[MR] Autocratting the Remote Site

[Jack Black of Flint]

I can't say much from the Feast Steward side of that coin, but I can address what I am familiar with, which would be the driving some distance for an event not in your area.

As I mentioned earlier, Hidden Mountain's 25th Baronial Birthday was held at Kings Mountain State Park, about 4 hours from our lands.  I realize 4 hours is a lot different than 8, but there are similarities.  those of us involved with running the event were unfamiliar with the site, as some of us had never been there, and others of us hadn't been there in nigh on a decade.

However, because we knew that we weren't familiar with the site, and it's issues, we did make the effort to drive up to the site on a weekend when several of us were available, to "Scout the site" as it were.  To see exactly what the kitchen facilities were, the size of the feast hall, the cabin layout, et cetera.  We had no problems with the running of the event, other than the monsoon that chose to hit us that weekend.

As to your point of not being able to get the time off, I know of very few managers in the various fields I have been in over my career that who would turn you down if you said, "Hey Boss, there is a regional event for my hobby that I am lead organizer of in Six months, I would like to know what I need do to get the time off so I can do it."

 
I know there are useless bosses out there, there always are somewhere.  BUT, I would also think that especially in my case, I KNEW 10 months in advance that I was running the event, and was going to need the Thursday prior off so that I could roll out first thing Friday morning, so made the arrangements to do what I needed in plenty of time.

So I would politely disagree that Remote hosts for events rarely work.  I have proven it can, IF the person running the event TRULY WANTS to make it work....
Until the next,
Yours in service,


Cap'n Jack Black of Flint
((AKA: BlackJack))
Lord and Master of "The Raptor"
Seneschal, Barony of Hidden Mountain 
Brute for Hire




________________________________
From: Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com>
To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 3:08:27 PM
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