Charles Heath
10-18-2007, 11:42 AM
By anyone's definition, the finest events in the hobby.
Most of you already know this stuff, but it bodes well to thumbtack this info to the virtual bulletin board from time to time.
Background: Somewhere in the dismal days of 1996 or 1997, a wag noticed the handful of better events were generally landing on top of each other, and weren't particularly well advertised even within the population that could potentially support such events on a regular basis. The concept of "deconflicting" events, to borrow a modern Army term, was generally accepted by those who realized it was counter productive to have five great events each year, only to have four of them on or about the same weekend. Some people viewed the deconfliction calendar as an opportunity to attempt to torpedo existing events, thus working at cross purposes with the original intent. Pop up events are still problematic, but certainly far less so than in certain previous years.
EBUFU: The list of events borrowed a phrase originally coined by western reenactors, who eschewed the for-profit, professionally managed, eastern mega event model. The phrase "events by us, for us," eventually became the well known acronym "EBUFU." The path has been rocky at times, with a number of spectacular failures, but the success count has consistently outnumbered the failure rate. In case you are wondering, EBUFU, and the venerable deconfliction calendar, both predate the AC Forum, and have been hosted on Mike Nichols' "Hardcore Forum," Lee White's "Campaigner Forum," and the Off Topic Boys Forum over the years.
Alternative Events: These alternative events aka EBUFU, typically come in four flavors:
1. Stand Alone: Events that are self suporting, and virtually stand alone. It is not surprising that these events require the most work, and they are the best of the lot. These events comprise the 1st and 2nd tier. The term "2nd tier" should not be confused with second class.
2. Carpe Eventum: Events within existing events that tend to have an internal focus, such as an interpretive area, or the ubiquitous "campaigner company" which provides a home away from home for a gathering of like minded individuals. These can range from hanging out on sutler row (reinforcing that stereotype) to establishing a "campaigner petting zoo" to providing an actual living history experience for the participants in the middle of the circus. Some groups use these events as an opportunity to give new officers and NCOs an opportunity to "train up," prior to attending an event with a higher classification. These events, and those listed in number 3 below are listed in the 3rd tier category.
3. Campaigner Adjunct: Adjuncts to existing events are typically what used to be known as "the event march," and are generally external in nature. Even at some of the most gawd awful events, the prospect of a good march over actual march routes can be very attractive. For campaigners, there exists a great joy in this form of movement, and for many the march itself is the event. Sometimes these events take the form of a living history or other program at a site near a somewhat related event. These events, and those listed in number 2 above are listed in the 3rd tier category.
4. Training: Select educational offerings, such as Carolann Schmidt's fabulous workshops, certain COIs, schools, and other programs are included at the discretion of the AC Forum moderators. These inclusions are somewhat rare, with less than a half dozen each season.
The 2007 season saw an AC Forum experiment to clump various events into Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary categories, or, as mentioned above, "tiers." While the experiment was not without its flaws, such as the Secondary events being practically invisible, the system worked well enough to be included as a regular feature.
Submittals: The submittal window for Tier 1 Events is 1 June through 31 August, and the selection period generally runs from 1 September through 31 October each year. Many events are submitted earlier, and some as early as 2 years before the event is slated to take place. This appears to have worked well for the past several seasons, and this allows most groups and individuals to have a list of events in hand by the usual November through January "meeting season." With a few fine tunings, this set of general selection guidelines has remained unchanged since the preparatory period for the 2001 calendar year, or "season." At that time, it was almost unthinkable that an alternative circuit of events could be maintained, however, the track record has been pretty darn good.
In order to analyze prospective EBUFU events for inclusion in this schedule, a few simple questions provide an opportunity for reflection, inspection, and a subjective review:
1. Event Portrayal: Is the event portrayal in a documented historical setting? What "slice of life," or "vignette" in terms of the historic event scenario occurring on the given date, will we portray? How deeply will the firper be researched?
2. Authenticity: Will there be guidelines and standards published well in advance? Will the material, physical, social, and political (period) culture of the unit impression be appropriate?
3. Communication: Will there be a listserver? A website? Printed and mailed packets of materials? Will registration be individual or group? Will the setting of the history being portrayed be provided to participants? Is the documentation more than just a one-page essay? Will participants be given tips on how to prepare for the event, if necessary?
