You can read the full constitutional descriptions of any of the committee roles on
the HackSoc constitution.
Chair - Jacob Allen
Hey, I'm Jacob, HackSoc's outgoing Chair. The role of chair in the committee is primarily one of facilitation, meaning that the Chair is responsible for deciding on when meeting should happen, Chairing meetings (the clue is in the name), deciding who and when to delegate tasks to, and, more generally deciding the direction of the society, with the input of the society members and the committee.
As I discovered throughout the course of my Chairship, a lot of the time being Chair feels like less work than you'd expect, the rest of the committee keeps things running and in general is very competent. However, every now and then there will be moments where the Chair has to step in when no one else can, to take over the running of an event, or push for something to get done. That being said, the role of Chair can be shaped by the kind of leader you are, and as long as you have a reasonable idea of direction, the committee should back you up and help you achieve it.
Secretary - Adam Birtles
henlo. I'm Adam. The Secretary for 2019/20. The overall gist of my role is managing HackSoc's admin, which is a rather nebulous way of saying that: I book rooms for events; I take, maintain, and publish the minutes of meetings; I look after the calendar; and I do a whole bunch of other bureacratic nonsense. Throughout all this, the Secretary is responsible, along with the other signatories (Chair and Treasurer), for being fastidious about the procedural rules of the society.
Most of the work is quite spread out. Barring any changes, I've only had to update the calendar and book rooms once per term (sidenote: CS reception are great). Minute-taking mostly involves paying attention to what's said in meetings and summarising it in the most acceptably memey way that preserves all pertinent information. The rest of the job is collaborating with the other sigs and officers to keep society running smoothly (or at least some approximation of smoothly). Due to being a sig, I have found that it behoves the Secretary to be a nitpicky rules nerd.
Treasurer - Ash Holland
Hiya, I'm Ash, HackSoc's current treasurer. My job is basically to keep on top of YUSU's ever-changing finance systems in order to make sure that people aren't spending their own money on things HackSoc can pay for.
It's not generally very difficult or time-consuming – I spend more time chasing people for receipts than I do anything else! You also definitely don't need any kind of ideas as to what things HackSoc should be buying in order to be a successful treasurer, though if you have things you think should be bought then being treasurer is a good way to make that happen.
Social Secretary - Emmet Holwill
Hi guys, I currently go by Emmet, and I’m the (somewhat antisocial) Social Secretary. My job is nominally to organize the social events that happen on a weekly basis in HackSoc.
Practically it’s not a whole lot of work, the events have been going on for long enough that they almost organize themselves at this point. On top of that, there are a pair of freshers that have taken up organizing one of the events. The most work I’ve done is organizing a new place for CoffeeScript to be held and you can claim to bring more to the role than me just by turning up to more than one event a week.
Press and Publicity Officer - Aaron Christiansen
Hello, I'm Aaron, and I'm the current Press and Publicity Officer! I'm responsible for keeping HackSoc members up-to-date by writing emails just like these, sending out the weekly newsletter, and posting on our social media accounts. From time to time I'm also involved in meetings with sponsors or other societies to advertise their events.
This role is great because you don't need any prior experience or expertise, and you can add your own personal touch to your emails and social media posts!
Academic Events Officer - Charlotte Wringe
Hi, I'm Charloot (uint8_lotte) and the current academic events officer this past year. I run or coordinate the more computer science related events, as opposed to the regular socials. For me, this meant running a series of talks, as well as helping the departmental events and coordinating our Python Workshops.
However, the role has changed from year to year, depending on what the person in it thought it should look like. I'd be overjoyed if you decided to continue my events, but also if you went and did something that was entirely your own thing. If you want the role, and have an idea of what it should look like (whether or not it's what I think), then I think you'd be great for the role.
Infrastructure Officer - Luke Moll
Hi, I'm Luke, your Infrastructure officer. I look after the society's technical aspects, including managing our servers, maintaining the backend of our website so other committee members can edit it, and other miscellaneous services like the IRC bridge. You don't have to be an experienced sysadmin to run for this role, and it's an excellent way of gaining experience by itself. There are loads of knowledgeable people in the society, so don't be afraid to ask for help!
