[MR] comps

Fri Jun 25 15:20:13 PDT 2010

i think the real issue here is when does profit outweigh service and
camaraderie.  i have heard, over and over, that "events have to make profit
so that the group can put on the next event" and also "we need a safety net
in case the next event is a total loss".  ok, i buy the second one although
that reality is very very rare (hurricanes, snow storms, flooding).  the
first one would make sense only if the group threw every fourth event for
free, which doesnt really happen.

in a business model you would have to look at how much it costs to have
"that" person there.  say, the head cook.  what does it cost the event to
have that person show up to work in the kitchen.  in most cases, nothing.
now the person you mention, the one that hauled this, mopped that,
decorated, worked the gate (troll is such a silly word), handed out water,
packed the kitchen, clean the toilets, repacked the storage building, etc
etc.  if that person really did exists (and please everyone save me from the
deluge of "ive done all of that at every event" emails) they would certainly
be the exception and would certainly deserve our thanks and admiration.
that is a whole lot of work in just a few short days and i doubt that anyone
does that.  its an exaggeration im sure but it does make the point i think
you are trying to make.  so to answer your question i would suggest that it
would be impossible at the time they checked in at the gate for the event to
know that they would be doing all of that and even harder for most folks to
know that their contributions extended after all of us went home while they
were busy putting everything back in storage.  the sca is a wonderful place
which allows us to recognize them even after the fact.  that person should
have inspired someone to write to the crown and to their local baron/ess and
tell them of these good deeds.  while its not the same as refusing to accept
their $10 i can tell you that the look on their face when they are reminded
of their hard efforts and the impact those efforts have had on so many
people did not go unnoticed when you induct them into the order of the
golden dolphin or even the order of the pelican.  ive been there many times,
ive looked in their faces, ive seen the impact, ive shared emotional tears
with them.

so no, i dont think you can anticipate that persons contribution to that
event.  its different than the person we, or at least i, were/was
discussing.  the head cook is shackled to the kitchen and does not attend
the event.  same with the event steward.  they should always be comped in my
opinion.  or is their $20 really that important?  and before this moves over
to comping high table i will duck out for a while because that one will get
me all kinds of riled up about making profit on our friends.  ;^)

regards
logan

"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was
hell." 
Harry S Truman 
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his
vengeance need not be feared"
Niccolo Machiavelli
For your amouring needs please visit:
www.ebonwoulfe.com/armory.htm

www.ebonwoulfe.com

For worldwide listings of fighter practices please visit:
www.fighterpractice.com

-----Original Message-----
From: atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Nicole E.
Miller
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 2:19 PM
To: 'Merry Rose'
Subject: Re: [MR] comps

While there is definitely a difference in effort in the example you gave
Your Grace, what about the individuals who came the evening before, lugging
all the decor and kitchen supplies from storage, set up the tents on list
field and tables in the halls, decorated the halls, then on event day worked
troll, or did water bearing all day, then returned the next morning or
stayed late into the night to take down all the decorations, pack up the
kitchen gear, clean the restrooms, mop the floors and haul everything back
to storage?  

Is there volunteered time and energy less meaningful or less of an effort
than that of the head cook?

I am not disagreeing that some do way more than others, but where does it
end?  Who decides what the line is for what hard work is valued at?

Lady Sian
---- logan <logan at ebonwoulfe.com> wrote: 

=============
i find a disconnect when people suggest that the head cook should pay just
like any other "event goer".  the difference, at least to me, is that when
lord bob shows up at the event and spends 14 hours on saturday attending the
event it is vastly different than lord spoonhand that spends 14 hours
working in the kitchen.  one is attending the event the other is attending
to a pot on a stove.  seems a bit unappreciative to me for someone to go up
to spoonhand and say "hey buddy, as soon as youre done basting those hens i
need you to pony up $10.  what, you thought you could work here for free?".
then again i also find it distasteful when an event steward mentions, at a
meeting, that the last event made $1200.00 profit and folks applaud.  so
maybe im weird.

regards
logan

"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was
hell." 
Harry S Truman 
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his
vengeance need not be feared"
Niccolo Machiavelli
For your amouring needs please visit:
www.ebonwoulfe.com/armory.htm

www.ebonwoulfe.com

For worldwide listings of fighter practices please visit:
www.fighterpractice.com

-----Original Message-----
From: atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Bill
Toscano
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 11:24 AM
To: Sarah Toich
Cc: Merry Rose
Subject: Re: [MR] comps

Your Grace: I understand your philosophy.

But as an autocrat, I would feel rather badly if my Queen had to pay for an
event where she should be the guest of our local group.

As I have said before, I think that there are degrees of intensity, and I
feel there are at least a couple of people who should be comped at an event.
I think, considering the work he/she puts in, the autocrat should not have
to pay, and I think that if you have a head cook who has spent a couple
nights pre-cooking and is in the kitchen for 10-12 hours. never to emerge,
that person should get comped.

Just my opinion,

Liam
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