C&G Active' launch event for 2001 went ahead this evening despite numerous set-backs. C&GCU Officers (including co-ordinators for most of Active's main projects) began to arrive around 10 minutes before the planned six o'clock start confident that the first half of the event (that's the non-eating part) required minimal set-up 'on site'. Under such a situation the intervention of Murphy's Law was always inevitable. Despite C&GCU's Honorary Secretary e-mailing Sherfield Security in advance of the event the doors for the Huxley building remained firmly locked - meaning that only Maths, Physics or Computing students could reach the event. After one luckless soul with the relevant swipe card access was placed on 'door duty' other student officers soldiered bravely on into the depths of the building.

But of course despite the infamous room 343 being booked it was well and truly locked. In typical Imperial College fashion the security lodge also remained stubbornly un-manned and occasional calls to Sherfield were met with mindless "someone's on the way" assertions. As a crowd slowly built up around the darkened lecture theatre and time slowly ticked away more than one of the organisers could be found wandering semi-aimlessly around the Huxley building vainly trying to locate an open lecture theatre that might be commandeered. Your correspondent has to admit that he found it hilariously funny, in a perverse sort of way.

By 6:10 the lecture theatre was finally open and although by this point the crowd had waxed and waned a reasonable number of people were ushered inside. Active appears to have been hoping for around 100, expected around 50, and got around 30. C&GCU Treasurer Oliver Pell attributed this to the well known "Huxley effect" (which basically states that any event held in the Huxley building will be a dismal failure) while Lord Mayor's Show Coordinator Richard Tang commented that this was actually better than attendance at last year's 'Active Live' where many people were encouraged to attend in order to pick up certificates.

Once begun the event actually ran rather smoothly. The unimpressive turn-out did have the unanticipated benefit that the people remaining were the more interested and committed individuals. By the end of the small workshop session the general feeling amongst the activity co-ordinators seemed to be that they had met several new committed recruits.

One of the great attractions of Active events has always been the free food, and efforts from Neil Madhvani and Chris Christoforu who adopted the roles of catering managers for the evening ensured that this was no exception in 2001. As the saying goes - all's well that ends well.