[MR] The importance of pre-reg

[Kelly Keck]

You're right, although it's not *quite* as bad as that.  Overlapping with
distant groups isn't usually a problem.  For example, I doubt an event in
Maryland is going to be a threat to an event in North Carolina or vice
versa, unless one of them has something truly phenominal enough to get
people to drive eight or nine hours.

So, if you just look at, say, Maryland and Virginia, there are 22 shires,
baronies, and cantons.  But, then, if all those 13 baronies do two events a
year and the shires and cantons only do one, you're still trying to put 35
events into 32 weekends.  Even with that major scaling back (there are
groups that do five or six events a year), there would still not be enough
dates to go around.

One thing to consider might be a more specific event focus.  If you have a
neat theme, a really cool class schedule, or some other focused attraction,
your event will draw people even if there are others on the calendar.  And
the nice thing is that specific focus keeps two conflicting events from
hurting each other.  For example, if one group is doing a Middle Eastern
event with lots of dancing, drumming, and ME-themed classes and another
group is doing an event focused around an armored tourney, those two events
will interest different groups of people.

But, that specific focus is a double-edged sword as it also means that some
people just won't be interested.  The 14th century buff may not want to come
to your Anglo-Saxon meadhall event, and the die hard fighter will pass on an
event that doesn't offer combat.  So, I think events try to offer "a little
bit of everything" to draw as many people as possible, especially with so
many other things on the calendar.

In Service,
Adriana

On 10/27/06, Alan MacNeill <gormofberra at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> By my math, that leaves 32 available scheduling weekends in the year.
>
> According to http://www.atlantia.sca.org/groups.php, we have 50 groups
> in this Kingdom.
>
> Which 18 don't get to host events?  Keep in mind that for the majority
> of groups, event hosting is the only way they can generate any income
> at all to cover expenses for the group.
>
> Add in that Baronies are expected to have more than one event a year
> (if only so that junior spaceranger autocrats can gain experience
> before tackling "the big one"), and that not every group has access to
> a site that can support The Full Featured Event...and whatcha gonna
> do?
>