Hugh Laurie’s address to the Phil during Freshers’ Week was one of the highlights on the GMB calendar. Photo: Andrew Murphy
Lily McKillop | Staff Writer
This year has seen the GMB host some of the finest guests our country, and indeed others, have to offer. From Hugh Laurie to Steven Moffat, Edmund Phelps to Germaine Greer, students have been offered a wide selection of names to engage with within their college walls.
So how is it, then, that something as ordinary as a Dublin-based student society should draw such a broad array of guests? What is the appeal for these names, and what
actually happens when they arrive on Trinity’s territory?
The first efforts that going into getting these guests start with work over the summer. Members of committees spend whole days over summer sending out hundreds and hundreds of emails to inboxes all over the world. Who to invite mainly comes down to which people have excelled in their field, past alumni, possible speakers at upcoming debates, celebrities known to be visiting Dublin over the year, and anyone who is believed to be popular among members of the society.
Once a guest has accepted an invitation, arrangements are made for flights and accommodation for their arrival. Guests for an evening debate are chosen with regard to the theme of the debate, as having a person with particular knowledge on the topic really adds to the debate on the night. If guests feel comfortable enough, which the majority do, many will join the post-debate reception. The debate sort of acts as an icebreaker, and gives students a chance to talk more in depth about the debate and ask questions to guests. Light banter is often facilitated, also.
Guests for a society award or a “Q and A” occasion are slightly different. As with guests chosen for an in-house debate, they are invited based on their knowledge or work, but rather than engaging with discourse amongst students, they are usually there to provide an account personal experiences within their career, or to answer questions from eager fans. These kinds of guests are proven to be the most popular among the society and its members. In the case of some of the “bigger” names this year, the GMB and its societies have seen queues seven hours long, students turned away and a lot of anger at a missed opportunity to see an idol. Having said that, despite the pity that is those who don’t get the opportunity in the end, the feeling of successfully providing such admired people to a body of passionate students is very much one of satisfaction, knowing you have managed to give back a bit to the members what they have provided for the society.
Something people always wonder when such high profile names visit a society, is what the guest themselves are getting from the experience. It seems that it could be a number of reasons. In the case of in-house debates, many of the guests are given a platform in which they have an audience to hear their opinions on a matter of their choice. They are commanding the attention of many politically minded students. In cases where one feels utterly passionate about anything, convinced of their stance, there nothing more satisfying than having the chance to
profess this. So, too, is the case with student speakers. Guests who are there to speak to the student body feel similarly I think, though perhaps without an agenda, as debate speakers may have. One thing that has been shown to really enchant the guests that are invited is the prestige that they sense from the invitation. Many are simply delighted, and a lot of the time flattered, to be
asked to speak to students of Trinity College. Pretentious though it may sound, the idea of a historical institution such as Trinity, with culture and ideas, is very appealing for guests.
I think the nicest thing when it comes to inviting guests, hosting them, and experiencing them, is that sense you get of receiving. These people are often giving up much of their time in order to facilitate the demand of the students. In turn, I think there must be a great sense of accomplishment to be able to captivate a young body of people like that. All in all, the best experience when meeting a guest is realising that, at the end of the day, on televison or in the newspaper, they’re just like us, really.
