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Monday, 21 February 2011

ELECTIONS ELECTIONS ELECTIONS!!



Its time for you to send in your manifestos for ICACS Committee!!
Become an important part to what Felix describes as one of the most vibrant and exciting societies in Imperial

In this note, there are 5 points about each role in the committee, containing words of wisdom and a sneak peak into the job.

The positions are:

President (Joram Segendo)

1. A clear Vision of ICACS 2011/2012: What is the society's next frontier? What does he/she see it doing better/more next year? In which direction does he/she intend to lead it in 2011/2012? What vision does he/she have for ICACS 2011/2012?

2. Ability to raise sponsorship funds: Ready to lead sponsorship drive in March-April 2011 and Summer 2011; Imaginative as per avenues through which funds can be raised; Pragmatic as per what shall have to be done to ensure funds are raised in a timely manner.

3. Able to lead the team as a team: Ability to handle the different and often polarised personalities that shall exist in the Committee and within society, such that progress is maintained

4. Ability to inspire the Committee and the ACS: Ability to catalyse the contribution of ideas from all committee members and create a fertile atmosphere in which good, imaginative ideas can blossom; Ability to excite current and potential members to become involved with the society

5. Ability to make good decisions: Required decisions based on clear understanding of their practicality and required commitments, yet still daring and adventurous; Many decisions shall be made under pressure

Vice presients (Amaka Igweze and Michelle Dinsey)

As Vice president you act as a supporting role to the President and must work to help ensure the correct decisions are made to benefit the society. You must also understand that the president is the leader and his/her decisions must be respected; even if you may disagree, it is a case of making it work.

A lot of work takes place over the summer to secure sponsorship for the society; therefore the qualities of dedication and persistence are required from a very early stage

You act as a bridge between all committee members and should therefore have a rough knowledge of each department of your committee and what their delegated tasks/responsibilities are to ensure that they are being undertaken

Qualities that you should have are good communication skills (especially when securing sponsorship), strong support skills, you must be a team player, encouraging to all and a positive attitude

Most importantly be prepared to work ANYWHERE with ANYONE!! Whether it be acts, scholarships, meetings, rehearsals you need to be flexible and willing to help or oversee every aspect of the society


Events Officer (Emma Amoafo)

As events co-ordinator, the committee looks to you to provide ideas for the society’s events. This requires creativity, thinking outside of the box and the confidence to execute your vision, sometimes when others may not see it. You need to find ways to take events to the next level and make them something to remember. ACS’s signature events – Afrogala, Chop Chop, the Big Chill etc should be better in 2011/2012 than they were in 2010/2011!

You’ll need to communicate with many different types of people – staff at Imperial’s union, the Conferences office, other societies (Dramsoc, OSC), external companies, external performers as well the committee and society members. This requires the ability to interact with lots of different kinds of people and know when to bite your tongue in order to get things done.

You should not be afraid of delegating and asking for help, especially during the Afrogala season. Your organisation needs to be at the highest level, as you will be the point of call of the committee, sub-committee and performers. You are by all means supported in your duties by the rest of the committee, but YOU must take responsibility for the execution of the event’s planning.

At times, you need to make unpopular decisions. As the events co-ordinator, you know how each person’s contribution to an event will manifest as a whole, so you sometimes need to disagree with other people’s plans. Don’t be afraid to say no and be critical. In the end, people will appreciate your fire!

A high level of perseverance, patience and a high tolerance for stress is needed! Stay calm and trust in your abilities! Your passion for ACS should carry you through! J

Treasurer (Muhammad  Yar'Adua)

1- organised: to cope with the amount of claims needed to be done and also keeping an eye on the budget requires one to be fairly organised. Dating, filling the budget book, etc

2- Critical: make sure all purchases keep under budget, all big purchases should be passed by you just incase. Also be ready to question and possibly turn down some requests depending on the circumstance.

3- Analytical: questions will pop up and problems regarding events. Solving these problems, financial or not is something everyone in the committee should be able to do.

