Lessons Learned

[tompritchett]

With the 150th Anniversaries of multiple battles looming on the horizon, it may be time to look at what lessons can be learned from the Spottsylvania cancellation and applied to those upcoming 150th events for which there is no annual event base to work from. Please keep your comments focused towards the future and not turn this thread into a round of throwing blame. Therefore, if you do want to mention something that you feel may have contributed to the cancellation, please also make suggestions how to prevent the similar occurring with potential 150th events.

[Anders]

Ownership, Sweat Equity and supporting events and organizers is a good start....

Next choose events wisely, check out past track records, just like race horses, everyone should have a solid record of success if you invest in them, unless they have yet to break "maiden" and in that case it may be worth the gamble.

Next, don't just register- take ownership, go to work weekends, rally the boys on the web and within your unit, pass along ideas and in general contribute to the success of the event you have invested in.

Investment means return.

Pards,

[billwatson2]

If there's a third party involved, like the site host, be advised that these days, this economic climate, they are less willing to "wait and see" if enough people will come to repay the investment they'll make. A lot of units may need to make a tiny little change in their habits and make earlier decisions with earlier registrations, so event organizers will know they've got "critical mass" for the event. Deciding at the end of the 2008 season what events will be targeted in 2009, and acting before the end of the year, is probably the tiny little change that will get us through the bad economy mindset that is probably behind the Antietam cancellation. (Put another way, this is not the year for a venue to lay out $10,000 or more for event insurance, portalets, firewood, etc., with a "if you spend it reenactors will come" mindset. This is the year for "Unless we get $10,000 in registrations four months in advance of the event date, we're not going forward.")

At the same time, event organizers probably need to publicly set earlier deadlines for "early" registrations, and it wouldn't hurt to announce that the event carries an initial outlay that will require x number of participants for solvency, and what the deadline is for reaching that minimum number.

A little more transparency in both directions would probably help.

[Tom Craig]

Next choose events wisely, check out past track records, just like race horses, everyone should have a solid record of success if you invest in them, unless they have yet to break "maiden" and in that case it may be worth the gamble.



Chris,

You make good sense with your point on this. The only catch is that there are fewer and fewer people with a track record for putting on events these days, on either side of the hobby.

On the mainstream side, except for GAC, Cedar Creek, and New Market, there haven't been "national" events put on by a reliable crew in some years. On the c/h/p side of things there has been somewhat of a push to have our own "national" events but with the way things work out, we're down to a very small handful of guys who are trusted to put on such events.

So, the question becomes how can we find ways to foster and encourage new people/organizations to put on events. You know very well the labor and liability that comes with hosting an event, AND the at times overwhelming criticsm and complaints that come along with it too. For those who haven't tried it, it is an experience to see what a largely thankless job event hosting is. With all that in mind, we desperately need folks to step forward and take on the task of creating and staffing events for us to enjoy.

Take care,
Tom Craig
The Not Me Thank You Mess

[RJSamp]

Chris,

You make good sense with your point on this. The only catch is that there are fewer and fewer people with a track record for putting on events these days, on either side of the hobby.

On the mainstream side, except for GAC, Cedar Creek, and New Market, there haven't been "national" events put on by a reliable crew in some years. On the c/h/p side of things there has been somewhat of a push to have our own "national" events but with the way things work out, we're down to a very small handful of guys who are trusted to put on such events.

So, the question becomes how can we find ways to foster and encourage new people/organizations to put on events. You know very well the labor and liability that comes with hosting an event, AND the at times overwhelming criticsm and complaints that come along with it too. For those who haven't tried it, it is an experience to see what a largely thankless job event hosting is. With all that in mind, we desperately need folks to step forward and take on the task of creating and staffing events for us to enjoy.

Take care,
Tom Craig
The Not Me Thank You Mess

Tom you stand corrected, the NSA has a very successful track record of running successful 'mainstream' 'national' events.....
so too Perryville and Sacramento KY (OK so Sac isn't so 'national' these days)...

