Minutes from the March 8th, 2005 meeting:
Meeting was called to order.
Present: Jonathan Clark (Scooter), Michelle Strain, Matt Smith, Andrew LeBlanc, Robin Coombs, Ian Allen, and George Woodburn.
Motion for the approval of the minutes from February 15th, 2005, Ian (George). Approved.
Manager's Report (Scooter)
February was extra quiet, people left early for spring break and returned late. The first week back was busy with the Saturday line up at the bar being too long. This was worse than most weeks, partly because the regular Saturday bartender sprained her ankle that evening and a less experienced bartender had to fill in.
There are a bunch of up-coming events that should make this month better than March of 2004. These include a draw for snow jam tickets, the Sackville Movie Project reception, the Grad Banquet, St. Patrick's Day, and an ACE poker tournament. The plan for St. Patty's day is to open at 7pm and start BINGO at 7:30. Scooter is sending out an email encouraging students to invite staff and faculty out that night.
Scooter mentioned that in the email that went out to students, he did not address the effects of most first years being underage. That is another unknown factor that may affect things next year.
Scooter read a letter which he sent to the VP's and President, addressing the problems with facilities and voicing his support for improvements in this area.
Financial Report (Scooter)
Revenue dropped by 20%. The bright side of this is that costs are down by 30% over last year which may partially off set this decline. Cleaning costs are down, and so are wages by $1000, while rent is up. Scooter had to reorder a bunch of glassware so that expense is also up. To date we are down $14,000 this year. Hopefully March will be better.
Business arising from the minutes
Memberships: Feedback about switching the membership fee to be included in SAC fees has been mixed. Some people feel it is a good idea as it done by other groups within the university. Other people felt it was inappropriate to charge people if they are underage and can't get in to the Pub. Scooter suggested that while the idea has merit overall, it simply would not be feasible at the present time, until our facilities are sufficiently developed to be able to provide services to underage students. He only envisions this being possible when we have moved into MacConnell and possibly have access to a second room in which dry events can be held for the underage students.
Michelle realizes that the financial position of the Pub is difficult, but she reiterated that the Pub must turn business around on its own, and cannot simply wait to move into the new building and hope things get better.
New business
Incident: There was an incident involving an alumnus last Wednesday. The alumna bought a membership and then skied down the hill outside hitting his head, losing a tooth and getting 29 stitches. The RCMP flagged down a town truck to clean up some blood after the Pub staff had washed it off the sidewalk. The Pub doesn't really have a policy for dealing with cleaning up blood as it happens on such a rare occasion. The university is responsible for snow removal though Pub staff will occasionally clear the steps.
First Aid: The new staff being hired for next year have been told that as a condition of employment, they must take and maintain basic first aid training. The Pub is going to pay for one or two senior staff members to have the "first responder" certification, which is a lot more involved than the simple basic first aid course that regular staff members will be required to get. Training lasts for two years, which is the approximate length of time most staff work at the Pub before graduating. With increasing first aid regulations this is important. All campus police also have first aid training.
Board of Directors: A new faculty member is needed now that Rob has left. Some candidates were discussed. Does anyone know a faculty member that they feel would be good and they could approach?
Motion to make Andrew LeBlanc new Vice Chair. Robin (George). Approved.
ASCARS: After-party may be held at Pub. Scooter is going to look into opening.
Alumni: A small group of alumni are thinking about coming to the Pub for a DUSTED event in June: "Drinking Unsuspecting Small-Town Establishment Dry." This is a planned event to boost summer revenues for the Pub for a weekend.
Next meeting set for Tuesday, April 5th, 2005, at 8pm at the Pub.
Motion to adjourn. Robin (Ian). Approved.
Minutes from the January 11th, 2005 meeting:
Meeting was called to order.
Motion for the approval of the agenda, Andrew (Ian). Approved.
Present: Jonathan Clark (Scooter), Rob MacQuarrie, Trisha Parsons, Michelle Strain, Matt Smith, Andrew LeBlanc, Robin Coombs, Ian Allen, Craig MacArthur, Diane Michaud, and George Woodburn.
Corrections to the wording of the minutes from the previous month: 'current cash machine can only dispense 50 bills per transaction.'' Advertising of liquor prices is not allowed on campus'
Motion for the approval of the minutes from December 1st, 2004, Robin (Trisha). Approved.
