[Elfsea] Event Dates for 2009 and volunteering

Estella Flather eflather at sbcglobal.net
Sun Jun 8 22:31:39 PDT 2008


Greetings from Mistress Stella-
       I would like to keep Defender on its September date. This is a perfect time of year for a tournament event. The weather has usually moderated (of course this is Texas and you can't predict exactly what the weather will do), so it is more comfortable outside at that time of year. We often have trouble with bad weather during spring events. Since Three Kings is a melee event with very different activities than Elfsea Defender I don't think that moving that event to the weekend after Defender will affect attendance at our event. I do not want to make Defender a one day event. I know that I won't set up a large camp for a one day event. We will loose so much of the fun and flavor of what life was like in the Middle Ages if we don't have camping events. 
       I would not mind replacing Springfaire with an indoor collegium where we could also have Elfsea Artisan and the Bardic competition. Elfsea Artisan started out as part of the Baronial College, then it got put in with Springfaire because we dropped Baronial College when the limit was put on calendar events. As usual the main problem with scheduling a college or other indoor event is finding a suitable site that doesn't cost too much, because these events don't usually have a large attendance.
       Unfortunately, I think that attendance at events is going to be smaller than what we have gotten used to, not because of the time of year or type of event, but because people can't afford to travel as far or as much as they used to. With the cost of gasoline going sky high we are going to have to plan for lower break even points and try to keep costs as small as possible. Hopefully we can find ways to keep from having to raise our gate fee, otherwise even less people will be able to afford to come to events.
     The Barony has found that having people volunteer to sponsor activites at our events works very well so that the steward of the event only has to keep the sponsors organized and not do everything themselves. The SCA is a volunteer organization and we can only have events because people are willing to volunteer to be in charge of various activities and make sure that the activities that they are responsible for get accomplished. Besides, helping out at events is fun and you get to know people better. Be aware though that if you say you are going to be in charge of an activity at an event you need to make sure that you communicate your plans with the steward of the event and that you make sure your part of the event happens. People are counting on you, and if you don't have good follow through people will no longer be willing to trust you with responsibility.
       Sitting around and complaining about things after the event doesn't help. If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.
       In service, HE Stella
       

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