I guess Bentonville, McDowell, and Anders run events don't count.......but they are national, successful, mainstream, and have been running for awhile. How about Olustee?

But I hear you.....we are short qualified large event organizers.....

[Burnsville]

I would say the following questions need to be asked:

I. How many, and or percentage of overall sponsorship, is given by an entity of governemnt( Local, state or Federal)?

II. How much should be spent toward reenactor commodities? For example, how much $$$ could be saved by lowering the amount of hay/straw purchased? We need to start trimming some of the fat that is associated with reenactments. Where can we cut costs without hurting the overall quality of the event in question?What kind of budget needs to be set aside for permits, security, and reenactor safety. In other words ...what is essential inorder to have an event?

III. What are reasonable registration fees to charge reenactors and spectators? I guess the answer would depend on the event in question. The fewer the commodities ---then the lower the registration fee will become?

[mississippian]

I think the "5 year plan" the NSA had going is one of the things that allowed it to do so well. It allowed units to plan far in advance for national events. I have noticed that in it's last years, the NSA did away with it, so perhaps there is a small correlation between that and the demise of that organization.

Will MacDonald
WIG/Tramp Brigade

[OVI]

I think that what has transpired with the cancellation of Spotsylvania and the reasons behind the cancellation should be a strong signal that any event that works from the business model that bases its fixed expenses on reenactor fees runs the real risk of failure.
As many have mentioned here, reenactors with no stake in the ownership of an event are going to make their decisions about attending based soley on personal or mutual interest. And that means whenever they feel like registering. Some will get their fees in early to save money...but as we know others will wait.
Now as the esteemed Mr Watson has pointed out, an event that needs early cash to pay the bills needs to be completely up front and make sure the "drop-dead date(s) are well known. I would also suggest that they need to provide informative websites that regularly list the registered participants. I can remember in the early days of the hobby for me, the big national events of Hoods 1864 TN Campaign (1995) and Shiloh (1997) had updates almost daily and people were watching the numbers like hawks and then spreading the word.
The days of just announcing an event and sitting back to wait for the world to beat a path to your door are over. That probably only works for GB and maybe Cedar Creek.

Kent Dorr - Spring Quarters in Ohio
"Devils Own Mess"

[bob 125th nysvi]

the organizers need to get out early and often with their plans and their paperwork if they expect the reenactor organizations to commit earlier than is traditional.

Here is the reality for most well organized reenactor units. The first two months of the year are for elections (either for a regular BOD if incorporated, or even informally organized, and also for officer/nco types) and for organizing event schedules for the year.

This is even tougher when you have parent associations involved (like the MG which we belong too) because the 'sub-orgainzations' want to see which events the parent organization is going to recommend before filling out their schedules.

Plus units add or take events off their schedules based on the prior year's experience. So for example our unit only does GAC on the 5's and 10's. We have no interest in the intervening years and only go to get the experience of being on the field with 10,000+ reenactors. So for the GAC to expect us to show up when we have no track record of doing so would be bad forcasting.

And as another example the MG isn't going to commit as a unit to any event that won't let our Viv's take the field. Right or wrong that is the association stance end of conversation. For Chris Ander's to factor the MG as a plus into his expected enlistment would be silly of Chris (in the interest of full disclosure I have attended a CA event, I love it and will do it again but I know my UNIT will not put it on the schedule because of his Viv policy which is completely his right to have).

So this 'hurry up and sign up' idea isn't going to work unless the organizers allow for a longer lead time. And build up anticipation among the reenactor community.

Let's take this year's Spotslyvania as an example. Because this one was canceled at the last minute there is no other "145th Spotsylvania" in May. If organizers had been in a position to entice reenactor organizations in Sept/Oct of last year they might be on firmer ground than they believe they currently are. Or if 2 organizers had decided to do a Spotsylvania in May and had started recruiting reenactors last fall one might be viable and one might not but there would still be an event.

