[MR] Event fees for WOW

[Steve Lackey]

On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 6:01 PM, Michael Houghton <herveus at gmail.com> wrote:
> Howdy!

Well Hey there!

> [snip]
>> --
>>
>> My philosophy is that any event that nets a group more than $500.00 in
>> "profit" (defined simply as moneys left over after all event related
>> expenses have been paid) for a group is obscene in todays economy, and
>> is not providing a service to the membership at large. ...[snip]
>
> That's awfully strong language. You are, of course, free to attend or not
> attend events as you see fit. It's not helpful, however, to use term such as
> "obscene" or the like to characterize the profit from an event, especially
> when you are almost certainly not considering the particular financial
> details of the event and the group hosting it.

Yes, I suppose the language is strong. So are my feelings in relation
to avoidable expenses in this economy. When the good times are
rolling, and everybody is rolling in dough, things may change. I don't
really care about the hosting groups financial details. They are not
any of my business in truth. It's my personal opinion that anybody
(SCA Group, Major Corporation, Government - anybody) that wants to
socialize losses and privatize gains is in the wrong. I understand
expenses, and I have no problem with making some money beyond expenses
for things that come out of the general fund, such as Storage,
Maintenance, or what have you. I maintain that anybody that puts an
event on (again, SCA, Corporation, Government - anybody) does so at
their own risk. Asking me to pay for insurance on it for the next year
is wrong *at this time, and in this economy*. I don't think it does
the populous at large any favors, although it is certainly great for
the hosting group. Again - Profit is not BAD. Large profits at the
expense of the populous is bad.

Again - should I jack the price up for everybody coming to Assessment
to make up for the loss we had at Ice Castles? If anybody does, then
by all means, I'll set up a jar at troll there at Assessments, and
anybody coming can feel free to kick 3-4 bucks into it so that the
group can make up that loss. I'm certainly not going to require it
though. It will be labeled "Ice Castles Snow Fund". =)


[Snip]

>> The $5.00 penalty for paying at the gate is to my mind, excessive. I
>> understand the desire to get as many pre-registrations as possible. As
>> an autocrat, it is one of the issues that weighs on my mind when I'm
>> running an event such as the upcoming Kings Assessment (Shameless plug
>> - $7.00 site fee for the weekend, on a nicer site). On the other hand
>> at this event, pre-registration is required for land allotment as
>> well. So if I don't pre-register, I get penalized twice - once at the
>> gate, and once more in camp if there is not enough room to fit me in
>> somewhere in their allotment. I could be overly sensitive to it, but
>> it feels a little bit like getting my arm twisted, and I don't like
>> that one bit. It's not as if land is at a premium on this site after
>> all.
>
> Consider that people who pay in advance provide event revenues to
> the hosts before the event. This helps with the cash flow as well as the
> planning for head count. People who pay at the door cost more in a
> "time value of money" sense. $5 is the number that the WoW team
> settled on. Pre-registration for camping space also allows them to
> better lay out the land. A camp that suddenly want to expand by 20%
> to accommodate non-preregistered folks can't do that unless there
> is room reserved for growth. Close neighbors preclude that.

I don't see how paying at the door costs more time/value/money, unless
you are talking about the minute or two it takes to record the
name/number along with the collected fee. Lets extend that out. At
troll, assume they do 20 people an hour at peak. That is $100 an hour.
Pretty good money for whatever group is doing it at peak, which is the
only time it really matters. It's still a penalty on those that can't
or don't want to pre-reg for whatever reason. There are some groups
that I will never pre-reg with. Be that as it may, adding the land
issue to it makes it worse.

The land there is plentiful. Groups that want to camp as a group and
know they are going can easily send an email to whoever is running the
land and let them know what to expect. A group's "land agent" can take
some of the load off the event staff and simply send a list of tents
that are expected to be there with their sizes, where the event staff
could say ok, your going to need X space, we'll set aside that much,
plus Y space for a fudge/late arrival/whatever factor.

I really do understand the desire for pre-registrations, and I even
agree with it. I don't like the strong arm feeling though from the
double penalty for failing to do so for whatever reason.

I'm sitting here, with a smile on my face in case somebody takes the
opinion that I'm getting all riled up. I'm not. I have strong feelings
about certain things, and money is one of them. That doesn't mean I'm
getting angry or upset by this exchange. Healthy debate is what makes
us as a people strong =)

And if truth = snark, then so be it. ;-)

-- 
In Service,

Estienne de Condé
Argent, three falcons vert
Supremus totus, Muneris
---------------
MKA Steve Lackey

The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to somebody
else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self.
-  Whitney Young (1921 - 1971)