Manager's Report (Scooter)
December was good. The Pub managed to hold its own and sales were up from last year. During exams, sales were weak, but that was to be expected. This year the Pub was closed on New Years due to a lack of demand. The month of December mostly consisted of cost-cutting measures.
Cleaning expenses have stayed the same as last year, which is good.
Wednesday nights are a disaster with almost no sales. Scooter is working to pump up Wednesday night sales. DJ and country nights will be occurring on Wednesdays. Monday night sales are down since trivia is now on Tuesdays, so Scooter may close the Pub Monday nights. Over spring break Scooter is planning to play hockey DVD's to please crowds who are missing hockey due to the NHL strike.
The bank machine switched to $10 bills and so far this hasn't caused any problems.
The first Saturday of January, which is typically very busy, ran smoothly.
Financial Report (Diane)
Diane was talking with liquor store person and sales there are not down from previous years. This suggests students are still drinking in residences. She wrote the check for the insurance company which was $15,000, but which has not come out of our account yet. The $5000 cleaning expense has also not been paid. Scooter is projecting we will run at a loss of around $12,000 for the year, based on current information.
Business arising from the minutes
Three new dumpsters have been installed, providing lots of extra space.
Rob Inglis arrived. Motion to go in camera, Andrew (Trish). Approved.
Motion to go out of camera. Andrew (Trish). Approved.
Viability of summer: A decision must be made whether it is worthwhile to remain open for the summer, and if so, for how long. There are some costs which are incurred because the Pub is open and others which will occur anyways. Whatever money can be made will decrease the loss over this period.
By staying open until con weekend the Pub is projected to realize about $4900 in contribution margin to offset fixed costs.
By staying open until the end of spring session the Pub is projected to realize about $10,500 in contribution margin to offset fixed costs.
By staying open the whole summer the Pub is projected to realize about $9000 in contribution margin to offset fixed costs.
The fixed costs are the problem. Some costs, such as depreciation, rent, insurance, etc., do not change whether or not we are open or closed. These expenses don't suddenly stop just because it is summer. Our goal is to see if we can open for part of the summer and make enough contribution margin to offset a portion of the fixed costs.
Staying open does have some advantages. It keeps other bars from developing a student base, and provides a venue for student activities. The advantage to closing, however, is that it may boost September sales as students are happy to see the Pub open again, and presents less of a risk of having regulatory or other problems. Scooter is going to weigh the options and make a decision before the March meeting.
Next meeting set for Tuesday, February 8th, 2005, at 8pm at the Pub.
Motion to adjourn. Trisha (Robin). Approved.
Minutes from the December 1st, 2004 meeting:
Meeting was called to order.
Motion for the approval of the agenda, Craig (Andrew). Approved.
Present: Scooter, Rob MacQuarrie, Trisha Parsons, Andrew LeBlanc, Robin Coombs, Ian Allen, Craig MacArthur, Diane Michaud, Rob Inglis, and George Woodburn.
Motion for the approval of the minutes from November 9th, 2004, Ian (Craig). Approved.
Business arising from the minutes
Garbage: Garbage is still overflowing. The university will be informed by Scooter.
Manager's Report (Scooter)
November went well, with the notable exception of Remembrance Day weekend over which sales were abysmal. It has been a rough month with a number of pieces of equipment breaking. The cooler broke necessitating a new water bath. Service was poor from existing refrigeration service company, so Scooter found a new company that could fix the problem immediately.
The Canadian government passed a bill that all ATMs must be able to dispense $400 per transaction if the customer so desires. Our machine dispenses $5 bills and can only hold 50 bills, which is insufficient. The Pub may need to switch to $20 or $10 bills, or get a new machine. $10 bills are known to be dirty and cause the ATM to jam, but we might be able to arrange to get new ones from the bank. Switching to $20 bills may be problematic as not everyone has $20 to take out of their account. Over fifty percent of all transactions first term were for amounts of less than $20. Scooter will email members to find out which they prefer.
Scooter launched a 1-2-3-4-5 promotion to drive up membership sales which are down from last year. These nights will not make money but will hopefully break even.
SOCAN, a licensing fee for music played at the Pub has gone up. This change, passed by the federal government, is retroactive for a six year period since the bill was originally tabled. This has resulted in a large one-time charge of a couple thousand dollars to make up for that retroactive change. Luckily, the fees from this point going forward have also been reduced compared to the past couple of years.
