May balls: choices, tickets and work opportunities

I'm at one of those cute weeny colleges that only have balls once every two years, so this year my friends and I are looking for one at another college and as tickets are going on sale in the nest week or so we need to make a decision fast.

We're thinking of going to st Catz, because they're selling tickets to our college a few days before opening it up to everyone else (a special inter-college deal I think, or maybe they're just desperate), but only because that way it's more likely we're all going to be able to get tickets together.

But would this be possible at another college? I really like the idea of going to maybe Clare may ball. Is it likely we would all be able to get tickets if we were prompt on the first day of their availiability? Or would they just sell out pretty much immediately. There are maybe 30 or 40 or us who want to go together. Is it possible maybe to email the may ball committee of either Clare or some other college and ask to reserve some tickets as we are buying as a big block? How does this usually work?

Also, is Catz May ball any good?

thanks in advance for any help!

Reply 1

Galatea

OP

11

lol, only one view so far - are there no current students around who'd know anything about this?

Reply 2

Tyrotoxism

2

catz may ball is supposed to be decent.

it's likely you'd be able to get tickets to clare's if you all went to the launch party and brought cash (fresh £20s only, probably, maybe), or you could just find some guy on the committee and suck his dick for a while (lol, yeah, because emailing will work). the latter would be the more bearable option, i'd say.

Reply 3

Helenia

20

Clare sold out VERY quickly most years while I was there (and in fact one year got in trouble for accidentally allowing more people to buy tickets than they had space for). Your best chance of getting tickets for it is to befriend Clare people, who used to be able to buy up to 5 (I think) guest tickets each. I highly doubt e-mailing in advance will work. But I would recommend it - it's more compact than e.g. John's, but there's plenty of ents, food etc, and it's always really beautiful.

I also did first aid at Robinson a few times, and that's not a bad one either. It's not as beautiful as the older colleges but it's usually slightly cheaper and still has a good range of activities going on.

Reply 4

menagerie

12

Most balls offer you half-on half-off but I've heard that with John's it's different - you can't just go and change and join the ball etc after your shift, you have to work the whole thing or stay in your uniform or something. Basically, the website provides minimal info on this (it says that the shifts are the duration of the ball, but I'm pretty sure all balls say that but then give you 3 or 4 hours worth of breaks).

Has anyone here worked at a John's May Ball before and can explain what you get back in return please?

Thank you.

Reply 5

brimstone

7

I went to John's last year, but had lots of friends who worked it. From what I recall, they did 2hrs on-2hrs off the whole night. Meant they couldn't drink, obviously.

Reply 6

FadeToBlackout

15

The best way to work at a ball is as a private contractor.

Free entry, free food, queue jump, plus £200+ pay...

On the downside, I was working for 48 hours straight with no sleep, and had spent a fair few hours sorting out hire orders beforehand.

Reply 7

econqueen

I was really hoping to go but my computer crashed just as I was trying to buy it my ticket :frown:

If you have a spare, or know anyone who's selling them, please can you contact me. Thanks very much I appreciate all of your help.

Reply 8

Galatea

OP

11

econqueen

I was really hoping to go but my computer crashed just as I was trying to buy it my ticket If you have a spare, or know anyone who's selling them, please can you contact me. Thanks very much I appreciate all of your help

Omfg, everyone was trying to get a Jesus ticket last night, and what with several hundred people trying to do the same thing at the same time, no wonder so many people's computer crashed! Apparently 500+ tickets sold out online in 11 minutes. Insane.

My group went for Jesus because we thought Clare would sell out too quickly, whereas at Jesus we would be fine - shows how much we know. In the end, most of us got them, but a couple didn't, so we too are still looking! I think the Jesus May ball 2010 facebook site is the most obvious place to go - I imagine quite a few people will be in the situation where half their friends have tickets, and half don't so I imagine they'll definitely be a few exchanges in the coming days - just keep checking the facebook site I guess - and obviously it's worth joining the waiting list because there'll probably be a fair few people who don't make the week deadline on the payment.

On a different note, I did apply to work at St Johns may ball, and am really exctited about it - but is it always a case of you have to 'know' someone, or have good contacts at johns to get a position there? The application form seemed fairly minimal...

Reply 9

Pork and Beans

12

Here's the Tab's guide to this year's may balls, for anyone who hasn't already seen it.

I'm going to the Homerton June event and hopefully the Jesus ball (my computer crashed as well, so I'm about number 50 on the waiting list :frown:

).

Reply 10

Delspirido

My dad is an alumnus at St John's Cambridge, can he obtain may ball tickets?

And can tickets only be obtained if you know someone at St John's?? Is it really that much better than the other colleges as people say it is?

Reply 11

didgeridoo12uk

16

at jesus i'm pretty certain alumni can get tickets before the general release, i imagine its the same at other colleges

Reply 12

The West Wing

18

Yes, St Johns alumini have tickets set aside for them.

Reply 13

Illusionary

19

Delspirido

My dad is an alumnus at St John's Cambridge, can he obtain may ball tickets?

And can tickets only be obtained if you know someone at St John's?? Is it really that much better than the other colleges as people say it is?

An initial version of the Ball website is up at the moment, so the best thing to do for now might be to sign up to their mailing list using the 'alumni' status. :smile:

http://www.stjohnsmayball.com/

Reply 14

Delspirido

I know for trinity there is special ballot for alumni, is it the same for john's?? Plus, 2011 is a special year for them so there will be muchos demand probably...

Reply 15

d-r-d

1

Hi Guys!

I'm desperately searching for a pair of St John's May Ball tickets for me and my girlfriend

Does anyone out there have tickets that they want to sell or know someone who does?
(Willing to pay more than face value if necessary.)

Thank you

Please PM me if you can help!!

Reply 16

?!master?!mini?!

16

yes, they'll cost £1500 each.

Reply 17

Xenopus

9

You have no chance, you'll be lucky to even get a ticket for one of the June events now, let alone a ball.

Reply 18

immediate_escape

1

Still a few tickets left for Newnham June Event, I believe. Looks like it will be quite good, too :smile:

Reply 19

StraightDrive

8

I know its unlikely, but does anyone want a St Edmund's May Ball ticket? I'm no longer free on that day. You can still buy some more tickets on their website, so you can go with your friend(s) too! £100.

May balls: choices, tickets and work opportunities

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