You have a crappy time at an event. Bad battle scenerios, no wood, no water , no toilets( or paper), unsafe conduct by the participants and/or their leaders. 250 Confederates and only 35 Federals. Who do you gripe to?  

--Last edited by grumpydave on 2009-05-19 10:15:45 --

Interesting question..

I think on the mess/company level we discuss this issue and typically will decide with our feet not to go back to this event.  If we were there part of a larger battalion unit, I may pass my observations along to the unit leadership.  Especially if the event was pushed heavily at the battn level.

Also I have contacted the event organizer with concerns.  An example was from some of our civilians at AHT, I was emailed, and passed the information along to Chris Anders directly.  

I will type up an AAR on the Common ground, but not any of the other forums.  

I think Bill has said it many times when he talks about being an event organizer, if he doesn't get feedback, he can't fix something unless he knows it is broken.  
But a question for that is does an email or letter from an individual person carry as much weight as a letter from a "company" commander or battalion leader?  

Would the event organizer be concerned because Pvt X won't be back next year versus the 351st California versus the MLCX US Battn group?

Generally speaking, our company discusses the pros and cons pretty thoroughly and then our co. leadership will pass it along to the event coordinators. That, of course, is also leavened by how well we know them, and how well we feel our constructive criticism will be taken. After all else fails, we've got no problem voicing opinion with our feet.

Blame it on my age, blame it on having spent 34 years in public education, maybe its consistently being Federal in the deepest of the deep South, perhaps it’s retardation, or any other assortment of excuses, but let me flounder around and respond to this from the host’s side of the coin.  

As has already been pointed out, the event host cannot make modifications unless he is informed of the need of such.   And yes, there are all of those upbeat things that can be said about constructive criticism.  In order to change for the better your event cannot become stagnant.  You must incessantly seek improvement.  The participants’ expectations must be met, or exceeded.  You will not know what they desire unless you listen to what they have to say.  From the host’s point of view, how they choose to say it is as important as the substance of what is said.

You, the hosting entity, have worked yourself down to a frazzle trying to pull off a quality event.  (No, we will not debate what quality event means)  Stakes are being pulled, parking lots are emptying, no one was injured, endanger species were protected, and you are ready to drop due to exhaustion.  That is not the time for a fault finding session.  If you want to talk about how the activity needs to be improved the next time don’t bother me with it while I’m walking around putting out fires (literally) and pulling a rapidly filling garbage wagon.  I am not overly disturbed about the next time around while I’m still tying off the loose ends of this rendition.

It is probably a safe statement to say hosts hear more complaints than accolades.  Thick skin is part of the hosting package.  As the host you will catch some ire just because you are the host.  Accept the fact that you are an easy target.  It goes with the territory.

There are some other things that need to be understood.  This is important for those whose suggestions only manage to bubble their way to the surface after the event has ended.  Did you ever wonder why these worthwhile comments are only made afterwards?  Equally intriguing is why the host never heard a peep about them months prior to the event?  Could it be they were not as important then as they are after the fact.

Those who have made a reputation of suggesting how it could be done better need to get a grip on the notion that event hosts are not intimidated by the numbers in your complaining delegation. One spokesperson will do quite nicely.  You don’t need an entourage.

Dramatics don’t accomplish much other than a rise in blood pressure.   Accept as fact the totality of this hobby is made up of frustrated thespians.  Belly aching hysteria is not going to accomplish anything except expend a bit more wind.  After all, the viewing public is gone.  There is no one to enjoy the performance.  It’s wasted effort.  Cool your jets.

What is the intent of your suggested change?  Are you truly concerned about improving some aspect of the event?  If so, you are to be commended.  The hosts wants to hear what you have to say.  Deliver those remarks at a suitable time

Do you want something changed so as to benefit your outfit by placing it in an advantageous position?  If so, shame on you.

Or is the event postmortem your rostrum?  If the latter is indeed the case, no doubt the host is expecting you.  Have the decency to make it brief.

But, if you would prefer for your comments to receive some legitimate consideration, get contact information from the host.  Tell the host (or the host’s representative) you would like to send him some proposals in a few days.  That approach would be better received than a delegation complaining about whatever before the honey trucks come to haul away the accumulated elixir.

Written communication eliminates the tonality of verbal communication.  Along with that go facial expressions and gesticulations.  These are a two edged sword.  Depending on the practitioner, these can be employed skillfully or trash what could otherwise be worthwhile comments by its delivery.

Putting what you want to say on paper (or screen) will force you to give additional deliberation to your thoughts.  It is not a bad idea to have someone else read your remarks and tell you what they have read.  

If you are truly concerned about the event, perhaps you could forego all recommendations and instead offer to be of assistance.  It is a somewhat worn cliché but very apropos to say the greatest ability is availability.  Perhaps your energies could be more beneficially utilized if you would help prior to, during, or (perish the thought) cleaning up the flotsam and refuse after all have departed.  If you are involved in the organizational and/or administrative donkey work side of the event the host would more likely look with favor on your recommendations.

