From: whheydt@pbhya.PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Pennsic prices
Date: 15 Sep 92 15:51:28 GMT
Reply-To: whheydt@PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt)
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA

In article <1992Sep14.233411.27784@access.digex.com> corun@access.digex.com (Corun MacAnndra) writes:

[The continuing thread about what site fees pay for--which is probably
getting more general interest than just as an analysis of Pennsic.
--whh]

>Add to that list batteries for the walkie talkies, 

If that many batteries are needed, has anyone looked in the cost of
NiCads and solar chargers?

>daily cleaning
>of the privies, 

If memory does not deceive me, we got by on every other day--though
that sort of thing depends (in part) on the ratio of people to
privies.

>those nifty medalions that help us keep a head count of 
>paid campers and eliminate the gate crashers who want to get into Pennsic
>at the expense of honest SCAdians. 

I think this may be an artifact of the size of Pennsic--and it's
consistently being in the same place.

>To continue, gas to heat those showers that have it. Not all the showers
>at Cooper's Lake are solar, and 8000+ SCAdians will take many more showers
>than your average camper, especially since, according to PA state law, no
>privately owned campground may allow swimming in any stationary body of
>water (read lake) that cannot be chlorinated. 

It seems to me, that having a lake to swim in might well cause an
*increase* in the number of showers taken.  That aside, since this
expense varies with population, I have to ask why it isn't part of the
per head per night portion of the fee--rather than (as appears to be
the case) a separate expense for Pennsic.  It looks like you're being
charged separately for something that one would expect to be bundled.

>It's Pennsylvania, the laws
>are different there. 

I could say much the same about California.  What are the Pennsylvania
laws that are so different from the surrounding region that make them
worthy of special comment?

>I don't know what the Grimms people (they supply the big tents for Herald's
>point etc.) charge, but given that every other shopkeeper in Butler County
>raises their prices in August, I would assume they do too. You gotta admit,
>the SCA brings significant revenue to the County, and it's a fairly depressed
>area economically.

Given that it appears that the Civil Service branches don't own their
own shelter and must rent it, it strikes me that an early approach to
the rental companies (I presume that Grimm is the *only* company in
the region) and a request for quote--noting that quotes are being
solicited from several companies--for all of the 'official' tents
might well reduce the cost.   As I noted earlier, it appears that
Pennsic needs a skilled negotiator much more than it needs a paid
Autocrat.

>And finally, the pre Pennsic information flyers that go out to the Knowne
>World. I don't know what the circulation of the TI is, but I'd guess they're
>close to the same.

I rather doubt the circulation is *that* high . . .  :-)

	--Hal

        Hal Ravn, Province of the Mists, West Kingdom
        Wilson H. Heydt, Jr.,  Albany, CA 94706,  510/524-8321 (home)
-- 
Hal Heydt                    |    "Boycott Time-Warner"
Analyst, Pacific*Bell        |         --J. Danforth Quayle
510-823-5447                 |    "... kill all the lawyers."
whheydt@pbhya.PacBell.COM    |         --William Shakespeare