SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #441

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

>Date: 18 Nov 1997 23:54:01 U
>From: "Mark Harris" <mark_harris at risc.sps.mot.com>
>Subject: SC - paid reservations?
>
>Lord Ras said:
>
>>The fact that all of my feasts for the last 5 years
>>have been sold out several weeks in advance is enough proof for me that
>>period is in and pizza is out.
>
>Wow. Quite a bit of interkingdom anthropology in that statement.
>
>Here in central Ansteorra, reservations have been practically unheard of 
>until recently. When I have tried to bring up the advantages of paid
>reservations, I have been shouted down real quick even for feasts as
>good and as period as Baroness Clarissa's. As it is, since no money is
>required, I think the current reservations are not much better than
>none at all, although they do give you a very rough estimate of the
>number who will be attending.
>
>What is it like in other regions/kingdoms? Do you do reservations?
>Paid or unpaid? How do you handle cancelations or refunds?
>
>Stefan li Rous
>RSVE60 at email.sps.mot.com

Wow! You mean that even your most famous cooks have to cook a feast A) not
knowing how many will eat it, B)Without the group having any money to cover
the cost of the food at the time of purchase, and C)Not even knowing if
enough people will come to cover your outlay? Sounds like a rather unsound
business practice to me. YOu must have enormous treasuries, to be able to
cover the cost of an event and feast without going bankrupt. Or perhaps the
events are very small and the sites are free, so the food aspect is not that
big a risk? I frequently have a budget over $1,000.00 for food (my group is
noted for low-cost events, too). There is no way I am going to foot the bill
for that big a budget , hoping enough folks come to eat so I don't loose my
chemise. I expect 80 percent of that budget to be in the hands of the group
before the event ( I cook based on the number of paid reservations about 1
week before the event, plus 20 percent). The other 20 pecent I expect to
arrive at the door. But, with careful planning, I never use that 20 percent
of the budget. It's part of the profit of the event. I try to use less than
my allocation while still sticking within an historical menu. It gets
tricky, but I've only ever failed once---by $20.00. I kicked myself for weeks.

A thought just occured to me---we use sites with good indoor facilities, due
to the weather. Perhaps our budgets are simply higher due to local climate?
Those in the warmer regions probably do more totally outdoor events, many of
which sites can be free or very cheap.


Aoife--boggling at the thought of "No Advance Paid Reservations".

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