4. Logistics: How are the logistics to be handled? If it's a march, what has to be lined up in terms of landowner permission, cooperation of authorities, and a chase vehicle? Will there be special accomodations for people flying to the event. How will safety be handled? Will there be a logistics and admin support cell for this event?
5. Location: Where is it physically going to be held in terms of geography and location? Is it on original ground? Will it trace or parallel original march routes? How much actual campaign movement is in this event?
6. Participation: Who will participate? What type of event will it be? Will civilians be actively encouraged to have meaningful roles and interaction?
7. Organization: Will the leadership selected be able to plan, organize, resource, and execute the event both on and off the field? Leadership i.e. who can execute? Who has the vision? Can and will this vision be instilled in the participants?
8. Preservation: Is the money going in part, in whole (net), or not at all to preservation? If so, where and how much? Who benefits? Will the accounting be made public after the event?
9. Freshness: Has this been done before? If so, has it been beat to death? Is this impression and event covering new ground? How does this event push the envelope?
10. Camp Life: Letters from home? Packages? Ration Issues? Equipment issues? Contests? Entertainment? Activities? Drill? Pickets? Guard Mount?
11. Educational Opportunities: Will it be at a deserving NPS/State/Local/Private historical site where people are there looking for CW history? Are we educating ourselves through an immersive experience? Is this an event where people are there to gawk and be entertained?
12. Attitudes: What kind of personality clashes might arise during the course of this event? Could they ruin the event? What is the mindset of those considering attendence? What do they say, what is their personality and attitude like when the event is discussed?
Review and Selection: Up until the 2008 season, the review and selection process included but a handful of people. This year, the AC Forum Focus Group has been a robust part of this process, and we hope this involvement continues.
Template: Use this simple event template via copy/paste.
Date(s):
Event Name:
Location:
Description:
Host:
Sponsor:
Capacity:
Discussion Format:
Contact: Federal:
Contact: Confederate:
Contact: Civilian:
Comments:.
Overall Event Point of Contact:
Event Type:
Impression(s):
Registration:
Website:
Forum:
Listserver:
Preservation Component:
The submittal period for the 2008 season is now closed. Tier 1 submittals for the 2009 through 2012 seasons are cheerfully being accepted. Let it be known not all groups wish for their events to be listed and discussed on the AC Forum, and some expressly forbid it. This is not our loss, but their loss.
Most of you already know this stuff, but it bodes well to thumbtack this info to the virtual bulletin board from time to time.
Background: Somewhere in the dismal days of 1996 or 1997, a wag noticed the handful of better events were generally landing on top of each other, and weren't particularly well advertised even within the population that could potentially support such events on a regular basis. The concept of "deconflicting" events, to borrow a modern Army term, was generally accepted by those who realized it was counter productive to have five great events each year, only to have four of them on or about the same weekend. Some people viewed the deconfliction calendar as an opportunity to attempt to torpedo existing events, thus working at cross purposes with the original intent. Pop up events are still problematic, but certainly far less so than in certain previous years.
EBUFU: The list of events borrowed a phrase originally coined by western reenactors, who eschewed the for-profit, professionally managed, eastern mega event model. The phrase "events by us, for us," eventually became the well known acronym "EBUFU." The path has been rocky at times, with a number of spectacular failures, but the success count has consistently outnumbered the failure rate. In case you are wondering, EBUFU, and the venerable deconfliction calendar, both predate the AC Forum, and have been hosted on Mike Nichols' "Hardcore Forum," Lee White's "Campaigner Forum," and the Off Topic Boys Forum over the years.
Alternative Events: These alternative events aka EBUFU, typically come in four flavors:
1. Stand Alone: Events that are self suporting, and virtually stand alone. It is not surprising that these events require the most work, and they are the best of the lot. These events comprise the 1st and 2nd tier. The term "2nd tier" should not be confused with second class.
2. Carpe Eventum: Events within existing events that tend to have an internal focus, such as an interpretive area, or the ubiquitous "campaigner company" which provides a home away from home for a gathering of like minded individuals. These can range from hanging out on sutler row (reinforcing that stereotype) to establishing a "campaigner petting zoo" to providing an actual living history experience for the participants in the middle of the circus. Some groups use these events as an opportunity to give new officers and NCOs an opportunity to "train up," prior to attending an event with a higher classification. These events, and those listed in number 3 below are listed in the 3rd tier category.
