News

Dear Adventurers,

Geas will be convening its Annual General Meeting for the forthcoming year. Business for this AGM will include motions pertaining to Society policy, amendments to the Constitution, Conpulsion 2020, as well as the election of Society office-bearers for the forthcoming academic year. This AGM will be conducted electronically through an on-line ballot.

AGM Agenda
The agenda for the AGM is as follows:

http://geas.org.uk/agm

AGM Moving to On-Line Ballot
Due to the closures at the University owing to Covid-19, the AGM for this year will be conducted via an on-line ballot. All of the motions on the Agenda, as well as all of the office-bearers for the forthcoming year, will be voted on on-line. We shall provide more details and instructions of how to vote using our on-line ballot in due course. This ballot will be conducted using the University of Edinburgh’s Office365 system, and in order to vote you must be a matriculated student at the University as well as a paid member of the Society by 28 March latest (24 hours before the official close of the ballot).

Because this ballot is being conducted on-line, you will not need to vote or run for a position by proxy.

Please be aware of the following deadlines:
1) 5 pm on 22 March: Deadline for nominations for elections of office-bearers. This is the last date by which you need to nominate yourselves if you wish to run for a Committee position. More details on this below.
2) 23 March: Ballots open. Voting on the AGM ballots and/or office-bearers begins.
3) 5 pm on 29 March: Voting ends and ballots close.

Running for a Committee Position
All Committee positions for next year will be voted on through the on-line ballot. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to get involved with the running of the Society and to have a chance to shape the events that we run. If you would like more details on what the current Committee positions are and what the roles entail, please feel free to get in touch with us. We would be happy to answer any questions.

We on the Geas Committee recognise that our Society is growing increasingly diverse, and we believe this to be a great strength. We want the leadership of the Society to better reflect the community that it serves. This is why we especially invite women, non-binary and gender non-conforming folx, BAME folx, LGBTQ+ folx, and/or people identifying as D/disabled to consider putting themselves forward for a Committee position, as we believe your experiences and insights would be invaluable in directing which way the Society goes and making it more inclusive for all members.

Because are moving to an on-line ballot, we will be running these elections a little differently this year. If you wish to run for a position, please nominate yourself by emailing the Committee by 5 pm on 22 March. The Committee is willing to formally second all nominations that we receive, so you will not need to find another member to second your nomination. In your nomination, please indicate which positions you are running for and provide a short statement for why you would be a good candidate for that role. If you are running for more than one position, please provide a separate statement for each post. Otherwise, we will use the same statement for both elections. Once we have all the nominations together, we will send out the election statements to our memberships and open the ballot.

Please note that the agenda lists the order in which the Committee positions will be elected. If you are running for more than one position, and you get elected to an earlier role, then your candidacy will be withdrawn from all subsequent roles and the votes cast in your favour will be re-allocated as per their next-preferred candidate. We will provide more information on the details of the voting system once we open the ballots.

Note: You must be a matriculated student during the forthcoming academic year in order to be elected for the core Committee positions (i.e. the ones that are not advisory positions). In contrast, you do not need to be a student to hold an advisory position.

We would like to invite our members to nominate themselves for Committee positions, and we would further ask our student members to vote in the ballot so that they have a say in the way the Society is run. We would also like to convey our humble apologies to our non-student members, and that we regret that they are unable to vote because of EUSA’s regulations.

For Geas and for Glory,

Vivek Santayana
Equality and Wellbeing Officer

Hi all,

Unfortunately due to the poor turn out of the panel and the shutting down of the uni I’m going to have to cancel tonight’s event.
I am so sorry that we have to do this but I do t want to have to turn people away because there isn’t enough people to run.
I understand it is a difficult time and people are reluctant to attend events and this is obviously outside of our control.

I hope you all manage to stay safe and I hope to see you all again soon.

I deeply apologise to those looking forward to this event and hope that the committee next year can endeavour to continue to raise the platform of women in our society and will consider running this event again.

You can show support by replying to this email and ordering some of our stickers for the event. Depending on the situation i will either be handing them out at GEAS or mailing them to you , I will keep you updated.

For the last time, and for the glory of GEAS,

Robyn Higgins Events 2019/2020

Hello Grand adventures!

With the growing concerns over Covid-19, geas has decided to take some precautions to help ensure games can continue in a safe manner. We would like to reiterate at this point that both EUSA and the government have given no advice or restrictions that will affect our usual Wednesday and Sunday games, should this change we will inform you and act on it immediately.

In the mean time, we want to offer to GMs of geas games the chance to purchase hand sanitizers and antibacterial wipes for your game tables if you and your players desire. If the GMs wish to do this, please purchase them and bring them along with your receipts to myself at geas on Sunday, or any other committee member on Wednesday, and we can refund you there and then. As for players, please communicate to your GMs if you would like them to do this for your own enjoyment and peace of mind. We will only be refunding one bottle of hand Sanitizer and two packets of antibacterial wipes per game due to how late into the semester it is. Please be considerate when deciding how luxurious the product you buy is.

