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