Returning Label volunteers Chris Leroux, discusses an important member of every committee which can sometimes be forgotten.
When you think of Hall Committees, you often think of Hall Chairs or Social Secs first. Which is for a very good reason; they are normally the first members of your Hall Committee you meet and are definitely the most vocal. You then normally speak to the Treasurers, the Sports Secs and the Rag and Action Reps. You go to the Welfare Rep for support, you buy clothes off the Stash Rep and you learn about recycling from the FREEC Rep.
However, one rarely thinks to the Media Reps, and understandably so. What do they even do?
The Media Rep is a strange being; you never really talk to them but always see them around with a camera to hand or updating the cover photo on the Freshers group, never to be heard from otherwise. But what you probably don’t know is that they are one of the key members of any and every committee.
Without a good Media Rep, you never hear about the social events, you never go to IMS trials and you never join an Action project. The eternal issue with being a Media Rep is that if you’re good, nobody knows you, if you’re bad, nobody knows you. The best Media Rep will ensure that everyone knows about your Hall’s events. They are the only Committee position outside of the Treasurer and Hall Chair that actively supports other members of Committee. So why are they seemingly ignored?
The Media Rep never seeks gratification by others, they gain happiness and fulfilment when the event they produced the poster for sells out, or when the photo album they published gets loads of likes.
But a Media Reps’ job is never finished, it is a thankless task which can lead to lack of sleep whilst photoshop crashes, and going to events the Media Rep has no interest in attending, but does it for the benefit of the Hall. It is rare for a Media Rep to be told “thank you” or “great job”, because the Media Rep is expected to do the things that they go above and beyond for.
I come off Committee in February. I have been a Media Rep and have enjoyed it thoroughly. But what I will say is that you should never take a poster or a photo or a video for granted, because behind them, are some of the hardest working people in your Hall.
Your Media Reps are amazing people, each and every one of them. When you next see them, be sure to go over to them and thank them, after all, they’re the ones who have the power to upload embarrassing photos of you at a Punch Party onto social media.
Featured image by: Amie Woodyatt
