Subject:
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Re: "Was it worth it to you?" was Re: Cost of Brickfest
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org.us.wamalug
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Date:
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Tue, 13 Jun 2000 02:45:18 GMT
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Viewed:
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1375 times
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In lugnet.org.us.wamalug, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> In lugnet.org.us.wamalug, Stephen F. Roberts writes:
>
> > ...A 'variation' on that question is 'did you get your money's worth?" And I • want honesty
> > from people here! Course, the fest itself was free,
>
> OK, honesty. I had a great time. It was very cool. I will be
> back.
Actually, one might more correctly say it was very hot! :-)
> But unfortunately, I did get my money's worth on the fest itself. The old
> adage, you get what you pay for, is correct. And free was too little. The
> place was barely air conditioned, we didn't have it all night, and there was
> too little space. I would gladly pay $30, or more, for those issues to be
> addressed. The heat issue was compounded by the fact that the AC on our hotel
> room was pathetic as well, so I could only really cool down at lunch if I went
> somewhere cool. Please, please, please charge admittance.
I mostly agree here (if a perfect place can be had for free, perhaps one could
still do a free event). Another thing that plays into go ahead and charge:
prizes were supplied for many of the events, these were paid out of WAMALUG
funds. I would in general prefer to see prizes supplied either by donations
from vendors (at some caving events I go to, the vendors are asked if they
would contribute prizes), or by coming out of a conference budget supported by
paid registration. Another advantage in a relatively low overhead thing like
this is to include the T-Shirt in the price which then means the organizers
don't get stuck with a huge number of extra shirts.
> Things could have been much more organized. I know it was a first time, but
> communications and planning were sometimes poor. I didn't really know what • was
> going to happen, and when. The schedules were only roughly accurate for the
> things I was doing. And with more advance planning, hopefully you'll have • more
> demos, talks, presentations, etc. where the hosts have planned stuff for
> certain times. If we had had a sign-up sheet for the food runs, and
> announcements when food arrived, more people could have planned and tuned • their
> expectations.
Scheduling would definitely have helped. Better communication on the food
would have also helped (of course us dedicated pirates did ourselves in a bit
on the Saturday evening pizza by playing on for several minutes after the
pizza arrived).
> There is a private board-game gathering annually where the cost for entry is
> ~$200 and participants are expected to bring two new good board games for the
> prize table. At the end of the event, the participants take turns going to • the
> prize table and taking their pick. First, everyone who won a tournament, then
> everyone in a random order, one at a time, until everything is gone. • Something
> like that would be neat too. It would allow people on a tight budget to bring
> in a couple of lesser goodies and those of us with a bit more income could
> bring in a couple of nicer items, and people who are quite well off, could
> maybe bring one pretty rare item - as each person saw fit. It's a really fun
> event where everyone gets together in the same room and the names are called
> out, so if you haven't met everyone, you get to associate their names with
> their faces and everyone goes home with something cool that maybe they didn't
> have before.
The prize table idea sounds kind of neat, though I also like attempting to
relate prizes to the actual events (which is easier for LEGO than for a board
gaming event, anyone interested in a particular theme can always use more
sets/parts related to that theme, a board gamer who wins is likely an
experienced player who already owns the game, so a copy of the game is not a
terribly good prize).
> Also, if you charge admission, you should make the option of working as an
> assistant, runner, presenter, or whatever an option so that those unable to
> cough up the admission price can get in another way. Anyone who runs a
> scheduled event should get in free. And people who are far away but who could
> contribute substantially through presentations (e.g. Gary Istok, and others)
> should be courted for the fest.
Definitely. One thing I would like to make clear as someone running a major
event. I felt totally appreciated by the organizers (of course it helped that
one of the organizers wanted to play the pirate game just as badly as I wanted
to run it...).
> All of the different discrete things that happen should be considered events.
> Each event should have someone clearly in charge. And there should be
> someone(s) clearly in charge of the fest. It sort-of seemed that Stephen,
> Denise, and Kevin (in that order) were "in charge." I think it would be
> better for each of them, and others, to have clearly (to all of us) delineated
> roles. If each event has a coordinator then the flow of information can be
> clear and responsibilities are straight-forward.
Good thoughts.
> Did I mention that it was too hot? Please don't have it there again. And if
> you do...please make it two months earlier. Summer in DC sucks.
Absolutely.
> If you want to charge $30 (as a fairly random example) and there are community
> members who can't afford that I would pay an extra $10 into a "scholarship"
> fund to help bring them in for less or free, as long as I believed that such a
> fund would be managed responsibly.
Absolutely.
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