4-Iinformed & Dedication: It gets hectic at times. When at least 5 receipts come in a day. One has to be willing to dedicate time to not just filling claims but also other requests, internal transfer requests. Also equally important is to have some knowledge about school regulations and types of forms to fill out, etc

5- Team player: be willing to contribute and help others on the committee, and outside the committee. Working with other societies is necessary and we work as a society. Every decision should be made with each member chipping in. Only then will decisions be optimised.

Marketing Officers (Rasheed Rabiu, Tobi Obisanya and Osas Omoigiade)

Being in the marketing team means being directly responsible for maintaining a good image of ICACS to the Imperial student body and beyond. You should be:

Innovative - Be able to bring great ideas to the table & find new and interesting ways of marketing events, sometimes Facebook status updates just won't cut it and you will need to learn how to spread the word like wildfire.  It’s just like making a product that you are going to sell in a shop - you will have to think about what makes my product good, why would someone want to buy it and what can I do make sure they do!

Approachable, confident and a conversation initiator - Marketing membership to Non-Members (white, black, yellow, green - even bacteria should know about ACS!!) + getting people excited about IC ACS & will only happen if you have a passion for ACS and the brute force to let people know about it! You will be surprised how many friends you will make in the process.

Creative and Open minded - Organising tickets sales and promotional material for all events + maybe learning a new skill or two & using all the tools + connections at your disposal to get the job done!

Supportive - Be able to work well in a team and complement the skills of others - really picking up the best in people and knowing how you work best and what you and others are good at in order to produce the best quality marketing.
Expect to do more than Market! As a team you are part of a unit so expect to do a bit of PR in writing emails to companies, expect to do some treasurer work and collect and count up gains. Expect to carry coolers of rice and generally running from here to there, and be able to do it with an honest smile on your face whilst you simultaneously sell the ACS to everyone around you.


Secretary (Alexis Nelson)

A secretary needs to be On hand!! - When it comes to being in a committtee like this, you need to be able to use many talents in doing jobs for the committee. As someone who can be counted on, don't ust expect to be typing and writing emails. You have to be proactive.

A secretary needs to be a People person!! - You need to be able to approach people in a friendly manner whether they may be indusry contacts, union contacs or just friends. You need to have your happy face and manners on because you are the first person other people contact and want to speak to!

A secretary needs to be a Mediator!! - This is not just applicable to the outside envionment in the public eye! This is mainly done within the committee to mke sure everyone knows what job they are doing and to make sure that it is done and then relay thisto the whole team.

A Secretary needs to be Supportive!! - As a secretary it is important that you help out in anyway you can. We count n eachother to bring the enthusiasm but you need to keep it going with emails sent to the Society and to ones sent withtin the commitee!!

A Secretary needs to be Organised!! - Dates, Times, Names, Place ... You need to make sure you have them all at hand (or at least have the contact number of someone who does!!). From little things like keeping the time and minutes of each meeting, to sendig out emails and sending out advertisements within the emails, to helping the committee market and form and event, don't write off the secretary job as a no-brainer!! I've had fun with this job and its amazing committee and i know the next person will do so too!!


Public Relations Offcer (Misimi Osekita)

•         Be able to speak with corporate clients confidently and comfortably. Requires good communication skills and excellent Networking skills.

•         Also requires good interpersonal skills.

•         Be willing to accept tasks delegated by other officers e.g. President, Events officer, Marketing Officers etc.

•         You will need to have good written communication skills especially when writing proposals for external funding.

•         Don’t be afraid to challenge the ideas of others in the team because you could be saving the whole team a lot of future problems!

•         You are part of a team and you need to be willing to cooperate, especially in the Afrogala period; you will be delegated jobs that will be crucial to the success of the show. You need to be confident enough to go and speak to the union people to help out your events officers, who will indeed be extremely busy!


Society Welfare Officer (Sian Mitchell)

Being such a new role, there is still so much that can be done! From my experience this year, I would say you need to.....

•         Be able to communicate with primary and secondary school children, school teachers and the equality department in IC and provide them with any help that you can. Enjoy giving talks to school children

•         Be inspiring to others and have a general passion for ACS and promoting education.