Financial Report (Diane)
Net income is down $17.17 instead of up $15,124.81 at this point last year. A large portion of this loss was over the summer.
Diane heard back from Scott about insurance and it does not look like there are any companies offering better rates. Diane will not buy another GIC because there is not enough cash for that and covering several upcoming payments.
New Business
Rob is going to be leaving the Board of Directors, as he is no longer a faculty member after the end of December. He will, however, still be around to help if needed. Craig will be taking his place as chairperson. Craig has enjoyed his time on the Board so far and feels it is a good organization to be a part of.
Custodian: The Pub's custodian is finishing up working in the STUD, and will be relocating to a different building at MTA. Motion was made to publicly thank her in some way. Robin (Ian). Approved. Scooter said he could take care of this.
Motion was made to go in camera. Robin (Andrew). Approved.
Motion was made to go out of camera. Craig (Andrew). Approved.
Conduct Becoming: Ian has been put in charge of monitoring printing costs and signing off on them.
Advertising Policy: Other bars have been advertising pricing of liquor publicly through posters, which is not allowed by the university's liquor policy rules & regulations. The Pub does not advertise prices on posters. Emails are considered to be personal communication and prices can be included in such messages.
Next meeting set for Tuesday, January 11th, 2005, at 8pm at the Pub.
Motion to adjourn. Ian (Craig). Approved.
Minutes from the October 5th, 2004 meeting:
Meeting was called to order
Approval of the agenda
Present: Scooter, Matt Smith, Rob MacQuarrie, Trisha Parsons, Andrew LeBlanc, Robin Coombs, Ian Allen, Craig MacArthur, Michelle Strain, Rob Inglis, and George Woodburn
Approval of the minutes from September 23rd, 2004
Business arising from the minutes
Website Links: Pulse Productions is not linked. Scooter is writing up advertising policy. Website run through MTA server so Pub can't accept money for advertising. Scooter is going to talk to Jill Innis (webmaster) about links. All external links pop up in another window.
Photos: Permission for photos is usually given verbally to staff. Have only ever had 2 requests to have a picture removed from website which was done immediately. Pictures are updated Tuesday and most alumni check on Wednesday during the day. Brings daily hits from 400-500 to 800 on Wednesdays. Big events like homecoming have 1500 hits a day. Most pictures are taken on Saturdays because of the crowd and sometimes on busy nights during the week if staff members have time. Of the 200 or so taken 40-50 are fixed up in photoshop and posted. Photo editing usually takes 2-3hrs week.
Rock DJ series: What has been happening this year is Grover plays rock music on Thursdays till after BINGO.
Manager's Report (Scooter)
Security: Was good for September; he has not had to go to Judicial yet. Scooter works Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. If there is a fight they usually kick the person out, get statements from staff and will check security camera tapes if needed. The Pub uses the guidelines posted on their website. Scooter sends the person a letter and CCs pub staff, security, Charlie Hunter, and Rob. Only exempted from judicial if it is a minor first time offense. Sanctions range from 1 week ban up to a year.
Marketing: Classes started early this Sept which helped sales. However sales were down as a result of sales dropping after Homecoming which was held in the second week of school this year, earlier then usual. Things that helped sales were 5/4 club, women's hockey and Trivia. Tuesdays are down, but the guest DJ series is just starting up. Thursday BINGO is doing well, and weekends are on par with last year.
TV advertising: Plans to increase revenue include setting up TVs for advertising slots. It will advertise local businesses, student organizations and events, weekly advertising, and in house specials. For students it would be 3 weeks for $20, for businesses it would be $400 for the year. Things excluded from advertising would be direct competitors, businesses the Pub has previously had problems with, and tobacco industries.
Membership sales were good this year. They were put on sale at a discounted rate to encourage people to come on days with cover.
Sales were down $5000, but so were wage expenditures by canceling assistant manager and daytime bartender positions. This staffing cut was compensated for by nighttime staff doing some of the previously “daytime work”.
New Business
How do we prevent drunk drivers: Pub staff do their best to keep people from driving. They do not approach people unless they have reason to suspect the person is driving. They do not take peoples keys but will get friends of the person to take away car keys. Pub staff have called police in the past and have taken money from till to send people home in cabs.
