1. CUs working together at Inter-chapter level CU Factor in the Northern Region Update

2. CU Factor  CU Factor presentation at Best Practice Meeting for Youth Development last year in Athlone  Can be viewed on the CU4Youth on the League’s website under Youth Development, Best Practice Meeting 2009, Promoting to the Youth Market @ Chapter Level

3. Moving Forward Following the Best Practice meeting in Athlone last year, a meeting of the 5 chapters in the Northern Region was called to explore the possibility of an inter-chapter event. Representatives from all 5 chapters, as well as Marianne Cushley, the Marketing Officer for NI and Kieran McDonnell from the League office

4.  Plan and structure for the event was unveiled  All representatives returned to their respective chapters to discuss.  A further meeting was called to assess the feedback from the 5 chapters and draw up a plan of action  All 5 chapters returned with a favourable response to the planned inter-chapter initiative and so the planning began

5. The Initial Plan  At first we decided that each chapter should try to emulate what chapter 2 had previously done  Each of the 5 chapters - identify their top 3 acts, who would go forward to represent their chapter at the Grand Final  Then it was down to the “nitty-gritty”

6. The Fine Detail  Needed the same set of competition rules for all Chapters  Centralise the application forms, posters and pop-ups  Helped to cut down costs and to make sure the everything remained uniform

10. The Buy-In  All chapters had agreed to get involved  But not all credit unions within each chapter supported the initiative  Created some stumbling blocks along the way  Stuck with it believing in what Martin Luther King said, “what does not destroy us shall make us stronger!”

11. Centralisation  Centralised application forms and press releases.  Handled by a core group made up of myself, Julie Ferguson from Chapter 2 and Marianne Cushley.  Julie and I attended organisational meetings and chapter meetings in the other chapters, when requested, in order to help them along

12. Funding  Each chapter covered their costs in different ways  Most asked each credit union within their chapter to contribute towards the running costs by donating between £100 - £200.  Some chapters also donated towards the chapter costs

13. Meetings  Held regular meetings with each chapter  Ensure that things were running smoothly  Help and advise given if needed  Meetings were well attended in general  Each chapter sending at least one person from their organising committee

14. The Heats  Myself and Julie tried to attend the first heat that each chapter held,  On hand for support and to help with any problems  Some teething problems  With a little help, all chapters successfully made it through their heats

15. Chapter Finals  Tried to keep each chapter final on a different date to enable us to attend all 5 chapter finals.  2 chapters ended up with their finals on the same night, so I was able to go to 4 of the chapter finals  Each chapter final was different, although each produced the required 3 acts for the final

16. The Grand Final  The biggest problem - Funding.  Each chapter had paid for their own events up to chapter level, we didn’t know how to approach a joint grand final.  The organising of the grand final fell mainly with the core organising team, although each chapter was kept up to speed with the arrangements

17. Compere  Needed high profile Compere.  Went with Connor Phillips, a DJ with the north’s CoolFM radio and a presenter on TTV on RTE

18. Judges  Decided on a panel of 5 judges  Namely - Malachi Cush (from BBC’s Fame Academy), - - - Muriel Day (represented Ireland in the Eurovision), - Tina Calder (entertainments journalist with the Sunday World) - Malcolm McDowell (agent and organiser of Festival4stars competition) - Meta Bell (vocal coach)

19. Rehearsals  Rehearsal on the Sunday before the final  Photographer attended take a photo of each of the act  Used in the programme and the slide show  Acts brought a copy of their backing track so that the DJ could keep it and have it copied onto his laptop

20. On the Day  Arranged for each chapter to send their core organising committee (3/4 people) to help set up the venue  Decorated the place with helium balloons, CU banners and pop-ups and posters of the acts  Enjoyed a meal together - a thank-you to those who had been involved

21. The Grand Final  Atmosphere was electric!!  Show ran smoothly and everyone thoroughly enjoyed all the acts, not just the one they were supporting!  When the judges were deliberating, we had a banner competition  Kept the audience entertained and brought another dimension to the evening

23. Winners!!!  Recalled the 6 acts with the highest scores to sing 1 ½ minutes of their song again  Judges were sent off to another room to make their final decision  The tension was really mounting in the hall as the winners were announced. It was a really close call, as all the acts were so good

25. Success??!! Personally I feel that this was a very successful event. We achieved several things: -  5 chapters working together to deliver a bigger and grander event than individually would have been possible  Reaching the youth market  Targeting potential volunteers  Free coverage in local press of the events

26. Endorsements!  But don’t take my word for it!! Ask our President, Mark Bailey, what he thought of the event!! He was in attendance and thoroughly enjoyed the evening  The judges all sent emails to congratulate all the acts taking part as well as the organising committee on the success of the event

27. An Invitation!!  So, we in the Northern Region have set the bar  We would like to throw down the gauntlet to the other regions and ask them to consider copying what we have done  If each region can get to this stage, then the next stage would be an All Ireland event!! – and why not??