ANST - Gulf Wars reservations thoughts and a suggestion

[Michael Tucker]

Keith Ewing wrote:
> 
> I must agree with Theodric, Sir Lionel, Countess Cassandra, etc.  But
> on being a Royal visiting another kingdom...thanks for coming
> but....first come, first serve. <snip> This is a very large, *very
> profitable*, venue for that area; I am very certain that they have a
> very experienced autocrat running it...they had the ball and dropped it
> and yes, I do hold them responsible for this.
> 
> Sincerely,
> Duchess Alisha MacLeod, KSCA,CSSA, CSM, AST, AoA, ASF, ASF

Thank you, Your Grace, for adding your concerns to ours.

I'm going to throw out a couple more thoughts on this topic, then I'll take Lord
Gerald's advice and move on to happier subjects.

You refered to the profitable nature of this event, and that got me thinking. I
assume that the event stewards are not charging the Royalty for cabin space.
(Ok, ok, I know what you get for assuming...) If my assumption is correct, they
just gave up (12 beds x $38) $456 income. That's as much as the entire profit
for one of our local events, but probably absorbable in the budget of so large
an event as Gulf Wars. However: if they give ALL 120 beds to Royalty and staff
next year without charge, that would be (120 beds x $38) $4,560 lost income! I
don't think that even Gulf Wars could absorb that without making some
adjustments somewhere else. Does anyone know whether Royalty is charged for
cabin space? (Your Majesties?)

Also, I have to wonder (again, I realize I'm asking the wrong people; only the
event stewards can answer this question, so it's rhetorical): this year the
event stewards gave (apparently) 1 cabin to Royalty, the other 9 to "open
registration" (9 x 12 beds = 108 beds, the number they say went to regular
registration) and allocated the 4 condo's somehow. Why set aside all 10 cabins
for Royalty next year (and from now on) when only 1 of the 10 were needed this
year? Just to not have to deal with any squabbling? That just seems like a "cop
out" to me. If they think there's squabbling NOW, wait until there's more
Royalty and staff than cabins! (It's just a matter of time...)

This just doesn't make sense to me. I'm usually very good at "going along" with
someone else's point of view, if I can just understand it. But I'm having a
great deal of trouble understanding these announced policies. I think they need
to fix this problem NOW, not sweep it under a rug and let some future Gulf Wars
autocrat deal with it.

(deep breath...)

Ok, one of my "pet peaves" is someone pointing out a problem, but not offering a
solution. So, here's my suggestion: airlines have this same exact problem. How
do they decide what order people get assigned seats on the plane? Simple:
"special needs" pre-boards, then first class, then everyone else in order by
reservation number. If they run out of seats, you get bumped to "stand-by".

The stewards of Gulf Wars should do likewise, as Duchess Alisha and others
suggest (and as their published policy would indicate). First set aside 3 of the
condo's or cabins to the Royalty of Ansteorra, Meridies and Trimaris. Then
allocate a SMALL, REASONABLE number of cabins or condo's for Gulf Wars staff (I
would suggest 1, or 2 at the most). Then take reservations for "special needs"
guests. The rest should be given out on a STRICTLY first come, first served
basis (without regard to your precedence in the Society); i.e., whoever reserves
cabin/condo space on or after the first allowed date (December 1 in last year's case).

I would give preferential treatment to those with "special needs" (medial,
health, work load, whatever) and give them a little lead time before the other
reservations (anywhere from 1 day, to 2 weeks as the stewards did in this case)
to reserve space (like "pre-boards" on flights). If we want to extend this
courtesy to visiting Royalty (other than the 3 hosting kingdoms), I think that
would show Southern hospitality but should be strictly optional; I would give
them the opportunity to reserve space after the "special needs", but before the
"masses" (i.e. treat them like the airlines treat First Class).

If more reservations are received on any given day than there is space
remaining, they should IMMEDIATELY (at the end of that day!) conduct a "blind
lottery" of the reservation numbers (put them in a hat, or something) and
IMMEDIATELY (the next day) notify the winners and losers (so the "losers" can
make other plans). In any case, they should confirm reservations as they are
received, not 8 weeks later like they did this time (after the deadlines have
expired for early camping reservation). And in any case I would publish this
policy for all to see.

Opinions? Suggestions? (well, anatomically feasible ones...)

Yours in service, looking for solutions,
Michael Silverhands
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