Better Faire Organizing

Good day. I’m a big volleyball nut. I love playing the sport indoors and out. I got into the sport later than most people so I’m trying to learn all I can to keep up with players that are half my age or less.

I’ve been watching a coaches’ instructional video by Karch Kiraly. He was the Michael Jordan of volleyball before he retired. Now he coaches the women’s UCLA team. He was mentioning some of the attributes of elite athletes that have been found by studies. He said most elite athletes aren’t always watching the ball. They watch how the other team is setting up and preparing to hit the ball. They have telltale hints they give over time to do certain things.

Those of us who help organize Renfaires can do the same things. When we go to long-lived, successful faires, we can observe how tickets are sold, patrons’ questions are answered, how the events are laid out for stages, vendors, food areas, etc. We can also ask other organizers how they overcame growing pains, picked their sites, found sponsors (that’s the biggie), created their budgets, advertised (another biggie), treat their performers, vendors and patrons and much more.

There are resources out there to find these things. YouTube videos, conversations on Facebook at the Vendor/ Page, in the Forums at renaissancefestival.com and other places.

Maybe some organizers would like to meet somewhere or meet online to discuss these aspects sometime. You can find who the organizers are by sending e-mails to faires’ sites and FB pages. We are one big community. We will can bigger and stronger if we share ideas.