Was this year's Ball subsidised by college...?

Yes. They supplied somewhere in the region of £20k this year.

Glad to hear that those 1300 students enjoyed a subsidy of over £15 a head!

Any idea of a timeframe for the photos? I keep checking, like every few hours, and theres only eight there

I still think I had more fun in Wales...

"After financially disastrous balls in the past, perhaps the winning formula has finally been found."

Far be it for me to be a cynic, but perhaps the winning formula is to have a subsidy to absorb up to £20k of loss before you get started...

I had a great time :)

to original article: the summer ball would not have worked with 7500 students there at once (or even double the amount I think)

Oliver - haven't previous balls lost money even with a subsidy? (2002?)

Yes, though losses with the subsidy have tended to be smaller. The link in the article however is to 2004 when the Union President declined to accept a subsidy from the college for the Ball for moral reasons (that the money should be spent on something that benefits students' education such as 24 hour library opening) - although the moral high ground wasn't held for long if memory serves, since the subsidy was back the next year...

It seems we have 24 hour library opening *and* a subsidy...

The subsidy seems to be taken for granted, but I guess having a successful ball is in the best interests of the College these days.

The survivors photo is now available on the Union website.

As of yesterday there was a significant quantity of ball related equipment left unreturned and still acruing increased hire/removal charges around campus.

Also my sources indicate 300 people less attended the ball than were targeted for in the ticketing budget.

I find it difficult to understand how any mention of 'profit' can be made in such circumstances.

The information Tim gave to me was that after all costs had been taken into account, the break-even point was 1200 people - 1300 attended.

As I understand it, the equipment still about the place is supposed to be used for the summer carnival events this week.

ah yes, the summer '3 day' carnival which is seeing 'all the speakers, lights and lasers packed into the quad for one large 3 day event'. Wasn't that meant to start yesterday?

I must have been really drunk if there was so little stuff at the ball...

Any idea when the other photos will appear on the union website. Apart from the survivors there are only another eight

Message from Tim today- "...keep an eye on the Union website in the next 1-2 weeks when I'll have all the pictures uploaded there for you guys to download in high resolution".

Thanks Nichola

finally there is music in the Quad, only two days later than expected by anyone who read the events listings on the new website....

Photos are up.

I thought both the ball and the carnival were a success

Come on, I think we all know enough about the speed of union finances to know that the final invoices could not have been in and dealt with as soon as this article claimed a profit! So whether the ball and the carnival were a success in terms of emjoyment or not, there's absloutely no way they can know if it was financially successful yet.

Also I think the carnival was rubbish - three days of lights and lasers? Where? I saw one day with a few lights!