SC - Source for Herbs

[WyteRayven@aol.com]

hey all from Anne-Marie

Sieggy sez:
>>     I had thought about using hats (cheap felt
>> Robin Hood type hats) as feast tokens. (Lidsville!), and would like to hear
>> some ideas from others on the subject.
>>
The following is my opinion. Only my opinion. I realize that folks do
things differently in different places, but this is my experience....
(hows that for a disclaimer! :))

I have a bit of experience autocrating events :). In my experience, site
tokens are a waste of money and time.

1. they only work if you require that EVERYONE display it prominently. This
means I am required to wear a robin hood hat with  my Elizabethan, or worse
yet, pin a bit of ribbon with a modern safety pin to the front of my hard
research period dress. This also nmeans you need a crowd of people who's
job it is to stop everyone and check that they have their site token, and
be willing to throw people out who dont have them visible or handy. What a
crummy job!

2. a well controlled front gate achieves the same goal...controlling
entrance, and making sure everyone has paid their site fee. Its a very easy
thing to sneak into most events, and if the bounders are determined,
there's nothing you can do to prevent it, short of issuing site tokens and
having some poor schmuck run around and check everyones "site lint" :).

3. as a society, we pride ourselvs on honor and honesty. I personally
prefer to rely on thej populace to do the right thing and pay their site
fee. Again, a well controlled gate, manned with efficient and organized
people means its easy to come, sign your waiver and pay your money and get
on with having fun. requiring me to display proof of payment is rather
insulting to me. I hate this....I have stories about going to the showers
and being stopped because my Estrella site token wasnt visible. 

4. often site fees cost money. multiply the cost per token and the number
of expected attendees, plus extras (you dont want to run out), and it
easily comes to a good percentage of your site budget. Even at a smaller
event, we're often talking 10-20%. This is the difference between breaking
even and losing money at many events. At a larger event, it can easily run
into $1000s of dollars, if the token costs, say, even less than a dollar.
Surely there's more fun things to spend the money on? how about a brunch
spread for the populace? decorations? hire a mundane early music consort to
play for the dancing so you dont hagve to use a boom box? hire a
dishwashing crew so the kitchen crew can walk away after the feast? you get
the idea.

5. Site fees cost time and effort. As an autocrate, one has enough to do
what with all the other little tasks and such. Volunteer manhours are
better spent manning gate, running money to the bank, printing site
handouts, putting out directional signs, etc etc etc. I've heard horror
stories of the autocrate team being up until 3am the night before the event
putting beads on safety pins, or gluing sparkly bits on a rosette.
Autocrates who dont get sleep before the event are pretty much guarenteed
to burn out rather spectacularily later in the day....

Now, I know in some places, site tokens are used as souvenires of the
event. I have had crowns insist on tokens that show their names and faces
and the date. My response to that is "great idea...can you have them to us
the week before?" if someone wants to volunteer the time and money to do
them, that's fine, but there's no room in my budgets (money or time) to do
that. 

Now, please realize that this is my experience and my opinion. Im
notoriously cheap when it comes to throwing events :). so take it for what
its worth! (ie not much :)) But I've been doing this for a long time
(autocratting events, from tiny to huge) and I have yet to see the costs of
site tokens outweigh the benefits.

- --AM

I've also seen "site tokens" in the form of embroidered napkins for diners
who were eating the feast, to indicate who was onboard and who was off. I
also saw the person who volunteered to do this tear her hair out for weeks
before the event. I dont know as the benefit (they were very nice napkins,
and didnt require that I pin/wear/tie anything to myself :)) outweighed the
cost...a very crispy helpful person and a burned out bernina.