SC - Fees in General

[DeeWolff@aol.com]

    Well, yes and no. I don't think people should be gouged, but think about
the following; if your group wants to, say, buy a new pavilion which costs
$600, fund raising is a necessity. While I would have reservations about
raising the entire amount from a feast, putting back a goodly chunk of it
from the work put in by doing an event isn't unethical or dishonorable.
    I do have a problem when a group puts on a cheap feast that costs under
$3 to produce, and charges $7 for it. That's profiteering, which I consider
very unethical, indeed. Given that there's no reward for putting on an event
(I get a bit annoyed when told that it's a groups 'duty' to host them), a
bit of financial incentive goes a long way. It's not like the money is going
to be wasted or anything like that; most groups tend to be very careful
about expending their limited resources.
    I don't care much for the idea of including the feast fee in the site
fee - for many people, it sounds a lot like charging for what you don't get.
And if you have 1,500 on site, I'd purely love to see how anyone is going to
cook for and serve that many. And if you have no intention of cooking for
that many, what are you going to do if (god help you) everybody gets a wild
hair and decides to show up?
    And I most certainly agree that the feast budget should be completely
separate from any of the other 'crats. When you start fiddling with budgets,
noses get out of joint and the accounting goes to hell really fast.
    In Trimaris, feast is separate from the site fee. The Kingdom, BTW,
keeps 75% of the gate, but any profits made from feast are the host groups
to keep. (of course, getting your check back from Kingdom can take from
several months to a year, but that's the Seneschal's problem, not mine) If
you don't pay for feast, you are not supposed to partake of breakfast or
lunch, but we really don't have any mechanism to enforce this. I've got a
feeling, though, that most people are going to be doing their own in-camp
feasts for quite a while . . . I certainly am.

    Sieggy

> I have a very strong opinion about fees in the SCA in general.
> That is, there shouldn't be any.  I also realize that this is not
> realistic.  There are expenses involved in almost all that we do.
> Whether it is a feast hall, a reservation fee to use the park or
> the cost of providing the ingredients for a feast, it all takes
> money.
>
> Here in Tyr Ysgithr our goal is to break even at an event.  Thus
> we typically have two fees: the site fee (which everyone
> participating pays) and the feast fee (which only those who will
> be eating the feast pay).  The site fee covers everything related
> to the event: including hall rental, table and chair rental (if
> necessary), cleaning fees, decorations, etc.  The feast fee
> includes: the ingredients, the food service items (if they are
> not already part of the baronial feast gear) etc.  Remember, we
> are a not for profit organization.  In addition, we remember that
> there are those who are feeding large families and set a family
> rate if possible.
>
> A typical feast starts with a budget of $5.00 per person.  This
> provides two meats, 3 or 4 vegetable dishes, a soup, a bread and
> a dessert.  For another $1.00 per head you should be able to add
> on an appetizer course and some more filler dishes.  For another
> dollar per person, you can serve prime rib.  These prices reflect
> an average price of $2.00 per pound of meat, $4.00 if you want
> prime rib, a half pound of meat per person.
>
> I play the current adds.  We have four major food market chains
> in town.  I seldom buy ahead, as one market or another will be
> having a sale on what I am looking for.  So if I can get chicken
> for $0.50 per pound, I can buy better quality beef or pork or
> even add some fish to the menu.  In places where there aren't as
> many shopping choices, you may have to play the adds a bit
> longer.
>
> It has been my experience that if you provide a larger meal than
> what the five dollars provides, you have a lot of leftovers.
> I suspect that the difference between the amount of food that is
> reasonable now and what was reasonable in the middle ages, is
> simply that in the middle ages a feast lasted several hours, with
> the courses spread out over that time.  Today, it seems that if a
> feast isn't served and over in an hour to an hour and a half,
> people get impatient and start to complain.
>
> This is true not only in the SCA but in the catering business as
> well.  I can cater a complete meal which includes prime rib or
> 16 oz T-bone steaks at a cost of $8.00 including all of the
> eating wear (plates, cups, utensils, napkins etc.).  But the meal
> will be charged at $15.00-$20.00.  That is where I pay myself,
> the waiters, the bus help and additional expenses.
>
> One thing I try to remember while doing a feast in the SCA is
> the joy that I get through the service provided and from watching
> others enjoy the food I have prepared.  This is where I can have
> fun and be creative.  It is amazing how many dishes I have moved
> on to my catering menu, that I first tried out at a feast.  Seldom, do I
get any complaints from my clients.  My daughter
> said to me the other day, "I will eat even the weird looking
> stuff if I know that you cooked it.  Because I know it will taste
> good."
>
> So, stand your ground and don't let anyone push a markup at you.
> If they are doing this, saying that it is to defray dome of the
> site costs, they are not planning very well in the first place.
>
>
> --
> Ld. Steffan of the Close (The Camp Cook) Tir Ysgithr, Atenveldt
> (Steven Cowley -- Tucson, Arizona -- scowley at uswest.net)