[MR] and now the business stuff starts

[Matthew]

These are very good points. 
Is this something a Site Book (Continuity Book) would help with? Every
Hampton Inn I stay at has one and I love it. 
I'll even volunteer to make this Site Book online and in print if it will
help secure future events.

Matthew

-----Original Message-----
From: Elaine Koogler [mailto:kiridono at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 3:08 PM
To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Subject: Re: [MR] and now the business stuff starts

I have read with interest the various comments on this issue, and would add
my own.  Just so folks will know, I have autocratted a number of events and
have cooked even more.  I have also worked with events that were  remote.  I
can tell you that this rarely works well.  Notice...I did not say "never."

There are two major problems with trying to do a remote event.  The first,
and most difficult, is how, when the site is a long ways away, to get stuff
done with and for the site prior to the event.  Whoever is the autocrat (and
the head cook) will have to have feet on the ground local to the site.
There are things that just can't be done from a distance, like visiting the
site to determine where things are located, how to set up the feast hall and
information about the capabilities of the kitchen.  It will also be
necessary that a lot of the ingredients for a feast will have to be
purchased locally, which puts the cook at a distinct disadvantage.  One of
the big things about cooking a feast for a large crowd is locating places to
purchase those ingredients at a good price.  For example, if I hadn't been
local to the DC-Maryland region, I would not have known about the really
good deals on chicken and lamb I could get at Jetro's, a local restaurant
supply place...nor would I have had the necessary membership required for
access to the supplier!  I could purchase everything here where I live, but
that would necessitate having enough large coolers...and a large vehicle or
two... to transport the food to the site over a long distance.  So this plan
will place a great deal of strain on both the group sponsoring the event and
the local group.  And, with the local group, it will happen each and every
time (in this case, twice a year) is held, without any recompense for their
efforts.

The other is that there will be problems with finding an autocrat and cook
for a remote event.  For example, if the event were to be sponsored by Dun
Carraig (located in Maryland), the distance to the site is such that it
would require these folks to take a day off from their jobs in order to be
at the site before it opens...they would need to be there at least several
hours early so that they could get things in place before the first
attendees arrive.  They would also need to have the folks doing field setup,
running the admissions gate and merchant liaison there before the site
opened as well.  So...the sponsoring groupt would need to find at least 5
people who could leave for central NC early Friday morning.  Especially in a
small group such as we have, this would be very difficult.  Yes, I
know...there would be plenty of advance notice, but for a lot of people,
that won't make a difference.  For example, our Baron and Baroness have
known the dates for Pennsic for about a year.  Yet neither of them could get
vacation time so that they could attend!  Another problem tied in with this
is people having the money to be able to afford to get to the event.  I know
that right now, as I am unemployed, I would not be able to attend!

So essentially, having Crown at a particular site each time it's held would
put, to my mind, unacceptable strain on both the hosting group and the group
local to the site.  I will point out what I said a year or two ago when our
group and Lochere held Twelfth Night:  The main reason that there is a
problem with getting bids for Kingdom events (Crown, Coronation, Twelfth
Night) isn't that groups don't want to do them.  It's because of the
requirement that the Kingdom's share of the profits must always be $1500.
There are all sorts of reasons why, even with a carefully planned event,
this required amount cannot be reached, weather, the economy, an expensive
site, etc.  So groups are reticent about hosting these events because of the
difficulty of finding a site that will allow for this kind of "shared"
profit.  I know this probably opens another "can of worms," but it is a
major factor.  I know we do not want to be involved in Kingdom events any
more because of the strain that this put on our group.

Kiri
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