2013 in review

[blueguy]

Ok, time to break down what was cool, what surprised us, and what we felt need be looked at for next year.

First off, the Mermaid set up was awesome. Wonderful idea, perfect use of the area and a good tie to the pirate encampment. it was nice to see an entire area converted to a theme. If there are going to be changes to this for next year, I would humbly suggest the following.

-get Gemma a tank she can actually swim around in and be seen inside. She is keen on the idea and it would work better than the shallow pool she cannot do more than splash in.

- If we can't do a tank, let's look into improving the pond as well as her access. The mermaid needs to able to come and go without needing a strapping gentleman to carry her about.

- She needs a second mermaid in the pond to break up the day. it's a long day and worse if there is a storm that drops the temperature. The mermaid needs to be able to get out of the pond and have a little lunch without leaving the attraction empty.

-The mermaid is a photo op for the kids. Somebody should think about making her more accessable by having her onshore sitting on a comfortable boulder (pad the one there perhaps) for part of the day.

ok, the rest of pirate land is pretty cool too. I would like to see a bit more docks and maybe a bit more of an organized set area where the cast could do something productive with it.

Fairy forest has returned! I missed the old place. the only thing it needs is a better visibility of the path in to encourage wanderers. Light colored wood chips, a bright white gravel or something to tell people it's ok to travel in.

The fairy house display and the lantern sorting house was well executed.

Jackie and her scavenger hunt was an outright home run. it needs to get some official support to reward the kids but it was awesome. Help I would suggest.

-somebody needs to be at homebase to accept kids turning in their lists at all times in the day. Can't stress this enough. it needs to be returnable to anybody at the camp.

-people on the list for the week need to make sure other people know where they are and where they are headed so we can direct the kids to you.

The button sets... nice idea bad execution. this needed a short explanation somewhere at the entrance or better still on a handout so the kids could figure out what they needed to do and where to go to look for the pins. They also probably need to tie to an event for each pin where kids can be certain a cast member will be to do something and earn the pin. It can be tough tracking down a busy cast member like Danny or Rusty in a crowd.

The Magic Mirror, when it actually got used, was pretty cool. But people need to commit to not only making sure it happens, somebody has to volunteer to get backstage and be the mirror and commit to being there so they can learn to use the tech.

Cast effort: stellar. good work and a good season. people got off stages and back to being in the street where they belong as flavor for the event.

-problem was that nobody knew who was who outside of the cast. most regulars had no idea there was a mayor, blacksmith, king's guardsman, huntsman, etc. Hell, I didn't know somebody was actually supposed to be a blacksmith until week 5. They NEED to do a cast list. They need it even more with the scavenger hunt and pins.

The pirate wanted posters... this was Rick from Raiders of the north shore. nice work on those. but the cast needs to remember that the point of turning the pirates in lies with the patrons not the cast. Leave that stuff hanging for the guests to grab a pirate and turn them in. (just point them in the right direction and suggest it.

The factions: Nobles, evil nobles, commoners, pirates, gypsies, fairies... too many factions. and it leads to 9 nobles or more that needed to be bowed to every time they wandered by. Too many chiefs not enough indians. This faire needs no more than 5 people of rank running around. everybody else should be ranked as important but not to the point of deference.

The putt putt course... i had my doubts and i think it needs to be rebuilt, cleaned up, leveled, etc. but the kids had fun on it. but really, go buy some cheap putters and get rid of the lofted clubs before somebody gets hurt.

outside of that, the schedule still needs clarified and they need to print a map for the patrons but that's old issues.

[Sir Trevor]

I agree on a lot of what you said, but I also have differing opinons on other things.

I do agree about the mermaid. And I too love the new look of the pirate area.
They took the idea that Piper's Pub had and made it better. Looked more profesional and 'finished'.
I agree, the scavenger hunt was a big hit. And there does need to be an easier way for the kids to check in with all their stuff. My vote would be somewhere like the putt-putt course.
There is someone stationed there anyway. It's kid friendly. And it's easy to find.

The magic mirror was awesome!
But it needs a firm schedule, so people know when it's going to be active.
Not really like a show time, but a set start time. Then it can last as long, or as little as the situation determines. Say no one stops by, or no one wants to play. Wouldn't be fare to keep someone cooped up in there for too long. But if there is a fun crowd, and the operator is on a good roll, it can go on as long as they want.
Carl is damn good at it, and idealy, I would love to see him continue to do it.

Agree about needing a cast list. Heck, I'm still unsure about a few people I saw playing with cast early in the run that I never saw again. Were they friends just pitching in, or were they actual cast who called it quits early?

I disagree about the nobles. The day we had the visitng nobles (Peter and Christy, Susan) was awesome. It actually seemed like a true noble entourage. It was impressive, and it was fun. I'd love to see a big group like that all the time. But keep them in a group, so you don't have the issue you mentioned about having to bow every few minutes. I know that doing so would run the risk of them being hard to approach. But if you have some good leaders in the group, that made sure everyone interacted with the patrons and not just each other, it could be a real attention grabber. And would make the noble encampment much more lively and vital. It would also allow the king and queen a little more chance to catch their breath, as there would be others to fill in.

I also loved the good queen / bad queen dynamic. Everyone picked up on that right away.
It was familiar to all the patrons, and seemed 'right'.

I too thought the cast were great this year. Seeing them in the lanes playing again was great.
I agree we need more cast to fill things out better. But I don't think we had too many factions. Just, the way they were used needs a bit of tweaking.
A little less conspiring and raiding, and a little more off the wall antics in their own areas.

Totally agree on the show schedules, maps, and a need to really get some of the structures into better shape. Some are looking pretty shabby and run down.

I look at this season as a sign that we have turned the corner. That we have bottemed out and are now bouncing back up into better times again. We had a few cool new things this year. Hopefully they can keep that momentum going and add to it next year.
I heard a rumor that we may have a tomato guy next year. That was a big draw years ago when we still had one.
Hopefully, word will spread from the vendors that did well this year, and we can get a few more new ones next season. Will be interesting to see what the craft coordinator can do with an entire year to work on it, instead of just a couple months.