[MR] Kingdom Event Bids in General

[Tom Conti]

     JB brings up a great point which I believe came up years ago with a rotating Kingdom event schedule. I believe it was mentioned that each Barony (or desiring group) would host a kingdom event in turn at 5 or so sites where those kingdom level events could be supported. The hosting group would know when their event would be years in advance so planning would be a snap. 
     There are a couple of particulars that would need to be worked out, IE Crowns would need showers on hand and QUALITY fighting fields, Universities would need classrooms and such.... Each group would host a Kingdom event (on the Kingdoms dime mind you) in turn thereby showcasing their skilled citizens and having the honor of hosting the Kingdom. If a new site was located and found acceptable it could then be slid into the rotation. 
     Since the Kingdom is paying for the event the proceeds would fall to it as well. No 50/50 split, no $3,000 minimum bid. Each group would be able to add their flair to make the event special in their own way. 
     Right now we have a few sites we can use (happily). We need more sites. That is something we can work on now. We can go out and look for sites that will support a kingdom level event (you can shop with a particular event in  mind). I suppose we would need a committee or some such entity that could assess the sites as they are presented and make a decision as to their worthiness (Laurels for KASF, Roses for Golden rose, Royal peers for Coronation, Chiv for Crown, Pelicans for University). 
    Anyway,I believe the idea deserves thought at least.

Sir Theron Andronikos
Atlantia



 
> From: jonnyb70 at hotmail.com
> To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
> Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 17:44:47 -0400
> Subject: [MR] Kingdom Event Bids in General
> 
> 
> I've been privileged (/encouraged/begged/whatever) to autocrat a few Coronations, a Crown, and been on staff for a few Ymirs. I've autocratted a few smaller events (Flight of the Falcon) and even MIC'd one or two.
> 
> The difference between every other event out there and a Kingdom event is that you simply don't know far enough in advance where it should happen. When I became aware of the fact that there wasn't a bid out for the upcoming Coronation (or Crown, I believe) I went to my usual places; i.e., all the sites where I have personal contacts. I emailed or called them and said "this is the date, is your site available?"
> 
> The universal answer was "nope, it's already booked."
> 
> So my next question was "is it available for a weekend in April 2012?" The answer came back "yes" in at least a few instances.
> 
> So I wasn't able to do a single productive thing about this upcoming Coronation. And the sites that I'm in regular contact with are too expensive for a typical Crown Tournament. The one Crown we had at Betsy Jeff Penn was a similar situation ("we have to have Crown tourney and this site is available and there aren't any other suitable bids so I suggest you use this one".) 
> 
> From my POV the biggest reason there aren't many/any Kingdom event bids is because of this one fact, i.e., we're simply not booking far enough in advance. I will be the first to admit that I don't recall ever actually putting in a bid and going through the actual bid evaluation process; there simply wasn't time and it was Hobson's choice (i.e., either we use Jonathan's bid or we don't have an event.) So my "event bid submissions" tend to be backward to the typical submission process. I'm sure it's caused Mistress Alesia more than one headache over the years, but the sad fact is that we've had to use what worked at the time. HAD to. 
> 
> There is actually a very simple solution to this issue that can be implemented rather easily; have the Kingdom reserve the sites a year in advance, like every other (non-SCA) group out there does. The single biggest stumbling block I've ever seen to getting an event bid is that the site isn't considered good enough to use. 
> 
> Think about it this way: My favorite site hands down is Betsy Jeff Penn. There are MAYBE five weekends a year that the kingdom could hold an event at this site and have everybody come out happy, including a small profit: Two Coronations, two Crowns, and a Twelfth Night. And Three of those weekends, right now, are a borderline "MAYBE". Simply because attendance at these events isn't high enough to guarantee breaking even, let alone making any sort of profit. 
> 
> So if we KNOW in advance that there are really only two weekends a year that we MIGHT need the place, let the kingdom go ahead and put down two $500 deposits and book those weekends. That solve the site problem, which solves the biggest hurdle you have. Then you have the kingdom put out an event bid process that starts with "this is the weekend and this is the site; any group can host." Then the groups that want to host get to think in terms of what they can do with that site and submit event bids that have more to do with the cool things their group wants to do, which would give everybody more flexibility.
> 
> And no, I'm not trying to mandate that BJP be the only site used; I'm simply presenting a scenario that will work. I simply am not aware of any other site that has the amenities BJP has. 
> 
> So the question will then arise; "what happens if TRH's don't want to use the Kingdom event bid? What happens to the $500 deposit?" 
> 
> Well, if it's a refundable deposit before a certain date, all good. If it's not, whatever event bid TRH's want to use needs to have that $500 baked into the event budget so that the kingdom doesn't lose money. If TRH's want a particular event in a particular location, I'm sure that either they or their supporters can pony up that much $ to realize their dream.
> 
> The only other alternative I know of is to start reducing what's considered an acceptable site for a Kingdom event. And that's not a solution I favor. Events as they stand right now have what are called "hooks", i.e., things that people show up for. People show up to an event because there's something there they want. 
> 
> Like what? Glad you asked. 
> 
> Some people show up because there's going to be heavy fighting. 
> Some show up because there's going to be target archery. 
> Some show up because they can drink alcohol. 
> Some show up because there's a main hall for them to sit in and hang out with their friends.
> Some show up because....fill in the blank.
> 
> Point is, if the site starts to get "dumbed down" then lots of those things either can't or won't happen, or won't happen on a basis consistent with what people have come to expect from a Kingdom event. And you'll have a Coronation or Crown happening in the middle of a big, empty field like Elchenburg. And attendance will dwindle even further. And I don't think that anyone wants to see that happen.
> 
> Regards
> 
> Jonathan Blackbow 
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