At current the international women’s day event will be continuing unaffected

For the glory of geas,
Angus Barr
Treasurer 19-20

Hi Folks!

This is just a reminder that our international Women’s Day events will be running this Saturday the 14th of March.

Much like GEAS sessions on Sundays, the two events will be running with an hour break between them.
Our workshop on women in gaming will take place from 1pm -5pm in the study then the one shots will commence from 6pm-10pm in the same room.

For the one shots we will be asking female and female presenting folk to GM in order to allow them a space to explore different roles in Gaming but everyone is free to come along and play. To Sign up to GM please reply to this email. We will still be accepting pitches on the day but having a ball park number will be really beneficial in order to set up for the event. There is no game theme for this event so please run the one shot of your dreams, go wild and have fun!

As usual we will be selling limited edition Griffie the Griffin Stickers designed by a member of GEAS. This time our Stickers have been designed by Faye Sutherland and will make an excellent addition to your Griffie the Griffin sticker collection! The proceeds for these will be donated to Maggies a charity working with those that are affected by cancer and their families.

I’d also like to take this time to thank you all for your participation in the events we have been running this year, its been so rewarding to hear your positive feedback and see you all at GEAS with your stickers. This will be the last event of the year and it has been my absolute pleasure to run them all for you.

Hope to see you all there!

For the Glory of GEAS
Robyn Higgins Events 19/20

Hi folks,

This is just a brief reminder that we have a social happening on Saturday 7th of March 1900 (7pm) onwards at Sofi’s Southside!
We have the upstairs room (overlooking Buccleuch St) booked and it can hold roughly 40 people, so please get yourself along and carouse to your heart’s content! Click here for the link to the events page on fb.

As mentioned before, and again at the repitches, Conpulsion Flame is happening at the start of next month, from Friday the 3rd to Sunday the 5th of April in and about The Pleasance. I know a lot of you will have bought your tickets already but just in case you haven’t yet, I am now going to try and convince you to (yes, I am a blue shirt, so I am biased, but still)! Conpulsion is – and has been for the past few decades – an event run entirely by volunteers. Its goal is to allow for lovers of tabletop (or otherwise) gaming to congregate and further expand their passion for their hobby or, for some lucky few, their career. Esteemed guests and traders – seriously, check them out – from not only Scotland but across the globe (at least some of it) will be making their pilgrimage here to show you their cool stuff; tangible or otherwise. And what’s more, all of the proceeds will be given to charity! Obviously as a convention, there will be plenty of events to fill your weekend and of course how could it be a gaming convention without some games! RPGs, LARPS, Wargames, Boardgames, Cardgames, Demos, Tournaments, Talks and Panels, and even a pub quiz at the end written by yours truly – with hopefully fewer parentheses!
If all of that sounds good to you, the incredibly modestly priced tickets and delightful t-shirts can be bought here! Free entry to the con can be found here – cheeky I know, but the more volunteers available the happier everyone* will be!

For the glory of GEAS,
Jason Ebblewhite
Socials Coordinator

*I think the only person who will have a bad time is Sophie, if we end up having too many volunteers it might be a chore remembering all the names.

Dear Adventurers,

(In this email: Geas Members’ Experience Survey; Consultation on Game Safety Policy; Forthcoming AGM)

Geas Members’ Experience Survey
We on the Committee want to listen to our members’ feedback about the Society. We want to do what we can to improve your experience at our events and to make sure these functions are as welcoming and accessible as possible for all, especially on matters of equality and inclusion. To that end, we would like to survey all of our members about their experience at the society. This survey is anonymous and should take around 5 to 10 minutes to complete, depending on how detailed you want your answers to be. While issues raised in this survey will not be directly actionable as proposals or grievances, the data collected will give us a context within which we can implement policies to better safeguard our members’ wellbeing.

I would urge as many of you to complete this survey as possible so that we can get a sense of what our members’ experiences are and what we can do to improve. The survey will be accepting responses until 29 March 2020. You can find the survey at the following link:

http://geas.org.uk/survey

Consultation on Game Safety Policy
The Geas Committee is further considering a proposal for a game safety policy to further ensure that our gaming tables are inclusive for all. We want to develop this policy with the consultation of our members, and we hope to propose this policy for adoption at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

The following is a draft of a Game Safety Policy that we have put together based on templates and examples of good practice at other gaming conventions and events. We have also provided a brief explanatory note at the start on what our objectives are with this policy. I would like to invite you to give me feedback on this policy, particularly on how well you feel the draft policy would achieve the objectives we set out, and if there are any other objectives you feel this policy should have.

The following is a link to the consultation, which you are welcome to annotate via Google Docs with any feedback you may have: http://geas.org.uk/safety-consultation

We shall take into consideration the feedback we receive on the policy when proposing it at the AGM.

We will need to have received feedback on this policy by Friday 13 March so we can circulate the finalised version of the policy in time for the AGM.