•         Work closely with the charity that ACs is sponsoring. Be able to communicate effectively with them, work alongside them. You are essentially the link between the ACS committee and this charity.

•         Enjoy fundraising and come up with innovative and manageable ways to fundraise

•         Be willing to support your own committee in whatever way possible. Being accommodating and remaining calm will help!!

IT Officer (Kem Onubogu)

·         As an IT Officer, you should have a general understanding of how websites work and be able to adapt to the ways our website can be edited

·         Will be responsible for the updating of the website and Facebook group

·         Should liaise with the marketing officer and events coordinator to promote events

·         Should be readily available to help other members of the committee

·         Should be actively involved in committee meetings and general ACS proceedings so will know what to update on the website or Facebook group


This will all go down at our Annual General Meeting,
4th of March
in RSM G20
at 6pm!!

Come prepared with a speech in hand to show us why you would like your favoured position. This event is for EVERYONE so even if you aren't running do come along!!

Refreshments will also be provided!!

Much ACS Love!!

Sunday, 13 February 2011

Cool like mi wash mi face wid di cake soap



Dunno how many of you have heard about Vybz Kartel bleaching his skin and the controversy around it.. but I just felt to do a blog post (because I'm putting off going through my lectures :D).


Vybz Kartel is probably the biggest dancehall artist at the moment (I think so, at least). This is how much his complexion has changed:


(by the way, the title of the post is a lyric from his song, 'jeans n fitted')
have a look at this interview, fast forward to 3 minutes

"I feel comfortable with black people lightening their skin. They want a different look. It’s tantamount to white people getting a sun tan.”


Call me ignorant, but I had known bleaching had been common in African American women for decades, becoming increasingly common in Asian and African women too, but I was just sooo shocked to hear Vybz Kartel, a successful, male dancehall artist, endorsing it.


I think the world is just getting sadder and sadder! I remember when I was in Ghana this year I noticed a huge billboard advertising skin lightening cream on one of the busiest roads in Tema, then I just kept seeing lightening cream everywhere! The creams aren't cheap and I'm sure the majority of these women aren't educated on the associated health risks. It's like there's always something to be unthankful for - too fat, too skinny, too short, too Westernised, too fresh, too pale, too dark... *sigh*


So yeah, I'm not gonna rant on this blog but I think this was worth a post
He says his skin is smoothed out and the girls love it, so boy.. who am I to say anything different!?


If you're still interested, have a look at this too - some really sad stories on this show! http://www.mwza.com/tyra-banks-show-black-women-their-children-bleaching-their-skin/
ACS love
Emma xx

Monday, 7 February 2011

AG.11: Mission Accomplished






a huge ICACS THANK YOU to everyone involved, either performing, organizing, backstage or supporting in the audience.


Afrogala 2011Beautiful Warfare ✪ was an absolute EPIC night - and it was all because of you!


We are all excited for the OFFICIAL DVD Release and keep your eyes peeled for the annual ICACS AGM as we prepare for another amazing year in 2012!


Till then it is just pure LOVE from everyone here at ICACS

Friday, 21 January 2011

AFROGALA 2011: BEAUTIFUL WARFARE OFFICIAL TRAILER




GET YOUR TICKETS RIGHT NOW FROM http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/afro-caribbean-11/african-caribbean-afrogala-premium-tickets-2552/product.html


ALTERNATIVELY CALL Emma (07502 332492) or Rasheed (07947 506897)


SATURDAY 5TH FEBRUARY//6PM//GREAT HALL//SHERFIELD BUILDING//IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON//SW7 2AZ//NEAREST TRAIN STATION: SOUTH KENSINGTON

Thursday, 20 January 2011

What does this have to do with Afrogala??







The only way to find out is to BUY YOUR TICKET AND COME to Imperial College ACS's 12th annual Afrogala: Beautiful Warfare


Tickets are available online here: http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/afro
-caribbean-11/african-caribbean-afrogala-premium-tickets-2552/product.html

You DO NOT have to go to Imperial to buy a ticket online! If you're not an Imperial student, click the option that says "I am not a current or ex-Imperial College London student or staff member", register and get your ticket.. simples!!!!! 


