ANST - Proposition: a Kingdom Business Meeting

[Jeanne Stapleton]

> >Why would there not be anything else?  Why not have a dinner and
> >dancing in the evening after all the meetings of the day? And a
> >tourney the next morning?  Its our business meeting - we can add
> >whatever fun elements we wish.
> >
> >Clarissa
> 
> At that point, it is an event.
> 
Another out of kingdom lurker posting:  I've already posted a bit 
about the An Tir and Outlands versions of these events.  

To gather up a few questions in this thread I've spotted:

Suggestions about logistics:

	-	include "continental breakfast"--read all day,
		tea, coffee, doughnuts and/or cookies--as
		part of the site fee, to help keep caffeine
		levels and blood sugar up for those who 
		need such things.  At an event like this, a
		lag in the coffee supply turns *ugly* quickly.
	-	a suggestion would be to provide a "donation
		lunch", plus a list of nearby restauarants/
		grocery stores as a gate handout, plus mention
		in the copy that people could bring picnic
		lunches.  If the site is a long way from any
		commercial eateries, *say so* in the copy.
	-	A school or community college or university
		hall works *really well* for this type of event.
		Use the classrooms for meeting rooms and
		leave the auditorium/cafeteria/larger rooms
		open for summative gatherings and/or general
		milling and conversation.
	-	Multi-track the meetings.
	-	make decisions based on scheduling around
		maximizing attendance:  if you want to have
		a Curia/officers' meeting, and most of your
		officers are Pelicans, don't schedule the two
		meetings simultaneously.  Likewise, don't
		schedule a Chivalry council at the same time
		as a quarter court.
	-	My experience with attending several of these
		events and organizing a large part of one (the
		meetings) says, don't worry too much about 
		creating structured activities for *everyone*.
		Spontaneous meetings and activities do arise;
		with that many creative people and that much
		energy in one place, how can they not?  an
		example might be a fighter practice:  in organiz-
		ing the event, I would check to see if fighting
		were at least allowed somewhere on the site,
		and then if people asked for fighting, I'd tell
		them to go ahead and organize the activity.
	-	DO have some sort of dinner and dancing plans
		in the evening.  If you have somebody who's
		really fired upto cook a feast, let 'em; otherwise,
		potlucks and/or the trusty restaurant guide
		will get people fed, which is what matters.
		something I've found is that people do tend
		to get fired up about what they discussed
		and learned during the day, and *welcome*
		the opportunity to kibbitz in the evening.

Just some thoughts.  Sounds like there might be some need in
your kingdom for something like a Red Tape Meeting.  Look at
it this way:  you could hold it once, and if it's an abysmal flop,
you don't need to do it again.  :-)

berengaria
Countess Berengaria de Montfort de Carcassonne, OP
Barony of Caerthe
Kingdom of the Outlands
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