Forthcoming AGM
Geas will convene its Annual General Meeting on 29 March 2020 at 5 pm in the Dining Room in Teviot. The purpose of the AGM will be to elect the office-bearers for the next academic year, as well as to consider any other motions or proposals for the running of the Society. This is your opportunity to give is more feedback and get directly involved with how the Society is run. We will have further reminders and information on the AGM in due course.

We would invite all our members to consider standing for a Committee position. (N.B.: for most core Committee positions, you will need to be a matriculated student during your tenure. However, there are some advisory positions that are open to non-student members.) If you would like to stand for a position, please feel free to contact the Committee and/or the incumbent office-bearers for more information on the respective roles. You just need to be nominated on the day of the AGM to stand for a position.

If you have any proposals or motions you wish to submit for the AGM, feel free to send them to us via email. The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday 13 March. This is to enable us to compile the agenda for the AGM and send it out two weeks in advance.

We look forward to hearing your feedback on the Society and its policies, as well as any proposals or ideas you might have for the AGM. We are especially keen for people to throw their hat in the ring for Committee positions.

You’ll Never Game Alone,

Vivek Santayana
Equality and Wellbeing Officer

Hi All,

Unfortunately the booking has been changed for the workshop tonight.
It will be starting at 6pm now in the balcony room as opposed to 5.
Apologies for any inconvenience this has caused.

Best Wishes,
Robyn Higgins Events

Hi folks,

Jason here, I thought I’d apologise first of all for how few socials we have had in the past months. I hit a few snags in the booking process and unfortunately did not commit enough time sorting it previously.

To attempt to make up for this, we have a social coming on Saturday 7th March 1900 (7pm) onwards at Sofi’s Southside; as it was thoroughly enjoyed by most last time. As I wrote in the facebook events page and am now going to shamelessly paste into this email "We’re well into our second semester at GEAS and I’m sure you’d all love to talk about what’s going on inside and outside of your games! Please come along and drink plenty, as I’m sure here you won’t be alone. "
We will also have a social at the end of March (Saturday 28th March 1900 onwards at Sofi’s Southside) which I will update you on after the upcoming social has occurred. This is the weekend before Conpulsion Flame so we hope that spirits are high and.. um.. flammable? I guess spirits are actually flammable but that’s neither here nor there.

With regards to the social(s): we have the upstairs room booked and it can hold roughly 40 people, so please get yourself along and carouse to your heart’s content! Following is the events page on fb : https://www.facebook.com/events/204116860972499/

For the glory of GEAS,
Jason Ebblewhite
Socials Coordinator

Hello everyone,

This is a quick update to let you all know that our games for tonight will not be held at Geek Retreat, they will in fact be in the Dining Room at Teviot. This is only for tonight’s booking. Future Wednesday sessions will remain the same, being held at Geek Retreat.

For the Glory of GEAS,
Society Secretary
Logan C. Anderson

Hi All,

Semester 2 Events
This semester we will be having two GM workshops and a one shot event.
Unfortunately we have had trouble booking for a second event this semester but we will endeavour to arrange one for after exams.

The First GM workshop will be on Homebrew at the end of the month on the 29th. It will take place in the Balcony Room between 5pm and 9pm.

The Second workshop on Women in gaming will take place directly before the international Women’s day event on the 14th of March. The workshop will be from 1pm- 5pm and the one shot event will be from 6pm- 10pm. At the Women’s day one shot all genders are invited to participate however the focus will be on Women and female presenting folk to GM.

Student Nationals
Additionally we have a space on our trip to nationals!
If anyone is interested in attending please send us an email for more information. It will be first come first serve as there is only one space. The total cost should be £134 with £50 to be paid ASAP for transport and ticket cost and £84 to be paid in the day for Accommodation. Nationals will take place on the 24th- 26th of April, with us returning to Edinburgh on the 27th.

Update on Noise and Accessibility
We have some updates regarding the noise issue our members have been experiencing at our weekly games. As an immediate measure, we are going to remind everyone at the start of games to be mindful of the noise while playing. One of the things that happens is a feedback loop where the noise in the venue makes people talk louder, which makes the venue even noisier. If we are mindful of this from the start, we may be able to stop this from happening. If the noise does become unbearable, please come speak to a Committee member immediately and we will call for a short break to get the noise level down again.

Meanwhile, Vivek, our Equality and Wellbeing Officer, has been enquiring with EUSA about providing high-fidelity earplugs for our members. Vivek is going to present an expenditure request at the next EUSA Student Council meeting for a budget for EUSA to order these earplugs as a pilot scheme. Because this is an issue that directly affects Geas members, Geas members will be given priority in getting these earplugs. These are discreet, in-ear earplugs that filter ambient noise by 11 dB, but still preserves voice frequencies. We are hoping to get feedback to see how useful these earplugs are for a variety of different hearing-related needs.

If you would like to request a pair of high-fidelity earplugs, please email Vivek at geas.welfare.

That’s it for now, we hope you are enjoying your games!

For the Glory of Geas,
The Geas Committee