Auckland Regional NZLARPs Committee Meeting 14th August 2013
Present: Mike Curtis, Cameron Burns, Anna Klein, Clare Stones, Hannah Jackson
Apologies: Rowena Knill
Meeting start: 8:02
[b]
Action points from last meeting:[/b]
- Hannah – asked her boss about gear storage. Her workplace is expanding, so we can’t store gear there. Hannah’s mum is OK with shed being at her house for time being.
- Mike – When people are running games which use gear from the gear shed, it is expected and encouraged for those games to budget $30 to $50 for a good bunch of flowers for Hannah’s mother. [Note from Clare: This can be included in your budget submission when putting in a project application]
Mike – NZLARPs should also pay $500 to Hannah’s mother, as she is kindly allowing us to continue using her backyard for the gear shed for the time being. - Michelle Burt has resigned from the committee.
Finance report: Anna
- We are in a comfortable financial position.
- Bank changeover not done yet, this can be done around the same time as passing accounts to next treasurer. We will need to keep the old accounts open for a while, as there is a likelihood that players will accidentally put money into the old account.
- Anna has managed to restore MYOB accounts to an older version, for last financial year. Will update accounts before AGM to make sure they are all up to date.
- Action Point: Anna: Investigate options around replacing existing accounting software.
- Mike: Suggests looking into Xero.
- The next committee will need to make the decision on this.
Gear Report: Hannah - Gear from Teonn washed and returned, and combined back into the gear library.
- Weapons storage needs to be improved. The box for weapons is a bit too short, resulting in weapon tip bend, and latex weapons are getting stuck together.
- Ryan has suggested making a storage roll with pockets to store them in, could make one out of plastic.
- Cameron – cheap talcum powder can be used to stop weapon stickage.
- Hannah and Anna – get someone to produce a way to store the new weapons.
- Hannah and Anna – Some of the newer swords may be missing from the gear – especially the plainer, generic swords.
- Hannah – we could check with Ryan to evaluate how many we purchased to compare to what is present.
- Anna – would like to number the weapons, so we have a stock list.
- Mike –would like to deface the blades with some sort of mark.
- Cameron – is it possible to get Ryan to source some weapons of a type that he will sell to NZLARPs, and not to the public?
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Action Point: – Hannah – contact Ryan to see how many there should be. Contact Reuben and Matt to see if anyone turns up with them to the training sessions.
The NZLARPs weapons should already be labeled on the hilt - should be easyish to identify. - Cameron – branding swords = good idea.
- Discussion about how to make a brand.
- Hannah – will Cameron have time to make the brand, before Chimera so we can test it out?
- Anna – need to start stamping on bad behavior.
- Anna – not unreasonable to say that there are thieves in community. We have had electronic items and cash stolen last Chimera, and player weapons stolen at other games.
- Cameron – RFI chips in crew weapons would be a good idea.
- Hannah – Cleaning equipment – should it be an NZLARPs responsibility, or budgeted for and purchased by GMs?
- Anna – purchases cleaning equipment for her games, thinks that other GMs should do the same.
- Mike – We need to discuss purchasing processes with our suppliers – so they are aware that they should contact the committee before purchasing supplies for NZLARPs.
- Hannah – feedback system for after games, so GMs contact us about things that need to be replaced.
- Mike – who provides funding for centralized costs – eg. makeup? This is especially important when we have games that are not particularly profitable, and for games that are starting and building a player base, like Crucible. Games should build a fee for makeup into their budget, and perhaps also cleaning supplies.
- Anna – communication around products left over from previous games – eg. hand soap, non-perishable foods, etc.
- Hannah – cleaning caddies for different areas of an event?
- Anna/Mike – good idea.
- Mike – gear day – would be great to have a making storage things day, but not at Hannah’s mum’s, so we don’t have the temptation to delve into the shed.
Chimera:
- Anna – numbers lower than last year – we have about 150 people this time around, 180 last year
- 25% of convention costs and 50% of catering costs still outstanding (at time of committee meeting)
- A lot of new people
Upcoming Larps:
- Teonn day game.
- Sabbat.
Sabbat financials:
- We have been presented with the financials. Given the relatively low number of sign ups at the time of the committee meeting, there was concern that the game might not break even, and therefore we discussed the possibility of seeing if we could arrange to use only half of Motu Moana for the venue, or alternatively asking Cheryl if she could move the game to a smaller venue.
We also agreed that this game sounds fun and exciting, and that a big advertising push at Chimera is needed.
Action Point: Anna to follow up with Cheryl – when we know our options.
Armageddon:
- Vanya has stepped up to approach people in community about running the project.
- Mike/Anna – not going to get someone to be there all weekend – it is a crazy amount of work and people have got very sick from doing that before.
- Cameron – A lot of people who used to help out with the setup are working full time now.
- Mike – Crucible needs to come up with a strategy for recruiting NPCs, that doesn’t involve Armageddon.
- Hannah – perhaps University Orientation?
AGM:
- Booking still being finalized. Clare hoping to hear back tomorrow. [Note from Clare: Postponement of Auckland AGM means we will be sorting a booking for a new date.]
Hobbiton:
- Mike: The venue is having a lot of visitors and groups going through - so holding an event there is not really an option at the moment.
Hannah: Would be good to have a GM from the new Changeling game on the committee.
Mike: Committee meeting on 2nd Wed of September, to finalize details of the AGM.
Meeting end: 9:30pm.