[SCA-AE] NMS--wider consideration

[Chakalis, Joseph]

Local baronage are not considered royalty, but comping them is up to the
local group. I don't remember ever getting a free event, but maybe I'm
just getting old and forgetful. 

We have multiple pricing levels now. Anyone that is currently subject to
full price who forgets their card is expected to pay the surcharge. So
the NMS and an embedded charge apply to the same subset of attendees. 

But, for sake of argument... a royal shows up without a card... their
fee is a discounted fee (comp) so it is already exempt under corporate
wording from the surcharge for that reason and would continue to be
exempt under an embedded charge system. The royal will, though, need to
sign a site waiver under either scenario (so still no change in actual
practice). All minors should presently (and under an embedded scheme) be
exempt because in both systems they are subject to discounted event
fees. I am not proposing additional levels or event pricing. Just to
change whether the NMS is added to the stated fee or included in it for
the only category affected within the current system--the adult, full
price (i.e, non-royal) attendee.

Saleem

-----Original Message-----

I agree with Iain that changing policy to flip the pricing scale around
to be "full price", "member price" "teen price" "Youth price", "Toddler
price" and "Expected comps" can get very confusing. 

For instance. (I know this is an erroneous example but it proves the
point)...

Lets say that there is an event that reads
Site fee (including NMS as part of site fee)
Regular gate fee: $10
teen gate fee: $9
Youth gate fee: $8
Toddler gate fee: $7
Under 6 gate fee: $0

Member discount (NMS): $5
Reigning Royal site fee: Comp

Let's say that a Royal couple (Local Baron and Baroness) attends an
event. 
The Local group policy is to comp royals for their site fee. 
The royals have forgotten to bring their membership cards, so they are
not elligible for the member discount. 

How does the local group handle this then? 
Do they charge the royals $5 each for NMS? 
Do they waive the NMS fee for the royal entrants? 

And what is then done with the NMS for the discounted price gate fees
(teens, youth and toddler).
Or would we change the policy so that Member discounts are member
discounts across the board? 
realizing that the NMS fees would then skyrocket and the attendance of
non-member minors would drop dramatically. 

--- 
I am not advocating that people should not get their memberships. I
think that the membership affords too many positives to be taken
lightly. 
Instead I am looking at the financial aspects of what is being proposed
for how to handle NMS fees and "positive spin". 

If you want to put a positive spin on the NMS, you tell people. "While
you are welcome and we encourage you to attend, it would be beneficial
for yourself if you were to become a member. 
Membership is currently $35 a year for a single person. A family
membership makes it less expensive for each successive person. The
discounts afforded, and access to the newsletter, plus the ability to
run for office, if you should decide that you would like to do so, are
just some of the benefits of membership. 
Not to mention that you no longer have to pay the NMS fee when you
attend events, thus giving a deep discount for your membership. 

I recently had a conversation with some one after calculating out their
NMS fees and other things that they participated in, and it turned out
that they would have saved more money from joining up when they were
first thinking about it, and would have had enough to buy a pavilion by
now, if they just would have become members.

So yes, the NMS can be a pain. But it is an incentive for people to join
our society and take part in the grandeur that is the current middle
ages. 

Other posters have said that we need to change the NMS so that it's more
positive. 
I am all for calling the additional funds collected a Member Discount,
but let's get real folks. 
We're volunteers. Unless we employ an accountant to handle gate, why
make things more difficult for the people working gate? 

--Eirik
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