Received email about ambulances: Pub usually calls an ambulance 2-3 times per year. Questions about this expense were raised. It cost $180 every time an ambulance is called even if the person refuses to take ambulance. Decision was made to ere on the side of caution and call ambulances if staff feel it may be needed.
Next meeting was set for November 9th at 8pm, meeting adjourned.
Minutes from the February 15th, 2005 meeting:
Meeting was called to order.
Present: Jonathan Clark (Scooter), Rob MacQuarrie, Trish Parsons, Michelle Strain, Matt Smith, Robin Coombs, Ian Allen, Craig MacArthur, and George Woodburn.
Motion for the approval of the minutes from January 11th, 2005, Craig (Ian). Approved.
Manager's Report (Scooter)
January was a month where the Pub was just trying not to fall behind. The first week was poor, and then the rest was okay.
For the year we are down from sales by $20,000, and another $10,000 from door and membership revenue. Sales are down mostly in draft and beer revenue, however, liquor revenue has increased quite strongly as a percentage of sales, and the higher profit margins on hard liquor are what are keeping this year from being a complete disaster.
The Pub traffic is shifting away from weekend and toward weeknights, as a result of Trivia and other events. In many ways this helps because of the overwhelming traffic and overcrowding the Pub had been experiencing on weekends.
There are several things hurting the Pub including: 1. Paddy O's (minor problem). 2. Decreased student enrolment (very major problem). 3. Insurance costs (major problem).
As far as cash goes we are down to $22,000, from $49,000 at same point last year.
Pub memberships: Question was raised as to whether Pub memberships should be mandatory for students, same as CHMA, and Argosy memberships. A commerce group is going to be doing a study on whether or not including the Pub membership in student fees would be beneficial. If this was decided in a referendum some year, it would be students who would be of legal drinking age the following September that would be voting and not the underage incoming first-year students who would still be in high school during a vote. This sort of a major change would decrease revenue from door charges, though there would still be cover from outside guests and the switch may increase traffic and sales. The problem is that there are underage students who couldn't enter and “dry” events, held for these students would make no money. Currently the Pub is not set up properly to be able to host simultaneous wet and dry events, because there is only one room making separation impossible. The change would probably be a lot easier if we were in the MacConnell location, as we could provide separate dry and wet events so as to be able to benefit a greater portion of the student body.
Michelle pointed out that The Pub has to prove itself profitable for the university to be willing to make the commitment of renovating space in the new STUD in Trueman. The University is interested in providing entertainment to underage students and is planning to open up the meal hall next year as a night time hang-out for them. They are installing a stage and big screen TV for this purpose. The repercussion of this change on the Pub and on downtown businesses was discussed. This will probably hurt other establishments that offer food more then it will hurt the Pub. The feasibility of the Pub offering food was discussed. At this point there is not the physical space to make this possible. When both The Golden A and The Pub move to new space in Trueman it may be possible to merge these two operations and start offering food. The Pub's Board of Directors will ask around to find out what people think of memberships being included in student fees.
Rob Inglis arrived. Motion to go in camera, Robin (George). Approved.
Motion to go out of camera. Craig (Trish). Approved.
Business arising from the minutes
Scooter is redrafting the summer manager's contract. The current plan is to stay open until the end of spring semester. There may be the option of opening a few additional nights throughout the summer.
Scooter is developing new system for how money will be handled in the summer, with more participation by the accountant rather than just the summer manager. The summer manager will have a smaller role in this and future years, as job responsibilities are divided up, and also since the Pub probably will not be open all summer due to the large losses last year.
Scooter will be sending out an email telling people about the 1972 hockey series and why it was important.
New business
Trish proposed additional country nights be held on nights available to non-members.
Robin asked about lowering prices of Happy hour pitchers to get people in earlier so they spend more money. Problem is that people will continue to drink beer after and profit margin is less on bottles of beer then on hard liquor which may not benefit Pub.
Lower traffic has decreased required number of custodial shifts. This will save The Pub about $3000 over the previous year, although that is still only a fraction of the savings that we need to get back to a break-even point.
Next meeting set for Tuesday, March 8th, 2005, at 8pm at the Pub.
Motion to adjourn. Trisha (Robin). Approved.
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