Magna Fair part 1
They have made some improvements to the site that do make it a bit more acceptable. The bathrooms have had the best improvement. Instead of itty-bitty toilet and shower stalls separated by cheap metal partitions, they have replacement them with larger painted plywood partitions. There was actually room for me to fit in the stall while wearing my Elizabethan. They also fixed the bunk beds with sagging springs. Admittedly, they still weren't extremely comfortable, since the fix was a piece of plywood and the majority of the mattresses are the thin 2" ones. However, with judicious application of pain killers, exhaustion, and alcohol, I was able to get some sleep. I don't think any improvements have been made to the kitchen, but I am not sure. I do know we are still not allowed to use the hobart/dishwasher. And honestly, for what we get, the site is over-all still too expensive.
The last few events I have gone to, the reservation records have been handwritten and not in alphabetical order. Magna Fair was not exception. This creates a backlog at the reservation table, since you have to search for the entries. It makes it difficult for the Crown to look through those records to make sure someone they want to give an award to is at the event and (depending on the award) is a paid member. It also makes things much more difficult for me as the waiver deputy to then go through those papers after the event. I think I've found the source of the problem. I just looked at the kingdom website, and the record sheet is available to download in .pdf format. While personally I would think that creating an excel form based on the same layout to use for your reservations would be a simple process, apparently others do not. I see other forms offered in Word or Rich Text format. It should be a simple process to contact the sensechal and webminister for approval to have the reservation form in Excel format added.
The person taking reservations was very nice. Even though bed space was first come, first serve, he assigned six of us who wanted to stay together into one cabin. There was no lunch of any kind served (usually there is a fund-raiser lunch), but they told people about that far enough in advance that it was not an issue. We had more food than we could possibly eat, so we shared with a few new friends and SCA members. Registering for the regional faire (based and judged on KA&S rules) was easy and painless. The only paperwork was a basic coversheet (http://meridianarts.bizhat.com/index.htm).* There were only 17 regional faire entries, and of those only 2 were performing arts. At least the small number meant there was no long line to stand in, since there was no pre-registration available. Registering for Magna Faire** was a bit more difficult. The A&S officer was the event steward, and her deputy was the head cook. The baroness (who is also a Laurel) was going to run the faire in their stead, but she was sick the entire weekend. One of her former apprentices, who is now a Laurel living in Gleann Abhann, tried to help her. alasais, peteyfrogboy, and I were the last ones to register Friday night, and we were only able to register about half of our entries before they ran out of paperwork. We had a question about judging since we were entering quite a few pieces in Performing Arts that we never did get an answer on (it ended up being a non-issue since we were the ONLY performing arts entries). Saturday morning registration was supposed to start at 9, but no one was there with more paperwork to get things going. Once they did, there was a long line of people waiting to register. Because of all the paperwork that had to be filled out, the line moved very slowly and sometimes got confused between those waiting to register and those that needed to turn in paperwork.
*This is a link to an old coversheet. The new one no longer has the note about if a Static Entry does not have documentation. It also has added a place for signatures allowing pictures or video of your entry to be posted on the KA&S website.
**http://baronyofironmountain.org/magnarule.htm There is no documenation required for Magna Faire, just a 3x5 with the information requested. There are fewer categories and sub-categories than in KA&S. You are judged by the other entrants in that category.
Breakfast Saturday was scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, and grits served in a crystal goblet. You could request one or more ingredients left out, and you got to keep the goblet. Breakfast Sunday was lemon poppyseed pound cake, strudel pound cake, and various cookies. Not extremely nutritious, but quick and easy to clean up. The feast was wonderful. There was definitely plenty to eat. Some of the dishes did not work, but others more than made up for it. I tried at least a bite of everything. I don't know much about cooking and period food, but I am learning. I really enjoy sitting next to vox8 during feast, because I learn all about different techniques, spices, variations on a dish, and how we perceive different things that work or don't and why. There was a "banquet" of sweets set up before the feast for people to enjoy during the dancing. I have not see that many kinds of nibbley-sweets in one place before. The presentation was also beautiful (metal tent frame with gauze over the top and down the sides, open at the front and back for people to pass through, beautifully decorated table with little signs by each dish to let you know what it was).
The last few events I have gone to, the reservation records have been handwritten and not in alphabetical order. Magna Fair was not exception. This creates a backlog at the reservation table, since you have to search for the entries. It makes it difficult for the Crown to look through those records to make sure someone they want to give an award to is at the event and (depending on the award) is a paid member. It also makes things much more difficult for me as the waiver deputy to then go through those papers after the event. I think I've found the source of the problem. I just looked at the kingdom website, and the record sheet is available to download in .pdf format. While personally I would think that creating an excel form based on the same layout to use for your reservations would be a simple process, apparently others do not. I see other forms offered in Word or Rich Text format. It should be a simple process to contact the sensechal and webminister for approval to have the reservation form in Excel format added.
The person taking reservations was very nice. Even though bed space was first come, first serve, he assigned six of us who wanted to stay together into one cabin. There was no lunch of any kind served (usually there is a fund-raiser lunch), but they told people about that far enough in advance that it was not an issue. We had more food than we could possibly eat, so we shared with a few new friends and SCA members. Registering for the regional faire (based and judged on KA&S rules) was easy and painless. The only paperwork was a basic coversheet (http://meridianarts.bizhat.com/index.htm).* There were only 17 regional faire entries, and of those only 2 were performing arts. At least the small number meant there was no long line to stand in, since there was no pre-registration available. Registering for Magna Faire** was a bit more difficult. The A&S officer was the event steward, and her deputy was the head cook. The baroness (who is also a Laurel) was going to run the faire in their stead, but she was sick the entire weekend. One of her former apprentices, who is now a Laurel living in Gleann Abhann, tried to help her. alasais, peteyfrogboy, and I were the last ones to register Friday night, and we were only able to register about half of our entries before they ran out of paperwork. We had a question about judging since we were entering quite a few pieces in Performing Arts that we never did get an answer on (it ended up being a non-issue since we were the ONLY performing arts entries). Saturday morning registration was supposed to start at 9, but no one was there with more paperwork to get things going. Once they did, there was a long line of people waiting to register. Because of all the paperwork that had to be filled out, the line moved very slowly and sometimes got confused between those waiting to register and those that needed to turn in paperwork.
*This is a link to an old coversheet. The new one no longer has the note about if a Static Entry does not have documentation. It also has added a place for signatures allowing pictures or video of your entry to be posted on the KA&S website.
**http://baronyofironmountain.org/magnarule.htm There is no documenation required for Magna Faire, just a 3x5 with the information requested. There are fewer categories and sub-categories than in KA&S. You are judged by the other entrants in that category.
Breakfast Saturday was scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, and grits served in a crystal goblet. You could request one or more ingredients left out, and you got to keep the goblet. Breakfast Sunday was lemon poppyseed pound cake, strudel pound cake, and various cookies. Not extremely nutritious, but quick and easy to clean up. The feast was wonderful. There was definitely plenty to eat. Some of the dishes did not work, but others more than made up for it. I tried at least a bite of everything. I don't know much about cooking and period food, but I am learning. I really enjoy sitting next to vox8 during feast, because I learn all about different techniques, spices, variations on a dish, and how we perceive different things that work or don't and why. There was a "banquet" of sweets set up before the feast for people to enjoy during the dancing. I have not see that many kinds of nibbley-sweets in one place before. The presentation was also beautiful (metal tent frame with gauze over the top and down the sides, open at the front and back for people to pass through, beautifully decorated table with little signs by each dish to let you know what it was).