[MR] Lowering event fees, another perspective

[Rachel/Judith]

Salvete!
   It is very interesting reading this whole thread. I have been out of kingdom now for eight years (time flies!), but still remember clearly when I thought the event cost of Kingdom Crusades (20 USD for the weekend, no food included) was ridiculously expensive. Now, I live in a kingdom (Drachenwald) where a cheap event is 30 EUR for the weekend (albeit inlcuding all meals), but the average weekend event costs 40-50 EUR per person, whether in a castle, a youth hostel, or a "scout" camp (given the parity of expense between these three options, we generally elect to utilize the castles when possible). Since improved sites generally charge 2000+ for weekend usage (and do not really allow for single day bookings), we really cannot afford to charge low day-trip costs since these sites charge per weekend, whether people stay for one hour or two days. That being said, A "local" event (even for the group hosting it) is typically a 2-3 hour drive, and often at least six hours, so most people would never dream of day-tripping. There are, of course, exceptions, but this is the general state of affairs here.
       And very few people would ever consider attending more than one event per month, given the time/distances/cost of gas involved (one US gallon of gas here costs about 5-6 dollars per gallon).
   Now, the cost of non-SCA reenactor/LARP weekends on this side of the Ocean generally run 200 EUR per person, so the SCA is still considered the cheap hobby by comparison.
   For point of reference re: EUR/Dollar, one Euro in Germany generally buys you what one dollar will in the more metropolitan areas of the States.

Judith
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