On the reenactor unit side of it. Units need lead time to organize and find out how many members they actually have. People come and go every year folks we all know that. You might have 30 members in the organization but find out you only have 9 rifles that are reliable. But if the event organizers are out there building up anticipation and commitment 8 months in advance then not only will they have a better idea of who is coming but units can use that to build up anticipation in their own units and get the troops focused and dedicated. There are guys in my unit who will attend certain events until the day they die because they just love that event. You need to build that type of interest especially if you are a 'once every five years' type of event.

Again using Spotsylvania as an example, if their website was up and their paperwork only became available on 01/01/09 then they are being unreasonable saying only 10 weeks into the process that 'this isn't going to work we're pulling the plug.' Now if they had been internet and paperwork ready 10/01/08 and set a deadline of 01/31/09 for initial registration then they'd have a case.

All units have a 'pattern' of behavior. Favorite events they are going to do, local LH, parades and school programs they are going to do no matter what. If you want to jump into that schedule then you need extra lead time for the units to warm up to the idea.

And as an orgainzer you have to be aware of the pulse of the units. For example the MG moved up Neshaminy (their own event courtesy of the 28th PVI) by about two weeks in order to accommadate being able to do Spotsylvania. That should have given the Spotsylvania organizers a pretty fair idea of the MGs level of commitment to Spots. Yet as far as I can tell there was NO communication with MG leaders.

This ain't the 'Field of Dreams' boys. "Build it and they will come." Uh no they won't unless you have a track record. If you want them to come, communicate, communicate, communicate.

[Danny]

Ownership, Sweat Equity and supporting events and organizers is a good start....Next choose events wisely, check out past track records, just like race horses, everyone should have a solid record of success if you invest in them, unless they have yet to break "maiden" and in that case it may be worth the gamble. Next, don't just register- take ownership, go to work weekends, rally the boys on the web and within your unit, pass along ideas and in general contribute to the success of the event you have invested in.Investment means return.Pards,

Chris, you pretty much covered it.

dw

[KarinTimour]

Folks:
Some thoughts on the topic:

1. What I"m hearing is that units decide on events in February and March. Perhaps the larger ones are going to need to move that decision making into the fall, so that event organizers will be receiving large packages of checks in January and February. I understand that it isn't done that way now, but given the economics, the decision to stick with "we'll make our decision in March" may rule out having 150th anniversary events of any battle that happened earlier than mid-July.

2. Small number of non-profit event organizers (and getting smaller every day): As I understand it, the folks who undertake events fall into four categories:

a. The ones who are undertaking their first event;
b. The ones who are doing thier second or third event;
c. The ones who are experienced and who have organized 5 plus events;
d. The ones who are completely burned out and want someone else to organize events.

Teaching "event organizing"
Being an event organizer involves a lot of skills, but it can be taught and learned. I'd like to suggest that just as we don't expect someone to be an overall event military commander in his second reenacting event, we also need to start fostering "event organizing" experiences.

Could we foster a "school of the organizer" just as we do a "school of the soldier?"

Could those who are no longer organizing, but who have the skills to do so start thinking through their experiences and writing up what they did in organizing past events (what worked and what was a disaster and why).

Could we start breaking down event running into specific "tasks" or "goal lines." Like "site locating and negotiating with landowners," "negotiating with insurance companies," "marketing (to get participants)," "Marketing (to get spectators)," "how to pick and oversee portajohn companies" "how to correctly estimate wood needed," "how to contract with the guys who run tractors to move spectators around," etc.

We've also got people who do some of these things professionally or in another hobby. They might not be willing to undertake them for a 150th event, but they could teach them to others. For example, I bet Bill Watson could do a crackerjack seminar or article on "how to write a press release and get the local papers to cover your event." Many of you have the skills to do a great workshop or article on "How to work closely with local law enforcement to anticipate and avoid problems when attracting thousands of spectators into a rural area." etc., etc.

