Red Tower
WOW! The last time I posted was about MidWinter A&S in February. That's WAY too long. Of course, being down to one income, not going to events, and being in a bit of a funk about research or creating anything means there is not much to post about. This means I completely missed posting about the regional dance practice peteyfrogboy managed to pull together in AL. We went, we taught, we danced, we came up with some new ideas and inspirations, and I just as quickly lost focus again. Seems to be my standard MO lately.
However, I'm feeling the stirrings of change. Red Tower was this past weekend. I asked if I could be in charge of reservations and troll. It was one of the areas of an event I had never done before and really wanted to do. I could only help with troll as long as I was Kingdom Waiver Deputy, but I turned that office over a few months ago. Perfect timing!!! Based on some issues I experienced being Waiver Deputy and on some the group experience with MidWinter A&S, I had a few ideas I wanted to try. The event was priced a la cart, which made it easy to keep track of what people were paying for. Also, I added a column to the reservation chart for the type proof of membership. If all we are looking at is the waiver signatures to determine how much to send corporate for the non-member surcharge, we are overpaying. Those with a white card, newsletter, or letter of renewal must sign the waiver, but they are still members. Being able to note the type of proof shown made it easy to separate those that are members from those that aren't.
I tried to stay as organized as possible. As I received reservations, I would enter them into the database with whatever information they had sent me. I only had one issue of someone not understanding the pricing structure and sending me the wrong amount. Only a couple of others also did not understand, but they emailed me first. Anyone that included an email with their reservation or that emailed prior to sending it received an email confirmation. I told them I had received their reservation and what they were marked down as paying for. I also made sure I wrote out a receipt so that even after the check or cash was deposited I had a record of how much they had paid and in what manner. I held onto every note that came with the reservations until after the event, just in case. All names were entered into the data base last name first in order for them to be organized alphabetically. This made it easier to find names when people came through the door.
There were a couple of little issues I had to work around that would have made doing the job easier if had not had to deal with them. The first was being out of town unexpectedly for a week two weeks before the event. Luckily I had internet access in my hotel, so I was still able to answer any emails. When I got back, I put all the reservations I had received in date order based on the mail stamp. This way, if I should run out of feast or bed spaces, those that sent their reservations in first would be assured space. It wasn't an issue, but I wanted to be fair. The second issue was not being able to get off work the Friday of the event. I had taken off the Friday before Labor Day, and we were extra busy once we returned from out of town. Madelena was gracious enough to agree to open troll for me. Having been in charge of troll before, and being our former reeve, I knew she could definitely handle it with ease. Rhydderch made colored copies of the children's waivers for us to have on hand. I LOVE using colored paper for this, because it makes it easier to keep them separate. It also makes it easier for the Waiver Deputy to see and identify them. I sent her the database (complete with one blank sheet for walk-ins) the night before the event, and we both brought plenty of adult waiver forms.
I had planned on using differently colored notebooks for each "station" at troll, and had a box of my personal notebooks for Madelena to use Friday. She took that idea one step further and bought brightly, and very differently, colored notebooks to use. This made it very easy to keep everything straight and to direct people to the proper notebook for filling out and signing information. I made sure that my three-hole punch was also available. When a parent arrived with their child waivers already printed and filled out, we were able to punch them, add them to the folder, and number them correctly. For the adult waivers, we had them all in one notebook Friday night. Saturday, when we knew it would be busier, we split them in half and put the odd numbered pages in one notebook and the even numbered pages in another. Yes, this meant that the last sheets in each notebook are only partially filled out. However, it also means there would not be any confusion with duplicate page numbers. The database I created had 20 lines per page, which made it easy to count to see how many were on-site. We did not discount any of the reservations until after court when we knew no one else would be showing up. I actually had a couple that I knew would be arriving late come in just before court. We had a very low number of reservations who were no-shows. A few had people tell me at the event they would not be able to make it. Others just never came through troll. I only had 1 person who had an emergency come up and was able to tell me more than 24 hours in advance. Since we were using the initials on the reservations to be able to tell if that person came through troll, I spent part of my afternoon getting those that I knew were on-site to sign my book. They had all gone through troll, just either early enough on Friday that things were not completely set up yet or they completely forgot to initial.
Being that organized really did help. Troll ran very smoothly, even Saturday morning when we had the influx of daytrippers and only two people behind the table. Part of that was organization, part of it was never having a HUGE influx at one time coming through the door. It would have been nice to have one more person helping out, but Madelena and I managed. When it came time to shut down troll and run the register reports, it was a simple matter of counting and comparing. The number of parking passes we had left matched the number the register said we sold. The number of non-members that I had listed on my paperwork was only 3 less than the register said we should have. And the number of site fees matched the number of walk-ins we had come through. It was so nice to be able to give an immediate answer when the event steward or park ranger asks how many we have on site. It made it very easy to keep track of feast spaces, those that came open and those we were able to fill from the waiting list. We printed three copies of the register tape, and tomorrow or next week I'm sure we will go through everything. I am considering working up a handout or booklet for future reservations and troll to use. Mainly for the barony, but if other groups want to see it, implement it, take what they want from it, they are more than welcome.
