[Cynnabar] resending minutes from 4/12

[Randy Asplund]

I was the one who brought this up after experiencing it first hand at  
a collegium event in Salt Lake City this past Saturday. I was a  
guest, so my site fee was comped, but when I wandered into the lunch  
area they had several tables piled high with beef, pork, chicken and  
mushroom/cheese pasties, several bowls of noodle salads of different  
types, breads, desserts, and water & lemonade. I asked where one pays  
for the food and it turned out to be included in the site fee. They  
had plenty left over.  It was in effect, a free buffet.

The food was prepared by SCA people, a cooking Laurel and some  
popular cook types, and everything was labeled, including the sauces  
for the pasties. There was a kitchen crew organizing it, and many f  
the salads and desserts were also brought in as donations. Just like  
we do for out pot-luck events such as Wasshail

...waiting for it.....

Anyway, I was crashing at the same place as the autocrat and asked  
her about this. She said they started doing it a couple of years ago  
when they noticed people leaving site to go find food, and not always  
coming back, and people were having to bring food if they wanted to  
eat. So they added  only a couple of dollars to the event (her words,  
but I could ask for the specific amount they added if you like),  
which guaranteed that everybody got fed all they could want, and it  
didn't interrupt the schedule, and it was cheap, and everybody stuck  
around for the whole time. Nobody minded a few dollars more when they  
were getting so much for it, and it gave the people who cook a way to  
show off. The amount would likely be less than someone would  
currently pay at the lunch tavern as we do it.

It also increased event revenue because they were charging a little  
more than it cost them, and that amount was multiplied by the number  
of people attending the event. Everybody wins.

There is no kitchen nightmare as you suggested because everything is  
brought in pre-made.

Compared to the lunch tavern, there are many advantages that the two  
share. But the lunch tavern is a speculation, and this is less so.  
You never know how many people will bring their own food to an event  
instead of buying it from the tavern, and not everybody uses the  
lunch tavern. It can make money or lose money. So can this, since you  
can't know exactly how many people will attend, but the margin of  
error is less.

Regarding cost:
I was talking with Aelfric at troll at Terp, and found out the amount  
we needed to break even. Without going into details here in public,  
let's just say that we wouldn't need to increase the Terpsichore site  
fee a dime to do this. In my opinion, it would also make a big profit  
at Grande Tourney event.
As for lunch tavern at 12th night, it would be an automatic sale to  
all attendees at a very reasonable rate, and it would be brought in,  
so no mess in the kitchen and no question about who might buy it and  
who might not.

Anyway, I just brought it up as "Food for Thought" This is my take on  
it, and it is certainly just up for discussion. If anybody has  
questions, we even have a working, successful model to look at.

RanthulfR




On Apr 16, 2010, at 2:32 PM, Jen Conrad wrote:

>
>> New Business
>>  Lunch taverns
>>  making future lunch taverns part of site fee
>
> As someone who works in the food industry, I feel that this is a  
> bad idea.
>
>  Having food included in the site cost will possibly turn people  
> away from our events.  What with the price of gas, site, non member  
> fee (if  applicable), many people may see adding on food that they  
> may or may not (or in some cases, can't) eat as an unwanted expense  
> that they may not want to spend.
>
> Also consider the fact that if this were to happen at an event such  
> as 12th Night, where we have a feast in the evening, this will  
> create a logistical nightmare in the kitchen.  And expecting the  
> team that does the feast to do the tavern as well is unthinkable.
>
> Another concern is how are you going to control people from coming  
> back and getting seconds (or thirds!)?  Many people will see this  
> as a "free" buffet and take more food than they may actually eat,  
> which just has good food going to waste.
>
> Is the group planning on adding approximately 4 to 5 dollars to the  
> site fee?  That's the average meal price that we run when we do the  
> Terpsichore Tavern.  This includes paper goods, food, beverages, etc.
>
> How are you actually going to know how much food to prepare?  What  
> are you going to do if you run out of the "free" food?  Are you  
> planning on hot dogs and such, or are you planning a period  
> sideboard?  These are all issues that should be considered for this.
>
> These are just some concerns I have about this idea.   
> Unfortunately, I cannot make the meetings due to my work schedule,  
> so I'd like to see other's comments here or privately.
>
> In service,
> Luveday Tyreman
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Randy Asplund
www.RandyAsplund.com
Maker of Medieval books and
Illustrator of Science Fiction & Fantasy
(734) 663-0954
2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48103




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