[MR] Kingdom Event Bids in General

[Beverly Robinson-Curry]

Jonathan wrote:

> 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.

I have to disagree slightly with this, simply from the point that I think
another problem with getting event bids is that we've come to "require"
something to fit _everyone's_ desires/needs.  It's hard to find a
Hilton-level site, or staff to run an Olympic number of activities.

We might have a Coronation at a bare bones site?  Well, why not?  We used to
do that.  And it was the creativity of the event crew that actually made it
feel more medieval.  (Plus, they hold a whole war at a bare bones site.  I
can't think of any place that feels more medieval than that!)  We didn't
rely on the site to provide us with the ambiance we wanted.  I'm sure Byram
remembers hauling up pavilions from the rafters at the Lee County Civic
Center.

I'm not saying your points aren't valid.  They are.  And well put.  I'm just
saying that sometimes, I think we've become too spoiled in what we "must"
have in order to have an event, and maybe, if we scaled back to only what is
absolutely necessary, we might have better success.  Then, when you found a
site with more than what's necessary, Woot!

Rhiannon (who also has a few turns at autocrat under her belt)

Mistress Rhiannon ui Neill
Pearl Herald (Ceremony)
Azure Decrescent Herald (Personal Title)
House Corvus, Barony of Hawkwood, Kingdom of Atlantia

I am the master of my fate.
I am the captain of my soul.
                   -Henley


> -----Original Message-----
> From: atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org [mailto:atlantia-
> bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of David Ritterskamp
> Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 5:45 PM
> To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
> 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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