No. No. A Thousand Times, No!

[gurdymonkey]

As long as my kingdom insists on holding its Collegia in hotels, I fear I must  insist on not attending.

Yes, I realize the medieval-ambience argument has holes in it: I've done my fair share of eventing in schools, church halls, and even a Twelfth Night in a freezing armory with filthy floors somewhere in upstate New York.

And I realize that spring Collegium was at a hotel because of financial fallout from prior use of said hotel by the Kingdom and it was a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. However, this afternoon's announcement mentions a hotel that I am not aware of the Kingdom having used in the years I've been in the West. Therefore, I can only conclude that someone or multiple someones like Collegium-Con events.

I don't. That's not what I come to the SCA for. I particularly dislike the assumption that we can/should spend money on hotel rooms so we can socialize with people we see on a semi-regular basis anyway. After all, this is the kingdom that hates the NMS on the basis of the starving-student argument, so much so that it often gets paid from donations by the populace.

I will be teaching at Collegium Caidis (by invitation). I will be teaching at Great Western War. And I have just been invited to teach in Silver Desert on the weekend of September 12. I do believe the weekend of October 24 might be the perfect time for the Curmudgeon to take a well earned break.

Comments

[vittoriosa.livejournal.com]

Ok, speaking semi-officially as one of the Collegium Chancellors: Not all Collegia will be at hotels; in fact, most will not be big enough. We did look at other types of sites (schools etc) but because we got so much positive feedback on the Spring Collegium in the hotel (and double average attendance!!), and because we would be sharing the site with a needleworkers' guild symposium that would bring in extra bodies, we thought it would be worth doing the hotel thing again for these attendance numbers if we found one within budget. The site is also accessible via BART and Caltrain so we hope that will encourage daytrippers as well. I totally understand why the hotel setting will not appeal to everyone, but I would simply like to point out that this is not necessarily the way all Collegia will be from now on. The Chancellorship really does appreciate feedback as well, so feel free to address comments directly to me, Vyncent or Constantina.