Finally, Yule
Hoo boy, was that a crazy busy event! The L.C. and I were on the go pretty much every minute from 10am to 10pm, along with just about everyone else involved. We spent the morning in order meetings and greeting as many people as we could; then the L.C. went to talk to the fighters and brewers and I went to help judge the arts and sciences competition. After that the Goddess of Chocolate and l33t Ninja Retainer justinian forcibly sat me down and made me eat lunch, which was wise and good and helpful of them despite my convictions that 1) I didn't have time, and 2) I was going to spill red wine and beef broth all over my white silk wimple. ubiq31's dayboard was wonderful, and I'm glad they made me eat before I passed out. After that t_bard helped me open the second Court of Love, which was a huge amount of fun. We had fantastic performances from some of my favorite people, and much interesting discussion. Also I accidentally went to a very very wrong place, but we won't get into that. :)
The afternoon went by in a blur, as did much of our real court and the royal court! Fun things: Bombarding the populace with largesse (chocolate coins). Naming people-of-whom-I-am-exceedingly-fond alysten and suba_al_hadid our new A&S and Bardic champions, respectively -- plus J as our new Brewing champion (I don't really know her, but she seems like a very nice woman, and the L.C. loved her stuff). Presenting argent_tyger with the rum we promised him for fighting for the barony... which turned into "sharing" the rum with His Majesty, and owing ownedbytwins some rum of her own. The canton paying homage to their Marquesa with a "squirrel fur" mantle (pictures coming soon!). Processional music courtesy of shalmestere and hudebnik, plus El Grande Instrument Slut and kevinarcher serenading the guests at high table... over which Bubba the Swan was presiding. ian_raven's and annyswolf's stunning menu scroll (look! it's Mina!), and the equally amazing feast itself. F's puppet show, which the kids all seemed to adore. Our crazy monkey adoring all the kids. And we actually managed to squeeze in some music and dancing despite the event's being a royal progress!
Also, minstrlmummr introduced the dread chocolate-covered bacon that has y'all on Facebook cowering (or squeeing, depending!). Om nom nom.
I feel like it would take me all night to put in LJ user handles for everyone who worked so hard on this event, so right now I'm just going to say THANK YOU to our amazing event steward, seoanwilliam, and his second-in-command klynn330.
Remember I mentioned every event features learning experiences for us? Yeah. So.
We need to organize our schedule for the day better in advance, including specific planned shifts for retainers. We also need to build in short breaks for us and our staff every once in a while, and we need to be in better communication with our staff about division of labor.
Court of Love: I tried to keep this Court of Love on the more informal side because I wanted the actual bardic contestants to feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible, but I think it wound up not serving either purpose ideally; it didn't flow quite as well as the Pennsic court did, *and* it wasn't a perfect performance venue. Also, I inadvertently cut out someone who wanted to perform because he went to find a friend right at the moment when I started asking if there was anyone else interested in presenting a topic to the court.
Real court: I should probably warn the populace before I bombard them with largesse. Heh. :) Timewise, we went a fair chunk longer than we intended/wanted, partly because I failed to account for the amount of time that bringing small children in for shtick (Mina gave out toys to all the children present) requires, and partly because given the relatively small amount of experience that both we and our new herald have, we all could have used a lot more prep time to make sure everything went smoothly. We did get excellent advice from mrgrumpybear and from Baron L, and will be incorporating that advice into future courts. Also, I have got to start doing sit-ups or something, because I'm consistently finding that I can't focus on projecting and forming coherent sentences at the same time -- you get one or the other, either you can hear me *or* I can make sense! Grrrr.
I would say we didn't get to talk to everyone we wanted to talk to, but it seems like that happens at every event, so... *sigh*
There were some other logistical details; we're keeping notes, and have started putting together an improved checklist for ourselves, an event template for future general use, and a list of some business we'd like to conduct in the near future. (duh-duh-DUHHHHHH! *grin*)
Overall the day was jam-packed full of entertainment, activities, excellent food, and wonderful people. Also, His Majesty attacked a toy knight with a butter knife so the knight could ride one of the rubber salamanders, which... um... was certainly something! I'm definitely not complaining about this event. :)
The afternoon went by in a blur, as did much of our real court and the royal court! Fun things: Bombarding the populace with largesse (chocolate coins). Naming people-of-whom-I-am-exceedingly-fond alysten and suba_al_hadid our new A&S and Bardic champions, respectively -- plus J as our new Brewing champion (I don't really know her, but she seems like a very nice woman, and the L.C. loved her stuff). Presenting argent_tyger with the rum we promised him for fighting for the barony... which turned into "sharing" the rum with His Majesty, and owing ownedbytwins some rum of her own. The canton paying homage to their Marquesa with a "squirrel fur" mantle (pictures coming soon!). Processional music courtesy of shalmestere and hudebnik, plus El Grande Instrument Slut and kevinarcher serenading the guests at high table... over which Bubba the Swan was presiding. ian_raven's and annyswolf's stunning menu scroll (look! it's Mina!), and the equally amazing feast itself. F's puppet show, which the kids all seemed to adore. Our crazy monkey adoring all the kids. And we actually managed to squeeze in some music and dancing despite the event's being a royal progress!
Also, minstrlmummr introduced the dread chocolate-covered bacon that has y'all on Facebook cowering (or squeeing, depending!). Om nom nom.
I feel like it would take me all night to put in LJ user handles for everyone who worked so hard on this event, so right now I'm just going to say THANK YOU to our amazing event steward, seoanwilliam, and his second-in-command klynn330.
Remember I mentioned every event features learning experiences for us? Yeah. So.
We need to organize our schedule for the day better in advance, including specific planned shifts for retainers. We also need to build in short breaks for us and our staff every once in a while, and we need to be in better communication with our staff about division of labor.
Court of Love: I tried to keep this Court of Love on the more informal side because I wanted the actual bardic contestants to feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible, but I think it wound up not serving either purpose ideally; it didn't flow quite as well as the Pennsic court did, *and* it wasn't a perfect performance venue. Also, I inadvertently cut out someone who wanted to perform because he went to find a friend right at the moment when I started asking if there was anyone else interested in presenting a topic to the court.
Real court: I should probably warn the populace before I bombard them with largesse. Heh. :) Timewise, we went a fair chunk longer than we intended/wanted, partly because I failed to account for the amount of time that bringing small children in for shtick (Mina gave out toys to all the children present) requires, and partly because given the relatively small amount of experience that both we and our new herald have, we all could have used a lot more prep time to make sure everything went smoothly. We did get excellent advice from mrgrumpybear and from Baron L, and will be incorporating that advice into future courts. Also, I have got to start doing sit-ups or something, because I'm consistently finding that I can't focus on projecting and forming coherent sentences at the same time -- you get one or the other, either you can hear me *or* I can make sense! Grrrr.
I would say we didn't get to talk to everyone we wanted to talk to, but it seems like that happens at every event, so... *sigh*
There were some other logistical details; we're keeping notes, and have started putting together an improved checklist for ourselves, an event template for future general use, and a list of some business we'd like to conduct in the near future. (duh-duh-DUHHHHHH! *grin*)
Overall the day was jam-packed full of entertainment, activities, excellent food, and wonderful people. Also, His Majesty attacked a toy knight with a butter knife so the knight could ride one of the rubber salamanders, which... um... was certainly something! I'm definitely not complaining about this event. :)