Scott & Deb's Place

So you want to be an autocrat?

Word 2003 Version

The Idea

Most people who want to autocrat an event start with a basic theme that they think would be a good idea for an event. Maybe they want an Arthurian event or something with pirates, or maybe an event based on one of the many Monty Python movies. As the main proponent of the theme, they quickly find themselves either volunteering, or in some cases being volunteered, to be the autocrat of the event. Sometimes several people will share in the creation of the theme and therefore choose to co-autocrat. If you're lucky, maybe someone who's autocratted an event before will offer to help out. If not, well, that's what this article is for.

Usually with the theme you've also come up with some ideas for unique activities that go along with the theme. If you're doing a Robin Hood event you may want a staff battle over a fake bridge with boffer staves. These distinctive ideas will give the event flavor and add excitement to the day. In addition to these activities, you'll want to provide the fundamental components of SCA events. These activities include the martial (heavy fighting, fencing, archery, thrown weapons), the arts (classes, displays, competitions, bardic circles), a feast or side-board, and other activities (children, gaming, quests, equestrian, hound coursing, etc.)

The Staff

The key to a successful event is an experienced staff. You need to know how to delegate. Select a staff that you can work with. Communicate your theme and any other requirements you have to them. Martial activities all require an authorized marshal to supervise. Your local group officers are your natural choices for activity deputies but don't hesitate to contact people outside your group if it's lacking in a particular activity you'd like to have. Be mindful of group laws, customs and personalities when outsourcing your staff.

In addition to deputies for the activities already mentioned there are several other positions to fill on your staff. You'll need someone to handle reservations and handle troll (often, but not always, the same person.) You'll want an offsite runner (never leave site yourself) and an onsite gopher or two. If you're inviting royalty you'll want a liaison. You'll also need general commitments from people to setup and cleanup the site. For larger events you may decide to have someone in charge of kitchen and/or site cleanup.

The Site

Once you have your activities in mind and a staff picked, it's time to find a site. If you're lucky, your group already has established relationships with several sites that you can pick from. Otherwise, you'll be spending lots of time on the phone. Places to check include schools, churches, social clubs, parks, and camps. You want to make sure the site will handle all the planned activities. You may find that the perfect site is unavailable and you have to cut activities. Document the places you call and the information you gather. It could be of use to the next person in your group who wants to autocrat.

The Bid

This part will vary by group. Most groups require that an event bid be voted on before committing time and money. The bid is an overview of the event, including costs, staff, planned activities, and how much attendees will be charged. You may need to work with the local exchequer to come up with a cost structure that will make sure you break-even on the event. While the purpose of events is not to make money, it is important not to lose money. Set realistic numbers for estimated attendance. If you're bidding for a kingdom level event like crown or 12th Night you will need to have two bids. One for the local group and then another for kingdom. While the two may be identical documents you will still need to get approval at the local level before submitting the bid to kingdom.

The Plan

Now that your group has approved your bid you're ready to work on out the details. Up to now everything has been at a high level. Why spend a lot of time worrying over minutia when your group may not allow the event. Work with your staff to produce an event flyer of activities. Get directions to the site. You'll want to publish the event announcement in the kingdom newsletter and send copies to the seneschals of nearby groups. You need to reserve the site ASAP so that someone else doesn't get the site on your scheduled date. Once all this is done you can go back to your staff and work out a detailed schedule for the event. You also want to identify any resource you may need and get commitments for them. You may have a few things you want to build, sew, and construct before the event. You'll need to get money for materials and get started on them.

The Wait

If you've done everything above right and on time you'll have a few months to relax before the event comes.

The Countdown

As the event gets closer, two to four weeks out, the work starts up again. Go over your schedule, talk with your staff, and make sure all your resources are still committed. Reservations should be coming in. Make any last minute adjustments you need. Start getting commitments for general work activities like site setup crews, signage setup, and cleanup crews.

The Day

The day of the event you are an autocrat and an autocrat only. Don't try and wear two hats on event day. You have enough work to do without adding marshal, cooking, or other tasks. Make sure you show up to site early. There will inevitably be many little details that you will have to address. If you show up late you may hold up your staff and will likely be bombarded with questions. That's not a good way to start the day.

Your first activity will be to open the site for your staff. Someone from the site will likely meet you and possibly want to go over various issues of using the facilities (off-limit spots, lights that don't work, utility closets with cleaning supplies, etc.) Once the site is open you will want to setup troll. In addition to reservations/sign in issues, you may have handouts for the events, flyers from other events, activity schedules, feast menus, and other stuff to put out. You'll want to make sure that all the activity setup is going fine but you want to supervise only. Use your gophers for any small tasks that come up and be ready to go wherever needed to answer questions/solve problems. Most will involve where to setup various activities but there will be unexpected issues to resolve no matter how much you plan.

Once the event is setup and everything is rolling, your main job is to be available. Delegate wherever possible and never leave the site unless absolutely necessary and then appoint a deputy in your absence. Usually things slow down in the afternoon and you can finally rest some. Take a break, get some food, but stay available. If you're having a feast, court, or award presentations you'll want to start thinking about those. For awards you'll want to hunt down your deputies and find out who's won the day's competitions (or commit them to present the awards themselves at the appropriate time.) If you have a court you'll need to get people to help move stuff and do setup. You'll also want to start lining up servers for served feasts and volunteers to clean in the kitchen.

Shortly before court/feast you'll probably want to close troll. Lock up the money and all troll documents. You'll need them later. For any awards, let the people eat. Wait for a gap in between courses or just after desert is served. You don't want a hungry mob mad at you while you're giving a flowery speech. Thank the people who helped with the event. After feast, round up the cleaning crew before they forget they volunteered and head home. Supervise the cleaning and make sure everything gets put back where it belongs. Make sure that everything that needs done is taken care of before your help leaves. Otherwise you may be left alone mopping the floor yourself. Gather together any lost and found. Make sure the site is completely cleaned, or nearly so, before calling the site owner to turn it over to them. You may want to have a few people hang around to this point in case the owner spots something during their inspection that you missed. Turn over the site to the owner.

The Day After

Sleep in. Inventory the lost and found and post to the appropriate lists. Break out the troll box and start working on the event report. Make any final payments that need done. Send appropriate thank you letters to people who helped out. Make a list of anything that went wrong so you know what to do better next time.