[MR] lowering event fees

[Maymunah al Siqilliyah]

Good suggestions.  Our barony now has a financial policy on feasts that 
is basically what you are recommending; also, no refunds for feast after 
a certain date BEFORE the event because on that date the number of folks 
to be fed at feast will be set for the cook and the food purchased.

I have a lot of food allergies and don't usually think the lunch or day 
board is a bargain, because I still  have to bring my most of my own 
food.  Many vegetarians feel the same way.  There are a few exceptions - 
when Kiri cooks for a Day in the Middle East, there is always enough 
variety for me to get a real meal out of the day board.

But this brings me to another thought; every event does not have to be 
the same.  We have big, more expensive, more complex events, and 
smaller, cheaper, simpler events.  Sometimes we budget an event to only 
break even or even lose a little, like a Baronial Birthday, or we donate 
the cost of the event to the Kingdom such as for a University or 
Unevent.  Providing variety is more likely to make everyone happy than 
if we bring all events down to a lowest common denominator.

On 6/22/2010 10:01 PM, Carolyn Cox wrote:
> I have found this thread very interesting and have read every letter.  Lots of interesting viewpoints and ideas.  I think our events are very reasonably priced, as they have always been.  You'd have great difficulty finding  another weekend or even all day activity at a lower cost, and certainly not one with so much to offer.  All the reasons why our events cost as much as they do have been well explained by those who know.  However, I have thought of a couple of things that could lower costs a little bit, though I wonder if gentles would think it worth the loss.  One way to help matters would be to take the guess work out of the feast and serve a feast only for those who have pre-registered for it.  Unsold feast seats are a common loss of revenue for events  Another cost is the lunch that now so often comes with the entry fee.  I personally think this makes it an even better deal, but I remember the old days when the only food provided at an event was the feast.  We were on
>   our own otherwise, though sometimes feast leftovers would serve as breakfast on Sunday. Eliminating these two expenses might allow autocrats to shave a couple of bucks off the fee for an event.. I know that every autocrat lives with the fear that gentles will consider their prices too high and fail to come.  They all cut their costs as much as possible, and events often lose money at the current prices.  YIS,  Averey
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