I was actually thinking after hindenburg (and while reading Derek’s post on the matter of suits) just how much fun it is to get all dressed up. If there are notions of a fundraiser to get more gear, can I tentatively suggest an NZLARPs ball? Not as an actual LARP event, but an excuse for everyone to get frocked and suited, wine and dine each other, and just have a good time.
Zannii - the type of purchases you’re discussing might be fundable from the NZLARPS coffers.
To date NZLARPS gear purchases have been made on an as-needed basis, but if there were purchases that would definitely benefit a number of projects / affiliates then generic purchases could be made.
The person to talk to about that would be the Gear Officer. That’s currently Mike Curtis, but after the AGM on the 18th Sep it will be someone else.
Perhaps for now you could put together a list of:
- suggested purchases (materials and finsihed products)
- what they would cost
- how any building required would be handled (e.g. workshops)
- easy of storage, transportation, set up and takedown
Then when the new Gear Officer is elected you could approach them with the suggestions. You and they could take the ideas to the committee to ask for funding.
Yep. We’ve kicked this idea around for about two years now. I agree that it would be great, there’s just a few logistical snags we haven’t figured out yet. We’ve actually got a fair amount of it figured out, we’ve even got a guy who is an experienced bar manager and knows alcohol and alcohol law like the back of his hand, and this would be the kind of event we’d try and harness the whole dressing up community into (i.e. invite our re-enactor and theatre friends, as well as our normal friends) but the biggest problems to date are:
- the kind of upfront cash a ball requires, we’re talking in the thousands
- no one’s got around to organising it yet
So sausage sizzles for a while yet then, huh?
Unless somebody wins lotto, or we make friends with someone who has a ballroom.
Though my sister was on the ball committee for her high school for the past two years. Maybe I’ll pick her brains about how they did it.
I’d have thought that you’d get most of the funding for a ball by selling tickets as far in advance as possible. You’d need some cash in advance for booking a venue - but that’s the kind of thing that NZLARPS funds are designed for, so it might be a good idea when the fund tide is high.
A costume-focussed ball might be quite a popular event in Auckland. With prizes for best homemade costume and so forth, you’d get a lot more than just roleplayers and cosplayers coming out of the woodwork.
Funding for an event like that may also be available through sponsorship.
For a event of that size (preferrably, at least hundreds of people), it would be worth considering hiring a professional event director to organise it:
nzsbdirectory.co.nz/NZSB_Event.html#auckland
Like these guys:
groove.co.nz/eventmanagement.htm
Or at least using a professional tool, like:
An event like that would probably combine well with live music from a popular NZ band later in the evening.
a ball is pretty massive though, i was thinking just hire krd ball room or one of the private venues in town above bars and just charge koha (or even 5-10$ entry if we put on a band and/or dancers) entry, because in terms of profit we dont need heaps since the clothing will be second hand, and we dont have the means to store and maintain massive amounts of costuming, i was thinking just like two more pastic rolling bins full, which could really only be like 300-500$ if some of it is donated and cheap second hand.
Sure, that’d be easier for something smaller scale.
What I was thinking is that money would be useful for a lot of our purposes. A big profesionally-run costumed ball with a costume competition and live entertainment could have wide appeal as an Auckland event in its own right. It could be a good fundraising vehicle if we wanted to raise money in general, not just for costume.
I can see a “Time Traveller’s Ball” being an annual event that a lot of people would look forward to, that could grow to a large size, and while not really larp it would help in the promotion of pretend play in a more general sense so be in line with the society’s goals.
First New Zealand Renaissance Faire anyone? since we’re kicking ideas around there’s a really ambitious one.
Oh cool. see, the things you don’t know…
I much preferred my one though. I think historicalish faires are best left to historicalish societies.
I am digging the idea of an annual Time Traveller’s Ball.
oh, don’t get me wrong. we wants a ball. we loves to go to Balls and get all dressed up. much squeeing and shopping opportunities
People were throwing ideas in the ring and so i threw one in
I think it could worth very well with an air of eccentricity about it. Marketed as if it really is a gathering for time travellers and fictional characters come-to-life. With staff at the ball playing the parts of the hosts, and bizarre performances worked in. EDIT: like, one year the doormen might be Swiss guards with halberds, like at the Vatican. The next year they might be stormtroopers. Staff inside would play a smorgasbord of roles too, and decoration could span genres.
Could we make a fake entryway that looks like an old blue phonebox?
For sure!
We would need to be careful with fair use of intellectual properties. I imagine it would be fair use to reference these things, but we shouldn’t theme the whole thing based on someone’s else’s property like Dr Who.
Sorry, I’ve really sidetracked us off the topic.
Not really, I think it’s clear what we need. We need a ball!
Just that now this is in the wrong forum…
i know the balkl idea is really kicking off but i hope nobody forgets this, the ball in question seems a bit of a odd concept to grasp, where as if you say’renissance faire’ everyone would know what you mean. so probably a bit more easier to promote. just saying.