[Elfsea] On The Economics of People

[Richard Threlkeld]

Very well said.
Caelin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: elfsea-admin at ansteorra.org [mailto:elfsea-admin at ansteorra.org]On
> Behalf Of Timothy Rayburn
> Sent: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 1:19 PM
> To: elfsea at ansteorra.org
> Subject: [Elfsea] On The Economics of People
>
>
> TRM has requested thoughts on the way to free up calendar dates.
> Several ideas have been thrown around which ignore some basic
> truths I would like to point out.
>
> It is a truth that on any given weekend there are a finite number
> people who are willing to travel to an event.  This can be swayed
> somewhat by the events being held through marketing and
> advertising, but only a bit in most cases.
>
> Secondly, the dilemma of the Kingdom Calendar is a self created
> problem.  Limiting events that a group can hold, while mandating
> that a certain number of events must be held (according to your
> group type) is trying to manage the economy of people in
> Ansteorra, and I'm not surprised at all by the trouble we now face.
>
> So let me suggest something completely outside the box.  Change
> the rules of the Kingdom Calendar to the following :
>   1 - No event will be added to the Calendar closer than 6 months
> out.  Barony's still have a perpetual date, and all other
> Baronial events must be declared 8 months out.
>   2 - Any group can hold any event any weekend.
>   3 - Groups already on the calendar can move their event,
> subject to rule #1.
>   4 - There are no limits on the number of events for any group.
>   5 - Nothing can compete with Crown Tourney or Coronation.
>
> This system is simply put, fair.  It allows any group who wishes
> to hold an event on a given weekend.  At 6 months out, that
> weekend is frozen and you /know/ who you are competing with for
> the attention of people.
>
> If a small western shire desires to compete with a Central
> Regional event, they can.  Shires have two addition months from
> when a Barony's date is frozen to decide if they want to move off
> of or in to a particular weekend.
>
> The removal of event limits will encourage groups to put on the
> calendar smaller baronial gatherings which already are affecting
> attendance but you can't know about them without extensive
> research.  For instance, if Ravensfort had a work weekend for the
> Stones scheduled on the same weekend of your event, and Greywood
> and Bordermarch were doing the same at Jones Country you might
> not currently know this without reading there email lists, but
> with this they could let everyone know about these smaller
> gatherings.  You could plan for 3/5ths of the Coastal Region to
> be busy with other things and as such unlikely to attend.
>
> Would this require a major change? Yep.
>
> Would this hurt small groups? No, they could compete with
> whomever THEY chose to.
>
> Would this hurt Barony's?  Possibly, if a MAJOR shire event (3
> Kings) was put onto your weekend after you were frozen.  But this
> is the risk for given some leeway to smaller groups.
>
> Could Elfsea and Steppes, both with there eyes open, choose to
> compete on the same weekend with different events?  Yep, and the
> success or failure of each would be determined by the attendance
> and effort put into the event.
>
> Remember always that people will go where they think they will
> have fun.  Trying to regulate that via the Kingdom Calendar is a
> bad idea, and will fail in the end.  It's possible small changes
> could put off eventual collapse of the structure, but I believe
> like any regulated market where both supply (events) and demand
> (people) are not under the control of the regulating agency it is
> doomed for failure eventually.
>
> Timothy of Glastinbury
>
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