CUs working together at Inter-chapter level

1. CUs working together at Inter-chapter level CU Factor in the Northern Region Update

2. CU Factor presentation at Best Practice Meeting for Youth Development last year in Athlone Can be viewed on the CU4Youth on the League’s website under Youth Development, Best Practice Meeting 2009, Promoting to the Youth Market @ Chapter Level CU Factor

3. Following the Best Practice meeting in Athlone last year, a meeting of the 5 chapters in the Northern Region was called to explore the possibility of an inter-chapter event. Representatives from all 5 chapters, as well as Marianne Cushley, the Marketing Officer for NI and Kieran McDonnell from the League office Moving Forward

4. Plan and structure for the event was unveiled All representatives returned to their respective chapters to discuss. A further meeting was called to assess the feedback from the 5 chapters and draw up a plan of action All 5 chapters returned with a favourable response to the planned inter-chapter initiative and so the planning began

5. At first we decided that each chapter should try to emulate what chapter 2 had previously done Each of the 5 chapters - identify their top 3 acts, who would go forward to represent their chapter at the Grand Final Then it was down to the “nitty-gritty” The Initial Plan

6. Needed the same set of competition rules for all Chapters Centralise the application forms, posters and pop-ups Helped to cut down costs and to make sure the everything remained uniform The Fine Detail

10. All chapters had agreed to get involved But not all credit unions within each chapter supported the initiative Created some stumbling blocks along the way Stuck with it believing in what Martin Luther King said, “what does not destroy us shall make us stronger!” The Buy-In

11. Centralised application forms and press releases. Handled by a core group made up of myself, Julie Ferguson from Chapter 2 and Marianne Cushley. Julie and I attended organisational meetings and chapter meetings in the other chapters, when requested, in order to help them along Centralisation

12. Each chapter covered their costs in different ways Most asked each credit union within their chapter to contribute towards the running costs by donating between £100 - £200. Some chapters also donated towards the chapter costs Funding

13. Held regular meetings with each chapter Ensure that things were running smoothly Help and advise given if needed Meetings were well attended in general Each chapter sending at least one person from their organising committee Meetings

14. Myself and Julie tried to attend the first heat that each chapter held, On hand for support and to help with any problems Some teething problems With a little help, all chapters successfully made it through their heats The Heats

15. Tried to keep each chapter final on a different date to enable us to attend all 5 chapter finals. 2 chapters ended up with their finals on the same night, so I was able to go to 4 of the chapter finals Each chapter final was different, although each produced the required 3 acts for the final Chapter Finals

16. The biggest problem - Funding. Each chapter had paid for their own events up to chapter level, we didn’t know how to approach a joint grand final. The organising of the grand final fell mainly with the core organising team, although each chapter was kept up to speed with the arrangements The Grand Final

17. Needed high profile Compere. Went with Connor Phillips, a DJ with the north’s CoolFM radio and a presenter on TTV on RTE Compere

18. Decided on a panel of 5 judges Namely - Malachi Cush (from BBC’s Fame Academy), - - - Muriel Day (represented Ireland in the Eurovision), - Tina Calder (entertainments journalist with the Sunday World) - Malcolm McDowell (agent and organiser of Festival4stars competition) - Meta Bell (vocal coach) Judges

19. Rehearsal on the Sunday before the final Photographer attended take a photo of each of the act Used in the programme and the slide show Acts brought a copy of their backing track so that the DJ could keep it and have it copied onto his laptop Rehearsals

20. Arranged for each chapter to send their core organising committee (3/4 people) to help set up the venue Decorated the place with helium balloons, CU banners and pop-ups and posters of the acts Enjoyed a meal together - a thank-you to those who had been involved On the Day

21. Atmosphere was electric!! Show ran smoothly and everyone thoroughly enjoyed all the acts, not just the one they were supporting! When the judges were deliberating, we had a banner competition Kept the audience entertained and brought another dimension to the evening The Grand Final

23. Recalled the 6 acts with the highest scores to sing 1 ½ minutes of their song again Judges were sent off to another room to make their final decision The tension was really mounting in the hall as the winners were announced. It was a really close call, as all the acts were so good Winners!!!

25. Personally I feel that this was a very successful event. We achieved several things: - 5 chapters working together to deliver a bigger and grander event than individually would have been possible Reaching the youth market Targeting potential volunteers Free coverage in local press of the events Success??!!

26. But don’t take my word for it!! Ask our President, Mark Bailey, what he thought of the event!! He was in attendance and thoroughly enjoyed the evening The judges all sent emails to congratulate all the acts taking part as well as the organising committee on the success of the event Endorsements!

27. So, we in the Northern Region have set the bar We would like to throw down the gauntlet to the other regions and ask them to consider copying what we have done If each region can get to this stage, then the next stage would be an All Ireland event!! – and why not?? An Invitation!!