Codgers

[msmemory_archive]

Color me Old Codger. I'm having sticker shock today over the prices of Twelft [sic] Night and Birka. Yes, I know that each is charging just a smidge more than a first-run movie ticket, and I couldn't eat anywhere nicer than Friendly's for a sum like that feast fee, but I am unused to these numbers - or to the notion that advance registration doesn't give a discount.

(If anyone knows for sure that the 12th Night feast is sold out, let me know so I won't bother sending an onboard reservation.)

Comments

[wingblaze.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you. I'm rather disturbed of late when I am getting charged $15+ just for a day trip appearance with no feast. It's not like I'm broke, but it has occasionally weighed into my decision when I was on the fence about going to an event.

It's not just you.

[silme.livejournal.com]

Out of curiousity, how much is it? I'm used to Drachenwald prices now, of course, which may seem shocking. Most of our events in the UK run about 25 pounds for the weekend (includes crash space and all food for the weekend), but we're attending an evening only event in London next month -- 6 PM-10.30 PM with a feast -- that's charging 20 pounds -- just over US $40. (Sites are expensive over here.) The last event I attended on the continent was 45 euros for the weekend, but it did include a bed in a youth hostel. (It was in Germany.)

[artisticphoenix.livejournal.com]

You are not the only Old Codger. I have been trying to fight the increasing costs of Twelfth Night for years to no avail on the Exchequer's council. Each time I keep getting told, well, it is in the winter and ohmygawd we might lose money if we don't charge enough, and that event site prices and food amounts are increasing and increasing and increasing. And each year the event makes an obscene amount of money even if it has to split the profit with the kingdom. The only way the price is going to come down is for people to vote with their feet.

[ladypeyton.livejournal.com]

If you're an old codger, then so am I.

I find it a little outrageous that they are charging those prices AND THEN charging an additional fee for dayboard.

[laurion]

Yep. This year, instead of Birka, I'll be going to the Unity Games one day board game convention. Closer, cheaper, and to be honest, I haven't found too many things at Birka lately that have made me say 'I should get that'.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I think Nataliia has an excellent point about the paranoia of losing money.

It's something she and I were railing about more than a decade ago in our local group and barony.

I wish local groups --especially those with large bank accounts, could simply look at that "loss" as, rather, an investment to have a nice event that more people can attend. It gets really fustrating to have the "make-money-at-all-costs" attitude all the time.

Please note, I am *not* singling out either of these events specificially.

[(Anonymous)]

And we wonder why our numbers are going down...

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, I haven't gone to Twelfth Night for years because it was massively overcrowded - enough years that it might not even be true anymore. Higher prices are a very good way of thinning the crowds down, to the point where it is once again a reasonable sized event. (And yes, "reasonable-sized" is certainly point-of-view dependent.)

[vynehorn.livejournal.com]

A few comments about the 12th Night pricing, from someone in BBM (but is not involved in running the event):
--We had considered incorporating dayboard into the site fee, but felt that more people would rather have the option of paying or not paying for it, as they preferred. The busy schedule of 12th Night (order meetings, etc.) does mean that many people might miss the dayboard, and if you pay for it and don't get it, that's just really annoying.
--This is being held at a school that is 1)in Fairfield county and does not consider the SCA eligible for its "community group" prices and b) charging us hourly rates for 1 kitchen worker and 2 janitors (which really adds up
--Yes, the feast price is higher than many feasts, but as someone who regularly cooks feasts in the SCA, I can tell you that the price of food has skyrocketed in the past year. Energy costs and corn shortages (due to ethanol) have spread higher prices to just about every form of food available. I know that the feast will be a very nice one (at least three courses), but it takes more money now to put one on, compared to even two years ago. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it is.
--And yes, bad weather is always a concern for 12th Night...:-)

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

And I was worried that my event was too expensive. The whole day cost $17!

Here I am angsting over reducing the feast price, and planing to give up the Weston site...

I'm only willing to pay that much for feast and site combined about once a year, and I expect it to be a weekend event if I do. I know 12th Night is one of the Big Ones as events go, but still... ouch.

I'm slightly miffed about the no-pre-reg discount for Birka, but I'm trying to look at it as: How much money do I make per hour? How much standing-in-line time will I save by doing pre-reg?

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

One of the other things to keep in mind about the "catastrophe planning" mindset for midwinter events like 12th Night is the affect it has on future planning. If you don't plan *very* conservatively for numbers, Fimbulwinter does indeed descend, and the event finances tank, it could wipe out the ability of a group to hold a future event. I'm down in BBM, but not on staff for 12th Night. In a scenario where the site cost had been projected over larger numbers, the weather turned ugly, and the event tanked, we would have been looking at cancelling the event planned for next summer because we wouldn't be able to pay for the site.

Lest anything think I'm over-reacting, the last two times that I stewarded an event in the winter in CT, it snowed to the point where the Governor closed the highways to anything but emergency vehicles. Those events were complete losses, but luckily they were very small.

I think it's how you have to plan when the Kingdom takes half the profits, but leaves the local group with the entirety of any losses.

[cellio]

I've been seeing a lot of events (day events, not weekends) that would cost $20 or more to show up and eat, and it certainly gives me pause. Yes, I have the money, but what is going on? It's not being spent on elaborate feasts; it's not being spent on super-expensive sites. Some of it is almost certainly gouging -- or, to be more PC, "fear of taking a loss from a snowstorm in July". I just don't get it.

Earlier this year I cooked an all-day feast that no one went away hungy from (and that people said they liked) for $7 a head. I believe most of our local sites are no more than about $500, and it's pretty rare for a general-purpose event to not get at least 100 people, usually 150 or even 200. Sure, I'll grant that sites in other parts of the kingdom are more expensive, but still...

I don't go to a lot of events any more, and almost never travel for them. This isn't the reason, but it is certainly a contributing factor.