[Ansteorra] Event Limits?

[Elizabeth Crouchet]

On 19 Aug 2003 at 9:58, Ron wrote:
<snip>
 All this does in my opinion
> is cause the smaller groups to not be able to count on the income of a
> second calendar event. The smaller groups need the oppritunity to gain
> the income from those events. I'd like to see more Kingdom events
> given to shires and cantons if this goes into effect. That would allow
> those groups an oppritunity to get additional funds to help keep them
> functioning.
> 
> Eirik


Part of getting those events is bidding for them. I understand that at the next crown 
tournament they will be accepting bids for the next Queens Championship tournament. I 
would love to see some smaller groups bid for that. There are many interesting places to 
go in this kingdom. Kingdom level events are often easier to put together or staff since 
the theme and much of the work are already scheduled to be done by someone on the 
kingdom level. That leaves the local group to be just the hosts. That is a great chance to 
shine with hospitality and not have the event get lost in a theme that might or might not 
have been well staffed. 

Even with bad weather, Queen's is usually well attended. January should be post 
Christmas bookings so that can make it easier to get a site. I remember that 
Shadowlands used to host Queen's often when I was there. All we had to do was book a 
site, build a field, cook a feast and open a gate. Marshalling and running the list usually 
had someone on a kingdom level to be in charge of it. And the Court and Crown areas 
were often coordinated by the Crown's entourage.The timing and the events were 
already scheduled and predictable.  If we scheduled entertainment it was at the request 
of the Crown and was often a bardic event or dancing of some kind that was easy to 
coordinate. 

Just some observations and some encouragement. The Crown often has few if any bids 
to choose from and rarely has a specific group in mind for the event ahead of time. I 
suspect that if they get no bids they  may request a Barony or other large group because 
it has more resources to deal with putting together a last minute event. 

If you have researched sites, discussed it at a populace meeting or two and have 
volunteers to fill the positions, then without having done anything concrete you are half 
way to putting on the event. Write that down and send it to the Crown. You can often 
reserve a site and still be able to cancel with no money down or a full refund if you 
cancel way ahead of time. So reserve the site before Crown Tournament and then 
cancel immediately afterwards if you don't get the bid. That is still several months 
ahead. 

I understand that money is tight for small groups, it is for everyone. So is time, so grab 
what you can. You can also offer to do some portion of a larger group's event and make 
a deal for a percentage of the profits. Run and staff the gate or make the feast or serve 
the feast or provide the tables or loan them something you have (like a reviewing stand). 

Well that was long winded enough. I hope someone finds it useful. 

Claire Shayhan