It is not my intention for this to be tirade of carping about event complaining.  Refer to the second paragraph.  This has been written to say that timing is of utmost importance.  Sensible wording will go a lot further if a tad of praise is included.  Heavy handed harshness at the end of the event is not going to endear you to the host, let alone bring about what you desire.  Surely the whole thing didn’t suck.

Curtis

Good point about the timing of your "complaint" to the event people.  The Sunday evening when you get home from it and still haven't cleaned out the car may not be the best time.  Perhaps give it a few days.  
Reflect on the conversations you had with your messmates on the drive home.  

Quote :

You have a crappy time at an event. Bad battle scenerios, no wood, no water , no toilets( or paper), unsafe conduct by the participants and/or their leaders. 250 Confederates and only 35 Federals. Who do you gripe to?

Grumpy,

Interesting question. I responded, "my unit". On the other hand, I would have researched the event in question and with that knowledge, I would have made my decision.

Like I had posted on another forum a while ago, I attended my first FARB fest last year. I did my research, knew what I was getting into, AND had a good time. If my home unit were to want to do that event, I would let them know what it was about and let the membership as a whole know what they were getting into.

I believe that each en-actor needs to do his own research so he won't be disappointed.

I'll pick you up on the way to Mumford.

Mumford? Ah, no thank you. Been there done that...twice. Take some paper towels. You'll need them for your bleeding eyes. The buildings are nice though. I hope you get to meet the beer girls. Oh, and make sure Charles shows you "Old Bob's Grave."



There will be store bought, plastic shrink wraped sliced bacon issued to you. No kidding.  

--Last edited by grumpydave on 2009-05-20 06:10:49 --

Curtis, I find your analysis very thoughtful and I can't think of anything to add to it.  As old as I get I'll never be that much of a grown-up

Me, I picked the first five because at some point or another I've done all those, sometimes more than one.  I would never call the organizer directly because, while some people think that's the best and the most respectable approach, I'm not that sure of my ability to communicate over the phone.  I write, and I re-write.

I do a little cost benefit analysis.  Some events I just won't go back to because the effort to change them to tolerable isn't where I want to invest my time.  Some I'll go back to knowing what I know because, on balance, they're OK the way they are.  I never criticized Fort Branch (or, as a friend of mine calls it, Fort Farb) because it's fine by me.  I've tempered my criticisms of Cedar Creek over time, because some of them were always unrealistic.

I do after-action reports for every event I attend and I post them, or links to them, for the benefit of people who might find them useful or amusing.  I don't write them as a critic or connoisseur but as one attendee, and I hope I make my attitude and biases clear enough for the reader to decide whether they care what I think or not.  I have sometimes shared those with organizers if I thought it they could use them.  For one local event I sent the AAR through my chain of command because it documented concerns the whole unit shared.  That event is still very much a work in progress.

For some events that I've helped with, I've written out "lessons learned" for other participant-organizers based on my experiences and what I heard from others.  I think in a couple of cases these have led to useful changes.

On the whole I like to see discussions of events online, especially on Szabo's where you can get a fair number of participants and several points of view.  Here, we don't have an awful lot of participants.  On the AC Forum, there's a tendency toward a certain orthodoxy, not that there's anything wrong with that.  In any case, organizers who care about their events would be well advised to read these and follow up where they can.  

If anything, I wish more people would comment on events, even in the form of anonymous screeds on internet forae with no intent of giving feedback to anyone in particular.  The more people who comment, the more likely some will provide some specific observation on good or bad things that can be repeated or fixed in future.

Anyway, that's what I think this morning.

PS-I've never had an entirely crappy time, yet.  The worse I've felt was silly or needlessly endangered, but I generally still enjoyed the part where you wear wool and shoot guns.  I mean, who wouldn't be a soldier?  

--Last edited by michael schaffner on 2009-05-20 08:36:01 --

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GrumpyDave wrote : Oh, and make sure Charles shows you "Old Bob's Grave."

Grumpy,

Ol' Bob's grave is in Grayback territory, and we'll be going Indigo this time around -- for the first time. As long as that tree isn't cut down, I'm pretty sure I can find the mound that marks the spot, and we can remove our jackets to blend in.

As to the rations issued for the past 30+ years, well, golly, those items really and truly have to be decanted between the issue point and the company street. This is truly not a tough task, as long as the egg cartons, ham wrap, bacon wrap, cheese wrap, and such get into a proper trash container.

The real reason I go is to pay my respects to Dr. Robert Becker.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AFSIC_pubs/heirloom/srb9806.htm

http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ead/htmldocs/RMA02945.html

His work still flourishes in the form of the genuine living history growing in and around that site. Here's to "Ol' Bob!"

Very interesting thread. I'm involved with putting on a number of events and look for constructive critiques. Funny thing, they are hard to find. I go on the Forums and look for the AAR's if nobody has much to say, I figure it was a successful event. If people aren't happy, they tend to vent. (For a good example, see the New Market thread, over on Szabo's Forum.)