3. Campaigner Adjunct: Adjuncts to existing events are typically what used to be known as "the event march," and are generally external in nature. Even at some of the most gawd awful events, the prospect of a good march over actual march routes can be very attractive. For campaigners, there exists a great joy in this form of movement, and for many the march itself is the event. Sometimes these events take the form of a living history or other program at a site near a somewhat related event. These events, and those listed in number 2 above are listed in the 3rd tier category.
4. Training: Select educational offerings, such as Carolann Schmidt's fabulous workshops, certain COIs, schools, and other programs are included at the discretion of the AC Forum moderators. These inclusions are somewhat rare, with less than a half dozen each season.
The 2007 season saw an AC Forum experiment to clump various events into Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary categories, or, as mentioned above, "tiers." While the experiment was not without its flaws, such as the Secondary events being practically invisible, the system worked well enough to be included as a regular feature.
Submittals: The submittal window for Tier 1 Events is 1 June through 31 August, and the selection period generally runs from 1 September through 31 October each year. Many events are submitted earlier, and some as early as 2 years before the event is slated to take place. This appears to have worked well for the past several seasons, and this allows most groups and individuals to have a list of events in hand by the usual November through January "meeting season." With a few fine tunings, this set of general selection guidelines has remained unchanged since the preparatory period for the 2001 calendar year, or "season." At that time, it was almost unthinkable that an alternative circuit of events could be maintained, however, the track record has been pretty darn good.
In order to analyze prospective EBUFU events for inclusion in this schedule, a few simple questions provide an opportunity for reflection, inspection, and a subjective review:
1. Event Portrayal: Is the event portrayal in a documented historical setting? What "slice of life," or "vignette" in terms of the historic event scenario occurring on the given date, will we portray? How deeply will the firper be researched?
2. Authenticity: Will there be guidelines and standards published well in advance? Will the material, physical, social, and political (period) culture of the unit impression be appropriate?
3. Communication: Will there be a listserver? A website? Printed and mailed packets of materials? Will registration be individual or group? Will the setting of the history being portrayed be provided to participants? Is the documentation more than just a one-page essay? Will participants be given tips on how to prepare for the event, if necessary?
4. Logistics: How are the logistics to be handled? If it's a march, what has to be lined up in terms of landowner permission, cooperation of authorities, and a chase vehicle? Will there be special accomodations for people flying to the event. How will safety be handled? Will there be a logistics and admin support cell for this event?
5. Location: Where is it physically going to be held in terms of geography and location? Is it on original ground? Will it trace or parallel original march routes? How much actual campaign movement is in this event?
6. Participation: Who will participate? What type of event will it be? Will civilians be actively encouraged to have meaningful roles and interaction?
7. Organization: Will the leadership selected be able to plan, organize, resource, and execute the event both on and off the field? Leadership i.e. who can execute? Who has the vision? Can and will this vision be instilled in the participants?
8. Preservation: Is the money going in part, in whole (net), or not at all to preservation? If so, where and how much? Who benefits? Will the accounting be made public after the event?
9. Freshness: Has this been done before? If so, has it been beat to death? Is this impression and event covering new ground? How does this event push the envelope?
10. Camp Life: Letters from home? Packages? Ration Issues? Equipment issues? Contests? Entertainment? Activities? Drill? Pickets? Guard Mount?
11. Educational Opportunities: Will it be at a deserving NPS/State/Local/Private historical site where people are there looking for CW history? Are we educating ourselves through an immersive experience? Is this an event where people are there to gawk and be entertained?
12. Attitudes: What kind of personality clashes might arise during the course of this event? Could they ruin the event? What is the mindset of those considering attendence? What do they say, what is their personality and attitude like when the event is discussed?
Review and Selection: Up until the 2008 season, the review and selection process included but a handful of people. This year, the AC Forum Focus Group has been a robust part of this process, and we hope this involvement continues.
Template: Use this simple event template via copy/paste.
Date(s):
Event Name:
Location:
Description:
Host:
Sponsor:
Capacity:
Discussion Format:
Contact: Federal:
Contact: Confederate:
Contact: Civilian:
Comments:.
Overall Event Point of Contact:
Event Type:
Impression(s):
Registration:
Website:
Forum:
Listserver:
Preservation Component:
The submittal period for the 2008 season is now closed. Tier 1 submittals for the 2009 through 2012 seasons are cheerfully being accepted. Let it be known not all groups wish for their events to be listed and discussed on the AC Forum, and some expressly forbid it. This is not our loss, but their loss.