As for the rest of the event, this had to be one of the most laid back, stress free events I have been involved with in a long time. Part of that was those involved. Part of it was the format. There were quite a few fighters on both sides of the field. There weren't as many classes as the staff probably would have liked, but most of those who could have taught were involved in other areas of the event. Also, it hard to get people to attend classes away from the field when that is where the main center of attraction for a tourney event is. I spent the majority of my time in the hall at the troll table, but I was able to go to the field for lunch and later in the afternoon after troll closed. Watching the tavern scenario was hilarious! Everyone participated - populace, heavy, and rapier fighters. I can't remember laughing that hard at a "fighting" scenario in a long time.
Court was short, but wasn't. The King and Queen were attending another event, so we only had baronial court. There were the scrolls and awards for those that won the various tournaments. We had the three traditional awards that are given at Red Tower every year - the Heart of South Downs (from the men to a woman), the Chivalry award (from the women to a man), and The Red Raven (our baronial polling order award). I missed the Red Raven being given out because I was conducting troll business. The Baron and Baroness also gave out Tower Awards, our baronial awards for service, arts, and fighting. I received a Tower Award for arts.
cast the awards, and he did a lovely job.
Feast was amazing, as all of 's feasts are. The food was all specifically English, and served "tavern style." Rather than multiple courses, each dish was served to the table one after the other. There were 9 dishes, if I remember correctly. The sausages were hand-made and absolutely wonderful! The chicken was moist and flavorful. I loved the white beans (had some of the leftovers for lunch today), and could have eaten those all by themselves. The spinach tart came out perfectly. The pickles carrots were unexpected but delicious and refreshing. And of course the rice tart. That I think was the highlight, based on the number of requests I had for seconds (like there were any). Since the meal was tavern style, the servers were all tavern wenches. http://mettlerics.com/RedTower/more/Index2.htm ALL the servers. And yes, that is yours truly on the next page. Not exactly a period outfit, but we were going more for a feel and theme with this one. We were loud, obnoxious, silly, flirty, and of course we were all English (with some badly disguised accents). I had a really really good time. Unfortunately, because I had been on my feet so much and was suffering from sinus induced migraines most of the weekend, I didn't get much chance to dance afterwards. I did dance two dances, but that was all I could handle. I wish I could have done more, or had a chance to dance during the hafla.
Clean-up the next day was super easy! It seems everyone cleaned up their units, so we only had to do the cursory go-over. The hall was swept, mopped, and set-up by the time the event steward made it out of her cabin the next morning. The field was broken down in record time. We were off-site by 12:30, which is almost unheard of. The ranger was quite pleased. All in all, it was a great event. I know I had LOTS of fun, and from what I've heard everyone that attended had the same experience.
However, I'm feeling the stirrings of change. Red Tower was this past weekend. I asked if I could be in charge of reservations and troll. It was one of the areas of an event I had never done before and really wanted to do. I could only help with troll as long as I was Kingdom Waiver Deputy, but I turned that office over a few months ago. Perfect timing!!! Based on some issues I experienced being Waiver Deputy and on some the group experience with MidWinter A&S, I had a few ideas I wanted to try. The event was priced a la cart, which made it easy to keep track of what people were paying for. Also, I added a column to the reservation chart for the type proof of membership. If all we are looking at is the waiver signatures to determine how much to send corporate for the non-member surcharge, we are overpaying. Those with a white card, newsletter, or letter of renewal must sign the waiver, but they are still members. Being able to note the type of proof shown made it easy to separate those that are members from those that aren't.
I tried to stay as organized as possible. As I received reservations, I would enter them into the database with whatever information they had sent me. I only had one issue of someone not understanding the pricing structure and sending me the wrong amount. Only a couple of others also did not understand, but they emailed me first. Anyone that included an email with their reservation or that emailed prior to sending it received an email confirmation. I told them I had received their reservation and what they were marked down as paying for. I also made sure I wrote out a receipt so that even after the check or cash was deposited I had a record of how much they had paid and in what manner. I held onto every note that came with the reservations until after the event, just in case. All names were entered into the data base last name first in order for them to be organized alphabetically. This made it easier to find names when people came through the door.
There were a couple of little issues I had to work around that would have made doing the job easier if had not had to deal with them. The first was being out of town unexpectedly for a week two weeks before the event. Luckily I had internet access in my hotel, so I was still able to answer any emails. When I got back, I put all the reservations I had received in date order based on the mail stamp. This way, if I should run out of feast or bed spaces, those that sent their reservations in first would be assured space. It wasn't an issue, but I wanted to be fair. The second issue was not being able to get off work the Friday of the event. I had taken off the Friday before Labor Day, and we were extra busy once we returned from out of town. Madelena was gracious enough to agree to open troll for me. Having been in charge of troll before, and being our former reeve, I knew she could definitely handle it with ease. Rhydderch made colored copies of the children's waivers for us to have on hand. I LOVE using colored paper for this, because it makes it easier to keep them separate. It also makes it easier for the Waiver Deputy to see and identify them. I sent her the database (complete with one blank sheet for walk-ins) the night before the event, and we both brought plenty of adult waiver forms.
