From: corun@access.digex.com (Corun MacAnndra)
Subject: Re: Hired chef (was Re: Pennsic Land Allocation
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 02:44:29 GMT

In article <BuA7v9.CJD@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> aryk@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (A.J.S. Nusbacher) writes:
>
>The Canton of Rising Waters (since made a barony) in St. Catharines, Ontario,
>used to routinely hire a professional chef.  The meals weren't always models
>of authenticity, but 1. sometimes hardworking volunteers make unauthentic
>meals, and 2. the food was always very good, and never jarringly modern.  The
>bottom line for them was that nobody in the group was interested in being
>chief cook.  They wanted to have an event with a feast (practically mandatory
>in Ontario, at least at that time), and so they hired this guy.

I wouldn't think anyone would have to be Chief Cook if the entire group
takes responsibilty for the feasts. But then I will admit that I may be a
bit jaded, living in a Barony with two Laurel Chefs who love to ply their
trade, and a boatload....make that drekkarload, of dessert fanatics. Our
Pennsic Post Revel was a veritible Operation Dessert Storm.

>Some groups pay money for a nice hall.  Some pay money for a good chef.  Some
>pay money for good meat for the feast.  Everybody sets priorities.  Surely
>a group could decide that some proportion of the event fee could go to bring
>a teacher in.  The folks in Ottawa bring a Western knight over every couple
>of years to teach figting, for instance.  Who wouldn't mind having Janet
>Arnold brought over from England for a seminar?  Who wouldn't mind doing some
>fundraising or paying a few bucks more for admission?

OK, all of these are valid arguments for hiring historians and fighters and
chefs (oh my!). But if we hire a professional Autocrat for Pennsic, the
question arises; Do we hire form within the SCA or not? If we hire from
within, the old accusations of bias and unfairness will come up just as 
strongly than they might if we hired outside the SCA, but then how do you
accept and/or train a mundane Autocrat. Ostensibly this person wouldn't even
know what the word meant much less what we're trying to achieve. How many
times have you heard of a wedding being screwed up by the professional caterer
or the person hired to run the wedding? And weddings are everyday mundane
affairs. The War isn't. It's a unique entity that we are still, after twenty
one years, trying to develop. Then there's the loss of incentive to do
anything like a good job if the person's paid for it. You know what's happened
to the work ethic in this country.

I'm afraid you'll have to go a bit farther to convince me that the War
Autocrat should be paid. But keep those cards and letters coming in. There
have been some interesting and meaningful comments arising out of this. I
dare say the solution is in us all to find.

In service,

Corun

-- 
===========================================================================
    Corun MacAnndra     |      But what if this hadn't been
  Dark Horde by birth   |        a rhetorical question?
    Moritu by choice    |                            C. Nelson
From: Ruth.Woodring@f4229.n124.z1.fidonet.org (Ruth Woodring)
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