Mistress Asta knarrarbringa
Many hands make light work
Being an event steward for an event can be easily referred to as herding cats. You are asking many different types of people to not only volunteer their valuable time out of their day to help the event run smoothly but to also in many times over put several hours of prep time & reports to their Kingdom superiors.
Jester's Tourney I
November 2010
My first time as the event steward working with a first time event and it became a Royal Progress! (Royal Progress means in the SCA world that their Majesties will attend your event)
This event went off without a hitch and I received 0 complaints (this is an amazing day for a SCAdian autocrat).
Lesson Learned-- Always ask people you trust for help, pick a great staff!
Delegate and do not micromange, it makes the day much better for the Event Steward.
Jester's Tourney II
November 2011
My second time as the event steward. This time it was not as smooth, if it could have gone wrong it did. Two feast stewards canceled (due to work & school), a good friend from NC volunteered to come and rescue me when the second feast steward canceled 6 weeks before the event. But in the end everyone had a good time and most people did know anything of the troubles.
Lesson Learned-- Not all events can run as smoothly as your first. Always be prepared with a back up plan.
Hidden Mountain Baronial Birthday
May 2013
Known World Agricultural, Herbal, & Forestry Symposium
August/September 2019
I was the event steward for my Barony's 29th Birthday event, this was my first time doing a weekend long camping event. The event went off without any hitches and the rain stayed away until time for court.
Lessons Learned-- Give a deadline for all receipts to be handed in, should be no later than the event date. Getting paperwork closed out once we are apart is time consuming.
Check the bathrooms for things like shower curtains and plungers. Not all sites provide these!
War of the Wings XV
October 2022
Maestra Gisela Vom Kreuzbach asked me to be her deputy event steward for what we lovingly referred to as KWAG. It was a dream of hers to get together as many agricultural and land SCAdians as possible. As soon as she described it to me I was on board!
Lessons Learned-- Plan for every last minute variable!
Have backup classes for University type events to help fill in any unexpected gaps.
Make sure to have enough shade, especially during summer months.
War of the Wings has been my favorite event since my first event (WOW III). It has been on my bucket list to be the event steward for several years. It was a hard year to host it with the world coming back from the pandemic.
Lessons Learned-- Make lists and use calendars to keep up with everything!
Ask the hard questions from staff.
Websites are cool! Get all info to the webminister as it comes in so the populace has the information at their fingertips.