[MR] The importance of pre-reg

[Alan MacNeill]

Perhaps my experience as an autocrat is unusual (although I doubt it), but...

No autocrat is ever concerned "My event won't make enough of a
profit".  EVERY autocrat is concerned "My event will take such a huge
loss that the checking account of the Barony(Canton/Shire/Kingdom)
will be affected and our ability to host an event in the future will
be compromised".

Although you are right in that all *you* have lost by procrastinating
is the ability to guarantee a feast space and perhaps a small pre-reg
bribe, your decision to not "risk" (when any pre-registration is
perfectly refundable given timely notice of non-attendance to the
reservationist IMO it isn't a risk, but ymmv) $10 costs the organizers
of the event plenty:

1.  By not having an adequate estimate of how many fighters will show
up, the MiC of the event does not know if it's worth their time to
devise Melee scenarios, if their planned field is too large (or too
small), or even if they have enough Marshallate support for their
event.  This leads to too many events where the scenario ends up being
"Okay, y'all start over there, Y'all start over here, and when I say
Lay on, kill each other".  Rather dull and not at all interesting.
Alternatively, they spend their time and money planning potentially
interesting and tactically different scenarios, only to discover they
have 10 fighters.

2.  By not having an adequate estimate of how many people in general
will show up, the Autocrat doesn't know how many people are necessary
to support for essential site services such as changing areas, hall
seating (not just for feast,for A&S, Court, or just socializing),
bathroom facilities, site tokens, and 100 other "little touches" that
make an event more than just "Meh, it was another event".
Porta-potties need to be pre-reserved and generally pre-paid, and at
$75 (or more) each, they're sometimes the 2nd largest expense in an
event budget.  Having too few leads to...unpleasant times...having too
many leads to the event losing hundreds of dollars, so that money
isn't available to host the next event.

3.  The Cooks of an event risk either woefully undersizing their feast
or woefully overbuying for it and crushing the budget.

4.  The local Baronage and Kingdom Royals (if it's a Progress event)
have no way to know if someone who they wish to give an award to may
or may not be there, which leads to "quick and dirty" award giving
rather than having scrolls prepared, knowing who will provide the
Order Medallion, etc.

You're right, it can cost $100 or more for someone to go to an event.
However, the site fee is a relatively small portion of that, and it is
the only piece that needs to be sent in advance.  If you decide Friday
night that you can't go, all you are out is that $10.  And in most
cases, that amount is refundable if you notify the
autocrat/receptionist and request it in a timely fashion.

Particularly for small groups or new groups with limited checking
accounts, taking on a new event or taking an event "to the next level"
is a very scary time for the financial committee and the autocrat.
When I proposed the first Siege of the Black Tower to Rivers Point,
our Senechal and Exchequer were rightly very, very scared that I was
risking the group's entire checking account on an untried concept.
However, taking that risk was necessary because it allowed our Cook to
get her first experience being responsible for a feast, it allowed our
Marshal to try new melee scenarios, it allowed the autocrat to get
experience handling a more complex event, and it allowed the Canton to
grow.

In our case, the only reason our exchequer wasn't climbing the walls
in fear was because we got a reasonable number of pre-registrants, so
we had good cause to believe our expenses would be met.  If everyone
chose to be as self-centered and personal risk intolerant as you
propose, then there would never be anything new and different, because
noone would be willing to risk.

On 10/27/06, Sean D. Sorrentino <sdsorrentino at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Why doesn't everyone simply understand that the vast majority of us will either Pre-register or not based on OUR circumstances?
(snip)
> I hear Autocrats complaining that it makes their calculations difficult. Sadly, it is not the job of your guests to Pre-register in order to insure your event makes a profit.