event-pricing-msg - 1/22/96 Event pricing, reservations. NOTE: See also these files: event-rev-msg, demos-msg, evnt-stewards-msg, privvies-msg, evnt-stwd-cltn-art, gate-guards-msg, tokens-msg, hotel-events-msg, feasts-free-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ From: memorman at oldcolo.com (Mary Morman) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Children at Events Date: 22 Feb 1995 16:21:02 GMT Organization: Old Colorado City Communications (oldcolo.com - login "newuser") mistress elaina de sinistre sends greetings unto the rialto. i've been reading with interest the ongoing threads on childred at events. a few things have struck me. first, there is a feeling that as more sca gentles have children, more of them will be concerned with the interests of children. this tickles me a bit, as it is *exactly* what many of us said back in the west kingdom 20 years or more ago. practically, i do not think that the 'numbers' (the overall percentage of sca folk with children) will change significantly. i have raised three children in the sca. all are now grown and one is even finding an interest in a college sca group where no one who has known him since he was in diapers is watching. i cringe these days to think of how negligent i really was, on occasion, about my 7 to 11 year olds. but i also remember a period of about 5 years when either my husband or i stayed home from events and watched the children because we really strongly felt that bringing toddlers to events was a 'bad thing' for all involved. my autocratting years came after my young children years, and my attitude changed drastically. sometimes it is possible to arrange separate space for children. sometimes it is not - especially with indoor halls. my nightmare event was a major atlantian kingdom event some five or six years ago where i -offered- babysitting, but no one (that's a zero) wrote to take me up on it. so we did not have babysitting. the young children, looking for a place to play, took over the hall reserved for dancing - so the dancers were furious. an argument over one child's behavior, running around during the feast, so angered one esteemed lady that a physical fight occured with the parents. were there well-behaved children at the event? certainly. were there over-exuberant children at the event with no place to go and nothing to do in a crowded darkened room full of candles and swords. absolutely. was it my fault? i'm not sure. two questions that have not yet come up on this thread and that i feel deserve discussion are: 1. how much, if anything, should children pay? my personal feeling, is that children who attend events should pay the same site fee as adults. they use facilities (space, bathrooms, trashcans, etc) and thus should pay. the argument that they are smaller and therefore use less is spurious. add to one small baby his diaper bag, playpen, changing area, baby seat, disposable diapers in the trash,etc. and you have more space than a merchant. (people often hate me because i feel this way. when i was a mother with three young children, i would have hated me.) 2. how much should children, inculding babies, pay for feast. i know that they eat little or nothing, but as an autocrat and cook i arrange servings in tables of eight. if a family with a baby and a small child are sitting at one of those tables, then that table still gets eight servings. there's really nothing i can do about it. should the youngsters who do not eat get there places free when the same amount is being spent on serving their table as on a table of husky, omniverous young squires? one possible solution that we attempted for a while in atlantia is adding non-eating (or little eating) children to the already full complement of eight to a table. a little crowding, but no displacement of those who have paid for a portion of the feast. other ideas? enjoying the discussion, and hoping all will keep open minds, yours in service, elaina elaina de sinistre * * * currently outlandish mary morman * * * memorman at oldcolo.com . From: schuldy at abel.harvard.edu (Mark Schuldenfrei) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Children at Events Date: 23 Feb 1995 16:26:01 GMT Organization: My own little corner. Mary Morman wrote: 1. how much, if anything, should children pay? I've not made too many friends with this one, but lately I've been suggesting that parents use their common sense. Events cost us money, and parents should pay what they feel is right, knowing our expenses. My own attitude is something like: if the child doesn't know it's at an event, it's free. If the child knows, but could care less, it's half price. If the child participates, it's full price. With perhaps a family price cap per family, depending on their means. I haven't set children's prices for the last several events I ran. It's worked pretty well. What's wrong with people using their judgement? 2. how much should children, inculding babies, pay for feast. That's easier. A seat is a serving, a serving is full price. If a parent wants to make arrangements with me, such that we can reduce the number of servings cooked and served, and thereby they get a break on the price, OK with me. But I have no control otherwise, and we charge little enough as it is. I also feel that if an extra seat is pulled to the end of the table, and the child sits there, that's OK too. Just use some common sense. I'd love some feedback. Tibor -- Mark Schuldenfrei (schuldy at math.harvard.edu) From: jkrissw at aol.com (JkrissW) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Feast Costs (was Re: Non-member surcharge) Date: 20 Nov 1995 06:03:03 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) In article <48l6fm$ej4 at hugo.lloyd.com>, pat at lloyd.com (Pat McGregor) writes: >6) Since you can't ask for payment in advance (kingdom custom), > you have to take whatever price you can get the day/week of. > Which kingdoms have this chaotic policy? Caid commonly has pre-registration for major event banquets, in response to announcements printed in the Crown Prints a couple of months prior to the event. I can't imagine how event autocrats could get a realistic estimate on the number of attendees without it, nor how the responsible parties would gather resources for the food required for a large banquet (say 12th Night or one following a Coronation, especially). Daveed From: memorman at oldcolo.com (Mary Morman) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Who pays for what? Date: 12 Jan 1996 19:52:43 GMT Organization: Old Colorado City Communications (oldcolo.com - login "newuser") SheehanTA (sheehanta at aol.com) wrote: {snip} : simply never occurred to me. To my surprise, and admitted dismay, I have : recently heard that some events in my kingdom have paid for hotel rooms : for the royalty. What other expenses are autocrats including in their : fees? I know that events usually waive the event fee as a courtesy to the : Crowns, but is that extended beyond the persons of Their Majesties? What : costs may ethically be asked to be subsidized or wholly borne by those : paying to attend events? : Deirdre O'Siodhachain, OL Atlantia : (Terry Sheehan) I share your concern Mistress Dierdre! I have autocratted for years, in the West, Caid, the East, and Atlantia - and now in the Outlands. I was horrified when I first found out that autocrats here were budgeting in hotel rooms for royalty as part of event expenses. I tend to see it as a new wave in the society rather than something particular to any kingdom, but would love to see some discussion of this subject on the Rialto. I have had it carefully explained to me that it's a sign of loyalty and good will for the groups to pay for royal expenses (also, here, to waive site fees for any and all landed barons and baronesses) but i just don't buy it. people who fight in crown -know- that it is expensive to be monarchs, and if they can't manage to pay their fees, they should decline the privilege. as a long time baroness (in atlantia, not the outlands) my lord and i carefully paid our site and feast fees wherever we attended =- whether we would have attended the event for our own pleasure or were just there because we felt we needed to be. i would truly hate to think that this custom of paying crown (and baronial..) expenses is something that is becoming 'tradition' in the SCA. Could we hear from a few more kingdoms? In Service, ELAINA Mistress Elaina de Sinistre Barony of Dragonsspine Kingdom of the Outlands Edited by Mark S. Harris event-pricing-msg Page 4 of 5