I had planned on using differently colored notebooks for each "station" at troll, and had a box of my personal notebooks for Madelena to use Friday. She took that idea one step further and bought brightly, and very differently, colored notebooks to use. This made it very easy to keep everything straight and to direct people to the proper notebook for filling out and signing information. I made sure that my three-hole punch was also available. When a parent arrived with their child waivers already printed and filled out, we were able to punch them, add them to the folder, and number them correctly. For the adult waivers, we had them all in one notebook Friday night. Saturday, when we knew it would be busier, we split them in half and put the odd numbered pages in one notebook and the even numbered pages in another. Yes, this meant that the last sheets in each notebook are only partially filled out. However, it also means there would not be any confusion with duplicate page numbers. The database I created had 20 lines per page, which made it easy to count to see how many were on-site. We did not discount any of the reservations until after court when we knew no one else would be showing up. I actually had a couple that I knew would be arriving late come in just before court. We had a very low number of reservations who were no-shows. A few had people tell me at the event they would not be able to make it. Others just never came through troll. I only had 1 person who had an emergency come up and was able to tell me more than 24 hours in advance. Since we were using the initials on the reservations to be able to tell if that person came through troll, I spent part of my afternoon getting those that I knew were on-site to sign my book. They had all gone through troll, just either early enough on Friday that things were not completely set up yet or they completely forgot to initial.
Being that organized really did help. Troll ran very smoothly, even Saturday morning when we had the influx of daytrippers and only two people behind the table. Part of that was organization, part of it was never having a HUGE influx at one time coming through the door. It would have been nice to have one more person helping out, but Madelena and I managed. When it came time to shut down troll and run the register reports, it was a simple matter of counting and comparing. The number of parking passes we had left matched the number the register said we sold. The number of non-members that I had listed on my paperwork was only 3 less than the register said we should have. And the number of site fees matched the number of walk-ins we had come through. It was so nice to be able to give an immediate answer when the event steward or park ranger asks how many we have on site. It made it very easy to keep track of feast spaces, those that came open and those we were able to fill from the waiting list. We printed three copies of the register tape, and tomorrow or next week I'm sure we will go through everything. I am considering working up a handout or booklet for future reservations and troll to use. Mainly for the barony, but if other groups want to see it, implement it, take what they want from it, they are more than welcome.
As for the rest of the event, this had to be one of the most laid back, stress free events I have been involved with in a long time. Part of that was those involved. Part of it was the format. There were quite a few fighters on both sides of the field. There weren't as many classes as the staff probably would have liked, but most of those who could have taught were involved in other areas of the event. Also, it hard to get people to attend classes away from the field when that is where the main center of attraction for a tourney event is. I spent the majority of my time in the hall at the troll table, but I was able to go to the field for lunch and later in the afternoon after troll closed. Watching the tavern scenario was hilarious! Everyone participated - populace, heavy, and rapier fighters. I can't remember laughing that hard at a "fighting" scenario in a long time.
Court was short, but wasn't. The King and Queen were attending another event, so we only had baronial court. There were the scrolls and awards for those that won the various tournaments. We had the three traditional awards that are given at Red Tower every year - the Heart of South Downs (from the men to a woman), the Chivalry award (from the women to a man), and The Red Raven (our baronial polling order award). I missed the Red Raven being given out because I was conducting troll business. The Baron and Baroness also gave out Tower Awards, our baronial awards for service, arts, and fighting. I received a Tower Award for arts.
cast the awards, and he did a lovely job.
Feast was amazing, as all of 's feasts are. The food was all specifically English, and served "tavern style." Rather than multiple courses, each dish was served to the table one after the other. There were 9 dishes, if I remember correctly. The sausages were hand-made and absolutely wonderful! The chicken was moist and flavorful. I loved the white beans (had some of the leftovers for lunch today), and could have eaten those all by themselves. The spinach tart came out perfectly. The pickles carrots were unexpected but delicious and refreshing. And of course the rice tart. That I think was the highlight, based on the number of requests I had for seconds (like there were any). Since the meal was tavern style, the servers were all tavern wenches. http://mettlerics.com/RedTower/more/Index2.htm ALL the servers. And yes, that is yours truly on the next page. Not exactly a period outfit, but we were going more for a feel and theme with this one. We were loud, obnoxious, silly, flirty, and of course we were all English (with some badly disguised accents). I had a really really good time. Unfortunately, because I had been on my feet so much and was suffering from sinus induced migraines most of the weekend, I didn't get much chance to dance afterwards. I did dance two dances, but that was all I could handle. I wish I could have done more, or had a chance to dance during the hafla.
Clean-up the next day was super easy! It seems everyone cleaned up their units, so we only had to do the cursory go-over. The hall was swept, mopped, and set-up by the time the event steward made it out of her cabin the next morning. The field was broken down in record time. We were off-site by 12:30, which is almost unheard of. The ranger was quite pleased. All in all, it was a great event. I know I had LOTS of fun, and from what I've heard everyone that attended had the same experience.