From my miniscule but highly educational experience as a member of the Eastern Campaigner's Alliance, I'd like to also suggest some concise, bulleted, "how tos" on the skills of running a meeting, dealing with conflict, resolving disputes, setting clear goals that everyone "buys into," how to run a conference call, how to keep written meeting minutes, follow up on decisions made. My experience of the reenacting community is that we are terrible at these and it shows.

These would be great topics for threads, or even larger articles for the reenacting magazines.

What about those who are currently in the midst of organizing events or living histories actively recruiting "mentees" within their unit or outside their unit who are there to observe, help and are trying to learn how to put on an event? Sort of "apprentice" or "journeyman" organizers.

What about also posting the positive side of event organizing? Some of you have put on more than one event. If it's such a horrendous experience, undiluted with any redeeming features, you wouldn't do it a second time. We need to be thinking now about how to foster the skills for the people who will be organizing (or helping to put on) the 150th events.

If we want to have 150th events, we need to be thinking now about how to foster lots of people to develop these skills, so that those who are inspired to take the bull by the horns and decide to head up the effort for a particular battle have a pool of semi-trained talent from which to seek their helpers.

Hope that sparks off some discussion,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping Hats, Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[mkraybill]

I think everyone has made really good points. OVI's comment about better information on websites regarding communication could be what would have avoided the Spotsylvania conundrum. I don't think you will have many people disagreeing that if it was well known ahead of time about the drop date then people would have had their registration in when needed. Would it have been the easiest thing to accomplish...no, as stated in bob's post, there are many other things going on during that time of year but unit's always do rally to the cause and we all would have made it work. Bob also has a good point that more lead time may avoid any issues for organizers.
I like what Chris had said about owning it. I get that. I also liked when B. Obama said similar things. I want to know from the organizers what you need. I know there are work days and other meetings that are posted. Keep informing us of those things as that will make it easier on the individual to get more involved. It would be great if organizers, in their planning, set a tentative work day/weekend, and posted it as early as possible. Then, maybe some units may take a little ownership and this workday could wind up on some schedules. I am well aware that overall unit participation may be lower than an actual reenactment but I know from my own unit's perspective that we have a work day at least once a year at Fort Mifflin and a Monument Clean Up day at Gettysburg and we always have guys there...and they always hear about them from the schedule.
I have been in the hobby for almost 15 years and have ALWAYS taken for granted what everyone had done, and will do, to hold an event. I only recently clearly understood that it was my joining of the hobby in high school that literally directed my career choices and education and I know that we all have similar stories. Everyone has an interest in seeing this hobby be the best it can be. Yes, let us do more BUT please show us how to do it!!
Thanks to everyone who has ever, does, and will wear a blue or gray uniform (or green if you are a sharpshooter!!)
Matt Kraybill
61st NY
Mifflin Guard

[Guy Gane III]

Perhaps if they did a commercial, it would have been a bit more visually stimulating.

I, for one (as I am sure many are), am very saddened to hear that this event isn't going to come off... especially on the anniversary year.

What happened to this hobby??? :(

[bob 125th nysvi]

For us it isn't possible to move our decision making to early fall. We are incorporated and our by-laws are specific as to things like BOD elections. Additionally our major source of funding is the school programs we do. We can't set our event schedule until we finish getting requests from schools for presentations (one school gives us $4,000 every year for our presentation we just have to wait for them).

We hold a meeting in January to get our initial scheduling done (and association business like elections) then a second one in February to finalize it and incorporate changes to sync up with the MG.

However if the EVENTS start setting deadlines earlier then we can take it up at business meeting in December or even hold an additional business meeting in the fall.

But the reality is that until Spotsylvania there hasn't been ANY issues with any event. Neshaminy is held earlier than Spots was going to be and there aren't any issues with it. A local event is being outside Elmira NY on the same weekend as Spots and they aren't having any issues.

To the best of my knowledge this is the first time it has happened. And if true you can't put the blame on the units if everybody but one event can get it together. That's not a systemic problem, that's an event organizer issue.

