Eventing
Our events have dropped from 100 person events to 40 or 50. There may be several causes for this.
1. We are in hard economic times, and events are getting more expensive, because halls and food are getting more expensive.
2. Due to halls in the city becoming more expensive, we have to venture further from the city center, thus requiring attendees to arrange for transport to events.
3. There are two factions here and the Us vs THEM mentality is permeating event attendance.
4. Events are boring. We have a tourney, we eat feast. We go home
5. The old guard is tired, and there is no new guard.
So now, how do you change this?
The invariables are cost of food and cost of halls. So we cant change hall rental fees.
here's what we can change:
1. Less dishes per course. (Not less food, just less dishes) I think the standard is 4 oz meat, 2-3 oz of veg, or is it the other way around??
2. Careful planning of the meal to allow for seasonal foods, filling foods, and a mix of non expensive and moderately priced food. (Think lentil or barley dishes with chicken or beef. No lamb, no rabbit, etc. Unless you catch it yourself [rabbit] and have it butchered by a licensed butcher. I dont think there are any wild lambs to catch :) )
3. cut out dayboard. People dont reserve, or show at the last minute, and expect the cooks to know they were coming and plan accordingly for their arrival with food from dayboard. We've been battling this for years, and people dont seem to fathom this simple concept. People can bring their own lunches, I've been doing it over a year now.
Thats how to manage costs. Now, what about the other points??
4. Change the format of events - make them more interesting. One of the best events I attended last year was the Roman event put on by a New guy who themed his event. He put a lot of thought into it.
5. Start training new people in the roles of event steward, head cook, etc.
as for the NMS - perhaps we dont advertise the smaller events in Pikestaff/Quid Nunc. That cuts down on the NMS for non members. As long as it doesnt have a court with official business, we should be okay to do this.
Any other suggestions??
1. We are in hard economic times, and events are getting more expensive, because halls and food are getting more expensive.
2. Due to halls in the city becoming more expensive, we have to venture further from the city center, thus requiring attendees to arrange for transport to events.
3. There are two factions here and the Us vs THEM mentality is permeating event attendance.
4. Events are boring. We have a tourney, we eat feast. We go home
5. The old guard is tired, and there is no new guard.
So now, how do you change this?
The invariables are cost of food and cost of halls. So we cant change hall rental fees.
here's what we can change:
1. Less dishes per course. (Not less food, just less dishes) I think the standard is 4 oz meat, 2-3 oz of veg, or is it the other way around??
2. Careful planning of the meal to allow for seasonal foods, filling foods, and a mix of non expensive and moderately priced food. (Think lentil or barley dishes with chicken or beef. No lamb, no rabbit, etc. Unless you catch it yourself [rabbit] and have it butchered by a licensed butcher. I dont think there are any wild lambs to catch :) )
3. cut out dayboard. People dont reserve, or show at the last minute, and expect the cooks to know they were coming and plan accordingly for their arrival with food from dayboard. We've been battling this for years, and people dont seem to fathom this simple concept. People can bring their own lunches, I've been doing it over a year now.
Thats how to manage costs. Now, what about the other points??
4. Change the format of events - make them more interesting. One of the best events I attended last year was the Roman event put on by a New guy who themed his event. He put a lot of thought into it.
5. Start training new people in the roles of event steward, head cook, etc.
as for the NMS - perhaps we dont advertise the smaller events in Pikestaff/Quid Nunc. That cuts down on the NMS for non members. As long as it doesnt have a court with official business, we should be okay to do this.
Any other suggestions??