[Ansteorra] Event Limits?

[Norman White]

Greetings from Master Jin Liu Ch'ang,

I normally do not post to the list, preferring to be a lurker, but I felt the need to speak on this topic.
Gilli said that event limits are a bad thing because:
>Some groups don't have landed folks. 
I come from the Shire of the Shadowlands, one of the small groups that have trouble getting event dates.
We have no landed or even unlanded barons in our group.
Our group is within 150 miles of Stargate and its cantons, Ravensfort, Bryn Gwlad, and most other groups in the Southern and Coastal Regions.
As a group, you do not want to have an event the week before or after another close by group much less the same date so that cuts out most weekends. 
When you combine that with the fact that the community in which we are based, Bryan/College Station, has an enormous university (TAMU) that holds its own events that basically wreck traffic for many weekends, especially in the fall, we have experienced many problems getting dates for events.
Part of our problem with scheduling events is that we dare not try to schedule an event against an A&M football game, graduation, or other large college event.
But another problem is that our surrounding groups have felt the need to hold 3 to 4 events per year.
When there are approximately 10 groups nearby, combined with coronations and such, this does not leave many free weekends for us to have events.
Therefore, I am glad to hear that something is being done.

As for Gilli's reasons that the limit is a bad thing:
>1.    Reduces opportunities to get awards given to populace.

Most of the people in my group have either gotten their awards at other group's events or they got them from a visiting baron and baroness.
This occurred so often in our history that it resulted in Baron Don Tivar and Baroness Aethylean (I apologize if I misspelled their names) becoming the first persons to receive a Comet for service to a group in which they were not a resident.
Myself, I received my Iris and Laurel at Ravensfort events because our group was unable to get event dates during that period.
Therefore, his second objection:

>2.    Will increase court times. Instead of being able to have the awards
>given at several events during the year it will now be at only one for
>Shires and Cantons.

Courts have been too long for years.
The most objectionable reason for court length in my mind is the feeling by some people that they need to do presentations in court.
I feel that if you feel the need to do a presentation in court, you are doing it for the wrong reasons.
As for the ability to receive awards several times in the year, be happy to have an event to get them once. 
I also do not believe that holding only one event a year will hurt most people as far as getting awards as very few deserve more than one a year.
As for his third objection:

>3.    Non calendar events are not well attended.  We know, we do several a
>year now.  And most groups don't do them.

Our last few events have had less than maybe a dozen people attend from outside the group because other groups were having bigger events.  In one case, we thought we had a chance to hold a well attended event but the Kingdom calendar changed and it resulted in Elfsea having an event opposite ours.

I have nothing to say about his fourth and fifth objections, except been there, gone through it for years.
>4.    Reduces by half the income for Shires and Cantons and by a third for
>Baronies.
>5.    Reduces the amount of choices and varity of events to go to.

As for his last statement:
>I hate to say it, but the reason the Kingdom calendar is too full is because
>the Kingdom is too big.  Now there is politically incorrect thought.

This may be true, but if you look at the calendars for other Kingdoms, you will find that very few of them have groups holding 3 and 4 events a year.

Gilli's last statement:
>I will email the Crown tomorrow.  It's too late tonight to do so
>effectively.  But item one above really bothers me.

Discussion on decisions such as this are always welcome but I remember Ulsted and Cateau when they were members of the Shire of the Shadowlands so I know they remember what it is like to be unable to get dates.

It must be nice to live where there are fewer surrounding groups and you can get event dates.

Jin Liu Ch'ang
m.k.a. Norman White
gn-white at tamu.edu