[Nordskogen] Caponi Post Mortem

[Padruig Maclennan]

>From my perspective:
   
  Worked Well:  
       -All of the hands-on activities appeared to be big hits with at least some element of the crowd.
   
       -It seemed like people were being drawn into multiple areas.  I don't think there was a single person I saw in my area that I didn't also see in other areas for extended periods as well.
   
   
  Worked but could be tweaked:
       -There wasn't much in the way of armored combat.  More fighters would have been preferable, although I understand why attendence was down (heat, theoretical cancellation, Duluth Regional fighter practice, lots of fighters on injured reserve).  I've thought about it for a bit and I'm not sure that this was the ideal place for the Baronial Championships.  I see and understand the logistical advantages of it.  However, it's my belief that a standard sca-style tourney is not necessarily that interesting to a non-sca crowd.  Without the spiel (explanation), the fighting can occur a bit too quickly for the unexperienced eye, especially when the expectational bar is likely set at that of the Ren Faire.  When something is on the line, fighters will be more defensive and cautious in their movements, more thought and less action.  The fighting needs to be sexed up a bit with some demo fighting techiniques (the agreed upon not taking the first two shots, loud shots to the
 shield, flashy parrying, more theatrics, etc).  
   
      -There were more rapier fighters than armored fighters, otherwise my opinions are pretty much the same.
   
       -The clustering of the sca folks in the one central area.  We could have been spread out a bit more and probably would have is not for the previously discussed variables (heat, attendence).  It was a bit tight but I also saw that as an advantage for the spectators to transition between activities.  If the activities had been spread further apart, the spectators would have needed to approach each individually.  As it was, they were typically a half dozen steps from the next activity.  To me, this appeared to yield fairly fluid transitions between sca interactions.
   
  Didn't Work:
       -More tables, more shadeflies if we need to spread into less tree-covered areas.  Of course, the more gear there is, the longer setup and take-down time will be required.
   
  Wish List:
       -Functioning siege engine for next year
       -A combat pell, equip/instruct the spectator with a helm, gauntlet, sword and shield and take some supervised whacks at an inanimate pell.
       -Some more musicians
       -Period livestock
       -Some form of vignette (combat or musical) up on the road closer to the main park to draw people down (Pied Piper d'Hiver?)
       -Other items of interest along to road to the main part of the park (roadside shrine or other items one could expect to pass when traveling between villages
       -Happening in September or October.  It would be awesome to be there when the first trees are starting to change color.  A little chill in the air would also broaden the comfort level of many garb choices.
   
  Padruig
   
   
  

"Lieder, Lisa" <Lisa.Lieder at bestbuy.com> wrote:
  I thought it would be nice to have a discussion of what worked and what
didn't at the Caponi demo: I'll start since I am opening my big mouth.



I'll skip the obvious, some people did not attend or did not bring all
the stuff they planned because it was supposedly cancelled. As it turned
out, there were quite a few families there. 



So, that said. What worked:

1. There were not a lot of "obviously modern" things around. Clearly
everyone made a solid effort to bring and show their best.

2. Everyone except me was ready to go right at 2:00 on the dot.
(Sorry, guys)

3. The camp was lovely! There were a lot of photogenic moments and
the cooking demo was very cool!

4. Most everyone was clearly having fun AND inviting others to have
fun with them. 

5. I think that having activities for families to do together worked
well

6. Bacci!

7. The rapier tournament

8. Ilya's patience with both my son and guests who wanted to learn
about youth fighting. 



What didn't work:

1. There were not enough tables or enough shade flies. My goal in the
next year is now to make at least one shade fly and one simple table. 

2. There was not an obvious "center of focus" for people walking in.
Some of the people were focused toward the road, others toward the
tournament at the back of the event. That made it hard for the visitors
to figure out where they were invited and where they were not invited to
participate. 

3. Some of the people still separated off into little groups that
were very internally focused, rather that making the visitors feel
welcome. 

4. For me, I will be looking for a new person next year to help with
hands on projects-I was overwhelmed. 

5. I think it would work well for people to come up with a concept
and put together a scene based on the concept. That is why the cooking
worked so beautifully. The nice thing is then you can ask people to help
with a specific area like a scriptorium or candle making. 



Those are my thoughts...what are yours?

Sabina











_______________________________________________
Nordskogen mailing list
Nordskogen at nordskogen.northshield.org
http://mailman.nordskogen.northshield.org/listinfo/nordskogen


 		
---------------------------------
Groups are talking. We&acute;re listening. Check out the handy changes to Yahoo! Groups.