VP Rag Candidate: Andy Tribe

Andy Tribe sat down with Label Online in order to tell us why he feels he is perfect for the role of VP Rag, and shares the experiences he has had over his time at Loughborough within the section of Rag.

Why are you running for this position? 

I’ve been involved in Rag since I got to Loughborough and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve moved through the section quite nicely: I’ve been a Rag Rep, I’ve been on Rag Committee, I’ve been a team leader, I know so much about it and I just enjoy charity work as well.

What makes you more suited than other candidates? 

I think I’ve just got so much experience because I’ve been involved in every section of Rag. I’m in charge of all the Raids, that’s my position on Rag Committee. I’m a Team Leader so I know lots about international events, I’m also doing several more. So I’m a Team Leader for the China Trek and I’m also climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling London to Paris. I’ve done all the closer to home events like Lost, Escape and Evade, Tough Guy, basically all the events on campus I’ve been involved in even if it’s just the set up. Pretty much every event we offer I have at least been to and seen what it’s about so I know how it works, how maybe we can improve it and just how to make it easier. So I think I’ve just got so much experience in this role.

Can you tell us about your campaign theme?

So the last name’s Tribe so we’re going with “RAG Goes Tribal”. I think it is quite catchy, quite memorable and also there’s actually quite a lot you can do with it, because it’s quite open I feel. So hopefully I’m going with memorable as the main part. And I’ll be running around dressed as a Tarzan-y sort of figure.

What is the most important part of your manifesto? 

Probably the advertisement. I’ve split it into five different key points and advertisement is probably the most key one. The idea with that is that I want everything to be advertised earlier and clearer. At the moment we just give the Rag Reps the information and it’s sometimes a bit too close to the event, I feel. So even if we just advertised things just a couple of weeks earlier or even just a week earlier, it would give so many people more time to hear about it. Again with the clearer aspect, events like maybe the Lock In. If you’ve never heard of it before then you don’t know much about it, you’re not going to go to it if you don’t know what it is. So I think if we just make things a lot more clear, obviously still appealing and jazzy and all that stuff as well but if you make it clearer I feel we’ll get a bigger turn out for things.

In one sentence, why should people vote for you? 

I feel I’ve been the most involved and experienced in my 3 years here in Rag and I’ve loved it so much that I feel I’ve got the most passion for the role.

What are you most looking forward to about campaigning? 

As much as I know it’s going to be tiring, actually just meeting so many people and doing the door-knocking and going out on the nights out. I really do enjoy talking to people and I feel if I get the chance to talk to as many people as possible, more people will understand what I’m about and what I want and what I want to do with Rag and being on Exec and everything. So I’m actually quite looking forward to having a chat with people, I enjoy chatting.

What are you least looking forward to about campaigning? 

I imagine later on in the week the early mornings are not going to be ideal.

What do you think will be the most challenging part? 

Probably again to do with the early mornings, finding the motivation to get up and get going. Once I’m up and going I know I’ll be alright, it’s just making that first step in the morning like everyone else when you have to get up for a 9am. As soon as I get out of bed it’ll be fine.

What part of campaigning are you going to focus on most?

I think door-knocking is a key part but I would probably go with social media. Pretty much everyone is on it, you can hit a lot of people very quickly. I’ve got quite a few visual things that hopefully people will see through the week, so things like videos and stuff.

What have you spent your budget on?

I’ve still got a fair bit left actually. So all the usual things: costume; although I managed to get that very cheaply on eBay, sweets, paint and that’s pretty much it so far. I’ve bought one of those stamps as well.

What made you want to run for this position? 

I’ve been involved since day one and I’ve loved every minute of being involved in Rag and I want to carry on being involved, I want to carry on pushing it. I’ve got so many different ideas, I can see what I want to do with it and how to make everything better, I’m not saying its not great already but you know what I mean.

What do you like about the way the role has been carried out this year?

I think Danni has done incredibly well. She had a lot of difficulties at the start with things that were completely out of her control going wrong and she dealt with all of that incredibly. I also think she’s definitely made it very fun and enjoyable. I’ve spent pretty much everyday of the year so far in the Rag office even if I don’t actually need to be there, just chatting and everyone else is always in there. I really do think she’s made it a really fun working environment, obviously we get everything we need to do done as well but she’s made it very fun and very enjoyable this year.

What new ideas will you be bringing? 

The main thing I want to do, apart from the advertising, is I want to increase and improve the organisational structure of each event, particularly on campus, so people will turn up and no one really knows what their job is, so I want everything just to be clearer, for each member of Rag Committee to know what they have to do. Jobs that took 6 hours will become 2 just because everyone knows what they’re doing. And if that improves the quality of the event at the same time, which hopefully it will in certain cases, then everyone else benefits as well.

Tell us something not many people know about you. 

I used to be very sporty until I came to Loughborough and met all the elite athletes and then I suddenly became not very sporty. I did actually play AU Handball in my first year until Rag took up all my time.

What 3 characteristics do have that make you well suited to the role? 

I’m determined, hard-working and fun, I’d say.

 This interview was conducted by Liz Tyler, Sports Editor, Imogen Harry, Sports Editor and Leanna Kightley, Culture Editor.

To find out more about Andy’s manifesto click here.