Alternatively, tickets are being sold in South Kensington (Sir Alexander Fleming building) and Charing Cross campus (Reynolds building) every lunchtime from 12pm -2pm. Call Emma on 07502332492 or Rasheed on 07947506897 


If none of these work for you, we can arrange to meet you personally to get your tickets.


DO NOT wait around and get left behind!! 


5th February 2011, Imperial Colelge - ICACS calls you to service!!
Keep your eyes open for the trailer!


Thursday, 6 January 2011

Beautiful Warfare has OFFICIALLY LANDED!

So we've been talking about AG.11 for months but TONIGHT is the official marketing launch!

AFROGALA is unrivalled as being the biggest and best African-Caribbean student show in the UK.
For 11 years running, the Imperial College African Caribbean Society has produced jaw-dropping performances celebrating African and Caribbean talent and culture. In 2009 we celebrated the 10th anniversary of this eclectic production and it is sure to gain momentum and grow for years to come as we seek to broaden the scope of what Afrogala can do.

Beautiful   Warfare is 2011’s contribution to Afrogala’s legacy - a theme thoughtfully captured in each act; portraying both sides of this oxymoron. From street dance to modelling; African drums to Caribbean melodies; from thought-provoking verses to not-so-serious dramas, we guarantee a night of sheer entertainment, bursting with variety and a take home message:

In whatever we fight for or against, whatever we need to overcome, may its beauty be evident.

Afrogala is much more than a show: it is the vitality of our heritage and an opportunity for people to connect and develop a mature appreciation of our culture. 

Below is the AG.11 Promo Video!!



Trailer out soon!!

Wednesday, 5 January 2011

Times Top Universities in Africa 2010

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/africa.html

So Tobi (one of our three amazing marketing directors) brought this article to my attention and I just felt to share it...


As the title suggests, it reports the top African Universities in rank order. So I clicked on the link and found that they concluded there are only two universities in the whole of Africa worthy of even being included in the rankings - University of Cape Town, South Africa and Alexandria University, Egypt. 


When I saw this I immediately thought it was just some sock sat in his/her bedroom writing untrue things. But if you continue to read it, it does look like the research was put in and this is not just an attack on Africa, the second largest and second most populated continent on the planet. 


Whether it's true or not, it does raise some thought-provoking points. I quote:

“Africa inherited a higher education system that was a carbon copy of [that of] the powers that colonised it. Right from the beginning, Africa started on a wrong footing – well behind the starting line, so to speak.
“Despite all the political and economic turmoil it has gone through since independence – often of its own making – it is now expected to compete on a completely non-level playing field. Not only is this unfair, it is also inappropriate,” says Mohamedbhai, who has also served as vice-chancellor of the University of Mauritius."
And then..
“Many of its best students take their higher degrees at universities in Europe, Asia and North America. Too few return. The African diaspora provides powerful intellectual input to the research achievements of other countries but returns less benefit to the countries of birth,” the report says.
“Science and technology are critical not only to the continent’s economic prosperity but also to such matters as food security, disease control, access to clean water and environmental sustainability…The volume of [research] activity remains small, much smaller than is desirable if the potential contribution of Africa’s researchers is to be realized for the benefit of its populations.”
The truth is, we all read this kind of stuff and think "yeah it's a real shame', but how many of us really intend on going back to our mother countries to work? I don't think this makes us selfish but we can't act like these kind of remarks aren't directed at us. I was born in the UK but I still feel like  I'm very much included. 
So yeah, I don't want to go into a debate cos that's not what this blog is for, but I think it's definitely worth thinking about
2011 ACS loveeee
Emma xx

Saturday, 1 January 2011

Look at how talented our secretary is!!

Miss Alexis Nelson drew this to embody 2011's Afrogala, 'Beautiful Warfare'
Amazing is it not!?

Mission AG.11: Beautiful Warfare


ICACS Calls you to service!!