[Sca-cooks] "the Coopers" was Pennsic history

Daniel Phelps phelpsd at gate.net
Sun Jul 30 01:45:07 PDT 2006


My opinions stated below are based on observations that are quite a number
of years old and not on recent experience.  Please take them as such.

Regards the Coopers was written:

The term "mercenary" sounds derogatory.  They run a business just
like any
other business.

My reply:

Yes and they have reportedly done very well by their relationship with SCA.
A fact that I do not begrudge by the way.  However some of their reported
actions in past years I do take issue with.

Was written:

They do not gouge the SCA nor the people who attend
Pennsic.

My reply:

Well... I would not go that far as for example I recall the reported hay
controversy of some years back.

Was written:

They don't raise the prices in their store.

My reply:

Yes but reportedly they have protected their sales monopoly on certain items
of necessity over the years by actively attempting to discourage people from
buying at a lower price elsewhere and bringing in items, such as hay bales,
for personal use.

Was written:

They have gone
out
of their way to add facilities (such as an ATM, an on-site bank and post
office), additional water lines, etc., to benefit our event.  This has
caused their taxes to be raised and they pay much more each time they
imnprove their property so that we can get to the far parking lot, have
camp sites, and so on.  >>>

My reply:

In my opinion such was purely a business decision brought on by the need to
expand facilities to handle the increase attendance.  Having served in the
public sector in a regulatory capacity and holding a master's degree in
Environmental Management, I suspect that some of these improvements were
most probably required by environmental and health regulations at the county
and state level.

Ok all that being said I attended Pennsic for quite a number of years before
I stopped merchanting.  My observations of the actions of "blue shirts" in
those years were not, shall we say, universally positive.   It is also my
belief that certain elements of  "the Coopers" actively attempted to squelch
the site of the 25th Year Celebration.  I gained this opinion from personal
conversations at the time with certain non-SCA personnel, i.e. a public
official in one case, who were connected with the site negotiations from the
other side.

I also heard, although I admit that this is hearsay and not based on direct
personal knowledge, that  "the Coopers" attempted to squelch the site for
"Gulf Wars" early on.

Thus I do not take personal umbrage at the term mercenary when applied to
"the Coopers".  All that being said I encourage all to go to Pennsic and
enjoy the experience.  From my personal, albeit several years past,
experience in having attended, Pennsic, Gulf Wars and Estrella in multiple
years all in the same calendar years I would have attended at the time
either Gulf War or Estrella rather than Pennsic were it an either or
proposition.  But times do change and I freely admit that my personal
opinions regarding both "the Coopers" and the above mentioned wars and
events are quite a number of years old.

Daniel





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