This month sees the publication of the latest edition of the Events Steward Guide. Packed with updated information, suggestions, tips and tricks, it is designed to be read and used by anyone with 30 minute or 30 years of experience of events. We welcome commentary that can be included in an update at a later point – hopefully not with twenty years in-between editions. Supported by the services of Practical Drachenwald, we are here to make your organising that bit easier.
It is an aspiration to see events develop well in general. This comes in many forms:
Events run with less stress. We deliver events, but over the years, event teams have been worked off their feet, and we see experienced stewards worn out and being unable to feel like enjoying the SCA again for extended periods. That is a sadness after all that work to present us with a weekend of SCA fun and community.
Built out of the tools used across several events already, Practical Drachenwald also offers a schedule- builder that can provide almost real-time updates to a web-based schedule, as well as reservations tracking and event-website advice. E can also offer advice on using Eventbrite and other event-booking tools.
An Event Planning Timeline (opens in PowerPoint)
Promoting Your Event (opens in Word)
A Guide for the Reservations Steward (Opens in Word)
Safer Events. All activities have risk. Crossing the road has risk, but we can – with some planning and anticipation – reduce those risks within our events. In the New Year, there will be a new risk assessment form and guide on what to look out for. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to drop a note to my email address with any queries.
Communicable Diseases Policy (in draft, but full of useful tips)
Financially viable events. Squaring affordability with viability is a perennial question for event stewards. Practical Drachenwald has a budget-building tool that can model high, medium and low attendance rates, sort your fixed costs form your variable costs, and create a range of prices for you. The Principality has the Event Risk Fund (created by my predecessor) on hand and is willing to partner with you in support.
Accessible and Affordable Events. The Accessibility and Inclusion Team is on hand to advise you and your team and has written an Accessibility Questionnaire to help you review a venue to maximise people’s ability to enjoy your vision.
We also see ticket prices as an accessibility issue for the unemployed, students, pensioners and so on. To that end, we are encouraging aggressive discounting of tickets. A £5 here or a €10 there in the face of the wider costs of transport is not an incentive for our members who find themselves in financial stress.
Thus, we have been using the Event Risk Fund to underwrite concessions and are looking at 33 or 50% reductions. In simple terms, if the difference in the cost of concessions pushes an event into the red, the Principality will top it up – with an agreed amount placed beforehand.
Accessibility Questionnaire (Opens in Word)
Insulae Draconis Financial Policy (contains the outline for the Event Risk Fund)
Bringing new members into event teams. We are keen to encourage new blood into this aspect of the game. Thus the Event Stewards Guide has been written to demystify the process. We also have had articles from experienced event runners who talk about their first experiences, and we have the Events Council on stand-by to review your event ideas, make suggestions and answer questions. We are encouraging event teams to bring in new people on a regular basis and let them develop their ideas.
I hope this round up helps spark new ideas and add to your experience of runnin events. Your work is most appreciated and forms the backbone of this community. Please, as ever, drop me a line with queries and such to – seneschal@insulaedraconis.org