SC - on table menus

[Stefan li Rous]

Kiri remarked: 
> Yeah, one of our members suggested that.  How do they do?  Do you actually make
> money on these?  We're looking around for ideas as to how to raise money, and
> this might be an idea.
> 
> Kiri

> > At our barony's annual Arts & Sciences event, this past January, the
> > head cook and event steward sold feast booklets for, oh, I think 50
> > cents each (to cover the cost of printing).  They were available at the
> > troll table when folks came in.  Pretty nifty idea....
> > --Maire

While I think a slight profit would be nice, for instance rounding upward
from 35 cents to 50 cents or 75 cents to a dollar, I wouldn't want to
overdo this. I think the main purpose of such booklets should be
education and encouragement of folks to try period cooking, perhaps
even to try cooking their own, not be a funding source for the group.

Having too large of a markup might end up discouraging those on the 
borderline of buying one or not. The ones that don't like period food 
won't buy one anyway, even if it is cheap. The converts will buy it 
anyway, even if there is a large markup. You want to catch the folks
in the middle.

Having such a booklet available for sale might also work a little
while before something like a pot luck feast or revel where folks are
encouraged to bring a period dish. A lot of folks might be interested
but have no idea of any simple period foods they could make.

Another way to make a profit, yet still sell the booklet at a cheap
price might be to have a local company pay for the printing costs, 
perhaps in exchange for a notice/ad in the back of the booklet. We
have a local photocopy company that has been running off our local
baronial newsletter for free for a number of years for instance. If
you can arrange this, then almost all the selling cost becomes a
donation to the group, yet the price is low enough that everyone 
can afford one.

- -- 
THLord  Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas         stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****