[Toraerie] Fwd: Re: Seeking Autocrating/Royalty Questions

[ester030 at umn.edu]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:19:02 -0500
From: "Kellie Hultgren" <caoilfhionn.ban at gmail.com>
To: "ester030 at umn.edu" <ester030 at umn.edu>
Subject: Re: Seeking Autocrating advice for Tor Aerie Event

Hiya!

> We went to see the site and got all of that in order. It is really nice and
> well within our budget as far as site fees go. I was wondering what the
> usual site fee was for children? We've talked about a $5 fee for members
> (if we get around 100 people like for Beowolf we would have more than
> enough to cover the site fee) then $8 for non-members, but we donn't know
> what to charge if anything for kids, and what the usual cut of age is. We
> now have a feast-o-crat, and she is working on a budget for food which we
> would probably as a separate fee for, and we've decided on spending about
> the same amound on decorations as we did the last time (around $100) Which
> would put us as exactly even without a grant and without spending anywhere
> else or going over budget.

Most events break fees down into adults, kids 6-12, and 5 and under. 5
and under are usually free, because they're just tagging along with
parents for the most part. Kids are usually around half price, but
with such a low site fee it's up to you to decide whether kids will
get $5 worth of entertainment out of the event and/or use $5 worth of
event resources. They don't get charged non-member fees. If you decide
to charge a flat $5 for attendance--totally reasonable, in my
opinion--then you might wish to set a family cap: two adults and any
number of children for $20. That's usually reserved for big events
with higher fees, though.

My guess is that you can set your attendance break-even point using
only adult attendees, so site fees from kids is a bonus. If you're not
having children's activities, then you may get fewer kids anyway, or
you might get a spike in kids because of the popularity of manga, who
knows? (You might want to consider pointing out which activities on
the schedule are kid-friendly, by the by.)

For feast, kids 6-12 can eat less or more than the adults at the
table. The feast stewards I've worked with have usually chosen to
charge one price per seat for feast and then allow lap-sitters to eat
free.

$100 seems like a lot for decorations for one event--maybe you can
borrow decorations? What's driving the budget up there?

> On fees, I was reading the website about insurance information. It said
> there was a $50 fee for the national insurance information. Would that be
> sent with the rest of the information? Our exchequors are still more or
> less in the process of changing over and getting used to things, but I'm
> sure they would be up to it if/when I asked.

You shouldn't need the $50 version of insurance. You fill out the
information requested here:
http://sca.org/docs/insurancecert.pdf
and mail or fax it to corporate headquarters.

The $50 charge is for sites that require their name to appear on the
insurance certificate, usually with special wording or requests.
Otherwise, you just ask the SCA to send a certified copy of our proof
of insurance within a reasonable amount of time, and the corporate
office does it for free.

> Are there other pit falls I should be watching out for?

Yes, but they'll be different for everyone. For instance, I once
totally forgot about putting out signs to direct people to the site.
Last-minute outdoor signage is hard. (You can borrow signs from the
barony, by the by.) Anyway, some common stuff:

Have you budgeted for change for the cashbox?
Have you decided whether or not you'll borrow cooking supplies, signs,
list ropes, etc. from the barony? Schedule a run to the storage shed
with the quartermaster.
Will parking be adequate? Scout a backup plan if it might get short.
Consider a list of nearby restaurants and convenience stores to post at troll.
Does your troll have the right forms and understand the minor waivers and such?

If you have royalty in attendance:
Does your planned schedule accommodate courts that run long or short?
Ask whether the royals prefer feast before or after court.
Check royals' dietary restrictions and food allergies against your
lunch, feast, and royalty snacks. (My last year at Olaf, the princess
didn't mention her deathly allergy to fish until she arrived at the
event with two kinds of fish in feast.)
Consider marking off reserved parking for the hats.

That's it for now. I'll write if anything else occurs to me!

-Caoilfhionn

-- 
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"We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect.
The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves
and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die." --Ronny
Cammareri