[tompritchett]

But the reality is that until Spotsylvania there hasn't been ANY issues with any event. Neshaminy is held earlier than Spots was going to be and there aren't any issues with it. A local event is being outside Elmira NY on the same weekend as Spots and they aren't having any issues.

To the best of my knowledge this is the first time it has happened. And if true you can't put the blame on the units if everybody but one event can get it together. That's not a systemic problem, that's an event organizer issue.

I would tend to agree with Bob on this one. As a member of a board putting on an event, I can understand the angst an event organizer has while waiting for the registrations to come in. But, as also a unit commander, I can also see the other side on how hard it is to commit names and numbers to events much earlier than is done now. Just this past weekend, I was expecting 5 members and myself at a Bn drill as late as the week before when the event was discussed and everyone commited to it. Saturday morning it ended up being just myself and one other member. Some events allow units flexibility in that they allow substitutions while other events tend to be more hardline and force us to have members register as someone else. The former allows units to register with essentially estimated numbers, something that most units can do fairly soon after their annual meetings, but the latter events are basically almost forcing units to postpone unit registrations as long as possible until their members' individual calendars start to crystalize. And of course then there are the headachs of trying to actually get the registration fees from everyone in time to meet the various deadlines.

As far as what went wrong, I suspect that two things happened and the two are most likely inter-related. First, from watching from the inside what it takes to put on our medium size event here in the Lehigh Valley, I find it hard to believe that any single individual could ever successfully put on a larger event on the scale of the anniversary events without essentially quitting his current job and doing nothing else for the two or three years prior to the event. IMHO, it is really the role of a committee or team structure where the tasks are broken down to manageable levels and then taken over by specific individuals or groups of individuals. Yes, there will sometimes be some overlap and confusion and, yes, the groups will periodically have to get together to compare notes, thus requiring even more time from the individuals, but in the long run I believe that this technique gives the most sustainable effort without burning out the one or two individuals who normally try running such things. As far as where do the individuals come from, this is where unit ownership of events comes into play. Local units can be asked to support the events by not only attending but supplying members for the planning committee as well as the on-site support staff itself. This is the approach that we have used to revitalize the Lehigh Valley Civil War Days event, and now this group is moving our efforts beyond just the reenactment through other events such as a Civil War Christmas music concert and expanding a Military Timeline living history event.

As far as Spotsy itself, I think the bottom-line is that the event itself was most likely under-capitalized in terms of up-front moneys and may have not been able to adequately reduce its projected operating expenses through the contributions of the supporting members. However, I have no intention of laying blame on anyone in making this statement but I would suggest that by using a committee/team approach it might have been possible to come up with fresh ideas for raising capital as well as reducing costs. The very fact that it seems that over 90% expenses of the event would have to come from reenactor registrations made this event vulnerable from the very get-go. (If I had to hazard an estimate, I would say that no mainstream event is truly viable unless approximately 50% of its expenses are covered even before registrations start to come in, especially when the cost of the land is already covered by a separate revenue stream. However, I am sure that others here may have a different cut-off fee based upon their experiences.) The fact that this an one-time event with no seed money left over from prior events makes the event even more vulnerable. (Maybe this is where Flattop's idea of a reenactor generated pool of seed money might very well be applicable, especially if it was allowed to be self-sustaining through the use of no interest loans to event committees and would collect interest while waiting to be used for the next reenacting season. Humm.)

[bob 125th nysvi]

what we have talked about down to:

1) If events want an earlier commitment from the units, they need to set the deadlines earlier.
2) New events (or events that only show up every couple of years) need to market themselves to build up an acceptable level of excitement.
3) Event organizers and "national" units need to develop a better means of communication in order to nip issues, rumors and innuendo in the bud.
4) Units need to be prepared to make earlier commitments to the events
5) And from a completely different thread, reenactors should seriously consider developing some sort of funding that doesn't leave us as vulnerable to outside funding sources failures.

Does that about cover it? And if it does how do we move from talking to action?