec

Better Infrastructure

• Give all societies a named SU email account (e.g. yoursoc@warwicksu.com)
• Create a “socs marketplace” where societies can share services and equipment, increasing cross-society collaboration and reducing duplication of resources
• Provide student groups with car, van, minibus hire to enable more events to happen as in the past
• Improve flexibility in selling tickets, and allow alternative ticketing sites where the SU website can’t provide features (APIs, assigned seating, checking into events)
• Move inter-society transfers to the standard MRF system for more visibility and control
• Work with the University to create a single unified process for events to ensure all stakeholders (such as Estates and Community Safety) are contacted
• Support the rollout and implementation of card readers for societies to reduce need for cash handling

Spaces and Storage

• Document all spaces available to societies including University rooms (and any specialist facilities they offer e.g. additional power, 24h access), SU spaces, the Arts Centre, and Conferences, with clear prices and contact info
• Increase storage available to societies and make storage 24/7 accessible where possible (or otherwise at least usable during evenings when SU reception is closed)
• Work with the University to provide wider access to more specialist spaces for societies
• Lobby the University to cut the price of hiring Arts Centre spaces

Communication and Representation

• Redesign and overhaul the exec resources pages to make information easier to find, as well as adding more content such as role specific info to support new exec and share best practices
• Regularly update resources pages to reflect current processes and incoming enquiries.
• Make it easier to know where to go with queries, with a “who’s who” section on the site
• GOAT - regularly Go Out And Talk around the university to speak to students directly about societies and their issues
• Encourage societies to actively reach out and involve postgrads, incentivise societies to have PG rep exec roles
• Provide clear ways to escalate issues, with clear targets for response times
• Introduce a support ticketing system for forms and email contacts with the SU to ensure issues don’t get missed and improve efficiency
• Create easy ways for any exec member to give feedback on what is and isn’t working